Why connecting to your body in acting is essential
There’s a lot of talk about building your inner world and using your imagination and building connections in acting, right?
But have you ever felt like it’s your body that’s holding you back? Using your full body in acting is essential, and sometimes connecting to your body can be just as difficult as working through an emotional block. But I promise it’s worth the time you’ll put in.
Why is it so important to act with your full body? (yes, even on camera!)
If something isn’t clicking internally, it’ll be hard to inhabit your body truthfully, and likewise, if you’re not feeling free in your body, you may find that your emotions become difficult to access. They sort of…get stuck.
For example, maybe you’re tall and have always subconsciously felt like you take up too much space so you hunch your shoulders and round your back. What’s going to happen when you attempt to embody proud royalty? There are lots of exercises you can do to free your body up, including doing Alexander Technique work, which is truly fabulous.
CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION
Student: I do get really uncomfortable in my body and like I don’t really know what to do with it, so that’s definitely the next thing I want to work on, is just moving to that next step of what’s the next chunk to work on.
Sarah: Yes. And finding where you’re cut off from yourself in your body and working to release. Find some Alexander technique videos online that you can watch that will help you. I remember learning early on, working on George Bernard Shaw, I was working on Mrs. Warren’s Profession, and I realized for some reason I was completely cut off from full extension in my arms.
So I would go to gesture and it would be like, everything would kind of get stuck in here. And I think it was because I was working with the corset and all the stuff, but I had to learn that I wasn’t fully embodying the stuff that I was playing. And working on Alexander and doing different animal work and all that stuff, so that I could feel confident in using the full expression of my body.
Student: Gotcha.
Sarah: And all that stuff from the folder will be great to keep doing, the playing with the dial, expanding the actions, embodying those full expansion, cranking it all the way up to a 10 and letting your full body get engaged. And then you can bring it back down. And when you’re frustrated and you have an impulse, you feel like BLAH, you know?
But good. I’m glad you did that, I’m glad you taped, and the more you’re taping these things and figuring out that process and how to get in your body before you do that so that you can feel the way you look right now. Right, you’re released right now, and moving normally, and…
Student: Yeah.
