The art of acting isn't pretending. What makes a bad actor?

“Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances.”

The stated perspective originated from Sanford Meisner, one of the most influential teachers of acting in the 20th century.

The grief, which is conveyed on stage, must be real. Should the actors pretend their tears or laugh, they can never reach their audience. However, as an audience bursting out in tears while watching a fictitiously melancholic scene, the actors too, only weeped in imaginary circumstances.

Actress Anna Karina

I would argue that an actor with inadequate performance could be sustaining an underdeveloped sense of self from the lack of inner reflection. These stated reflective acts include:

• Accurate identification of emotional states

• The cause of such intense emotions

• Their relations to past events

• The persistence of their capacity to generate the same feelings

• Etc.

We experience ever-shifting emotions daily; however, we don't know how to become aware of our feelings, which is considered as a form of self-disconnection.

How can we improve that?

Start journaling.

Jot down the first thing that comes to your mind. If it feels too hard to write, you can touch different parts of your body and let them guide you. For example, describe the physical sensations: pain, fatigue, restlessness, a racing heart, heat, cold, warmth, trembling legs, etc. We should not:

• Judge what we write.

• Hide our emotions.

• Write something untrue.

• Justify or over-explain.

• Focus too much on polishing our sentences.

• Try to tell a complete story.

That way, we can understand our emotions better and perfect our craft.

For example, I usually imagine myself talking to my best friend on her deathbed and maybe I'd just say: "I love you”. However, the words are so cliché that my heart just refuses to feel heavy. But it would hit me if it were something like:

“Take a rest, I'll be in charge of your pooch til the end of its days.”

That line unsettles something deep in me. I might not burst into tears, but it surely strikes a chord. The feelings break out on its own, through every look and gesture instinctively. Then comes the spark that clicks by which the audience can’t help saying: "This feels just so right!”

Yes, they're not acting. They're being truthful!

Written by Anh Do

Translated by Quan Tran