I’ve noticed that a lot of acting teachers have different ways of teaching, but something clicked for me last night. It became clear that when you receive a script, it’s not just about reading it a few times and memorizing the lines. You have to go through it numerous times, and then you really need to dive into the backstory of each character — especially the one you're auditioning for or playing in a film. You need to know the character inside and out. That means understanding their emotions, figuring out the right voice inflection, and even knowing the gestures they might use. It’s all connected, and you’ve got to bring that to your performance to make it feel authentic. A lot of teachers might not always break it down this way, but for me, it’s about pulling all these elements together. This deep dive into script analysis is what I’m focusing on now — knowing the character so well that everything comes out naturally, from the emotions to the physicality. It’s definitely a process, but I’m excited to see where this takes me. Has anyone else had similar experiences or breakthroughs with how they approach character work?
Acting : Putting it All Together Last Night by Glenn Axelrod
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Hi, Glenn Axelrod. I wanted to let you know the body text of your post shows up in the Stage 32 app but not the web browser. I'm guessing you wrote the post in the app, so you might need to edit the post in a web browser for it to show up for members who get on Stage 32 with a browser. You can edit your post by clicking the downward arrow to the right of your name, selecting "Edit Post," and reposting the body text.
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Hi Maurice --I went ahead and redid the text on the desktop through the edit function. Thanks for letting me know.
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You're welcome, Glenn Axelrod.
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Glenn Axelrod - I absolutely love your perspective on this. It's so important to psychologically get into what is NOT on the page. Your characters wants, needs, origins - the backstory - all shape how you can become that character when you are acting. I have actor friends who have a whole character sheet where they conceptualize the character's background by writing it down (ie. what would this character order at Chipotle? What did this character get his/her mom for her birthday?) Those little questions help inform your acting choices when you become them. This is really insightful post and I appreciate you sharing!
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Yes. You really articulated this very well.