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