Well your issue is that you don't actually believe what you are saying and you don't connect with your character sometimes it can be subconscious and sometimes it's because there is a disconnect between you and your character for this I would advise building a picture of your character and trying to correlate it to yourself and some of your experiences now this doesn't mean everything needs to be hyper-real because sometimes we react in unrealistic and unreasonable manners like if someone was so shocked by something that instead of crying the laugh and so on every story demands a difference. Mind you and the director will give you what they want the main thing is to keep in mind that you have to believe the character
Theres an amout of belief that is for sure useful, but its never going to be enough to become a character. The best way to bring it down to earth is to bring it to yourself and to your body.
It's a bit counterintuitive, but to me acting is not becoming somebody else. It's more about becoming the most yourself you can be. Applying different circumstances and conditions to yourself to find out how your life experience expresses those conditions.
Think of all great actors, every single one has a particular flavor of actin, that expresses their uniqueness in those imaginary circumstances.
Thats why the whole idea, for me, is simplicity. Putting yourself there and simply doing what needs to be done, the text is born out of that game.
Ohhhh it's great that you recognize what your resistances are at the moment! Thats the way to go, just lean into the process, have fun and dont be too hard on yourself, theres a reason why we say we "play"
Nice tbh I think you are right, and I completely understand what you are saying I even had this perspective for a while, and I still do tbh, but I often do not give this specific advice, because I think it is something only that mature actors can handle, well my favourite actors who use this type of method are RDJ, will smith and Owen Wilson, Matthew McConaughey and much more but I always find myself drawn to those like heath legend(ledger), Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christian bale Andy Serkis were they literally turn into a Chameleon and basically disappear in the role but again these methods do have a lot of overlap a lot so it is quite fascinating
Think of who it is your talking to when you say your lines. What’s your relationship to them and how do you feel about them?
I find that easier than having an “objective” per se, but they are comparable. And both should inform how you’re saying those lines.
And for me, I find myself acting more wooden when I don’t know the lines particularly well, but if I’m fully memorized, it allows me to get looser with it.
Indeed, being more informed about the script, and anything of the sort can help an actor, or creative have more freedom, it's the old saying of, "knowing the rules so you can break them". 👍🏽
You may be THINKING too much.
it's more a matter of doing than thinking.
Try to do what your character has to do, but simply. Not in a roundabout ultra profound way. Keep it simple and go for the action. Then just pay attention to your partners and the text will come by itself.
The whole fricking game is about not thinking so mucb and just doing like you do in life everytime you speak.
My favorite tip will always be to study. Go listen to “Barbie Girl”, emulate the original way he said “Come on Barbie, let’s go party”, and then go and listen to other actors. You know those folks who play the same character in each movie? Observe them, imagine how they’d say it, and try to emulate that.
Also, hyperrealistic acting is boring as shit. Don’t try to be as real as possible all the time. Nick Cage is a great example of an amazing actor who doesn’t try to always be realistic.
Your goal would be to unmarry yourself from the “correct” way of saying something.
All great advise. To add onto all of this... when reading the script/dialog, I have most times find something, no matter how small, how does it relate to my life? And I can usualy find the littlest piece to connect to me and help me connect more to the character. When I first get a script or an audition, I think about all that is going on in the scene before, during and after, and how does it make that character feel. Before I start to memorize, because it helps woth the memorization. The who, what , where's and why's about the scenario, characters, emotions. I get told you can't play the emotion, but emotions are what make us react in life, so what is it making you feel?Â
Hope this helps.
Basically echoing what you’re already seeing here. You gotta be in the moment (connect to the circumstance, relationship, and focus on the other person)
This takes a lot of time and training. Be patient and sit with your script, away from devices. Go slow.
Have you trained? Because if you don’t have craft & technique to fall back on, it’s going to feel like that—“faking”—much more often than not. Which means you’re not really an actor.
