Acting is about sharing yourself, not “getting away” from yourself.  How does that statement sit with you?  Have you fallen into the trap of trying to transform yourself into someone completely unrecognizable with every character you play?  Sometimes there is a lot of pressure from other actors to do this.

The worst situation is an acting class in which all the other student actors are encouraged to give their critique of your performance.  A lot of times, student actors don’t have the vocabulary yet to give you a truly useful critique, and so when a performance isn’t working, you will hear the criticism that it was “too much like you.”  Put another way, it could be: “you didn’t get away from yourself enough.”

Is this a valid criticism?  It usually comes from a good place, but is not necessarily verbalized accurately.  Let’s not forget that the purpose of an actor is to entertain the audience.  The audience does not care whether or not the actor is “getting away from himself” or not, as long as he enjoys the performance.  The real question becomes, how do you deliver an exciting performance?

The one thing you have to offer is your humanity.  Every human being is capable of experiencing every emotion in life.  When you come to a role, you bring your unique perspective to the character.  If your main goal is to eliminate every part of yourself, what do you have left?  Nothing!

Instead, when you approach a role, you should embrace the uniqueness that you bring to the role.  Your fresh perspective is what makes your performance different from any other actor who may perform it.  When you bring the emotional truth to it in that way, then you can begin to layer the physical and vocal changes on top of it.  As long as that layer of truth is there underneath, you can transform the external attributes as much as you want.

The bottom line?  People may or may not say “Wow, I didn’t even recognize him!”  But don’t worry about it.  Captivate your audience by baring your soul, and they will respond with gratitude and love.

Tags: Acting Tips by superdiv
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When was the last time you saw a performance that had you mesmerized?  How would you like to give such a compelling performance, every single time?  Every great acting performance has one thing in common: the actor understands the passionate desires of the character.

When preparing for a role, one of the things you must discover is what your characters wants or desires in each scene you play.  Though it easy to make vague choices, it is very important instead to push yourself to make extremely specific choices.  Only then can you really go after your character’s desires with passion.

Let’s take a scene from Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part II for an example.  In the play, Queen Margaret and the Duke of Suffolk have had an affair behind the King’s back.  In the particular scene (Act III, Scene ii), Margaret tells the Duke that he has to exile himself because the King has found out about the affair and wants to kill him.  As an actor, what do you think are the desires of the Queen?  Does she really want the Duke to go, or does she want him to stay?

If you were playing the Queen, you would have to make that decision.  If you don’t make a firm choice as to what your character passionately desires, you will never be able to play the scene with the passion that makes your performance exciting!  There is no right or wrong answer, but for now let’s say that you choose to play the Queen as if she truly, passionately wants to make love to the Duke.

Now you have a very interesting scene to play, because you have internal conflict built in.  You want to make love to the Duke, but you know that if you don’t convince him to leave, he will be killed, and you will never have him again.  With the intense passion of desire, you can beg and plead for him to go.  Then imagine the agony when you can not hold yourself back from embracing and kissing him - possibly for the last heartbreaking time.  Then you finally collapse in tears when he leaves you.

Do you see how captivating your performance can become when you make powerful choices?  What if you as an actor could not figure out whether your character, the Queen, really wanted him to stay or go.  When you don’t commit to a choice, you lose the ability to go after something with everything that you have.  Audiences want to see you go after something, and then they will rejoice or despair with you when you succeed or fail.

The bottom line is that you have to know your character well enough to know what he or she wants.  Then play the full scene to get that which you desire.  A great acting technique will help you to do this, every single time.

Tags: Acting Tips by superdiv
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For theatre actors, one of the greatest ways to bring believability to your character is to find a bit of “business” to do. This simply means performing some physical tasks while onstage, rather than standing (or sitting) there like a bump on a log, stiffly reciting lines.

So what can you do to add a more natural dimension to your character? If a scene takes place in a kitchen, you could clear the table or do the dishes. In an office, you could straighten papers on the desk. If you are having a discussion in the bedroom, you could finish getting dressed. These are just a few examples of things you can do.

For your next role, whether for acting class or a show you are in, consider where you can add some business. Be selective! If you add too much business, you can appear fidgety. Just choose a few moments where it would be appropriate.

Also, you should make sure any business you do is consistent with your character choice. If you are playing a homemaker, there are any number of “housekeeping” tasks you can do. A businessman may be meticulous about his clothing, adjusting his tie and cuffs.

But what if you are playing someone is more sloppy, or carefree, who never worries about tidying anything up? No problem! Think about how that affects your character’s life. Maybe you can never find your car keys, so you are constantly searching for them.

Here is a simple example of how believable a scene can become when you add the proper business: Imagine a scene where your character is alone in a room and the phone rings. A predictable, boring way to play the scene is to stand perfectly still while saying lines into the phone. The story will be moved along as it is supposed to be, but will the audience be engaged?

Picture the same scene this way. Find a reason to write something down during your phone call. Now you have something to do: search for a pen (maybe you have to go through a few until you find one that writes), grab a scrap of paper, and cradle the phone on your shoulder as you try to write while talking. Though very simple, these mundane activities will create both interest and believability while you deliver your lines.

Let your imagination run wild when discovering ways to add business to your performance. This is the fun part, where you get to inject some creativity into the role as it is written in the script.

Please feel free to comment on this post! What are some ideas you have about how to include business in a scene? Have you tried this before? If so, what did you do that worked? Share your thoughts with the readers of this blog…

Tags: Acting Tips by superdiv
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