Acting : Using "What If" to Explore Your Character by Karen "Kay" Ross

Interesting discussion. I ask myself if this character is capable of acting in opposition to their personality. Can the good guy do something evil? and vice versa. It forces me to let go of perfecting them.

Great advice and techniques! In real life, some personalities are drawn to conflict. In a different vein, when I lived abroad, I would stroll through my neighborhood and strike up conversations with some of the local businesses in order to practice foreign languages and obtain native fluency. My classmates would asked me why and I would say to make new friends and save the 3500 Pesetas that I paid for private lessons at my school. I also learned to use the business vocabulary that I learned which later turned into the first Business Spanish class that I taught at a college in the USA. I had my students act out scenes in Spanish.

Ooo, I like this expansion on that idea, Nick Assunto - Stage32 Script Services! I'll have to try that! And thank you for the added info on Dual Protagonists, too!

Heidi Schussman Oh, I love that! It really gets you thinking about the flaws of the characters and consider the possible responses instead of the assumed single-note response.

Tasha Lewis I think you're tapping into a character's values - what they are attracted to, what they are repelled from, and then what's important enough to take action. I pose the question to students - if you had $1,000, what charity would you give it to - but how they spend the money personally also tells what they "value" - just as you chose not to spend money on lessons, but on the experience that would afford you lessons as well.

Actually, I had studied for a month (4 weeks of 30 hours per week which equals about 2 years of foreign languages. I used the technique above while I lived there for six months.

@ I occasionally ask same question as Heidi. Can my protagonist act as bad as antagonist? It helps to create a morally grey area, where both parties can see each others point of view. John Truby calls it “Double Reversal” where both learn from each other.

For me it depends on the size of the character. If I’m playing Doctor #2, and I have 2 lines consisting of just delivering information, then I do ZERO exploration of my character. I think doing backstory or any other “work” will actually take away from what I will just bring naturally to the role. Case in point, I booked a role on a Netflix show, but for my tape, I was super rushed and didn’t have time before the deadline to properly memorize the dialogue, so I put it on teleprompter. The director GUSHED over how perfect my read was. The reason? Because I just let my natural essences bleed through to create a simple, yet authentic performance.

For larger roles, I lean more towards what Nick was saying about his improv background. Over 15 years of improv creates an insane ability to simply subscribe to the “what if” approach of stepping into a character. I never use “substitution” or “sense memory”. I simply say “what if I was a ____” and go from there.

If it’s a very big role (a lead in a play or indie movie, for instance), then more work does need to be done with backstory, super-objectives, etc.

What kind of fight (verbally, mentally, physically)?

I performed a scene from Gone Baby Gone once and the actor opposite me was a James Dean looking dude, so I never quite bought how someone like me would be in a romantic relationship with someone like him - he was so much cooler than me! But on the day, I quickly got over it because the poor dear got a bad case of the giggles. We agreed I wouldn't look at him when he was speaking so he could keep composure, but when the camera team was delayed, his nerves just got worse.

So, I tried something - we went on a short walk and talked in character, a scene outside of the scene, as it were. And I started it with, "Do you want children?" It took him aback until he remembered we were in character LOL! He replied, "No, I don't think I could with my job." and I said, "Well, I do. And I think that's what we're really arguing about." When we got back to set, he has a really great moment where he actually ASKED for me to look at him... IN CHARACTER!

This moment of "what if" not only got the actor more comfortable on set but also offered ownership of his moments in character. Can you tell I love working with actors? :-D

Hey @Karen You pulled off an ingenious move in getting an artist to unplumb inner talent. Why’s he cooler? You were master of the game. Kudos!

A good technique would be to design a set that is like your favorite romantic scene and use it to develop chemistry.

Debbie Croysdale Anyone who resembles James Dean is gonna be cooler than me. I am more of a Maggie Smith-in-training LOL! But thank you!

I love that idea of exploring your character through the setting Tasha Lewis , I'll try that next time I'm on set!

@Karen Maggie Smith's a classic and on a more serious note, folk aren't always what they say on the tin. I dated a Sean Connery lookalike who asked me could he have the orange cream from chocolates in the cinema and when I said no he took it out of my hand. Out of the seven film/drama schools I attended two of the principles befriended me, only to quiver at the command of tiny wives they had never told me about. The James Dean lookalike may not have been that cool!

just reading comments ////no gesture here

Thanks for chiming in, though, Kinney Scott! Your thoughts are always welcomed!

@Kinney Sean Connery and Maggie Smith maybe before your time and both gave fantastic input in theatre although most of us know them from film. @All Spike Lee created a division between actors in REAL LIFE before they started shooting School Daze in late 1980s. “School Daze” was a film/musical about division of groups and a location movie where Spike did not want actors getting chummy. He put one group in a high end hotel and the others in a sub standard hotel throughout filming. On set there were natural tensions and a stage engineered incident actually caused a real life situation brawl not in script. His words “Shit went bananas for real”. They let the camera roll awhile but said cut before anyone got hurt. @All How far would you go as director in getting an organic response from actors? A. Stick to improvisation and other techniques where they are aware they are being guided? OR B. Push them out of their comfort zone in situations where they are unaware its all part of the plan?

what if and the imagination are 2 of the actor's biggest tools WHEN they use them!