Character Development That Will Place You With the Pros!

You can’t just be a great performer to succeed in acting. You have to be an expert at living life as another person. You have to convince people that you’re someone else entirely. And to do that, you need to know how to have another person’s emotions, dreams, triggers and habits. Can you do that?

While it might seem complex, it’s actually quite simple when you know the foundations and get support. Like all skills, it’s one that needs to be challenged and exercised to become stronger and second nature to you. So of course, we recommend committing to learning and expanding your toolbox of skills and abilities so you’re never held back.

So let’s talk about the skill of quickly and convincingly getting into character, shall we?

To excel at character acting, you have to understand the role you’re playing almost more than you understand yourself. You’ve got to know their habits, fears, dreams and wounds. This is how you not only develop the character, but become them. This is also known as Method Acting.  This method calls the actor to internalize the emotional life and thought processes of the character. The actor is expected to literally feel the same emotional impulses as the character would in circumstances described in the script. The classical approach, in contrast, focuses on externalizing these processes of character development by developing a certain set of skills.

Here are the main points and processes:

Real Life Observation  – In developing the character, the actor must first spend time observing how the character’s real life counterparts move and operate in the world. Where do they go? Who do they interact with? How do they interact?

Character Motivation – The actor needs to ask a series of questions to determine motivation: how would the character react in the given situation? What situations would need to occur to motivate the character in a particular direction? What events would trigger particular emotions within the character.

Emotional Memory – Key to the method acting approach is the shift away from the actor’s portrayal of emotion toward the actor’s internalization of that emotion. The actor is expected to feel the emotion rather than simply pantomime it. This process is typically enabled by the memory of a past event within the actor’s own life that triggers the same emotion.

Re-Training – The method acting approach focuses on the portrayal of lifelike and “believable” characters rather than theatrical caricatures. The actor is expected to readjust the way s/he thinks and feels to fit the portrayal of the character.

Method acting is a great way to practice authentic and believable character development and can be applied in all forms of acting from stage to camera. It allows you to become an incredibly convincing character. We at the New York Acting School for Film and Television teach this and many other skills you need to succeed in front of the camera. Contact us today to find out more about our classes and coaching options.