ohbloodyhell8

Have you ever noticed that some actors are terrible at phone acting?  They are supposed to be on the phone and they have a blank look on their faces and it seems as if they are counting sheep until they say their next line.  I hate that.  You don’t sit on the phone with a blank look on your face.  You are reacting as you do when talking face to face.  In general, sit-com actors are terrible at phone acting–not all, but most.  Some film actors do it well.  Dustin Hoffman.  He can pull off phone acting.  Meryl Streep.  My dear Kenneth Branagh.  Julia Roberts on occasion.  When an actor is bad at it, it completely breaks the suspension of disbelief for the audience.  It smacks you back into reality and you realize there is no one else on the other line.  How hard is it to be engaged in a conversation?  Imagine what the lines would be if the other character were on the other end of the line.  It’s not that difficult.  Think about when you are on the phone.  You gesture, you make faces, you multi-task and do other things.  Community theater actors are typically not good at this, I am sad to say.  This should be required in all acting classes as far as I am concerned.  That’s just my opinion.