Working Off The Other Actor | The Great Acting Blog

Working off the other actor – what is it?

In performance you focus on what the other actor is doing and respond accordingly moment-by-moment. Your performance is created in-the-moment. 

This is very different to the ‘acting-as-presentation’ model, where the actor maps out every gesture, every inflection in advance, and their performance simply becomes an implementation of their preparation. Working off the other actor means letting go of our preparation, it means stripping ourselves of the protective shell of self-consciousness, and it means making ourselves vulnerable by making the other actor[s] in the scene our focus rather than ourselves.

Simply implementing preparation in performance is comforting because the terror of the unknown is quieted – you’re going to do your preparation regardless of what actually takes place during the scene, and regardless of what the other actor throws at you – the truth of the moment is going to be ignored. The results of this cosy approach are sleepy, bland, generalised and non-provocative – nothing is at stake, there is no danger, it’s acting-as-a-tick-box-exercise.

Working off the other actor, however, is anything but sleepy.

Paying close attention to what the other acting is doing and responding in the moment, is a risky business. There is pressure. There is fear. We are stepping in front of the camera or onto the stage, and we must back ourselves to prevail over the terrible unforseen. We must wake-up. We need to trust ourselves; that we are sharp enough, creative enough, that we possess enough wit, energy and intentsity to thrive in such a scenario. This risk, however, electrifies us, and our performances become vivid, fascinating and seminal – they become a display of our own uniqueness, and consequently we feel alive, which is, afterall, the whole point of being an actor.

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