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Sarah Gaboury

About Sarah Gaboury

https://realactorslab.com

Posts by Sarah Gaboury:

card reads "how to stay fresh in acting"

How do I stay fresh when I’m doing a scene over and over again?

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I had a student share that she was feeling stale after doing several takes in a row at home and she wondered what to do about that and how to stay fresh.  Watch the clip from class below and then circle back to this top section to get into “the how.”  ↓ ↓ ↓

The main idea is that as actors we need to learn how to be able to do take after take without getting stale.  The take after take itself isn’t the problem.  Does that make sense?   

You can practice in a good class how to rediscover the scene each time.

Here’s some key questions to ask to stay fresh when rehearsing: 

  • Are you truly being active and doing something to the other person in the scene?  When you are warmed up and play a juicy action (that’s right for the scene)  like “I smack them,” it will get you in your body, focused on deeply listening to see how that action landed.  Ultimately it should get you out of your head and into the “right now.”  (not stale!)
  • Are you deeply connected to a big want in the scene?  Does it ignite you?  And for comedy, are you going for the laugh or going for the want?
  • If you had a rehearsal or take that felt good, did you then try to recreate or regurgitate that thing you did, or did you allow yourself to let go and rediscover the moment to moment?
  • Are you in your head and judging or watching yourself?  Try a few mantras before you roll like “It’s okay to let go,” “I do my work, I do not prove my worth,” “I will allow myself to be seen,” “I’m going to let the camera take the ideas from me.”  See if that helps.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: My husband Matt and I have been watching Friends from the beginning (it’s such a great lesson in comedy). And I listened to this interview with David Schwimmer about going to Northwestern and getting theatre training and, you know, he has very specific training, and he was talking about how he has to have the technique to be able to do something again and again and again and again and again–but how he’ll experiment with something being new every time, even though he knows he can repeat it. What if I fell this way, and did some physical comedy in this way?

So I think you have, you know, there’s gonna be stuff that works, especially thinking specifically about comedy, which this scene is not, there’s stuff that you will rehearse in there because you’ve found that that’s what works, on the timing, on the thing. But there’s always a letting go that happens so that if you have an impulse, you’re available to it. That slowing down enough to not have like, I’ve gotta do this plan, I’m gonna hit it every time, you know.

It’s why people talk about working with great actors making them better, because they give them so much to work off of, but if you’re not an actor who can work off of someone, it won’t matter who you’re in the scene with. Great actors will give you something fresh every time. Even if it’s the same choice, it’ll be the same choice, discovered new.

Right, that’s why actions are so great, because just because you decided in a moment it really works to release him, if you release him for real every time, it’s never gonna be the same. It’s fresh every night. How do you do eight shows a week on Broadway? There’s things that are gonna be the same, but new. They’re not regurgitated, but discovered. You can discover the same choice every night. But you’re still available and listening in case you get a curveball.

card reads "why it's impossible to over-rehearse"

Craft, technique, and why you can’t over-rehearse

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It kind of blows my mind that pursuing craft and technique are almost controversial these days.

I get it. It’s kind of an attractive idea that you could simply work on freeing your instrument, memorize a bunch of words and give a performance the story deserves. I have just so so rarely seen that happen — and even in those rare cases, I tend to find certain aspects of the performance lacking and detrimental to the story.

There are cases where the actor is simply playing a role that is incredibly similar to themselves and it kind of works—but what happens when your personal instincts that feel good are just wrong for the story? What happens when your typical reaction to confrontation in life is to shut down but the story calls for strength? This is when I see actors unintentionally make the story about themselves.

I really don’t say this to be judgemental or critical of anyone’s process. I say this because this work really matters to me. It makes me think about how Larry Moss sat next to Stella Adler at a dinner party and she begged him not to “let it die,” meaning the craft. I’m grateful to him that he’s been such a big part of keeping it alive for me and so many others.

In this clip, I share a powerful example of how technique, craft, and rehearsal can create a recipe for mastery and lead to performances that feel almost transcendental.

This is why I don’t really think it’s possible to over-rehearse—if you learn how to release and let go.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: The Presence book that I was listening to this morning, she was talking about concerts. She loves concerts…and seeing musicians when they’re really in the moment, and what happens and how they sort of transcend. And then she was  talking about dancers and this friend of hers who had seen Mikhail Baryshnikov do this dance that Jerome Robbins had choreographed. And the first time they saw it, it was technically perfect, but didn’t have this deep impact. And then he saw it again like a year later and said it just completely blew his mind.

