Chapter 8

Characterizing – the inner life

The actor should build an inner life for the character.

After all, each character is a REAL PERSON in the play.

How to build an inner life of the character?

To build a character completely on externals is to make the character a MACHINE not a

PERSON.

The actor’s goal should be to

make the character a

person which can only be done if

the personality is real .

The Method

It is based on the teaching of Lee Strasberg (1901-1982),

adapted on the work of Stanislavski

Was an American actor, director and acting teacher.

He is considered the "father of method acting in America,"

THE METHOD means that the actor must become the

character and somehow live the role by taking on the

character’s personality in REAL LIFE.

Stanislavski said that actors should try to act as if they

were EXPERIENCING the same thing the characters were

experiencing.

Understanding and communicating the inner life of a character will lead

to a characterization that seemsmore real, more genuine, more honest,and more convincing than one that is based only on the outer appearances of a character.

Acting As If

“What would I feel If I were really doing this?”

This is usually accomplished by what is often called remembered emotion. You use your imagination to remember a similar situation in your own life and then let that memory reproduce the feeling you need.

This doesn’t always work as well as it should, for three reasons:

1. You may not always be playing a character who feels things the same way you do.

2. It tends to encourage actors to act within themselves or to underplay the expression of a feeling to such an extent that they are feeling is not always very clear to people in the audience.

3. You must constantly use your imagination to think about two things:

• The feeling in the scene• The feeling in your own life that you use

to make it happen

If you act as if the obstacle is real, you will automatically respond naturally to that obstacle as you try to reach your objective. As if can be used even for characters that are types, for even the most stereotype character has an inner life.

Sympathizing with your own character

While acting as if builds most of the inner life role, it will not always build all. You may often be asked to play characters who are not all like you. The playwright has already determined what the character is like when the script was written, and you have already analyzed what the playwright requires.

But it may still be difficult for you to sympathize or share that. When this happens, you may be tempted to respond as if you were in the situation instead of responding as the character would in the situation.

HOW ?

• Know more about the past of your character.

• Use interior monologue by duplicating what the character is thinking then speak it to your own self.

Playing Age or Handicaps

Handicaps refer to the physical disability of a person. Older characters often face physical obstacles that prevent them from moving normally. The most convincing way to deal with this kind of characterization is to act as if you faced the same obstacle.

Find the obstacle that prevents normal movement, then concentrate, act as if you faced the same obstacle, and try to overcome it. You will find that you produce the same characteristics, but that they are more convincing because they grow out of something genuine.

How?

• Act as if you are facing the same obstacle.

Playing Comic Characters

Comic characters often are the funniest when they are not trying to be funny. The best way to play a comic character is often to play as if things were real. Find the character’s objective and act as if you really want to reach that objective.

The more you keep trying , the funnier the scene will be, precisely because you are trying, the funnier the scene will be, precisely because you are trying, the funnier the scene will be, precisely because you are trying to act as a character rather than trying to be funny.

The best way to play a comic character is often to play as if things were real. Find the character’s objective and act as if you really want to reach that objective. The more you keep trying, the funnier the scene will be, precisely because you are trying to react as a character rather than trying to be funny.

The End