When you act or audition, you might feel that you spend a lot of time on learning your lines and getting them right. You might even have thought that you can’t do any acting work until you get the lines down. So you end up rehearsing a lot. Inevitably, at the end of the day, all your energy is spent on your lines instead of on your character.
And if you have focused mainly on your lines during the preparation, then you will probably notice that when you audition or act on set, most of your energy will also hang onto those lines and on saying them right.
However, when you watch my training below you will discover that your responsibility as an actor is not to say the lines right but to be another human being. So if your focus is on getting your lines right, you’re not being the character and getting what they want in the scene. In a way, your energy is on your ego, on controlling the outcome and making sure that the external authority that is watching your work is agreeing with what you’re doing. Instead, when you’re being the character and fighting for what they want; you’re offering your energy to the character. This is fulfilling for you and impactful for the audience.
The main reason why you focus on your lines and the outcome of your performance is because at school we were conditioned to do what we were told, to submit to an authority and to do things “well” for them. Our value depended on how well we did things. But art is the opposite of that. Art is about making sure that authorities don’t influence your truth and freedom and about being your unique self and expressing your own voice that no one else has. So when you focus on your lines, you’re still trying to be a “good” student and you’re not creating anything.
Instead, when you can bring your uniqueness to your character, then your character becomes alive; and when you devote yourself to what your character wants rather than what your ego wants, you have access to a more beautiful creativity than learning your lines. In order to have access to that creativity and uniqueness; first you need to decondition yourself and unlearn all the “good-student” and “people-pleasing habits'' that you have learnt so you can get your truth, uniqueness and freedom back.
Watch the training below to hear all my thoughts on this topic.
After you watch the training, I'd love for you to join in the conversation happening in our private Facebook Group THE INSTINCTIVE ACTORS' SOCIETY. You can get answers for your specific situation directly from me and connect with HUNDREDS of like-minded actors across the globe, so we can move things forward faster together.
If you're not already a member, be sure to request to join ASAP here.
See you there!
Jo Kelly
Creator, The Reset Journey From Resistance to Freedom
P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are two ways I can help you:
Get your FREE training on how to STOP TRYING TO BE A GOOD ACTOR SO YOU HAVE A CHANCE AT BEING GREAT
Get on the waitlist for my program, The Reset Journey From Resistance to Freedom, and stop struggling to access your natural, authentic talent in the audition room or on set. You'll learn how to reset your instrument to be 100% instinctive and free in just 33 days.
GET ON WAITLIST: tobeornottoact.com/waitlist
