Ask A Healer Creative Wellbeing Series

The glorious, fun gifts of acting!
Content copyright, Neva J. Howell

Featured for actors: How to cure stage fright

Isn't it wonderful that we can, as the actor, help total strangers to see and experience a different perspective and reality? What a transformative thing.

The creative process is really a healing and transformative gift for performer and audience alike.

I grow, as a person, everytime I play a character living a reality outside my own experience. By almost literally walking in someone else's shoes, by virtue of my imagination and commitment to the role, I gain empathy and understanding with each role I portray.

In much the same way, thru the vivid use of imagination, the audience members get an even wider experience of expansion because they can gain insight into my character's point of view while, at the same time, witnessing and connecting with the perspective and point of view of each of the other characters.

We rarely get the opportunity to observe human behavior played out in front of us. It's considered rude to stare at someone.

At the theatre, or in the movie cinema, or sitting at home in front of the VCR, we are offered luxurious freedom to study facial reactions, vocal changes, body reactions and the mind at work.

Acting Tips and Gems - What is Your Goal as an Actor?

I remember being in an acting class with Lisa Dalton (great teacher, if you get the chance to study with her).

After my monologue, Lisa asked me what I hoped to accomplish with the monologue. I said I wanted to make the audience feel the depth of my characters pain.

She asked me....and I'm paraphrasing here...she asked what if the audience had another journey they wanted to take?

What if my objective could be to play the role with as much truth and honesty as I could, and release the audience to feel whatever they needed to feel about it?

That was a very freeing moment for me as an actor and also hinted at some of the true transformative power of art.

Collecting Character Traits for you Future Roles:

Simply taking time to be aware of how your body reacts - to joy, to pain, to anger, to sadness, etc. and making a mental note of what changes - these are treasures you can store away in your acting toolbox of the mind.

Then, when character roles require it, you can easily access those files of information to get you started on the road toward believable acting.

For example, I'm noticing right now that, as I think of what to type next, my eyes slightly narrowed and my head leaned in toward the computer screen almost as if looking for an answer there.

It was a way of focusing my intent toward the right words. Then, I noticed that my ring finger was lifted and poised, ready to type the first letter of something.....

Literally, this can be a fount of information if I ever have to play a character sitting at a computer, trying to think what to type.

As you go thru your day, every day, learn to observe your body the same way you might observe a stranger. It will teach you how to create any character in truth.

Utilizing the quality of empathy in your work:

Empathy is definitely a wonderful asset for any actor, as long as we can keep that clear observer self apart from the part that feels so much, enough to create a character that makes sense in the context of the play or film script.

Guide to Acting Promotion and Marketing