> Interesting.  However, I do take exception to your statement that actors
> only look at their own lines--bad actors may do that, but not anyone
> with any respect for themselves, the profession, or the writers.
>
> Humph.
>
> Blair
I have heard both Doyle and Claudia Christian say they used that
technique. Christian says that's why it's silly to expect her to
repeat her "God sent me" soliloquy; after the shooting she forgot it.
Doyle does say if he's in the scene, he will study the other person's
lines, so if that person doesn't remember their lines he can say
things like "If you want me to, I will X, Y and Z," and the other
person doesn't have to tell him, saving time and money.  (JMS also
says at one point that a certain actor had repeated problems with
their lines, which stopped when Jerry "had a chat with him behind the
set.")
Technique-wise, the character is not supposed to be omniscient, so it
makes a certain sense that they don't read everybody else's lines.
Especially with JMS writing his self-acknowldeged "Babble-On-and-On"
soliloquies. "A thousand years ago . . ."
- Joe Chicago
--- SBBSecho 2.12-Win32