12 Mar Give Yourself a Place to Fall From
Many times, an actor has to do multiple takes of a scene before moving on, and sometimes it’s not the performer’s fault more than it is anyone else’s, such as the crew. Whoever needs a retake, it is absolutely impossible to duplicate or repeat a performance. If you try to capture your performance exactly, you will fail because, not only will you notice, but others around you—as well as the audience—will notice.
You can take nuances from the prior take and naturally include them into another take, but you need to give yourself a place to fall from—by taking a raw performance and letting it happen. That’s where the magic is. The magic is not trying to make it work but rather doing the work and seeing what comes naturally. If you try to make a performance work and make it perfect every time, it ultimately won’t be perfect. Instead of using all of your emotional energy to try and dig deep and repeat your performance, use that energy to make a new choice, a unique choice, a choice that doesn’t feel ultimately forced.
While this may be common sense, sometimes, when you’re in the moment, you don’t always think this way and need to find a way to remain calm, professional, and in the moment. When you give yourself a place to fall from, you have a chance to soar and make your performance more natural, raw, and dare I say, better.
More of Brad’s thoughts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Yt-UQ9-_g