It’s easy to be a great actor, right? You take a few classes and wa-lah! You land an agent and get a great gig as the lead in a high grossing movie like Top Gun: Maverick or Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Yeah…..uh, no.
The below Five Secret Tips will help you go from ordinary actor to great actor.
CHARISMA
An actor needs to have charisma. Point blank. People come in all shapes and sizes, so no matter what you physically look like, you can still be appealing, charming and delightful. When you’re in a room, you want to appear to have a sense of purpose… and you want the other people in the room to notice that you’re there for a reason. A great actor commands the room with their charisma.
Examples of charismatic actors are Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Samuel L. Jackson, Viola Davis, Jackie Chan and Susan Sarandon. These actors are memorable for a reason.
HARD WORK
Some people who are not in show business really have no idea what goes into an actor’s portrayal of a character. We study movements, history, accents, and emotions, just to name a few. It’s not easy. We don’t just memorize lines and hop onto set knowing everything. In some instances, vigorous workouts and stunt coordination are required. Months of training, watching our intake of certain foods and learning about our character is often done before shooting even begins. A great actor pushes their limits.
IMAGINATION
Imagination helps separate a good actor from a great actor. Yes, actors listen to the Directors and go with their vision, but a great actor can read between the lines of what the Director is trying to get across. If a Director sees that you have an imagination, he/she/they may even let you take the reins and make suggestions on how you want to play the part. By having an imagination, you can bring your character, and the story, to the next level.
INTELLIGENCE
Quite often, actors are not seen as intelligent by the outside world. “What do you know? You’re just an actor!” Well, the jokes on them, right? Actors are constantly in learning mode. Actors take classes, study, and would you believe, even get involved in politics and real world events. How many times have you seen an actor stand up for their rights, or the rights of others and make a very intelligent speech from the heart? A lot. Intelligence plays a big role in an actor’s success.
UNDERSTANDING HUMAN BEHAVIOR
The whole idea of portraying a character is to make the audience believe in the character. We’ve seen bad acting, good acting and great acting. The great actors prey upon the viewers’ emotions and twist their minds. Actors want the audience to be completely immersed in the story, not go in-and-out of consciousness. And, actors want people to talk about their performance long after they’ve finished watching. Can you think of theater or movies or television shows that have made a long lasting impact on you? I’m sure you can. By understanding human behavior, a great actor can completely convince the audience that they ARE the person they’re portraying.
Take the above five secret tips seriously. If you want to up your game as an actor, you need to refine your business. Most of all, however, have fun!
