Secret Of Acting

I know, crazy ol' man is going to give me advice on something he has no idea how it's done. I've not done it in any paid circumstances (which isn't true) and he doesn't do it for a living (this is true).

The absolute unequivocal number one rule to acting...and getting great at it...is listening.

And, at this point, most of you say, "but I do listen."
EVERY single time someone defensively tells me this...I know they have no idea what I'm talking about.
Listening, friends, is also asking questions. Or at the very least seeing where you can have a question.
By nature, it is the hardest for actors since most are narcissists. They are self-absorbed. This quality prohibit most from actually caring what the other person says before they go into their "acting." That's what a lot of people do. By listening, you could potentially throw away a script and go that way (Brando, kind of did, but it was more for freshness of the take...I think he was just a fat lazy slob).

To be great, you have to know a few things...
where you are in the script
who am I talking to
what do I want from that person
what do i want to know from that person

these are little moments that make it seem like you are listening.
Here's a test...
listen to the first sentence of any podcast (getting past all those sponsor reads). JUST ONCE.
Stop after the opening.
write down what you heard (dictate what they said)
write down what you want to know
write down the name of the podcast

Were you paying attention? (audiences know...they know). Are you, as they say, "in the present."

This is a focus exercise that will help with listening. Also, actors, learn to care about people. Like, not only in your theater group. Outside the walls of the studio. I see that most celebrities do charity to get back to what real people talk like. Spend too much time with film or actor-like people, you do lose a little bit of awareness (I'm guilty of it).