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The Actor's Craft

© Ken Nared

The actors craft is one of the strangest occupations around. Those who chose to portray others in dramatic or comedic films must learn to put off their own personalities and take on those, as much as they can perceive, of others, most of whom they have never met. From the time of the Greeks until today men and women have struggled to find a way to portray others feelings and motivations with some degree of accuracy and have sometimes done so well as to earn awards for their work. Sir Lawrence Oliver once said that if he could capture perhaps sixty percent of the real character of a person he was portraying he felt he had done a good job. The challenges that face an actor are many, not the least of which is getting out of the way of his own talent.

Unfortunately the desire to act is not always backed up by the talent necessary to pull it off. Short of actually getting on stage or in front of a camera or in a class in front of other people there is no way to know if one has the wherewithal to be an actor. The old and untrue axiom about acting natural in front of the camera is laughed at by any one who has been in front of a lens. As much as an athlete trains his muscle for performance so must the actor put on emotional muscle to be able to lift the weight of any part he is to play. The discovery of a told story shared by the audience in a theater is first experienced, by the actor in this case, as he discovers the range and emotional depth of his own being that brings range and emotional depth to a film performance.

Our enjoyment of films must surely rise out of our need both for play and the desire for exploration and for doing both communally. The actor serves these needs in three ways. 1. He may or may not look better than you or I do. When we sublimate while watching a movie we can all either be handsome or beautiful. 2. They actor can with the help of special effects can physically do just about anything or be anywhere or be anyone. 3. We can be the hero. In life we all wish we had the power and courage to do the right thing at the right time without fail, but that is a goal we as mere mortals woefully miss. But the actor does this for us with loads of courage and insight that puts the Oracle at Delphi to shame.

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