Excerpt from Michael Caine’s awesome book Michael Caine – Acting in Film: An Actor’s Take on Movie Making 
When I was very young and in repertory theatre, I was given some advice by a clever director. He said:
“What are you doing in that scene, Michael?”
“Nothing,” I said. “I haven’t got anything to say.”
“That,” said the director, “is a very big mistake. Of course, you have something to say. You’ve got wonderful things to say. But you sit there and listen, thinking of wonderful things to say, and then you decide not to say them. That’s what you’re doing in that scene.”
