Stillness in an Actor

Through controlled use of his energy, and a quality Bogarde called ‘stillness’, an actor could dominate the screen. ‘Stillness’ allowed the camera to focus on what was going on inside, rather than outside. Bogarde knew that revealing thoughts and emotions was at the heart of creating a character. In an interview with Andrew Peters, he discussed the quality of ‘stillness’:

‘Stillness. It’s rather difficult to explain but Richard Burton has it. Glynis Johns has it. They seem to give dominating performances with the minimum dialogue or physical exertion. Burton for instance almost literally doesn’t move, but gets right under the skin of his character and thinks like mad... If you think hard enough the camera will record it surely as it records movement.’ (Peters, 26) One plus in portraying José in The Spanish Gardener (1957) would be an opportunity to ‘experiment with stillness’:

‘Certainly the gardener is only a small part, but he is, after all, the revolving character. If I’m going to make a success of the part it will have to be a dominating performance. I regard it as one of the finest acting opportunities of my career. It’s a part which will enable me to experiment with stillness.’ (Peters, 26)