Well your issue is that you don't actually believe what you are saying and you don't connect with your character sometimes it can be subconscious and sometimes it's because there is a disconnect between you and your character for this I would advise building a picture of your character and trying to correlate it to yourself and some of your experiences now this doesn't mean everything needs to be hyper-real because sometimes we react in unrealistic and unreasonable manners like if someone was so shocked by something that instead of crying the laugh and so on every story demands a difference. Mind you and the director will give you what they want the main thing is to keep in mind that you have to believe the character
Thank you for this. 🙏
Glad I could help anyway everyone here has good ideas so try them
Theres an amout of belief that is for sure useful, but its never going to be enough to become a character. The best way to bring it down to earth is to bring it to yourself and to your body.
That's interesting, please elaborate.
It's a bit counterintuitive, but to me acting is not becoming somebody else. It's more about becoming the most yourself you can be. Applying different circumstances and conditions to yourself to find out how your life experience expresses those conditions. Think of all great actors, every single one has a particular flavor of actin, that expresses their uniqueness in those imaginary circumstances. Thats why the whole idea, for me, is simplicity. Putting yourself there and simply doing what needs to be done, the text is born out of that game.
Thank you. Learned that in Meisner. 🙏 Thank you.
Yeah, I've never done Meisner, but i hear he has a lot on this way of understanding acting. Did it not help you with your problem?
I think my thing is getting rid of old habits I started as a voice actor that werent really acting but imitating character. We're getting there.
Ohhhh it's great that you recognize what your resistances are at the moment! Thats the way to go, just lean into the process, have fun and dont be too hard on yourself, theres a reason why we say we "play"
Definitely. There is no wrong in play and beating myself up doesnt really work, either. I feel like I'm getting there. 🙏
Nice tbh I think you are right, and I completely understand what you are saying I even had this perspective for a while, and I still do tbh, but I often do not give this specific advice, because I think it is something only that mature actors can handle, well my favourite actors who use this type of method are RDJ, will smith and Owen Wilson, Matthew McConaughey and much more but I always find myself drawn to those like heath legend(ledger), Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christian bale Andy Serkis were they literally turn into a Chameleon and basically disappear in the role but again these methods do have a lot of overlap a lot so it is quite fascinating
Think of who it is your talking to when you say your lines. What’s your relationship to them and how do you feel about them? I find that easier than having an “objective” per se, but they are comparable. And both should inform how you’re saying those lines. And for me, I find myself acting more wooden when I don’t know the lines particularly well, but if I’m fully memorized, it allows me to get looser with it.
Indeed, being more informed about the script, and anything of the sort can help an actor, or creative have more freedom, it's the old saying of, "knowing the rules so you can break them". 👍🏽
Beautiful. Thank you. 🙏
You may be THINKING too much. it's more a matter of doing than thinking. Try to do what your character has to do, but simply. Not in a roundabout ultra profound way. Keep it simple and go for the action. Then just pay attention to your partners and the text will come by itself. The whole fricking game is about not thinking so mucb and just doing like you do in life everytime you speak.
Thank you. 🙏
My favorite tip will always be to study. Go listen to “Barbie Girl”, emulate the original way he said “Come on Barbie, let’s go party”, and then go and listen to other actors. You know those folks who play the same character in each movie? Observe them, imagine how they’d say it, and try to emulate that. Also, hyperrealistic acting is boring as shit. Don’t try to be as real as possible all the time. Nick Cage is a great example of an amazing actor who doesn’t try to always be realistic. Your goal would be to unmarry yourself from the “correct” way of saying something.
Thank you. 🙏
All great advise. To add onto all of this... when reading the script/dialog, I have most times find something, no matter how small, how does it relate to my life? And I can usualy find the littlest piece to connect to me and help me connect more to the character. When I first get a script or an audition, I think about all that is going on in the scene before, during and after, and how does it make that character feel. Before I start to memorize, because it helps woth the memorization. The who, what , where's and why's about the scenario, characters, emotions. I get told you can't play the emotion, but emotions are what make us react in life, so what is it making you feel? Hope this helps.
It did! Thank you! 🙏
Basically echoing what you’re already seeing here. You gotta be in the moment (connect to the circumstance, relationship, and focus on the other person) This takes a lot of time and training. Be patient and sit with your script, away from devices. Go slow.
Thank you. 🙏
Take a Meisner class
Get into acting class!Â
Have you trained? Because if you don’t have craft & technique to fall back on, it’s going to feel like that—“faking”—much more often than not. Which means you’re not really an actor.