How do you make a character human?
“Totally. The State Fair was so, well, awe…”
“I KNOW! Right!”
In our every day lives we do not always talk in complete sentences. Instead we get excited and jump into someone else’s sentence to exclaim a new thought we just had come to mind.
In movies the temptation is to write and say every sentence word for word but it begins to sound stiff to the listener and audience. We need to stop thinking like an actor and start thinking and feeling like a person.
Instead, imagine you are saying your lines to your best friend, brother, sister, mother, father, boyfriend, girlfriend, and the list could go on. How would you say your lines to your bff?
Stop thinking about acting and start thinking about being the character. If you just went completely bankrupt would you be happy? If you just lost your favorite aunt in an accident would you have a lot to say or be silent? What if you were just told your whole life was a lie and you grew up in the witness protection program, would you be in shock?
When we read scripts as actors, we know the outcome. The story is already written. Remember, characters do not know the outcome and you as the actor should portray their emotions not your emotions. Read your lines as if this was your life. Would it change the way your said your lines?
Naturally I can be a very bubbly individual. I love to laugh and I love making the people around me laugh too. Playing a lead role in Rather to be Chosen was difficult at times since my character hardly smiled. Kayla Long was tightlipped and jaded–not like my personal self. As I acted I tried to imagine myself in her place. How would I feel? As I envisioned myself truly being Kayla Long the lines came easier and emotions seemed to fit better.
It’s time us actors, STOP ACTING! The better an actor is the less acting they do.
