002. Wayne

A two hour session with Wayne. He's working on the Tony D'Amato speech from Any Given Sunday and it was really time to get to grips with it. I asked him to start by performing it as much for lines as anything else. He began well but at the climax to the speech proceeded to up the volume, continuing loudly to the close. Emotion and volume rarely work well together. Yes, a character might be angry and shout and scream because of it, but this is really the exception to the rule. Most of the time emotion is best expressed quietly, with a measured focus and intensity. If a man were to say, quite simply, "My wife died today," it's likely that we would find the matter-of-fact quality of the statement far more touching than if he spoke it at a thousand decibels. I ask Wayne to bring everything down whilst at the same time attempting to relate to Tony's anguish, the anguish of a man who feels that he's failed in life. As soon as he does so it starts to work. He communicates, draws me in, makes me listen. Suddenly, the speech seems shorter, has something rich and powerful to say. Wayne has made a real breakthrough here, a breakthrough that by his own admission has come sooner than he was expecting.

Next week we'll continue with Any Given Sunday but must look for a second, contrasting speech. We must also, at some point, start to think of doing a few scenes together as most likely it will be part of a scene he'll be asked to do if he goes up for a tv audition. And finally, I've asked him to perform the d'Amato speech to his wife with the goal of trying to hold her attention throughout by the sheer force of his presence and focus. All in all a good if exhausting two hours.