For Scott
so, my friend Scott and i had some intense conversations about acting (when i was having so much trouble with Don José). granted, he hasn’t acted since high school, however that means he STILL has more acting experience than me. lol
so, we were talking about how Peter (my director) is all about being yourself. (this is for opera, not everyday acting per se). Peter believe firmly that accessing emotions is important for the character, but to become the character first muddles the emotional content you try to impart. i personally agree (because over and over again he has proven it to me in coachings… its kind of scary actually).
SIDE NOTE:
my best friend Aaron reminded me of my favorite quote –
"Its hard being a know-it-all when you’re wrong all of the time." – Noah Baetge
i guess i said that back at PLU. i remember saying it, i just don’t remember when it was. it was funny.
END SIDE NOTE
anyway, i was stressing the point that to be yourself and use the emotions you need rather than having the "character" portray the emotions was more steps than needed to be taken (especially in opera when you’re thinking about placement, vocal technique, diction etc.). to which Scott replied:
"I don’t agree with that at all. If you play yourself everytime you end up being like Josh Hartnett. Someone who acts exactly the same for every character."
and for a moment i agreed with him… however i don’t now. and i have a reason of why i don’t. lets see if i can explain it.
(i didn’t say this to Scott yet). i think that if you try and play a character, but no matter what the character is, if you can’t act it always comes out the same. i.e. Josh Hartnett (do i even have the right name?) can only act one way because whenever he tries to "Act" a character it ends up being the same person everytime, even if the script calls for something else.
does this make any sense? Kat, Twisted, help me out here. both of you know FAR MORE than i could ever begin to know about acting and would love your advice. or anyone’s advice for that matter.
anyway… gonna mess around on my laptop before i need to get on my plane. 🙂 later all!
– noah
In the world of theater as I know it. YOu can’t act a character, because then you are doing exactly what you are not supposed to do ‘act’. Playing character to me means you are not being in the moment. And that screams louder than anything else that sometimes can go wrong. It’s what Dr. Ryan would say – most young actors are tourists on stage, they get oart of it right, but the human being onstage looks exactly like that – someone on a stag and not in a real world in their minds eye. He said we have to treat the stage just like we treat the backstage. If we are exiting we need to believe that we are exiting to another room or place, not the stage left exit because the script calls for it. If you want an example of someone who I feel does a great job as an actor, because he finds a bit of himseld in everything he does and goes off of that, instead of playing off something he doesn’t have – Tom Hanks
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hmm..I know zilch about acting…but now that you mention it, Josh Hartnett DOES seem to be the same character in every movie he plays. I must be blinded by his good looks every time I see him to notice anything else. LOL.
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are you not supposed to become that character and yes Josh hartnett does get stereotyped because he doesnt have a large range of creativity..only my opinion take care–T
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hey, that might be true abut josh, but i like him. thanks, noah. you’re on favorites now ;]
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Good luck! I’m sure you’ll find the secret that works for you to succeed with the role. 😉
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You do opera- that’s awesome!!! I always reply to my notes, so fyi: i dye my hair for fun!
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It sounds like a very method talk you’re having here. I don’t think they mean that you should access yourself as much as you should think about how the emotion would be worked through. It’s just one way of training actors…I don’t necessarily follow a method so I can’t really tell ya what I would do. Maybe after rehearsal I’ll have more thoughts 😛
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Interesting….huh….I know NOTHING about theatre…unless you count the third grade play where i was a mayor in mexico…o.O Hi noah!
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What would you do in my situation???
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hmm I haven’t acted in years… when I did, I sort of “became” the character and my emotions and feelings were that of what my character was supose to be. So playing yourself to show emotions is I guess the same. Because your viewing your character based your perception of how you would act in that situation.. Okay I’m just ramblling mumble jumble here 😉
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P.S. Opera? That’s pretty cool. I had two employees who were in opera’s.. they always got standing ovations from the whole restaurant (250seats)when then sang happy birthday at a table (I was a restuarant manager). It was absoultely amazing. So that’s cool that your in Opera.. it’s a very unique and artstict
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Thank you
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PS – no it wasn’t harsh. He understood all that you wrote in your note to me before we got married and I don’t know why he is backtracking.
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Hi to you too. I’m back to writing. I think. 🙂
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ohhh, biology is not so very easy. it’s been beating my arse all semester long. it’s pretty much the honors level, except taken by a lot of people (biology majors) so it doesn’t get the title. and my professor sucks. blegh. and thank you so much for the kind words. i really appreciate it. <3
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lol thanks for the note(s)
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