Beginning Actors: Exploring Your Resources

"The inner life of the [imagination], and not the personal and tiny experiential resources of the actor, should be elaborated on the stage and shown to the audience. This life is rich and revealing for the audience as well as for the actor himself." - Michael Chekhov

As an actor you must begin your training with self exploration. The tools you will use as an actor, although they may be sharpened by practice, are present in you right now. The need for you to train your body and voice or your "external resources," should be obvious. You will need to have muscular and vocal control. Like I've said before, you will use your full body to act and your voice will need to be just as strong because it is just as important when portraying a character. Your primary task is to create a character who "behaves logically in imaginary circumstances," and truthful behavior begins deep inside your being and is externalized through your body and voice. your body, mind, and voice will join through this psychophysical process as the fundamental basis for the study of acting.

The need for internal truth surfaces the moment you start to think seriously about performing a role in a play. Suppose you are cast in a part that requires you to create a character who lives in a different time and within a culture that is completely foreign to your experiences. An untrained actor will go to their first rehearsal not knowing what to do. Before that first rehearsal you must ask a thousand questions about your character.

"Who am I"

"What are my relationships"

"What are my desires, fears, points a views about the world"

all of this you must figure out before you make it to that first rehearsal. The process begins the moment you are cast.