The Shift

I learned about theatre for five years in college.

I taught theatre for five years in Texas.

I thought I had the acting thing figured out.

I analyzed the character. I found similiarities between the character and myself. I took a piece of myself and used it as the clay with which I created the character. It was poetic. Basically, the character had pieces of myself in it and then I filled the rest in with what I had researched or the choices I had made. This worked great for theatre but it never felt complete. I found that my on camera work was lacking believability. It seemed like I was holding back.

Then the shift happened.

"Acting is not intellectual. It is animalistic. It's from the gut"

This quote slapped me in the face. It's the answer. It's what I was missing from my on camera work.

I needed to stop thinking and start reacting.

It's so easy to hide behind the analytics of it all and justify each "decision" you've made with text BUT acting is all about the other person and the chemistry that is going on between the two of you. Not the text. Not your choices. Just the way you make each other feel.

The Revelation:

It's not my job to find pieces of myself in the character. If I do that, then there will only be pieces of realism in my performance.

I am the character. The only truth that I can play is myself.

You know what part I was born to play?

Donald.

and I'm pretty damn good at it when I let myself.