How to Achieve Honesty in Your Acting

How is it that you can be quite a good actor, and
still be dishonest in performance?

Happens all the time. 

Dishonesty in acting can take several forms, so let me
illustrate.  Then, I'll give you simple and specific steps 
to abolish dishonest acting for good, and forever
enhance the skills you have.

Examples of Generalizing (Dishonesty) in Performance

PERIODIC DISHONESTY
The most subtle and frequent form of dishonesty
affects the professional actor, as well as the better-
than-average community theatre actor.  This form of
dishonesty is generalizing: playing at a feeling or
emotion instead of BEING AND DOING it. 

Since this is the Very Good Actor we are talking
about in this example, this kind of dishonesty is
not likely to affect the entire performance, but
will crop up in spots.  In other words, many moments
will be quite good, quite well executed; other
moments leave a bit to be desired, but because he's
so good, we tend as audience members to forgive.

ROLE GONE STALE

The biggest form of dishonesty for the professional
performer engaged in a long run is stale acting; the
life has drained from the performance except for
brief and fleeting instances of "brilliance" that are
elusive and difficult to repeat.

MEDIOCRITY

The most prevalent and not-so-subtle form of
dishonesty can be seen largely on non-professional
stages where mostly untrained actors appear, but
certainly rears its ugly head on the professional
stage as well. 

This form of dishonesty occurs when the actor has
either never reached a level of honesty in
performance, or has attained that level in the past,
but has become lazy.

The Remedy for All Forms of Dishonest Acting

You understand, or at least have heard, that HONESTY
and VULNERABILITY are attractive qualities in
performance.  I will go as far as to say both are
crucial to actors.

This is true whether you are performing on stage or
in front of the camera.

This is true whether you are performing in a
production or presenting yourself at an audition.

It is true whether you are presenting yourself at a
job interview.

The ability to engage honesty instantly-- once
accepted and EXPERIENCED -- is very powerful.

Difficult to attain?

That depends on how brave you are in terms of
1) Looking objectively at yourself, and
2) Allowing yourself to be "naked" in front of the
world.

How terrifying would it be if you had to stand in
front of 400 people and reveal the
- Ugliest side of yourself? 
- Worst thing you've ever done? 
- Most thoughtless thing you've ever done?

Okay, relax. That's not going to happen.

** BUT **

            and this is the key

      If you can IMAGINE
      with great detail
      looking into someone's eyes,
      and revealing all that "junk"
      and have them still love you,
      and accept you without judgment...

...then you have the ability to perform with
vulnerability and honesty.

            Read that again, slowly.

Now understand...

I did not say you WILL reveal ANYTHING, but when you
IMAGINE looking into someone's eyes, allowing them
inside to see aaallll of yourself -- your most intimate 
thoughts and darkest secrets... well, that can be a
scary thing, a really terrifying thing to even think
those things while looking into a person's eyes.

   PLEASE NOTE: If you try this exercise
  of looking into another person's eyes
  and mentally revealing yourself, instruct
  your partner to look into your eyes while
  thinking, over and over, "I love you, and
  it's all okay."

This is a powerful exercise. 

Doubt me? 

Try it sometime.  Less than 30 seconds of it and you
will be shaken.
 
Unless, of course, you cannot lower the shield.

Aaaahhhhh, there's the rub.

If that's you, if you cannot drop your guard, I
cannot help you with this simple article.  If your
curiosity is roused, however, then you can take the
simple steps below to improve your acting. 
Today.  Now.

(If you are intrigued and want to talk about this
process with me, send me an email and I'll set up a
free phone session with you and we can discuss.)

Here's how.  Take these ideas and run with them.  Use
this powerful and mind-blowing technique while 

1. Creating a role
2. Rehearsing
3. Cold reading
4. Preparing to audition
5. Auditioning and interviewing with the casting director
6. In performance

How to Attain Instant Honesty/Vulnerability

STEP ONE
Think, "I love you" while looking into your fellow
actor's eyes. 

The content and context of the scene DOES NOT
MATTER.  Even if your intention is TO HUMILIATE, TO
INSULT, TO FIRE RAGE AT... this will work.  The sex
of the other person does not matter. 

Before any words come out of your mouth -- for just a
moment -- take the chance and LOOK IN THEIR EYES and
think, "I love you."

How About the Audition?

If you're doing a monologue or a song selection for an
audition, you have a focal point, an imaginary person
you are talking or singing to, right?  Then look in
THAT person's eyes. 

Not talking to anyone?  CHANGE IT so that you are
talking to someone.  (It must be a SPECIFIC person you
are talking to, not "just someone.")

STEP TWO
Inhale while formulating your response.

Acting is reacting, right?  Even if you are doing a
monologue or song, SOMETHING HAS PROMPTED YOU TO
RESPOND, and you'd better know what that something is. 

If you don't know VERY SPECIFICALLY what prompts you
to begin speaking/singing THOSE PARTICULAR WORDS that
you are to speak/sing, then you have already lost the
audience before you have begun; you have already lost
the role at the audition.

