“Rouben, what should I think about in this scene?” “Darling, just make your face a blank.” She looked at him and just said, “Oh.” And there she stood with her eyes on the horizon which wasn’t there - a blank looking into a void.
“Just be completely passive, don’t think about anything, express nothing, and preferably don’t even blink your eyes. Just be a mask, and then the audience will write in whatever emotion they feel should be there. If you were to cry, some people will say ‘Ah, she’s a small woman.’ If you didn’t cry, some would say, ‘What’s the matter with her? Her lover is dead.’ If she smiles they’ll say she’s crazy” and so on. So that’s what she did - she stood there, just a blank face but it happens to be GARBO’s face.
- Garbo, by Barry Paris