It’s the same dance, and it was the same choreography, but that he was so alive and present in a way that felt intangible, you know, like it felt spiritual, you know?

Student: Oh, yeah.

Sarah: And that to me is so much about what I—you know, cuz I really do believe in technique. And technique, you know, there’s the coaches who really believe that all you’re supposed to do is get present and go from your instincts, and for me, it really is, it’s like doing that dance that Jerome Robbins choreographed for you. You have to do all the work, so that you can be technically perfect, and then you give over. And then you surrender. And then you let it go.

Student: Yeah.

Sarah: That’s mastery.

card reads "HOW TO STOP PLAYING A CARICATURE"

Why you need to stop playing a caricature and start creating a real character

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Sometimes when I’m watching a scene it feels like I’m watching an actor playing a caricature of a role vs having an experience of that character as a living, breathing, human in a specific set of circumstances.  Perhaps you’ve had this experience as well?  It’s usually a let down because as an audience we can’t drop into the story, we’re too aware of the acting and ultimately it doesn’t help tell the story on the page.

Let me clarify the idea here:  Playing the role as a “caricature” simply means that it feels like an imitation.  It may feel exaggerated to the audience, like the actor is playing at the idea of the role rather than living it. 

So, no doubt you want to avoid playing a caricature.  But how?

One easy way to unintentionally slip into imitation-mode is to take the character breakdown as a set of strict rules to follow.  Actors in this mode often attempt to capture the adjectives used to describe this person and start playing a caricature or imitation of those characteristics.  I see actors attempt to play characteristics like “bossy,” “uptight,” “wistful,” “full of life,” etc.  This can happen when reading what other characters may say about you in the text as well.  “She’s a total Type A.”

Use your understanding of the role as a jumping off point.  Then, get to work and make sure to listen to your instincts.  

Know what you want (objective) so that you feel it in your bones, build your POPE, use your imagination to create the world and build a strong point of view, rehearse with active verbs so that you’re doing something to the other person in the scene (rather than playing mood or story), find your stakes…Your process.   All of this must affect you in your body.

And you can use your own personal hooks.

What do I, the actor, personally understand about the emotional core of this scene for the role I’m playing?  Is this scene about loss of control?  About jealousy?  What can I use to hook into that when I rehearse?  Does it come from my imagination? Does it come from my real life?  Is it a combination of both?  If the audience’s experience of the role should indeed read as “bossy,” can I figure out why?  What’s my need to control really about?  What do I personally understand about wanting control? 

What can I do to the other person to get what I want moment-to-moment like, bulldoze, bully, steer, trap, etc. and can I rehearse with some of those offerings?

I once coached an actor playing an “uptight” role who had fallen into the trap of playing a caricature simply because of how easy it is to conjure up ideas of uptight people.  It quickly gives us images of up rigid posture, meticulous organization, perhaps even over-articulation, etc, all of which may end up being included in your rehearsal, but if you stop there, and there’s no internal undercurrent for your uptightness, if there’s no NEED under it, it doesn’t ring true. We, as the audience, don’t buy it and then the story is dead.  

Can you use your imagination to build a compelling reason for why you’re so uptight that truly stirs something powerful up in you?  Can you build why you feel such terror about it all falling apart? (stakes!).  

These are some ideas to help you avoid the caricature trap and help you build living, breathing humans that are compelling.How do you avoid playing AT a role?

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah:  What I think was a big shift also was thinking about how you’re connecting internally to something. I’m not sure if it was the way we were working or if it was something you were using to plug in, but it looked like something was making you emotional, or just stirring something up in you, there was something activated, and that was also helping you connect to the scene in a way that you got under it, so whatever that was was activating something in you, and that’s what you’re on the lookout for when you work, you’re always investigating to figure out, “what am I gonna use to hook myself in to the circumstances? How am I gonna get under it?”

Cuz otherwise we’re just trying to mimic and play at an idea of something rather than putting it through us. We’re putting these people into us. And trying to figure out how we bring our own juice into it, rather than try to pretend we are them.

card reads "HOW DO YOU GET OVER EMOTIONAL BLOCKS?"

How to stop getting stuck on emotional blocks in acting

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Do you know what your emotional blocks in acting are?

