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Vulnerable Acting
by Bill Howey
Vulnerability happens. Convincing actors we want them to bring their
vulnerability to their characters is not always an easy task. Not one says
they can't or won't. They just don't. I know that this reluctance is just
the actor trying to protect themselves from the discomfort of revealing
their vulnerability.
Their unwillingness is natural because vulnerability always appears after a
screw-up or getting caught doing something you shouldn't have done and is
usually painful.
In spite of the consequence, it's vital for actors to understand how
valuable uncovering this personal acting ingredient is to creating
undeniable characters.
Not all vulnerability is stressful. You are often being vulnerable without
realizing. For example, speaking is being vulnerable because when you speak
you reveal your feelings, ideas and thoughts. Along with these words come
the attitudes, emotions and sub-text that are also self-revealing. Your
actions define who you are.
In computer security vulnerability refers to a weakness in the system that
allows an attacker to violate the availability and confidentiality of the
system. In this high tech world there is an ongoing battle to prevent these
inhuman systems from being exposed.
Likewise, people also take actions to prevent their personal system from
being violated. They cover their personal foibles, quirks and strange habits
from being laid bare and chance having to experience the resulting distress.
But characters in a script must be vulnerable and reveal their most personal
qualities.
It's natural to react vulnerably to an event or some news but in doing so
you might show a short temper, quickness to cry or the truth of how you
really feel. Natural or not, your reactions speak volumes about you.
Consequently, to actors afraid of being vulnerable, speaking and reacting
can seem dangerous.
Yet all these actions and reactions are what great characters do: they
expose their vulnerability for all to see.
The reason they do this is that their vulnerability makes them, the
character, human and affecting to other humans, such as the audience. It is
this vulnerability that is part of human sub-text.
Vulnerability is a vital and necessary ingredient for any actor who wants to
create strong characters that really affect an audience.
Read back over the previous paragraphs and you will read some uncomfortable
words: expose, laid-bare, violated and weakness. You will sense the
consequence of vulnerability. But these are positive results if they are
part of a character.
Risk, and the associated action, is also scary for some actors. To lessen
the strain of taking a risk, many actors become risk-averse. That means,
when faced with two different degrees of risk, they choose the one with the
lesser consequence. If you recoil from taking any degree of risk, it's going
to be hard for you to be vulnerable.
Computer security would be a disaster if those running it risked leaving a
path open into the heart of the system. But actors who risk opening a path
to their vulnerability are stronger, more successful actors.
Take an honest examination of what you don't want to reveal. Then, as
uncomfortable as it may be, put one or two of these qualities into your next
character re-invention.
Acting isn't about finding yourself; it's about re-inventing yourself with
vulnerability.
Bill Howey has taught acting since 1980. He's also written, directed, and produced three independent movies.
Bill Howey wrote "The Actor's Menu: A Character Preparation Handbook".
Acting website: www.billhowey.com Book website: www.actorsmenu.com
Copyright © Bill Howey. All rights reserved. Used with permission of the author. Not to be reproduced or distributed.
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