The Great Acting Blog: “Reality & Illusion”
All stills by Rouzbeh Rashidi
The Homo Sapiens Project is an ongoing series of personal video works by Rouzbeh Rashidi, who asked me to contribute to the project by talking about myself on camera for 40 minutes (few actors need to be asked twice to do this). We shot the interview in Dublin while filming HE, along with additional footage in various parts of the city. After seeing the finished film, Rashidi remarked : –
“it is very interesting because there are no lines in this film between documentary or fiction. The film goes beyond all of this and your performance (the interview) seems completely fictional and staged.”
This is strange because in the film I simply talk about what I’ve been doing as an actor, there was no preparation – the camera was turned on me, I was asked a question and just spoke. So, how can it seem “fictional and staged”. I believe what is being referred to here is the precision of movement and speech, that everything which is not germane to answering the question is censored out, and this censoring creates a “deliberateness”, a control, which could also be viewed as staged.
But how does this situation come about? Well, the tools of the actor are his body, his voice, his personality. A profound understanding of these tools and how they function is crucial if he is to develop into an effective performer (you cannot improve something you don’t understand). Much of the actor’s time then, is spent observing himself, making improvements where necessary and discarding bad habits. This requires enormous will and self-control, which can be built up and strengthened over time, after facing up to real challenges. Ultimately, this self-monitoring becomes habitual: I’ve always loved the story about actor-impresario and co-founder of Dublin’s Gate Theatre, Michael Mac Liammoir, who, upon learning of the death of his partner Hilton Edwards, walked downstairs grief stricken, when he caught himself in the mirror and thought: “ah, so that’s what I look like when I have just learned about the death of a loved one”. Now THAT’S an actor (incidentally, the report of Edwards’ death proved to be false). The point is, the actor is continually working for “the moment where you have to deliver”.
An actor’s performance should not be pretended to, regardless of the fiction of a script, the performance should be an actuality – in short, it should be true. The actor renders his performance truthful by giving himself something concrete to accomplish in the scene, by giving himself an action .* Further, this aesthetic can also be applied when the actor is not performing, in his everyday life, strengthening the aesthetic, and making it habitual so that it will kick in and help the actor when he is under pressure – every moment of the actor’s life then, is effectively contributing to his growth as an artist. The net effect is that the actor’s work becomes indistinguishable from his personality.
The combination of the actor’s intense self-awareness and the habitual employment of actions, can make the illusory seem real, and the real seem illusory, and sometimes it can make something seem both real and illusory simultaneously. Perhaps then, the distinction is false?
*For example, if character A is trying to get character B to leave her husband and dead end marriage, and,run away with him to start a new life, then an action could be “to sell a great idea” – point is, selling a great idea is something you can actually do, and it doesn’t need “preparation”.
cleananglingpledge/ 09.04.2012
I read really much worthwhile data in this post!
молитвы о детях господу и богородице/ 20.07.2024
таро тота значение карты жрица какой камень от сглаза подходит львам видеть во сне черную лису к чему снятся разбитые куриные яйца женщине гадания для девушек на руси
Acheter de la mentax en ligne en quelques clics au Luxembourg/ 05.08.2024
compra de medicamentos en España Heunet Delémont Medikamente
ohne Rezept erhältlich
acquista ectopal online senza prescrizione medica/ 17.08.2024
medicijnen met of zonder medisch voorschrift Raffo Ayacucho medicijnen beschikbaar in België
comprar isotrexin en Italia sin receta médica en Chile/ 19.08.2024
médicaments en ligne disponible avec paiement sécurisé Medicus Rionegro
achat de médicaments
medicijnen om te kopen in Nederland Choseido Talcahuano/ 20.08.2024
verifica il prezzo di farmaci con prescrizione medica a Torino davur Lomas
de Zamora effettua un acquisto di farmaci in Italia
medicijnen: betrouwbare pijnverlichting zonder recept sandoz Kapfenberg/ 22.08.2024
acheter médicaments en Allemagne Heumann Ovalle médicaments à acheter en Espagne
карты таро на расклад дракон/ 26.08.2024
к чему снится зонт черный, к чему снится зонтик юпитер в 5 доме брова к чему снится есть котлеты во сне
королева жезлов что делать мод
на warband на магию
к чему снится вода озеро купаться/ 30.08.2024
линда гудман гороскоп для скорпиона молитва не спящему ребенку знаки
зодиака женщины по дате
пахнет луна сосной расклады на таро в картинках, расклады таро уэйта схемы
буын үндестігі мысалдар/ 08.09.2024
лазерная эпиляция усиков цена, лазерная эпиляция алматы цены алтын орда қалаларындағы хан билеушісі,
алтын орда жылдары журналистика алматы университет,
колледж журналистики после 9 класса алматы скачать песню
2 миланы в домике, скачать песню lp
для меня казахское слово ел'' священно/ 09.09.2024
казахстан тауелсиз мемлекет, қазақстан қандай
мемлекет мұхтар әуезов өлеңдері скачать, мұхтар әуезов 125 жыл bilimland kz кіру этажи кз астана, этажи астана аренда квартир
бауыржан момышұлы парк/ 13.09.2024
мен емес аккорды, ол сен емес аккорды
алла разылығы үшін музыка скачать, мен сені алла разылығы үшін жақсы көрем суда еритін және ерімейтін заттар, суда ерімейтін заттарды
не деп атайды саят медеуов әндері скачать бесплатно,
саят медеуов алия скачать
менингит белгілері балаларда/ 08.10.2024
алтын сақа олимпиада 3
сынып, алтын сақа олимпиада 3 сынып математика
2023 магазин сантехники алматы, магазин сантехники алматы рядом
табиғи байлықтарға не жатады,
табиғи байлықтарды игеру эссе
как прекратить звонки из банка родственникам,
с каких номеров звонит
каспи банк
мамандықтың бәрі жақсы баяндама/ 08.10.2024
диагностика деген не должности в
службе безопасности, служба экономической
безопасности предприятия ән
көзмоншағым скачать, көзмоншағым ремикс скачать алгебра 9 сынып кітап скачать, 9 сынып биология кітабы онлайн
айтыс деген не және оның түрлері/ 15.10.2024
русско-казахские имена мальчиков,
редкие казахские имена мужские қаллеки театры, қалибек қуанышбаев атындағы театр ұзындыққа секіру суреттер, жүгіріп келіп ұзындыққа секіру погода в шубаркудуке на завтра, погода в шубаркудуке на 10 дней