In the Beginning, forget about your feelings. When the inner conditions are prepared, and right, feelings will come to the surface of their own accord.
- Pg: 53, Chapter: Action, Book: An Actor Prepares- Constantin Stanislavski
I was introduced to acting in December 2006 with a theatre workshop. I was told that Stanislavski is the father of modern acting and everyone who wants to be an actor should read his books. I managed to read only one book An Actor Prepares. I read it once and forgot all about it. Recently, I have started reading it again and realized whenever I get a chance to act I follow the book in many ways. It has given me amazing results too. I don't act much but whenever I do I attempt to be true to the character. I try to fill myself with as much information about that particular character and when I am on stage or in the front of the camera I let myself go with the belief that the information will make me react in a way the character would have.
I am learning. I have a long way to go but this little concept helped me so much and put me at ease that If I create the world like mine for the character, it will become alive in me and I shall be able to project it in my performance.
What I understand from the above-mentioned phrase from the book is that when you have all the information about the situations and reasons of the character you are playing you won't have to fake it. You will just be able to bring it alive. Be that character.
I will like to clarify using an example. Let's assume you are playing Shirish, a young man diagnosed with a deadly disease and the whole story is how he becomes at peace with himself. Like he understands what life is in its entirety when he was about to die.
There is a scene where he informs his parents about the disease.
How do you go about performing the scene?
The scene graph goes like this: You go to your parent's room. you chitchat about everything but the disease and midway you break down. They keep asking you what is wrong but you don't say a word. You leave the reports behind and step out of the house crying and dazed. You cannot think straight.
There are different actors and different ways.
Some people won't think about Shirish. Who he is? What his life is been about?
They will pick up the scene remember the lines and plot how they think their emotions progress with the scene and perform it.
or Some will read- memorize and jump in the scene hoping they hit the right notes.
or some will mock rehearse what their emotion should be without letting themselves feel it.
Many actors don't want to go through the pain.
They do it like they think it should be done. Mechanically. Which according to Stanislavski is the worst form of acting.
To those who are afraid of the trauma. Some say you know I have felt this and that. I cannot go there.
My suggestion is if you are a butcher you cannot stop the blood from spilling on your hands or clothes.
If you are a professional actor, you got to deal with your emotions. Period.
Now, How do we go about the scene as suggested in this phrase? As an actor, you read the entire script. You have information about what happens in the film. Now start filling the gap about the character in accordance with the writer and the director. Because it is very important to be aligned with them. The character is from the writer's imagination and the director is executing it so it is very important that they know what is going on in your head.
After you filled in the detail. as they say, you need to know as much about the character as you know about yourself.
It might seem impossible but it usually depends on the amount of time you have to prepare the role.
like once I had a week to prepare for the role. I imagined 20 incidents from the character's 20 years of life on earth. My thoughts being If I go back and examine my life. I will not have more than one or two incidents- memories every year that made me who I am today.
and then I made those memories alive in my imagination. I started giving the memories color. Those memories should be as vivid as the ones that happened in our life. During the whole shoot, I kept going through them, making them more alive not thinking about the scenes, not thinking about how I should be emoting. I only wanted to feel as if I had lived that life.
The work that I did on the script was that I memorized my lines and with the scenes thought about where I am coming from? before the scene starts and Where I am going to after the scene ends?
The result was quite impressive. I could feel I did some amount of justice to the character.
As actors, all we have to do is bring life to the character on paper. We are not here to impress. An Actor's only job is to express what the character is feeling. Don't bring yourself in the picture. Your job is to serve the character and in turn serve the story.
This is what anyone care's about.