The reason you inhale while formulating your thought --  
your very specific thought that is ultimately expressed
as a specific, active and powerful INTENTION -- is that
it draws focus in a very subtle and dynamic way. It
automatically and subliminally creates expectation.  

This is not a dramatic and sharp inhalation, by the
way.  Just breathe in 

and

suspend the breath, for at least an instant, at the
top of the inhalation.  Don't hold, cut off or stop
your breath... just suspend the movement of air
through your airway.  This is controlled by your
diaphragm, not your throat.

STEP THREE
Give; focus on the other person.

Remember, even at an audition, IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU. 
It's what you (as your character) WANT in that moment
FROM THE OTHER PERSON.  To get what you want, you
must GIVE to the other person, real or imaginary. This
is expressed as a specific, active and powerful
INTENTION.

It's that feeling of throwing the ball to someone,
and not pulling your throwing arm back right away,
but rather suspending your energy even after the
ball has left your hand. 

Picture throwing a ball and leaving your arm in space
for a few seconds before going back to neutral.  Not
JUST holding your arm out there, but suspending and
extending your energy in the direction of your pitch.

STEP FOUR
Repeat constantly.

If you even ATTEMPT these steps, your awareness will
be raised to a higher degree, and your acting, your
character development, your performance level, will
begin to improve.

Hope this is helpful.

Here's to Your Empowerment!

--Tom

Copyright © 2006, 2007, 2010 Tom Brooks and
The Empowered Actor Initiative  All Rights Reserved

Actors Above the Fray

The college or university setting can often seem like 

a Rumor Breeding Ground.  There is every opportunity 

to dish, to eavesdrop, to jab, to tear down...

Although it can get your blood going when you hear that 

so-and-so did something, or did NOT do something, blah, 

blah, blah... challenge yourself to stand above. Notice 

that even though there are some in your class who are 

above or below you in certain skill areas... 

...classmates who don't seem to 'deserve' to be there
 
...those who don't seem to work as hard as you

...some very talented people who treat you like dirt

...and though you might even encounter acting, voice, 

and dance professors who treat some students unfairly...

Stand above the fray, and recognize the tremendous 

variety of resources around you. And you can learn 

from every one of them.

Unless there is an issue for which you need to stand up, 

best to act as an observer, and focus on what's important. 

You'll have your own built-in daily reality show that be 

very comical most of the time, if you're able to detach 

and survey the behavior.

I was somehow always able to turn a deaf ear to the 

drama that was forever unfolding off stage.  I certainly 

would have gained nothing by being involved, and 

would have lost focus on studying the thing I loved 

best: Acting.

I transferred to Wright State University's Professional

Actor Training Program after my freshman year at 

Hofstra University. The WSU faculty went back and 

forth on whether to accept me as a 1st or 2nd year 

student, but I was accepted as a freshman.

No big reaction on the Gossip Meter there...just 

another transfer student, right?

But I happened to audition for Private Lives within 

a few days of classes starting. Only I didn't realize 

that although freshmen could audition, they could 

not be cast in the 1st quarter production. Knowing 

that would not have changed my audition, anyway. 

It was a long night of call-backs for this 2-male, 2-

female cast show.  I remember hanging around the 

call board until near midnight, awaiting director 

Bruce Matley's decision.  It was the next morning 

when the cast list was posted and I got the role of 

Victor.  And, uh, subsequently became a sophomore. 

Well, gee, the Gossip Meter took a spike... Here was 

this TRANSFER student who was just a freshman 

YESTERDAY and now, not only did he get a role in the 

first show of the year, he's now a SOPHOMORE.

I avoided plugging in to the gossip. The Theater 

History class with Professor Bob Hetherington was 

a large class, a mix of freshmen and sophomore 

students.  Although I knew there was a little bit of  

Who Does He Think He Is kind of energy, it wasn't 

really that bad, and I'll tell you why.

I didn't play.  I could have been a snot. I could have 

been a Poor Me whiner with a Why Doesn't Everybody 

Like Me kind of attitude.  I could have contributed to 

that energy any number of ways -- but I chose not to. 

I just...did my work. I was there to learn how to be 

a better actor all around.
 

The week of opening, one of my new friends, Brad, was 

sitting beside me in Theater History. He scrawled a note 

on my paper (we usually traded silly cartoons and 

comments back and forth)...It was in reference to  

Private Lives.  He wrote, "You'd better be good." I 

laughed, but that half-joking note made me realize just 

how unaware I was at the degree to which both the 

freshmen and sophomore classes were watching me.

Still, I had too much to think about, with exams 

coming up, and the play opening and all.

Then, the Big Night, the Toughest Audience: Preview. 

The whole of the Acting Student body would be attending.

The show went well -- I think.  I truly don't remember 

anything specific, except being delighted that the 

audience was responding so well, thinking, opening 

night will never be this good...they're theatre 

people...so of course they're supportive.

