Have you ever wondered how an actor practices? It was always widely though that actors just talked to themselves in the mirror for hours upon hours, but that wouldn’t really make sense, because then who is going to say whether they are good or not. Well it turns out that the best practice for Actors is probably just socializing.
If you think about the act of socializing isn’t it the same thing as acting anyway. William Shakespeare said, ” the world is a stage and all the people are merely actors”, maybe he was on to something. For practice try this one: think of someone you know personally then take a peek at their Linkedin page and try and spot all the facts about them that are maybe a little skewed or misleading. Now it’s not that the person you are researching is a liar, but maybe they is merely how they see themselves and so the next time you see them in person watch how they display characteristics that match those self-depictions.
We all do it, especially us Actors, we are simply just better at making others believe we are who we say we are. Socializing is a way to practice that, although doing this often may make you seem like a schizophrenic it is all for a purposeful payout. Try doing this with as little words as possible, by using hints and facial and body language all the while watching how others do the same. Becoming a great actor means working off the camera too.
I love this! Years (and years) ago I was a film student here in Nashville, and one of the classes that I loved the most was called “Acting For Directors”. One of the most amusing – and important – exercises we would do is this: The professor would choose two people from the class. Those two people would sit in front of the class, facing each other. From there, the two people would simply TALK to one another. Listen. Build off of what the other was saying. Create a storyline through the completely impromptu conversation. This was a great way to build up your skills as an active listener as well as improv skills.
I loved it.
Great post 🙂