One of the things we’ve been talking about in class lately is the importance of having a very, very strong need in your work.
Because ultimately, need is what drives the conversation.
Think of your need like a steam engine going up from LA to Santa Barbara, chugging up the track. If you have a really strong need, you have strong energy from the very beginning.
Actors often ask how they can bring more energy into a scene.
But I always say that energy is a byproduct of conflict.
If you put yourself, as the person in the story, into a place of conflict and then truly go after what you need, you will have all the energy you need.
You don’t have to manufacture it.
You don’t have to come into the scene trying to appear more energetic.
When the problem matters to you and your need is strong enough, the energy naturally follows.
That is why identifying what you need from the other person and making that need important is such a critical part of scene work and audition preparation.
The next question is often: How do I become emotionally connected?
That comes back to story.
It is about using your imagination and finding the things within the story that personally move you.
Every actor has different emotional locators. A relationship, circumstance, loss, fear, hope, or problem in the script may affect one actor completely differently than another.
That is where the work becomes personal.
Your job is to use your imagination to create a world that allows your heart to actually be struck by what is happening.
We dig into this in my free workshop every Monday from 1:30 to 3:00pm. Come out and join us if you can.
