I have been a huge fan of movies my whole life and consider myself a film historian who appreciates the subtleties and nuances of great actors. Many of the greatest actors in the past century−from Spencer Tracy to Claude Rains to Marlon Brando to Robert De Niro to Daniel Day-Lewis−shared the belief that listening was the most important asset in their craft.
They believed this because truly listening to their counterpart in a scene informed them as to how to deliver their lines....