An Actor's Energy.

Someone asked me today about energy.  They had gone for an audition and after one take, the casting associate asked the person to do the next take with more energy. The person wanted to know what MORE ENERGY meant.

What could I say, Over a period of time I have figured it out for myself but could never put it in words. What exactly does it mean when people say the actor has energy. I will try to figure it out.

I was tempted to google what that means but I wanted to first know what I understand and then see if I do understand it. Also, I am sure I have researched it before. There was no straight answer but when you listen to many actors talk about their craft you can take your notes.

When I started out I felt Shahrukh Khan had that actor's energy. Remembering the scene from Deewana which stuck in my head where he confronts his father. Note that it is a high octave scene. The guy is passionate and that will appeal to the audiences.  If high octave is the parameter then Al Pacino's last scene from Scent of a Woman has the energy or any of his performances has crazy energy I feel. But by saying this we are generalizing his performances. So let's get into specifics.

The scene from Godfather where he is sitting silently in the meeting with the family after being slapped by the police chief. He had energy in that silence. Or Naseeruddin Shah's Common Man from Wednesday had the energy. Even though in that role an untrained actor would not bring in that energy because it feels you don't have to do much until the final speech. This is why here you need to get close to understanding what layering means in a performance.

So by taking the Wednesday role as an example, we can maybe talk about Energy. In the entire film, the common man is plotting to kill those 3-4 terrorists. So, inside he is going through a lot. The anxiety of the situation, the need to remain confident and sure with the police, the need to remain normal while talking to his wife. If an actor sees it plainly, it is about a common man who does an uncommon act. Do it plainly many would say. But without layering it with the reality of the situation, there is no performance and hence there is no energy.

The energy hence comes from feeling what the character would feel. The aliveness of the actor is transformed into energy which the audience takes in as energy and in return falls in love with the character and the actor.

If the audience sees you alive they want to see you more. If you are alive and breathing. You will have energy.

Remember the scene from Godfather where Michael shoots the police chief. He has no lines but how alive is he? Hence you feel his energy.

It is not about lines, it is not about saying it loud.

This is another misconception when someone asks an actor to increase the energy, they get louder. No, it is not about that, nor is it about high octave scenes.

The energy if you are missing in your performance could be because:
1. You are clueless about what you are doing.
2. You have no talent.

Talent part no one can do anything about. I always felt I had talent but still sometimes people told me that I was missing the energy. It could be because I was not entirely present or I was unprepared, I could be nervous, or inside my head too much. 

To act, you got to be in the moment. If you are, things would be taken care of.

You have to be in regular practice, You have to keep reading different plays, scripts, preparing roles. Even if you have no job. You will get a job as an actor if you keep preparing to be an actor.

Personally, I have not auditioned much, I love acting so I randomly prepare stuff. Just for the sake of it. I catch hold of my friends and show them what I have prepared. Every month you need to prepare at least two multi-actor scenes and a couple of monologues. You got to do your voice exercises, you got to do your acting exercises.

Acting is all about preparation. As it was said in Stanislavsky's book an actor is like a soldier. Be a soldier If you want to do good work - great work. Be disciplined.  Do the work. Practice as much as you can.

As you start getting the hang of acting. You will understand what it means when they ask you to increase energy.

Unless you do the work i.e practice of your art as well as your craft. Art is talent, Craft is the mechanical process that you follow.

You need to balance both. You cannot just close your eyes and feel. An actor has to feel emotions that may not have happened to them, the emotions that could be alien to them. Those emotions come to an actor when they have put in a lot of effort, a lot of practice.

You cannot understand what energy is unless you know what a truthful performance is.

Learn the craft for your art to shine. There are no easy answers. 

There are no pills.

There are only hours in the day that you need to put in to understand what you are doing.

We all are clueless when we start. But only by doing we can know what is it that needs to be done.

So get up and do something about it.

Ask your seniors to help. Show them what you have prepared.

In time you will learn to harness the energy that is called acting.

It's not going to happen overnight. So please stop looking for shortcuts and just do the donkey work as my idol says.

To end this I would say Energy is what happens when you are aligned with your character in your heart, soul, and mind. Now, that is going to take some work to do.

So start now. Put in those hours.

PS. Energy is being alive.
Naseer sir says "to sustain a character whether in film or on stage also requires a constant flow of energy from the actor".