My First Journal (Actor's Lab 1)

ON USING THE TEXT

It has always astonished me as to how wise actors we see every day on television can make such bold and intelligent decisions. They make the reaction seem so simple and believable. This week, I was shown a short scene from the movie Juno, and in this clip, I was able to dig just a bit deeper into the understanding of how an actor might make a decision for reaction based upon the text.

Paulie (Michael Cera) steps out of his house with the fullest of intentions to go running with his fellow athletes. He is surprised to find Juno (Ellen Page) sitting in a lounge chair on his front lawn. Even more startling, she informs him of her pregnancy and that he is the father.

Instead of an exaggerated and dramatic outburst of worry, Michael Cera made the decision to react quietly… very quietly, and in shock. His following words after this moment of hesitation is simply, “what should we do?” I thought to myself, why did he choose to stay quiet and calm? Why was his reaction so subtle? And then I realized that his reaction was not subtle at all. The reaction was all up in his head, and in his gut (obviously not so visible to the audience).

Now, Paulie is a sixteen year-old boy. Most boys that age are still at quite a low level of immaturity, but his words—the text—suggested otherwise. “What should we do?” Paulie has been presented with a situation that is, to most, considered quite frightening (or at least alarming). His words, what should we do, give reason to a quiet and delayed reaction when Juno announces her pregnancy. At first, he feels the terror in its most raw of forms, and several questions of ‘what if’ could have been passing through his mind. But he knows that this is an adult situation and calls for an adult attitude. He does his best to fight past the shock and stays calm (even if only on the outside), and out of this process of thought, he decides to ask, “What should we do?”

I have not seen Juno before, but this one scene has inspired me to dwell further into the texts or scripts/screenplays I will analyze in the future.