“Be affected by what you do and what is said. You can’t throw a Styrofoam peanut very far, but when you tie it to a rock you can. Give your scenes that weight. Make every reaction matter. Give it an emotional core and resonance.
Have a reaction and let it move the character. If you are happy be happy. If you are sad, be sad, and continue to heighten that state of being. We should be specific and honest about how we emote. People don’t just say they are happy – it radiates out of them. They are exuberant and have a glow. One might speak in quick giddy fits, while another is so happy and at ease that she floats about the room in her bathrobe holding her coffee with two hands, warm and euphoric.
The more realism and texture we bring to our emotions, the more our scenes will resonate with the audience.
So , have an emotion, a state of being: cry while eating linguini, tweeze your eyebrows angrily, be overjoyed about Febreezing your apartment. When we’re unfeeling and inexpressive, we’re robotic, blank, and wooden, dead in the eys and on the inside, and the audience can’t connect to that or with us. We’re as good as dead puppies on the Polar Express.”