If you ask 100 actors what is their favorite genre to play 99 out of 100 will tell you drama. Ask them why and they’ll say they want their work to be consequential, to mean something, to have importance, to move people, to change the world, and the Academy Award goes to…
It’s not surprising since the drama is one of the two most powerful film genres, the other being comedy. The reason drama has such cinematic power, however, isn’t because its stories are about important issues and meaningful themes. Its power comes from its ability to elicit compassion from the camera and therefore an audience. This is powerful because “compassion” is one of the two things that can save humanity, the other being “laughter.”
Having this power is one of the reasons the Academy Award goes to whom it goes. The actor whose characters elicit compassion from the camera not only will possess this power, that actor will rule their world. There are several cinematic techniques actors can use to accomplish this. Here’s one:
First, remember that, on camera, dramatic characters always feel they’re losing, even when they’re fighting to win. Feeling they’re losing is what drives them to
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