You may see that when you rehearse by yourself or with acting partners, you feel really free and interested, you take risks, explore and try new things. In that phase, you are being really creative since you are not trying to get a result. Your instrument is adventurous in this phase.
However, you may close down and feel tense when you act on stage, on set or during an audition or tape. You may feel less interested in your character and catch yourself trying to be interesting to the audience, the director or the casting director. In other words, you may want to be liked, look confident and please.. When you do this, you leave your character’s needs and go into your ego’s needs. Consequently, this can be very frustrating especially if you had a great rehearsal and then you lose that joy and freedom in your performance.
You may have tried a lot of scene classes, casting director workshops or new acting techniques to “try to fix this”; and yet experience that none of that has worked either.
When you watch my training you'll discover that it's not because it is safe to rehearse and unsafe to play. The root of the problem is that when you play, you try to please and when you rehearse you are focused on your character’s needs… no one to please there... This happens because you have been raised to be a pro at pleasing people. Since you were a child, you were taught what to think, feel and how to behave in a way that worked for the authority (whether it was your parents, teacher or society) so you could fit in. By doing so, they invalidated your emotional processes and reactions. And if you expressed yourself fully, you were punished, humiliated or rejected. So you chose to adapt to others since your survival depended on it. As a result of this, your nervous system is wired to please.
Then, when you become an actor; your instrument wants to please the perceived authority too (the director or casting director in this case). All of that system that taught you that you cannot be you and feel or behave like you want is contracting your freedom and your truth. Therefore, you have access to just a small part of your energy and the director or casting director cannot see you because you are not present.
So the only way through this is to undo your conditioning so you can then wake up your instinct to get that presence back.
Watch my 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 THOUSANDS 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