This is the stuff that prevents you from fully living a scene as the role. That’s what was happening at this particular moment in class.

When this comes up, think of it as your invitation to get into this very challenging (but essential) work to loosen the block’s grip on you. Identifying what your emotional blocks are can give you a place to start. 

Do you really struggle when it comes to standing up for yourself?  Do you shy away from heartbreak scenes?  Do you struggle with vulnerability?  That resistance is your guide.

Here are some ways you can work to dissolve resistance / emotional blocks:

  • Therapy (if you have access to it) is alway a fantastic option.  Some students are using BetterHelp.com and finding it helpful.  Some Blue Shield plans in CA offer it for free via TeleDoc.  Do some research about what your own insurance covers.
  • Write!  Set a timer and put pen to paper until it goes off. Stream of consciousness. It’s a purge.  When do you first remember feeling resistance in this area? When do you first remember feeling a particular related emotion? Are there any moments from your childhood that feel connected? Journal, journal, journal. When you’re done, burn it.  Write any “F-you” letters to people you may need to tell off.  Burn those, too.
  • Find a breathwork class near you or online. I hate doing it but it has been an incredibly powerful release for me.  Students often find themselves getting emotional during sessions, reminding them that it’s safe to do so.  I like Brittany Hatcher.
  • Get into class!  You may have a hard time knowing exactly what you are avoiding in the first place.  Plus, a good coach can help you come up with a plan to begin and will hold you accountable.  If you’re like me, you may want to run away fast from this work and put it off for years.  Don’t.  You will stay stuck.
  • Remember, it takes time to dismantle emotional blocks so keep at it and have patience with yourself.

I do have some excellent exercises that help you identify which action categories you may be avoiding which we can get into in class or private work so let us know if you need help. 

If this feels overwhelming, here’s your reminder that you’re right on time.  Take it one baby step at a time. You’ve got this.  Drop a comment here on the blog to let us know what your very first baby step will be!

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah:  There’s these little things that come up that prevent you from having your impulse… that get a little scary.  These are called emotional blocks in acting and I think this probably has something to do with the difficulty playing these strong actions. I don’t know. What do you think?

Student: I don’t know. It’s not even like…it’s not even like I feel like I’m doing it, it’s just my body is doing it’s own…

Sarah: I know, it’s not conscious, it’s just uncomfortable to do things that we don’t normally do. We’re not…the whole point of acting, right, is that we’re trying to not act. We’re trying to live these moments as if they’re really happening to us. And so we’re basically trying to trick our brains into believing that this is real life, and your subconscious, the subconscious Ashley is like, “Don’t do that! It’s not nice!” Right? It’s not safe and it’s not nice and it’s mean and it’s all these things. Which is good! That’s the part of you that protects you.

But part of what we have to do, and that’s part of what this breathwork would be for, is to help us undo some of that stuff, that keeps us stuck and safe. And lets us be more free in our responses, in our authenticity, in our instinct. To learn in your body that it’s okay to stand up and fight back.

card reads: how to rehearse and keep it fresh

How to rehearse to keep it fresh in performance

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Ever not exactly sure how to rehearse?

I believe in rehearsal.  I’ve rarely used the term “over-rehearsed” because I rarely see that as the cause of less than excellent work.  This diagnosis is usually thrown out there when a performance looks rigid, planned, or stale.

But how you rehearse is crucial and the key to avoiding those previously mentioned pitfalls.

Ok, so how do you keep your work fresh when rehearsing a lot?  Or when you’re doing the same take or play over and over again?

How you rehearse will inform how you perform.  So if you notice in rehearsal that the scene feels stuck in sameness each time through, when you get on set or on stage, you may find yourself regurgitating an intonation or making an attempt to reproduce certain results that felt good. But this means you’re focusing on yourself and the results instead of the other person.

The key here is to think of rehearsal as a time to play, experiment, and plant seeds vs a time to lock in your performance and create some sort of rigid plan. Focus on what you’re doing to the other person instead of how the words are coming out.  Make sure you watch the clip below to learn how to implement this.

I love to recommend the app Actions: The Actors’ Thesaurus to keep rehearsals playful.  It can help shake you out of that dreaded “saying the line the same way every time” problem.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah:  Let’s talk about how to rehearse now that you’ve got a good little skeleton here to work with. 

