Shmacting
Surprise, surprise my first acting class failed to live up to the humiliating nightmare I’d convinced myself it would be. Before leaving I expressed my biggest worry to Clare. “What if they ask me to BE a tree?” Her response lacked compassion. “Think of yourself as an empty vessel,” she advised. Yeah, thanks Clare. Big help.
On arrival, I almost had a panic attack. As I pulled into a parking spot I noticed two grown adults jumping up and down, One was chasing the other around a car. I think they were pretending to be bunny rabbits. I watched them for about ten seconds. My mouth was dry. My palms sweaty. I had a full blown case of the fear. Their little charade ended with hysterical laughter and a self-satisfied round of hi-fives. Were these two jokers about to become my new classroom buddies? Please, no! I took a few deep breaths, got out of the car and headed for the studio door. You can imagine my relief as my new ‘friends’ entered the improv class next door. I’m sure they’re wonderful people but the prospect of spending the next 10 weeks in a class with them had me ready to forego my $210 deposit.
Whenever I find myself in a room with a group of strangers it usually results in some twisted ‘ice-breaking’ exercise. You know the kind, everyone’s asked to couple up. This instruction is always followed by a barely audible, collective groan. Next thing you know you’re trying to find common ground with your new ‘partner’. A stilted conversation ensues:
ME: Do you have any hobbies?
PARTNER: Yes I like football.
ME: Great, so do I.
PARTNER: Silence
ME: Silence
PARTNER: Errrrm…
ME: Hummmm…
And so on…
I hate it. My mind goes blank and I physically squirm. Luckily, for once, the order to couple up never came. Good start on all counts.
So, we were given a few mantras to remember. The one that stuck comes from legendary acting coach Sanford Meisner. He says that acting is, “living truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” It’s pretty clear what he means and it reminded me of another simple explanation of how to act. This time from Sir Ian McKellen, where he explains the process of acting to Ricky Gervais’s character Andy Millman in Extras.
Sir Ian:
“How do I act so well?” ” What I do is I pretend to be the person I’m portraying in the film or play.”
And on playing Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings he adds:
“I imagined what it would be like to be a wizard and then I pretended and acted in that way on the day.”
You can watch this entire scene here.
Back to class. And the thing to avoid like the plague when acting, I was told, is shmacting. That’s when you try too hard and… well… act. The secret, apparently, is not to act but to DO. Live in the moment. Listen and react honestly. Confused? No. It’s easy. Clare was right all along. Be an empty vessel. Let go. Surrender. At this rate I’ll have an Oscar in no time.
NB: One of my biggest weaknesses is that I try to run before I can walk.
Slow down!
