Using the Muse

Brian: Nice! That had to feel much better.

John: Yeah.

Simone: Yeah. I think that it was more organic.

Brian: Well, yeah, you were much more connected this time. You see, the minute you get out of the left brain, the thinking brain, and and put it into the right brain, which is your creative, free brain… Trust your muse, trust God, trust angels, whatever you want to call it, and just do it, it’s gonna be right on the money every single time.

John: Yeah, yeah. That’s what I did this time.

Brian: Yeah.

John: You saw it, ‘cause I was… The last take…

Brian: …Your left brain.

John: …I was in my left brain.

Brian: Yeah. Yeah. You can see it. And the thing that’s so interesting is: the camera will pick it up, too. The camera will see you thinking of your next line through your eyes. So, when you watch beautiful actors like Viola Davis and Gene Hackman and Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep and people like, what’s her name, the gal who did…

John: Hilary Swank?

Brian: Thank you! Hilary Swank! You watch those people work, man, their eyes are always twinkling and sparkling because that energy is going into their partner from their heart, their soul. They’re living that moment. They’re not thinking about the moment. I’m not thinking about everything I’m gonna say to you right now. I trust my muse and let it come through wherever.

They asked Carl Sandberg years ago, “How did you write ‘Huckleberry Finn’? How did you write ‘Tom Sawyer’?”. He said, “I didn’t. It came to me in my sleep.” His muse wrote it. He just put it on paper.

We have to get to that place as actors where we just… Charles used to say, “Don’t give a fuck and just trust your body.” And I add to that, “Your body will never mislead you if you’re in the creative brain.” Never! It’ll never mislead you. Never! Not even once in a while. It’s only when you let it sneak back to the left side… And that little dark angel in there says, “No, you said that word wrong! No, you didn’t breathe there last time!”. You know. All that crap!

John: Thank you, Simone!

Brian: Yeah. Lovely work Simone!