What’s the difference between an actor and her character? One thinks she is the character, the other wishes the actor would stop saying she is the character.
Whenever I’m working with an actor on camera, I always start by asking the actor to tell me about his or her character. In response, I usually receive a very thorough analysis of the story, the key relationships in the story, the history of the main characters, and a list of emotional and psychological factors playing on the actor’s character during the scene. After all that, I still wouldn’t recognize the actor’s character if I bumped into him or her in a closet.
The greatest myth of character creation is that you are the character and the character is you. Actors are taught to approach characters this way for the purpose of responding honestly and without prejudice as they play the scene, something they see as great acting. However, all of their great acting is wasted because it’s not happening to a recognizable human—it’s happening to an actor. What’s the difference between humans and actors? Humans are defined by their limitations. Actors are defined by their limitless possibilities.
READ: Finding Truth
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