29 Dec The Use of Experience in An Actor’s Toolkit: A Perspective
There’s something magical about the uncertainty in Hollywood.
One aspect that I really love about that is, as an actor, each and every day is a new journey, a new adventure.
Something that I can add to the rich history I have experienced, with multiple stories to pull from to evoke an emotion or to tell a story.
While the downside can be a lack of stability or not knowing when the next opportunity arises, I try and twist it into a positive spin. I begin thinking this is an opportunity to explore the unknown and expand my actor tool kit.
As an actor, I’ve learned the importance of technique, from cold reading to improvisation to scene study and everything in between. However, something I don’t always understand the importance of until I get thrown into it is the importance of experience.
These are life events that cannot be learned, cannot be taught, and cannot be fabricated. These are the real life moments that I always encounter and never forget.
While these experiences cannot be directly taught, they can be applied to class technique in one way or another.
That’s what sets everyone apart and makes an actor or a performer unique: different pathways and different, yet unique experiences and performances.
As an individual, I have multiple tools at my disposal that I can utilize in a scene, a rehearsal, on set, or wherever whenever I need a specific tool based on my life experience and trajectory.
However, collectively as actors in a very collaborative field, this is how we share our tools: storytelling via life experiences.
What I have another actor might not have. What another actor has, I might not have. When we all share our tools, we all create a sense of camaraderie and friendship that actors often lose when they get competitive.
We do this instead of sharing our tools with others to increase everlasting networks and a positive, nurturing environment.
www.thehellerapproach.com
#thehellerapproach #bradheller #experience #actor #performance #lifeexperiences