You may feel that your attention as an actor is more on your performance than on actually being your character. When you go to an audition or get ready for a self tape, you may get really concerned about booking, pleasing the casting director and being liked. You might also try to do the scene exactly how you had planned to do it, hoping to nail it. When you do this, all your energy is focused on doing it right and on the result because you may think there is a certain way to do a scene and play a character. All these are signs that your attention is on the performance.
Inevitably, you may not actually get pleasure out of acting. It might actually be a bit painful or frustrating because you're not in the moment, you’re in the future and attached to the outcome. And for something to be pleasurable and fun, you actually have to be in the moment, present to whatever you’re feeling and in your body.
Also, you didn't become an actor, an actress or an artist in order to satisfy the people who are on the other side, that's not what art is about. You can’t be in your zone of genius if you try to please others and do it “right”. Whenyouwatchmytrainingbelowyou'lldiscover that your job as an actor is not to book but to give your life, body and energy to a character, to their life, circumstances and to what they want in the scene. When you make your needs as an actor (to book, be loved and validated) more important than your character’s needs, you’re not doing your job. There’s no way it can be fulfilling for you and impactful for anyone. Your energy, your focus, your instrument needs to be at the service of your character's needs, not at the service of your ego.
This happens because you have been educated in traditional acting schools, where your safety and validation depended on making sure others liked you. You were trained to follow, obey, be “right” and please others. Also, in our culture, at school and at home, we were conditioned to feel, think and behave a certain way. But this conditioning is not the place from which you make art.
Therefore, as an artist, you want to make sure that you move through that conditioning back into true self so that truth and presence can serve the character and not your ego.
Watch my training to hear all my thoughts on this topic.
After you watch the training, I'd love for you to join in the conversation happening in our private Facebook Group THE INSTINCTIVE ACTORS' SOCIETY. You can get answers for your specific situation directly from me and connect with HUNDREDS of like-minded actors across the globe, so we can move things forward faster together.
If you're not already a member, be sure to request to join ASAP here.
See you there!
Jo Kelly
Creator, The Reset Journey From Resistance to Freedom
P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are two ways I can help you:
Get your FREE training on how to STOP TRYING TO BE A GOOD ACTOR SO YOU HAVE A CHANCE AT BEING GREAT
Get on the waitlist for my program, The Reset Journey From Resistance to Freedom, and stop struggling to access your natural, authentic talent in the audition room or on set. You'll learn how to reset your instrument to be 100% instinctive and free in just 33 days.
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