Sunday 27 May 2012

Acting Coaches in Los Angeles- Facing Vulnerabilities

By Kirk Baltz


As with any art form, acting is an ability that requires hard work and long hours. It is only through rigorous study and training that actors can reach their goals. To reach this goal, an actor must delve into his soul and discover who he truly is as a person.

Both human persons and created characters share a multi-dimensionality and depth. These dimensions consist of the individual or character's public persona, his or her deep-seated fears and vulnerabilities, and the tragic flaw. Working with an acting coach has been shown to be highly effective in helping an actor to see past his own exterior and that of his character to reveal the heart of the person within and create characters that are both real and relatable.

Carl Jung espoused the belief that the human person creates a public persona as a means of protecting his true self from others and conveying an image of strength and security as a means for survival. Expression of this persona occurs in all areas of our lives. Similar to actual persons, characters develop public personas that must be unraveled and good acting workshops are designed to teach students how to accomplish just this.

Although the public persona is the dimension that is the most easily recognizable and obvious in a character, it is only an exterior facade and not the core of the individual. However, the true identity of a person dwells within the difficulties, insecurities, and vulnerabilities that inevitably work to form each individual. Acting workshops are quite helpful in training students to come to grips with these important facets of their being, allowing them to create very real characters.

These difficulties from our childhood remain with us to adulthood and shape the persona that we create to protect ourselves. Characters on stage or on film are no different. Covering up these vulnerabilities under a shield of stability is our means of appearing strong rather than helpless to others.

In order to become an exceptional actor, a student must learn to remove the superficial exterior of both his and his character's public persona in order to uncover the true self. Only in this way can characters be made relatable.

All persons in the audience, like the actor and the character, have both a personal core as well as a public persona they have created to protect it. Presenting a character of similar dimensions is sure to create a bond between the audience and the story being told. Being able to create characters such as these is what separates the average actor from the exceptional.




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