This girl was auditioning for a part with Matthew Mcconaughey.  He was at the audition.  There was a moment in the script where the two characters  had to kiss.  The moment came, and with no warning, he does his thing.  Scene ends, they say thank you, she walks out stunned as the next girl comes in…

What do non-Matthew Mcconaugheys do at auditions in situations like that.  Where you have a script and the action reads: “They kiss”.  Or better yet: “Mike wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her in.  They stare at each other for a moment before kissing passionately, tumbling into the sheets.”  Or some dramatic mess.  Worse is when you have dialogue after all this action.

I remember asking an acting teacher this question during an on-camera class.

“Really take the moment,” she replied.

“So kiss a total stranger?”  The class exploded in laughter!  (Nah, sadly I think I was the only one who laughed…)

“I can kiss you from my seat,” she smirked.

Yeah right.  Yeah right.  Yeaaaahhh rrrrighttt…

We proceeded to work the scene.  We approached the moment in question, and she did something so subtle… it was in her eyes, her crooked smile, her inhale, her body– but next thing I know, her imagination had me BLUSHING like a mug!  She didn’t do anything soap opera-y, or cheesy, or cliche.  It was a genuine moment that reached across the room, into the camera even– <sigh> it was kinda hot.

So when you come across these moments where you can’t physically play the action, albeit a kiss, a slap, an explosion, a hug… take the moment and do something so unique and interesting.  Whether it’s an imaginary what if, a verb, etc, do something that makes everyone in the room and everyone watching your performance feel it.  Touch them.

… Then again, Matthew Mcconaughey just up and kisses folks, so what do I know…

– TV, Bitch!