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To live the character honestly you need to question yourself, "what if you were the character?".
Photo: Brittany Diliberto.
What you call as bringing a character to life doesn't mean being chirpy. Being chirpy can be one of the traits of your character but it certainly does not do justice to any character. All one can do to justice is to be honest with every trait of it's personality, from inner emotions to the outer portrayal. It is not that you will mimic the character, certainly not. You will question to what will you do, what will you feel, think, eat, sleep, speak. How and why will you think or act the way you think in your imagination that you have started to delve into ideation. Each and every action has a meaning, a 'why' linked to the retrospection or the imagination.
To reproduce feelings one must be able to identify them out of their own experience. Okay, it is way too difficult if you are a single Gen Z who has not experienced love but mere lust over Instagram or Bumble, if only you have dared to as Gen Z. So, where would one derive the emotions from, how would one really feel it? This is where observation, imagination and desire come into play.
Once you find your inner stimulus, without any force and deception, imagination proceeds. It's all about adding concrete details with the question of,' what if I am the character?'. The easy road is to imitate the character let's dive deep into LIVING THE CHARACTER as Stanislavski has said. As mentioned in An Actor Prepares, the Director says, "art is the product of imagination..." and that the actor should use his/her technique to turn the play into a theatrical reality.
Every character has a backstory, be it you or me. Sehnat from Raazi or Safeena Firdausi in Gully Boy, two performances by the same actress, yet so different. The approach to the character makes it different besides the story. To be a character you don't simply have to read the dialogues but make it come alive.
As per RADA's Dee Cannon, the character one plays should be truthful and not a cliche, what one says must be real and that the actor is not reciting, spouting or commenting.
And obviously the 5W's and 1H follow. Your imagination should be a persistent and gental persuasion, not that you force it. The work starts internally and is executed externally, that's how you get rid of the passive thoughts bringing in activity to your imagination. The process will lead you to an urge to act where you are not mere a passive spectator. As Stanislavski says, "...Then as an active participant in this imaginary life you will no longer see yourself, but only what surrounds you, and to this you will respond inwardly, because you are a real part of it."
I leave you on this note, join me this Wednesday for more acting insights. Ciao, see you this Wednesday.