Minding manners

In Kate & Leopald, Hugh Jackman studied Victorian etiquette to play the part of Leopald. In a later interview on Inside the Actors Studio, he talked about taking manners classes.

Why manners were originally invented was beautiful. It was an art. It wasn’t just a bunch of rules to keep people in line and quiet. It was about being still and relaxed in order to be able to 100% listen to someone, and to be in the present.

It’s sad that now “civility” is used to try to invalidate what people say, rather than as a way of listening to what those people have to say.