Think about eating and drinking

Some decades ago a lot of people used to smoke in films and plays. Smoking was glamorous and it was essential for an actor to inhale and blow out smoke in an appropriate way. Now fewer people smoke and it's definitely not glamorous so if smoking appears at all it's to tell us that the smoker is a nervous, shifty or addicted character.

Smoking seems, to some extent, to have been replaced by eating and drinking. These are vital daily activities so it is perhaps surprising that we do not see more of them, but sooner or later most actors will have to eat or drink on stage. I have written a couple of such scenes myself and they do present the actor with some problems. So the Words of Wisdom are Think about eating and drinking.

When you are acting your mouth tends to go dry, so take very small mouthfuls so that you won't find yourself with a lump of food which you can't swallow going round and round in your mouth. Similarly with drink: if you gulp too much it may make you cough.. Incidentally, don't ever drink alcohol before a performance: it will throw you right off. There was a time when such figures as Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Oliver Reed were heroic drinkers, but it didn't do them much good in the end. But how people eat and drink is fascinating and very indicative of their personality and relationship with others. So this is something to make a study of. When you go out to eat, do some people-watching.

Never try miming drinking from an empty cup. It's just about impossible to get it right because the distribution of weight is wrong. If it's a hot drink don't substitute a cold one. Hot water poured from a kettle or teapot sounds different from cold. Apple juice looks like wine, and so on. Think about eating and drinking.