On Sep 17, 1:47 pm, Blair Leatherwood 
wrote:
> Joe Chicago wrote:
> > I just listened to Jerry Doyle's 9/10 program, and he asserted --
> > quite seriously -- that Michael O'hare was delusional during his time
> > on Bab 5.  Claims that he would read the script cover to cover
> > (instead of the usual actor's approach of paying attention only to his
> > own lines), and then go to "the producers and the
writers" and say
> > "I've got the script; all i need now is the code."
 Doyle: "Guy was
> > completely nuts"  and that is why he did not work after the first
> > season.
>
> > has anybody heard anything like that?  It is notable that IMDB lists
> > almost no work at all for O'Hare after Bab 5.
>
> 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.
It depends on the working context. A leading actor on a one-hour
weekly TV series may not have time to spend on other people's lines.
And an older actor doing a major role in a play may have enough
problems learning his own. (When I was Gloucester in "King Lear" a few
years back, the Lear and I were given our scripts months before the
other roles were even auditioned.) When I was 15, after two weeks of
rehearsal, I would know everyone's lines without trying; a half
century later, it's not so easy.
You need to know your cues, of course, and should have at least a
general notion of what the other actors are saying in scenes you're
in, so you can cover for a cock-up. On the other hand, you may want to
deliberately skip over things your character doesn't know.
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