Expert: Wanda Reinholdt - 4/10/2008

Question
Hi,
I was just wondering when acting, how do you really become your character and be 'in the moment'. Like  how do you forget about the audience, and really get into it?
thanx.

Answer
Hi Hailey...And thanks for writing.

This is a great question, one of my favorites.  Let's see if I can help you.

I'd like to first say that you never become the character.  You cannot be them because you are you.  What you can do is develop an understanding of who they are and what they are wanting and act from that point.  

The most important part of acting is knowing exactly you want (based on what the script says as it gives you all the clues that you need) and using different tactics to get what you are looking for.  In other words, you become focused on your objective or your action verb.  That is when you are staying in the moment.  You are focused on your scene partner and going for what you want believing you are going to get it.  

For e.g. let's say I look at a script and I can see that the person I am playing wants to silence their scene partner.  Once I know my action verb (to silence) then I think of of a few ways I can do this - kill, muffle, interrupt, bribe.  Based on what is happening in the scene and story, I determine which one of these might work and I try them in rehearsal.  

Does that help you?

Wanda