How to Embody Your Character and Captivate Your Audience Emotionally!

It doesn’t matter how well you captivate an audience, if you don’t know how to capture the role you’re playing, you won’t succeed. It’s like I say so often, mastering just one aspect of the trade is not enough. And knowing the vital aspects of character development is a skill you have to master to be cast often and really go the distance in your career. This is the benefit of taking classes and working with a coach because they help you better yourself in the ways you might have missed.

At the New York Acting School for Film and Television, we understand the need for mastering different skills and we want to share some character development tips with you today. The method we want to share with you is actually called Method Acting. With this method, the actor is asked 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:

Embody What You Already Know – 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. Perhaps take out your journal and write through some of your memories that carry a significant emotional charge and relive the moment. Put yourself back there and journal from an out-of-your-body perspective, what you see and feel your face and body doing.

Keep Your Eyes on the World- 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? Notice people in restaurants as they discuss, argue or simply interact. Pay attention to body language; how people close off and open up to each other.

Emotional Role Play- 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. Think of it like emotional dominos. What would the starting emotion be and what emotions would that lead to?

In the end…

Master Your Method – 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.

Embodiment is the core aspect method acting and is a great way to practice authentic and believable character development and can be applied in all forms of acting from stage to camera. If you have any other questions or would like information on classes or coaching, please contact us at the New York Acting School for Film and Television today.