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[the chris]

 

[StopMakingSense]

aka the "Katie Holmes"

 

[GruntOfAction]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Ali Lartar. She does the same thing with her eyes in the first two Final Destination movies.

 

[Typographenia]

Maybe it's because they're trying to recall their lines, and they're "reading" the script in their mind?!

 

[jdogmoney]

As an actor, if I do this, it's because, well, people do this, and I'm trying to be realistic.

Any time I have to recall my lines, my eyes tend to go up and to the left...

 

[Fatalah]

 

[eLGee]

People move their eyes around all the time when talking to people. I can't imagine anyone not being unsettled at someone gazing into their eyes when having a conversation.

 

[Dr.Acula]

Look into the eye closest to the camera.

If the camera is to your right, look into your partner's left eye. This way both your eyes are turned more closely to the lens and the audience can be more invested in your performance.

Done.

 

[Sickboy007]

Maybe they're...acting?
Doubt, suspect, fear, even admiration, lots of emotions can be evoked by rapid eye shifts.

 

[faceless007]

I was watching Studio 60 (shut up) and Matt Perry does this all the time. It was seriously distracting.

 

[J-Rod]

I assumed it was intentional.

 

[DominoKid]

the Inception and xzibit memes ruined this scene for me. i always crack up whenever i see it.

 

[Lasthope106]

I know exaclty what you mean OP. The following was by far the worst performance I've seen in terms of that eye movement.

I was screaming at my screen when it happened.

 

[Joni]

I can't keep constant eye contact in everyday conversations, it's too awkward and intense.

Indeed. I can't do it either, so I'm not annoyed by actors doing it. Someone that keeps staring on the other hand, bugs me.

 

[alex chilton]

I don't think its a psychological thing or anything to do with nervousness since it happens as well when I talk with friends and family. I sometimes get this this feeling of discomfort where my eyes are forced to divert their gaze or blink emphatically, I have to physically fight it to the point where I can sense it twitching as I resist. Anyone else get that?

 

[cityhunter]

Morgan Freeman does this too I noticed in some of his closeups.

 

[Zaptruder]

It's a... everyone does it, because that's how our eyes and brain works kinda thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccade

 

[Shalashaska]

Yeah I see this a lot in movies/TV shows it kinda bothers me. I don't really see many people in 'real life' do this. And I look at the bridge between the person's eyes rather than directly staring into someone's eyes.

 

[Harry Dresden]

People don't realize how much their eyes move around constantly.

Unless you make an effort to hold you gaze, it will constantly be moving and refocusing.

 

[Salmonax]

It seems like some actors do it to convey intensity, but it's really distracting for me. Pick an eye!

 

[Septimius]

What? I have discussed this with my friends and family for ages. We're talking about eye-contact, right? Some people don't know it, but when they look into someone's eyes they constantly switch between which eye they're looking at. It's completely involuntarily. I hate news-anchors that blink a lot, though.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Yeah I see this a lot in movies/TV shows it kinda bothers me. I don't really see many people in 'real life' do this. And I look at the bridge between the person's eyes rather than directly staring into someone's eyes.

You don't realize you're doing it, but you are.

 

[Clydefrog]

I know exactly what OP is referring to and yeah it bugs me too! Sometimes it's just so blatant.

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

As an actor, if I do this, it's because, well, people do this, and I'm trying to be realistic.

Any time I have to recall my lines, my eyes tend to go up and to the left...

Seriously though, how often do you try to "recall your lines"? Shouldn't you know them like the back of your hand. Without even thinking about them?

 

[jbueno]

I think I read somewhere that those movements have to do with the brain's way of processing stress. Something to do with this? http://www.4therapy.com/therapy/typ...ent-desensitization-reprocessing-therapy-2465

Hey, I´ve gone through EMDR! Worked just fine, though I was a bit skeptic at first.

 

[Salmonax]

You don't realize you're doing it, but you are.

I find it's like breathing. Every once in a while I think consciously about it in the middle of a conversation, and then I'm off autopilot and switched to manual.

 

[Kapura]

95% of the time, people's eyes move back and forth in conversation because they're changing which eye they look at. I've put a small amount of effort into figuring this out, and it seems that most people who DONT move their eyes back and forth will look mostly at only one of their opponent's eyes (for instance, I nearly always look at their right eye). Next time you're talking to somebody, figure out where you're ACTUALLY looking. It's pretty interesting IMO that when most people look into another's eyes, they're actually only looking at one of them.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

I've put a small amount of effort into figuring this out, and it seems that most people who DONT move their eyes back and forth will look mostly at only one of their opponent's eyes (for instance, I nearly always look at their right eye).

According to a NOVA episode I saw recently, humans have "a natural left-gaze bias, so you naturally look much more towards the left, i.e. the right-hand side, of somebody's face... Eye-tracking software demonstrates that, when presented with a human face, we nearly always look left first."

After watching that I noticed that I definitely look to my left (at their right eye) when meeting or talking with someone. Now I can't NOT notice it. Thanks NOVA...

 

[jdogmoney]

Seriously though, how often do you try to "recall your lines"? Shouldn't you know them like the back of your hand. Without even thinking about them?

Well, yeah, obviously. Doesn't always happen as soon as I would like, though.