Acting 101

Subject: Having never done any acting myself, I found this chapter to be quite interesting simply because it attempted to explain not only what an actor does in a production, but also how he auditions, prepares, and creates a character.

I had taken for granted the fact that actors have to audition in order to perform – while I knew there was a bit of a process in being accepted for a role, I never realized things were so complicated. From the original “cattle call” to call backs and readings, there seems to be quite a bit of pressure on the actor coupled with the stress of ever searching for the next job. It was fascinating to note that the concept of the audition is fairly new – to me, it appeared to be the most obvious form of “interviewing” an actor; then again, I’ve grown up in a generation of auditions so how would I know any different.

I also never realized that there were so many schools of thinking when it came to acting. I suppose the typical style that most people recognize is the Stanislavsky method, but others such as Grotowski or Suzuki (whom, I’m guessing, would be a big fan of Broadways’ STOMP) were notable.

It would seem as though the most difficult part of acting would be in the creation of the character; getting into the mind of who you’re playing, so to speak. From there, the actor must constantly be aware of how that character would react, what their motives would be, where their emotions may lead them and so on. All of this coupled with off-stage noise, audience distractions, and then blanking on a line makes the actor something more of a talking head – they, in fact, must become a separate individual (almost as though in multiple personalities).

Now how a person would create the character of Richard III is beyond me – how could someone be so ruthless, so conniving, so blatantly arrogant and keep their sanity as an actor is quite impressive; especially when you consider that the actor must actually be that individual for just a short period of time. I can’t help but wonder, has anyone ever played a character and gotten stuck “in character” or at least preferred that character to their own person? Could that person ever actually truly be the separate character or would the character simply be a mask? Just a thought.