Olivia Newton John had a big hit on her hands in the ’80s with the song “Physical.”
Let’s get physical, physical I wanna get physical, let’s get into physical Let me hear your body talk, your body talk Let me hear your body talk
Hmm…she makes it sound so easy, doesn’t she? And for some people it is. For others—and often for actors—it’s the hardest thing to be in the world.
Our bodies are an extension of (and contain) our emotional being. When we feel feeling, we often have a physical expression of that feeling. When we cry, our shoulders slump. When we get angry, we throw something. When we feel joy, we jump up and down. It’s natural. Our bodies express that which we feel.
But actors stop that forward-moving momentum of full expression by overthinking. I’ve been punished for doing that! I can’t touch my partner. I’ve been rejected before, so I can’t display how much I care. We go into our heads and stop instincts from being fully expressed.
What if you just stopped doing that? Stop censoring yourself. We all have connection to our bodies and our impulses. Sometimes we act on them, but often we don’t. Or
Leave a Reply