Well, the next day, I slept in. Well, over-slept is more 

accurate...don't even remember turning off the alarm. 

But I woke up with the sinking feeling that I was late for 

my Theater History exam.

I bolted out of bed, ran down the path from my 

apartment, ran down the hall, paused for a minute 

before going in the door--didn't want to be breathing 

TOO hard, right?

The room was set up sort of arena style, the five or six 

long rows of seats curved to focus on the professor's area

...with the door to one side of that. No way to really 

sneak into class. Face red, I opened the door as quietly 

as I could.

They all looked up from their exams.

Then they began to spontaneously applaud.

For a moment, I was confused. Then I got it: They 

approved.  I passed the test. (Or as Sally Field might 

say, "They liked me! They really liked me!")

But to me, it was more than that.  I had stayed above 

the fray; I didn't play any game I didn't want to.  I had 

a single-minded focus during my time at WSU. (Well...

most of the time.)

I don't remember what I got on my exam.  I did well 

enough, but it doesn't really matter, does it?

Here's to Your Empowerment!

--Tom

Copyright © 2006, 2007, 2010 Tom Brooks and The Empowered Actor Initiative
All Rights Reserved

The Actor's Opportunity to Be Naked

In your work as an actor, there is a great analogy I 

want to share it with you.

You are like a good, quality piece of wood; a fine 

piece of oak, walnut, or mahogany. Over time, this 

piece of wood has been covered by layer after 

layer of paint...

Infants are truly in the moment. They are simply 

present, moment to moment. They cry one minute, 

and happily play the next, depending on the dominant 

focus.

As we grow, we learn to behave differently 

depending on the circumstance... and the 

application of the first layers of paint begins.

Now, in our daily lives, we have so many layers 

we operate through. In a couple of places, and 

for a few select people, we might occasionally 

allow some of the original grain to show through. 

For some, it can become difficult to keep up with 

what layers needs to be shown to what people. It's 

easy to lose track of the original grain. Some 

forget who they are.

For the really fine actor, it is essential to get in touch 

with the original grain -- as close as possible, anyway. 

This does not mean constantly reliving a painful past, 

or even wearing your heart on your sleeve.  Rather,

understand you are a product of all that you have 

experienced; all you have been through has shaped 

your being. And there is no blame there for the bad

stuff, for it is you who decides how to move forward 

each day.

As an actor, you need to understand how to build instant 

rapport, for instance, when you are in a cold reading 

situation with another actor you've never met. According 

to the script, the characters are supposed to have been in 

a relationship for 17 years. So how do you do it? How do 

you establish in very few seconds a magnetic relationship

-- especially when your acting partner is a stranger?

You need to be able to shuffle off your own protective layers; 

become (or appear to become) vulnerable by allowing yourself 

to stand figuratively naked before the other actor (and 

therefore the audience) in order to allow them in; in order to 

allow them to be drawn in.

THAT'S WHERE YOU BEGIN WITH CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: SELF

...Not putting on the voice, or creating the physicality first, 

but with Self. Truth. When you are OPEN to possibilities, the 

inspiration for voice and movement will come organically.

This process of becoming vulnerable and invoking honesty 

doesn't always happen in a linear fashion, nor does it need to. 

(Just a note here. The more experience you get with this 

process of opening up, the easier it becomes. You probably 

already do at least some of this intuitively anyway -- although 

it's easy to get in your own way and close the door, so to speak.)

It's Not All About You

For a variety of reasons, and in a variety of situations (audition 

vs. rehearsal vs. performance), you might not "feel" connected, 

open, or even creative. 

Oh, well. Tough. 

You can't wait around to start feeling stuff. So that, of course, 

is when you use your imagination, technique, etc., to give 

what the other actor needs. (Ironically, the process of 

attaining instant honesty and vulnerability is about giving, 

giving of self in a very uninhibited way.)

Soon you will be able to engage the honesty, the much 

sought-after vulnerability, within seconds. This process 

is very helpful with classical theatre, especially when 

acting Shakespeare. The thing that distances audiences 

from Shakespeare is often the actor...the actor who 

PUTS ON the character, and SHOWS US, instead of BEING 

and RESPONDING truthfully to the material and to fellow 

actors. It can be easy to forget that Shakespeare's 

characters are flesh and blood, so we start to perform 

with some sort of preconceived notion of what a 

Shakespearean performance should be.

Truly, that approach will distance ANY audience from 

any play, classical or contemporary; but as actors we 

can *generally* connect more easily with contemporary 

roles. But more on acting Shakespeare in a future article.

No matter the play, no matter the playwright, start with 

Self first.

THAT's how to BEGIN to make the words your own; for 

you must fully own them to have them come from the 

core of your being if you are going to serve the production, 

your fellow actors, and the audience.

I hope this has been helpful.

Here's to Your Empowerment!

--Tom

Copyright © 2006, 2007, 2010 Tom Brooks and The Empowered Actor Initiative
All Rights Reserved