As actors, we are storytellers. I always say that we have three ways to tell the story:
The stated, the unstated, and the physical life.
All three matter, but I want to talk specifically about the unstated because it can be one of the most powerful parts of your work.
The unstated is everything that is going on when you’re not talking. It is what you’re thinking, feeling, processing, wanting, remembering, and reacting to underneath the dialogue.
This is incredibly important because everybody auditioning for the role has the same words. By the time casting sees your audition, they may have already heard those exact lines over and over again.
What makes your work specific is not just how you say the dialogue.
It is what you’re going through when you’re not talking.
That is where your individuality as an actor starts to come through.
The Words Are the Same. Your Experience Isn’t.
Every actor gets the same script. But every actor is going to experience the conversation differently.
Your relationships, circumstances, imagination, needs, and emotional connection all influence what is happening underneath the words.
That is why the unstated is so important. Instead of simply waiting for your next line, you are continuing to live inside the story. And that experience is specific to you.
One of the exercises I give actors is very simple:
Speak your unstated out loud while you’re preparing.
Actually say what is going on in your mind during the moments when your role isn’t speaking.
What are you thinking about the other person?
What are you trying not to say?
What just affected you?
What do you want to happen next?
What changes because of what you just heard?
In my Intensive, I do an entire class on the unstated. Actors are literally out in the hallway or on the balcony speaking aloud everything that is happening when they’re not talking.
The purpose is to make your thoughts specific enough that, when you come back into the conversation, you can simply experience them.
So the next time you’re preparing an audition, don’t only ask yourself what you’re going to do with the lines. Pay attention to what is happening between them. Speak your unstated out loud during your preparation.
Then, when it’s time to perform, stop trying to show it and simply allow yourself to experience it.
That’s where some of the most interesting storytelling can happen.
