Far too many acting coaches delve into the creation aspect of character development. Now, don’t get me wrong, creating a unique character biography and cultivating character quirks that are outside of yourself is an important step in developing a character; however, I have personally found that you may use your own personal history to help shape and foster a character.
Drawing Upon Personal History
Let’s say that your character comes from a home of divorce. You may feel that you can instantly relate to this character as you have also come from a home of divorce. Although you two have this similarity, you quickly realize that the reason for “his” parents divorcing is quite different than your own.
Even though the actual circumstances that led to “his” parents getting a divorce may differ from your own, you may still use your own personal experience with this subject matter to add to his emotional stock.
In this situation, you would not utilize the circumstances that led to your parents getting a divorce for character inspiration, but rather the emotions involved within such an experience. For example, when your own parents divorced you felt sad, angry, confused, bitter and distraught. After reading the script and understanding the personality of your character, you may be able to select several of these raw and intense emotions to help build the backstory of your character.
Remember, while you are NOT this character, you are a human and so is the character. Although the life experiences leading to certain emotions can vary, the actual emotions are always strikingly similar.
Connecting Past Experiences to Your Character
When I talk with my actors about this form of character development, I’m not simply referring to drawing upon past experiences to make your entire character, but rather utilizing your past to empathize with your character. Empathy can be a great tool for an actor.
Using the aforementioned example, you can easily empathize with your character when it comes to his feeling and emotions involved within his parents divorce. Even if “his” parents divorced because his father beat his mother, and your parents divorced because your mother cheated on your father, the underlying emotions you can draw upon are the same.
When connecting your own personal life experiences with those of your character, don’t have the goal of immolating how you felt and your emotional reactions, but rather, use this as an opportunity to connect with your character on a personal level. To engage with him in a sense of empathy, not sympathy.
