Even though acting is a form of play-pretend and make-believe, effective performances are grounded in emotional honesty. What makes an actor cry on stage or turn red with fury?
These renowned veterans verbalize how to produce emotionally rich performances and what happens when they do.
Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”“While we rehearsed I did personal work, inventing her backstory…. I wrote her life before. I wrote scenes I would use later when I needed some support to be able to burst into tears out of nowhere. I needed to build a structure of stories that I could use when I needed to reach this or that emotion.”
Nathan Lane, “Angels in America”“[Eugene] O’Neill is asking you to be as brave as he is in the writing and to go as far as he goes—which is very far. It kind of demands an exposure and going to the darkest places of your soul, otherwise it doesn’t work…. There were nights that it was almost hallucinatory, where it takes you emotionally. I highly recommend O’Neill if you’re looking to shake things up—let’s put it that way.”
Brian Tyree Henry, “Atlanta”“It’s not about being safe anymore.
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