Nov 26 2008
Character Building In Acting
Well.. For the last couple of weeks I have focussed on talking about set design and lighting so I thought it was time for a change. I am going to be discussing character building within acting and focussing on this subject for a few weeks.
What we have to remember when acting is that the character has to be realistic for the audience to believe in the character. To get the character up to this point certain work needs to be done in order for the character to have real substance. We have to look at people in real life and what their character is made up of. One of the things we can be certain of is that nobody is perfect, everyone has their faults. Some more than others. Your character may be made up from a person you know and have observed for some time or they may be invented. You might want to exaggerate a particular trait in someone that you know. If I was making a character up from someone that I know she would be really nosy and question every person she met. She would also be rude, bossy and demanding. This particular individual I am thinking of was a control freak. With this description you could have a quite funny character.
Even if you have a character that is more perfect than others or at least thinks he is there will be some faults somewhere along the line. Maybe he is nervous or shy or is frightened of something. Many people have shades of grey even if you have someone that is downright evil they will have their good points. For example, look at Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Everyone is different and it is building those differences into characters that will make your performance realistic and worthy of praise.
