Into the third week of drama classes I developed a strong interest in subtexts, learning about characters, becoming the character, method acting.
I could always easily switch character. I wear many masks and faces. Don’t we all? But I live so thoroughly in mine that I have been questioned as to whether I have multiple personalities? Or if I’m schizophrenic. I am not. Truth is, I can switch character depending on my environment and mood. Comfort is the key.
Also there is the fun of role-playing. Wrong! Actors do not role play. They do not imitate; they learn and apply. There is the fun of learning and applying.
Actor must be consistent in their roles yet allow growth. And actors must know every emotion of their characters, the reason for their every line in the play and the ultimate rationalisation of their actions – why they did what they did or what makes them think so. Actors always grow and their characters, though constant and bound by their lines are limitless to the possibilities of reactions through directed emotions.
This is why drama helps me. It brings me down to understanding myself. I apply the science of the theatre to create a calmness in my head where I can connect with my soul. It’s not easy. Having not been on a stage for over six years, the sense of wonder was lost to the fear of forgetting lines.
While researching method acting I came across this story: When Dustin Hoffman was doing the film Marathon Man, at one stage his character had to look like he had stayed awake for three nights. Dustin, being a method actor, decided to stay up for three nights in order for it to look more realistic. When he got to the set, the late Sir Laurence Olivier asked him why he looked so tired and Dustin told him. Olivier paused for a moment, then said: “Try acting, dear boy…it’s much easier.”
But is it? Let’s see, an actor spends months learning his lines and getting in character. He steps on stage the first day of rehearsals with a nearly full understanding of his character only to have the director change it because s/he wants a different interpretation.
What does the actor do? Does he argue with the director? He has researched his character. He knows his character better than anyone else. He has become his character. The director’s intervention is like asking him to change himself. What does he do? He takes Sir Laurence Olivier’s advice.
2013’s Best Director puts it like this: “Think of the director as your God.”
The director knows how an actor must relate to the entire play and other characters for the success of the production. A character is minute compared to the play.
Actors must take their roles seriously. When the curtains rise or the camera’s red light flashes on, their roles become their lives. But can an actor go too far to accomplish the perfect role? In Hollywood actors have shaved their heads and dieted to slim down or bulk up. When is it enough? And how much is too much?
Drama is metaphysical. It is scientific and theological in many ways I would never comprehend am but drawn to with admiration and strong unexplainable interest. Will I ever make a career out of it? Is this new learning curve I’m on just a waste of time? Time wasted is not necessarily wasted time, right?
This much I know. I can use every lesson life offers me to grow in some way; to perfect my role, so to speak. Or I can ignore them to my detriment.