I want you to be really careful of trying to recreate. Like, you’ll try something with your verb, and you’ll like it, it’ll come out well. Ooh, that feels right. And then, instead of trying to redo the verb, you’ll try to redo how you did it, with the same inflection. Try to stay away from that. Try to keep playing. I’m doing this to Dad, I’m doing this to Dad. And let it come out fresh every time.

And you can also—we don’t have to nail down all these verbs, right? You can rehearse and keep looking for more. Okay, “destroy” was cool, what if I demolish him, what if I attack him, what if I shatter him? It’s kind of like you’re taking each seed from each verb, planting it in the little hole in the dirt, covering it up, and then watering it. And then when you go to do the scene and you’re rehearsing it, you see what comes up based on your instincts and based on what the other actor, or the other reader, gives you in that circumstance.

So you’re not locked in. You can still listen. You can still respond with authenticity.

card reads "HOW TO STRENGTHEN YOUR IMAGINATION EVERY DAY"

Why you need to strengthen your imagination as an actor

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What do you do to strengthen your imagination in acting?

Practice!  For example:

  • Think about a specific setting or place of a scene you have worked on. (Like, a park or a funeral home)
  • Use sensory work to deepen your connection and get as specific as you can–
  • What does this place look like in your imagination? 
  • What does it smell like? 
  • What is the temperature of the air?
  • Is there an object in this place you might touch that affects how you’re feeling?  

Or:

  • What if there’s a monster you need to be terrified of?  How can you create the reality of that monster?  Can you see its gnarly teeth?  
  • What would be like if you were covered in spiders?
  • If your flesh was on fire?
  • If you had an alien in your belly?

Or:

  • Think of a character you’ve worked on with a rich history or backstory.
  • Use your imagination to build a specific event from this person’s past so that roots take hold in you and affect you deeply.  
  • How specific can you get?  Can you include your five senses?

When you practice, can you feel yourself being affected by this work?  If not, it’s definitely time to add more imagination to your daily practice.

You can also read a new book, and when you get to an interesting scene, put the book down, and strengthen your imagination through building the scenario on the book as vividly as you can. Invest in the circumstances. How would you react in that situation? Can you get on your feet and embody it?

Even just five or ten minutes of this sensory work daily can help you strengthen your imagination, and as a student says in this clip from class, there’s nothing more powerful than the human imagination.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: And that’s why it’s good, as part of whatever warmup you do regularly, for both of you, to have regular work of sensory recall – of working that muscle so that you can see and connect and have things hit you and there’s not gonna be, the more you do those kinds of warmups every day, so that things really do move through you in a free way, you can tell that story with your body and your voice.

Student: There’s nothing more powerful than the human imagination.

Sarah: It’s really true.

Student: But it is like a muscle.

Sarah: It is!

Student: You have to regularly train in.

Sarah: It is. Larry Moss used to say that actors’ imaginations were lazy now because we watch everything instead of read, and that the best thing an actor could do would be to read a lot of novels, read a lot of things that are gonna constantly strengthen your imagination. And then to do those kinds of exercises, where you’re seeing someone in front of you, and touching your face, and smelling their hair, and allowing it to affect you.

And doing that work all the time. Even in a small way, if you do that for five or ten minutes, that muscle gets strong. But it can be hard. It can be hard if you’re not used to doing it.

card reads: DON'T LET FORGETTING YOUR LINES RUIN YOUR TAKE

Do you worry about forgetting your lines?

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This conversation came up in class because a student totally lost his line in the middle of a take. Does that happen to you?  How do you typically respond to forgetting your lines?

I get that the fear of forgetting your lines can create a ton of anxiety (especially when working live) but as we discuss in this clip, when it actually happens it’s often a sign that you’re deeply plugged into the moment and out of your head.

The story I share here from when I was pursuing acting is one a lot of actors can relate to:  we allow the forgetting of the line to become a mistake rather than let it be the gift that it is.

When you’re really dropped into the moment-to-moment of a scene, of course there will be moments when you don’t know what comes next.  That’s the whole goal, isn’t it?

I think in that moment when I stumbled, I let it mean that I can’t be trusted and that I don’t really know what I’m doing after all.  Instead, I could have let it be an opportunity to free fall which is when some of the best moments in acting tend to arrive.

