The Great Acting Blog: “The Actor’s Performance Is A Gift”

The Great Acting Blog: “The Actor’s Performance Is A Gift”

If you are the recipient of another’s generosity, then you should be grateful. Too many mistake generosity for stupidity, and try  to take more and more, as much as they can get in fact. In consequence, the generosity recedes as the giver senses, quite rightly, that they are being taken advantage of. When everyone tries to take advantage, there can be no openness or passion, only suspicion and uncertainty, whereby everyone tries to get the most while offering the least. There must be a culture of reciprocity in order to maintain generosity – it’s not that we necessarily act generously with the expectation of a return, but the possibility of reciprocation must be present.

Again, we see this situation among actors, especially young actors – they audition and audition and audition, they give give give, but all too often fail to make any progress. Their generosity recedes and a sense of going through the motions takes hold instead, and eventually they stop caring altogether. The lesson here, is to be a little bit picky, to preserve generosity by reserving it for those who we think will value it, and for those scenarios where reciprocity is a possibility. Not easy to do, especially when you’re young.

In performance, it is the actor’s job to be generous, with their skills and with themselves. In fact, generosity is one of the marks of a great actor. How can this generosity be reciprocated by the viewer in order to maintain it? It cannot. And the actor should not look for reciprocation. An actor’s performance is a gift given away freely, and the viewer comes to accept the gift. This ritual is at the core of the actor-audience relationship, it’s part of what makes it unique and special.

The actor’s performance is a gift.

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