Shut Up And Deal

"Shut up and deal"
-"The Apartment" (1960)
I get the feeling Billy Wilder or Iz Diamond got this line sitting in a room with an actor.

I'm always baffled when I think about how when people are hustling for things, they tend to over explain themselves. I do it too. Most actors talk way too much and don't listen. Ever. You can fake listening, which is...ask a question. Most who are struggling actors don't.
The NUMBER ONE thing an actor should do is listen. It's all they have. Listening isn't asking questions simply to ask questions, but it is to hear and digest what is being said and then responding properly. The ones that crash and burn and seem phony are the ones who make the scene about themselves. Ones who add lines or give pauses where it's not needed will aggravate audiences, because you can see the work being done...for themselves.
I think either Mickey Rourke or Willem DaFoe said that their technique is to make the scene about anyone else but themselves. It's not a Richard Burton level soliloquy that puts you on the top tier, it's embodiment of the character. Marlon Brando never made the scene about himself. If you watch "The Godfather," he's desperately trying to stay in the shadow. That's when the director or producer begs to have more of Brando. That's smart. It's a misconception that because you aren't doing more you become relegated to supporting actor or upstaged. I don't think it's that combative unless you do garbage like..."Universal Soldier." That is two meatheads hammering out how much screen time and one liners you can deliver.
There is also the wrong way to question your character...
I do have an actress friend who is aggravating when it comes to this. Not only is the character not understandable to her (any one that's ever presented to her), she deconstructs it to a level that isn't the character anymore. There are those moments you just do as written. Not to her. She does have a damaged quality deep into our history with this industry. Stubborn people will wonder this. Willfully esoteric people as well. If you know and still go headlong into that, you have achieved solitude. If working with others for profit is what you wish for your future...listen.

If you ever wonder why Robert DeNiro is quiet and can't form sentences, he's most likely listening. This unnerves a town that only talks.