We actors do this to pretend, to go into imaginary circumstances, so when the imaginary circumstance is of a different time, that just compounds the joy of doing what we do.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Acting is an imaginative leap, really, isn't it? And imaginations prosper in different circumstances.
The joy we get as actors is out of transforming ourselves into something that's not necessarily anything true to ourselves. And it's a power - not being yourself, and being in the role; it's just like another prop.
When it's working, what acting is really about is getting into the essence of a moment in a creative, joyous way - through whatever frees you up.
You see people in different situations behaving in very different ways. That can only benefit you as an actor.
It is joyous for any actor to enter other grounds of consciousness and thought. At the end of the day, we just all like dressing up and playing around.
Acting isn't necessarily pretending. It's storytelling. It's giving someone your perspective on something.
When you do a play, you have all this time to rehearse and grow into the character. In television, even though you're waiting and waiting and waiting, once you're actually on set engaging in the scene with another actor, time is of the essence.
I take for granted that for the imaginative writer, the exercise of the imagination is part of the basic process of coping with reality, just as actors need to act all the time to make up for some deficiency in their sense of themselves.
Sometimes, as actors, we feel like we want to hold on and control where a character goes.
All the theories that acting is reacting to imaginary circumstances as though they are real, and directing is turning psychology into behavior, those are all stabs at something that can't be taught. All the great actors can't talk about what they do, and they don't want to begin to talk about it. They just do it.