So yeah, obviously you need to know your lines.  You have to know them well BUT THEN you learn to let go and trust yourself and fly.  If you are worrying about forgetting your lines it will keep you in your head.

What if you retrained yourself to believe deeply that every time you drop a line, it’s actually a sign that the magic is happening?  What if you let it be your nudge to lean in?  

This takes practice but I promise it can be done!

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Student: Maybe because I was so plugged in that I was just totally on what was going on in front of me, so then it kind of maybe evoked a different feeling, a different type of…

Sarah: You got out of your head!

Student: Yeah.

Sarah: You got out of your head. Those moments that you stumble are almost always pure gold on tape. And if you can stay with it, for you it’ll feel like fifteen minutes of you working to figure out what comes next, but it’s usually not so long in the moment.

Student: Right.

Sarah: You know, I remember a time when I auditioned for this big show, and I just remember that same thing happening to me, where I lost the line. And I just made it mean too much. I made it…the fact that I lost it, I felt like the whole rhythm of the whole scene went out the window when in fact probably, in reality on the tape it was probably a gift.

And it just totally derailed me and I just never forgot it because it was just…I was so right there, you know? But actors make it mean something that it doesn’t mean. And if you were to come up with something that even wasn’t the line, that would be fine.

Student: Right, right, right.

Sarah: Because those moments, you’re so plugged in, nine times out of ten, you know, you’re in such a great place when you lose your line.

card reads: having trouble stepping int your character's shoes?

How to make stepping into your character’s shoes easier and more authentic

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Ever thought about the idea of an action palette for the roles you work on?  I love this, it’s super juicy and can help you with stepping into your character’s shoes.

I often use exercises inspired by Scott Illingworth’s book (Exercises for Embodied Actors) to encourage actors to find their own personal action palette.  (Essentially you take detailed notes of the actions you play in your own life for a week and you’re eventually able to boil it down to a small group of action words that reveal the palette you tend to play from in your everyday life.)

The roles you play also have palettes and I find this incredibly helpful, especially when you are working on a role who has had a very different set of circumstances in their life than you and won’t be able to simply pull from your own palette of actions and do the role justice.

In this clip, I had encouraged this actor to build the story and connections that will justify her actions in the scene.

Instead of hoping you will magically lose yourself and transform or morphe into an entirely new person (this is not usually what an actor experiences), think of their life as yours.  What if there was no distance at all?  What if it was actually vital that you never lose yourself?

Find the hooks that connect you to the circumstances and the core of what you are experiencing in the scene. This can help you truly live their life on camera and shatter the notion of somehow losing you.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Student: It’s funny, I feel much more like Angela than I did in the beginning.

Sarah: Yeah! Good!

Student: In the beginning when I first read it, I was reading it to Rosie, and I was like, “Rosie, I’m never going to be able to be this woman!

Sarah: You totally are! Such a good experiment, though, right?

Student: It was a great experience because it really forced me to be uncomfortable, like I’m not, I can’t say that, I’m never gonna say things like that, but…

Sarah: It’s so much more fun!

Student: I can say things like that!

Sarah: Why not? And, this is why I’m, again, excited for you to do these actions in your own life, because you’re gonna start to see, like you said, I don’t feel like her yet. Part of us, in our own lives, what we start to see doing this exercise, is that we are constantly code-switching, depending on who we’re with, and in a way, it’s not that different, when we step into these temporary situational selves.

And say, this is me, if all these other life circumstances happen, so let me build some of the past, let me build a couple of vivid memories, let me step into her shoes. I don’t have to become her, but I can figure out what her palette is and why. Why does she have to protect herself? What happened?

Student: Right.

Sarah: So it doesn’t have to feel so far away from you, like you have to become this other human and lose yourself into Angela, you know? I don’t think that’s real.

BUILDING BLOCKS

Skip this simple rehearsal step = derail your scene

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It can be super easy to launch yourself into exciting material that’s got you all fired up and forget to begin with the simple steps or the foundation.  After all, you’ve been at this for a while, right?  You know what you’re doing…

But skipping that early important work can have disastrous effects on the scene because you may end up unintentionally playing a scene that’s more about the actor’s mood or emotion than the story on the page.

So save this post for when you just need a quick reminder of what you need to know before you jump into a scene:

The Circumstances

What’s literally happening in the scene, including what has come before. What are your relationships to everything mentioned in the scene? (I call this the POPE- people, objects, places events.)

