line reading
Actor's vocal choice
A line reading is an actor's delivery of a specific piece of dialogue—the particular way they say a line, including inflection, timing, emphasis, and emotion.
Directors sometimes give actors line readings to demonstrate exactly how they want something said, though many actors resist this as it can feel like puppetry rather than performance: Don't give me a line reading, just tell me what the character wants.
The term also describes analyzing or critiquing how a line was performed: His line reading of "I'll be back" became iconic.
- deliveryConveyance of goods
- inflectionWord form alteration
- interpretationAssigned meaning
- actorOne who portrays characters
- scriptWritten words for performance
dialogue · rehearsal · performance · intonation · cue · audition · monologue · scene · emphasis · timing · phrasing · expression · character work · director · tone · emotion · cadence · teleprompter
- Practicedrills, rehearsal, warm-up, warmup, exercises
- Auditionssides, headshot, tryout, tryouts, dance audition
- palmistrychiromancy, mounts, headline, lifeline, hand shape
- theater jargonbackstage, center stage, curtain call, downstage, dress rehearsal
- speechspeech, speaking, talk, diction, conversation
- actingacting, act, performing, playacting, actor
line readingblocking
Impeding forward progress
staging · choreography · mise-en-scène · fight choreography · movement
line readingsubtext
Implicit meaning beneath words
inner monologue · emotional memory · character motivation · backstory · beats
line, reading, lines, lined, liner, liners, lining, linings, lineal