Is Acting An Art? | The Great Acting Blog

Is acting an art? First we must define what we mean by art.

In his book What Is Art?, Leo Tolstoy conceptualises it as when the artist, in their own unique way, gives expression to a feeling they have experienced, infecting others with it so that they experience the same feeling. He intends this description to cover art in general but it also happens to be a description of acting.

Acting is emotional truth created organically by the actor’s attempt to perform their action in the scene.

Each actor creates their own, true, personal feeling in the scene as a result of their attempt to perform their action.  Further, the actor possesses an unusual and striking sensibility; they prioritise their individuality, both in how they experience the world and in how they interact with it. This combination of emotional truth and individuality means their performances infect the viewer with a feeling produced in their own unique way.

Acting ceases to be an art when the actor’s performance is false; when the actor pretends to be the character, or fakes emotion, or squeezes out some crocodile tears. And acting ceases to be art if the actor experiences life in a humdrum way because their expressions will be likewise. We may admire these performances objectively, but they are not art because the viewer does not become infected by a feeling unique to the actor.

The counter-argument to whether acting is an art form has always been that the actor is not the originator of the work in the same way painters or novelists are; in theatre that is the territory of the playwright, and in cinema the filmmaker. But this misses the point for art is the expression of a feeling the artist has experienced so that others are infected by it – and who hasn’t been moved by an actor’s performance? It can happen even when the overall piece is very mediocre indeed. The actor is only responsible for their performance. The camera, the text, the other actors are not their concern – but doing their action in the scene is, and the unique feeling produced is the result of their individuality; their extraordinary personal truth.

 

FURTHER READING

Actor As Artist: Beatrice Dalle

The Importance Of Having An Essential Action For The Scene

The Extraordinary Sensibility – Reflections On John Hurt

Composure And Ray Milland

 

RESOURCES

Leo Tolstoy’s What Is Art? – audiobook.