The Big Want

In this role, what do you want to achieve, what is your main goal?  What do you want from the other people in the scene?  Sometimes there are multiple wants.  Build a relationship to why it’s so important you achieve that want that you the actor can connect to internally and deeply.  Can you zoom out?  Do you also have a big life dream in this role?

The Obstacles

What is in your way? (the other people are almost always providing good obstacles) How are you going to get through their obstacles?This is the very beginning, some of the stuff you can take right from the text, that you can then use to help you start to make choices in the next phase of rehearsal. 

 

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: Actors forget this all the time, and we have to remind even the most professional actors: what do I want? What do I want? Because we can start making all of these choices and getting totally derailed, so try to remember that until you know what your character wants in the scene, you won’t be able to play the scene well.

Student: Okay.

Sarah: Because everything you do after that is gonna be in service of the thing you want. One of the biggest mistakes you can make going into a scene is to try to play the idea of a scene. Is to try to play an emotional idea of it. We can read this and be like, oh they’re angry and they’re sad. So I’m gonna do that. I’m gonna try to be angry here and I’m gonna try to be sad here. And I’m gonna, you know, I’m gonna try to play this idea of it, when in fact, we have to scrap all of that. Think about what they want, go after what they want, build the relationship internally to what they want so that you can feel it, and the rest of that stuff, the emotion, the anger, the sadness, that will come without you having to show it. This’ll make more sense as we start to work.

Student: No, that makes lots of sense.

Sarah: Yeah, cuz it is the big trap. It’s the big trap that a lot of people…they play an attitude or an idea of a scene, and that’s when they get caught acting. That’s the acting that puts us to sleep, where we’re like “I don’t know if I really believe that.” They’re playing an idea of something rather than…in our lives, we’re always trying to get something from someone else, right? In every moment! In every moment of our day, we’re trying to get something. When we’re having an exchange with people, you know, I’m in the kitchen with my husband in the morning, I’m trying to get things happening!

Student: Yeah.

Sarah: So it’s the same thing for our characters. So what’s literally happening, what do I want, and then there’s this little triad, these three things that would be in the acting triangle, of [what’s happening,] what do I want, and what’s in the way.

card reads: having a hard time dropping in on camera?

Worried about dropping in on camera? Hold up the mirror to the audience

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Do you ever feel like it’s hard to drop the mask and really play from that raw and present place on camera?  I have an idea that may help you with dropping in on camera (vs feel like you are holding back or hiding).

It can be so hard to let go of that pursuit of the mythical perfectly delivered performance, even when we know better, can’t it?

It makes total sense because in rehearsal you’re making choices and experimenting with rhythms and actions and connections and stakes and hooks and of course you really want all that stuff you worked on to show up in the scene, right?

This can cause a lot of fear and anxiety because you want the part or you want to do the story justice or you want to level up because you deeply don’t want anyone to judge you or criticize you.  Ooof, I get it.  I so, so get it. 

It’s so hard to truly allow yourself to be seen, especially on camera. 

If that resonates:

1) definitely check out the clip below for our conversation during class, and 2) can you shift how you think of the audience and/or camera? 

Rather than thinking of the camera as something to tune out or hide from, what if you think of it as a collaborator?  This works for a live audience as well.  I often tell actors to think of the camera as a highly sensitive portal that captures all your thoughts and feelings and delivers them to the world.  This helps tremendously for pushing as well, and makes dropping in on camera something you don’t have to struggle for.

We have a whole page of exercises that help actors let go, drop into their scenes and allow the camera in that’s available to students. If this is something you need help with, let us know!

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: Sometimes there’s stuff that’s hanging on a little bit, that’s keeping us from feeling like we can fully be safe.

Student: Right.

Sarah: In letting that stuff be seen again. But really, sometimes what helps is thinking about this communication that happens not only with the partner, but with the audience, and the audience being the camera, like we’ve been talking about. That you’re gonna allow yourself to be seen so that everybody can see themselves in you.

Student: Yeah.

Sarah: That there’s this shared experience. Sometimes that really helps you show up and take the layers off…of being, of holding the mirror up in that moment.

Student: Yeah.

Sarah: And sometimes that image, that moment, that idea, going into the work like that, can help you take the pressure off of: this is my performance and I have to get it right. That can take the pressure off in a way that helps you to be more naked, so to speak.

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