Harness Improvisation To Transform You into the Character of Your Dreams.
Improvisational training is a powerful tool that actors can use to transform themselves into the characters they want to play. Many actors’ first reaction when they hear “improvisation” is fear, because they associate it with comedy. However, improvisation is actually a very versatile tool and it can be used for far more than comic relief in Hollywood films.
In fact, improvisational training has been used by some of history’s most well-known actors, such as Marlon Brando, Sean Penn and Justin Long. The reason that these actors have used improvisational training is not because they are all interested in doing comedy, but because they have realized the important role that improvisation can play in transforming an actor into a character.
Wonder Actors is a blog about the training, practice and application of improvisation in acting.
Over time I will build out a series of posts on how you can use improvisation to transform your acting. My goal is to help you become a better actor and to have more fun doing it.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this short video on how to create characters with actor Bel Powley.
I’ve designed this blog to help actors and non-actors alike learn how to use improvisation to transform their acting. I believe that anyone can be a great actor if they have the right tools and knowledge. That’s why I share insights into my own process, both as an actor and a professional improviser, so that you can learn how to develop your own unique acting style.
I focus on practical tips you can use in your next rehearsal or performance. In addition, I share stories from my own experience so you can see the concepts in action and learn from my mistakes as well as from my success.
While I specialize in acting for theater and film, the core principles of acting are universal. So whether you’re an aspiring actor or just someone who wants to improve your stage presence or public speaking skills, you’ll find lots of useful information here.
I truly believe that every person has the ability to become a great actor. It’s just a matter of finding your personal method and working hard at it until it becomes second nature.
The blog is dedicated to the use of improvisational training in acting, especially the method known as Organic Acting.
The method’s name comes from its origins in the organic acting lab, a theater troupe with which I was involved for nearly 10 years. The lab combined theater and psychotherapy, allowing actors to work through their own stuff via the characters that they played.
The method works because it combines technique (character analysis and scene construction) with real emotion. You can’t be angry or sad or hurt without first having a reason to be angry or sad or hurt. The method has been refined over several decades, and is now well-known among actors in New York City, where I live.
It teaches actors how to use their own emotions to bring life to their characters. It helps them find the strength and courage to play difficult characters who must face strong emotions–and it allows them to do so without unbalancing their own psyche.
The result is more authentic acting with more powerful performances.
If I could give you one piece of advice on how to transform your acting, it would be this: “Get out of your own way.”
Improvisation is the best tool to get out of your own way.
When you’re improvising, you don’t have time to think or judge. You’re listening, responding, and reacting in the moment. You’re not thinking about what you’re going to say next, or how it should sound. You are just being in the moment and letting the words that come out of your mouth be an honest response to whatever is happening with you and with other people in the scene.
Improvisation puts you in a state of mind where you can let go of any ego-driven thoughts telling you ‘how’ a scene should play out. Instead, it allows you to simply ‘be’ in the moment and let your character be who he/she is – as opposed to who YOU want them to be.
The more we can do that in our acting, the deeper we can go into our characters and the more truthful we will be on film or stage.
What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
In my time as a coach, I have heard this question asked by many people. I have used it in coaching sessions. I have even posed it to myself. But it never seemed to illicit much more than a “That’s nice” kind of response.
But when my coach read me the same question recently, everything changed. Suddenly, I understood it in a new way. It was no longer an abstract question — suddenly, it was urgent and visceral.
Because the answer is:
You would do nothing less than change your life and make yourself the person you always wanted to be.
I’m going to share with you the one tool that can help you get there, and how to use it.
Invite your guest to sit at a table in a comfy chair with your trusty tape recorder running.
Ask your guest to close their eyes and take three deep breaths. Ask them to focus on the breath, just like they are in a yoga class. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth as you remind them that they can’t do this wrong.
Breathe in, breathe out, and now open your eyes.
Ask them to think of something that makes them smile, something very specific and personal that gives them joy. Tell them to hold it there for a second, really feel it and enjoy it, then take three more breaths to anchor it down. Now we have their happy place.
Tell them that you are going to ask some questions about someone whom they admire and respect, maybe even love or adore. This person could be alive or dead, fictional or real, famous or not-famous-at-all, but make sure it is someone who has had an impact on their life for whatever reason. They might want to choose someone they know well or someone they wish they knew better but don’t know yet. This person will be their subject for the interview. The interview should last no longer than twenty minutes.
