Transformations?

"Become" a character!

...we hear that all the time in drama settings ... we expect the actors we see on screen or on stage to convince us they are a different person for those two hours. And we believe them.

My previous question (about whether you expect to feel like a character you play) was designed to get you thinking about what actually happens on stage in the process of acting.

Since I don't lecture during class, bear with me and read this all the way through. It's important stuff. :)

There are two "schools" of acting:
1. Physicalization:
Acting "in character" is carefully connecting your own life experiences with the experiences of a character, and then working to communicate the similar underlying emotions in a physical way. So actors who work on the principle of physicalization don't necessarily expect to "feel" the same way their character would feel onstage. But they work hard to use their bodies in a way that makes the audience believe that they are.

To do that, the actor has to understand (from the text) why a character is doing or saying what's in the scene. That's the basis for the subtext and the acting that flows from it. But the actor is fully in control of himself/herself at all times. If the script calls for a display of great anger, the actor doesn't actually lose his temper. He makes it LOOK LIKE he does.


2. The "Method"
Acting is truly becoming the character--convincing yourself that you ARE someone else. Method actors work extremely hard to explore every facet of a character's life, to imagine their fantasies, to dream their dreams, to live their lives. A method actor playing a fugitive might take a couple days to live in the woods without showering just to "understand" what fugitive criminals feel like.

Actors spend a lot of time jotting down detailed subtext and motivations for their lines, and developing their "emotional memories" to use onstage. Actors try to THINK their character's thoughts onstage (instead of "Oh my goodness! What's my next cue?!" :)

The majority of American theater schools teach Method Acting.




So ... whaddya think?
Which "method" appeals to you?

Which do you think I'm going to focus on?
:)