When it comes to business of any kind onstage, you will need to practice again and again: simple things such as entrances and exits; opening and closing doors smoothly and without fuss; timing your exit line so that it exactly fits with walking to the door, opening it, turninsg toward whomever you are speaking to, delivering the line, then exiting.
Very often it will be an important line, a plot line, or a laugh line, so practice until you feel the natural timing in your bones. This also can be done in a corner of the rehearsal room while waiting for your scene or, of course, at home. You will need to practice the simplest of movements, such as touching the chair or sofa with the back of your leg before sitting down with composure or the intricate moans of an ardent lovemaking scene.
You might need a fight director or choreographer to direct a fight or fall. The following things can all be taught: how to fall; how to appear wounded by gunfire; or how to be strangled, suffocated, or dragged round the room by your hair. There are experts to help you achieve all things that are covered by technique, and make sure that you always look totally believable.
That is all practical business: things that need to be done and worked out in advance, especially comedy business. However, whatever you come up with in the way of added business that might not have been given to you directly by the writer should and must be rooted in the text. There should always be some hint in the lines that inspire a particular idea. Whether it is a costume, prop, or business, find the reason for it in the text.
Business should also take the time it takes—that is, you cannot write a personal check in one second, you cannot pour several drinks instantaneously, and you cannot sort out the money to pay a taxi driver while you are quickly leaving the vehicle. If you cannot do these practicalities in the time available, plan to change your business to things that you can manage to do, or start doing them early enough so that they can be completed properly— the audience always spots these cheats and does not like them.
You are often told to avoid some business because it is a cliché. Why is it so called? It is because it is often used. And why is it often used—because it works, and works well. So the advice should be to use clichés for biz, but use them in novel and interesting ways.
On the screen, business is often used to mask necessary technical matters, such as having to play a scene with your back to the other actor so that the camera can see both your faces.
The director will ask one actor to deliver a speech while washing the dishes, working at a desk, or rearranging flowers; in fact, anything that can motivate the two actors not to look at each other and so allowing the camera a nice two-shot.
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