How I Work Through a Scene as a Danish Actress

I’ve started thinking about characters on trains, in line at the post office, while folding towels. The process doesn’t always begin on the page. Sometimes it starts with a gesture, or the way someone moves through space — something I wrote more about here. That’s usually the beginning of it.

Not quite in character. Not quite out of it either.

First Impressions

When I read a script for the first time, I try not to underline too much. I just read. I want to see what stays with me — which moments echo a few hours later, or the next day.

I’m not looking for a hook. I’m listening for tone. Where does the energy live in the scene? What’s being said underneath what’s being said?

If the dialogue feels natural to say out loud, I take note. If it doesn’t, I don’t try to make it work — I listen for what’s off and why.

Research, Quietly

I don’t approach research like an academic exercise. If a story is set in another time or culture, I do look into it, but mostly to understand the atmosphere. What’s in the room? What isn’t?

Sometimes I’ll look through old photographs. Other times it’s just a walk, letting something in the world catch my attention and find its way in. I might notice the way someone carries themselves, how they pause between words, or set something down with care. It’s not about imitation. It’s about texture.

The character usually starts to appear somewhere in that quiet.

Physical Language

Before I memorize anything, I often know how the character moves.

There’s usually a physical clue — the way she stands when no one’s speaking, or how she responds to being watched. I pay attention to what my hands are doing during early reads. I notice if I hold tension somewhere, I don’t usually carry it. That tells me something.

I don’t build a backstory for the sake of it. If I need to, I will. But often the scene tells me everything I need to know — I just have to stay out of the way long enough to hear it.

Film still from “Caught in Between” — Danish actress Liv Hansen in a closeup.

Rehearsal Without Overworking

I like to know my lines frontwards and backwards. Sometimes I write them out by hand, just to internalize the rhythm. If I can, I’ll run them until they sit in my body, so I’m not thinking when the camera rolls.

But that’s not always possible. On one recent shoot, a new scene was added just before filming — a phone call, urgent but quiet. We ran through it once or twice, then rolled. I kept the lines on the table, just out of frame.

There’s a kind of edge to that kind of work. You can still find the scene as it’s happening. You’re not trying to recreate something from rehearsal — you’re responding. That’s the part I trust.

Especially for screen work, it’s about presence. What matters is whether it’s real, even just for that one take.

Sometimes She Shows Up Late

I don’t always feel fully inside the character until the second scene of the day. Or the third. Sometimes it’s the shoes that shift something. Sometimes it’s the silence before a line. I’ve written more about how voice and instinct factor into casting conversations here.

Preparation helps me listen for the moment she appears. The rest is instinct.

Related:

• On Set Between Scenes: Notes from a Working Actress

• Liv Hansen on IMDb