Some of my personal favorite actors are those who completely get consumed in a role and transform not only their bodily movements, but also their voice and demeanor. The primary definition of a character actor is a performer who completely alters their personal self and replaces it with the personality, thoughts, movement and speech patters of their character. Perhaps one of the greatest examples of a character actor is Jim Carey; however, there are many more character actors in the entertainment industry that have found great success through this method of acting.
As an actor, it is important to determine your own personal approach and style of acting, and as a character actor there are several tips you should follow to maintain a truthful performance.
When Character Acting Gets Strange
Although my personal favorite actors are character actors, I have seen far too many actors attempt character acting only to fail. If you wish to become a character actor you must approach a character in the same fashion as any other style of acting.
Before adopting the lifestyle and characteristics of a character, you must first discover who this character is. By simply taking stereotypical choices and interjecting them into your performance, your performance will be flat and quite frankly strange.
Discover The Character
Character actors must spend a decent amount of time simply discovering their character. While you may have a solid idea of who this character is and what instances in his past has shaped his current way of living, talking, thinking and moving. It is only when you discover the personal history of your character can you begin to adopt and adapt your physical and emotional choices to align with his.
Live Like the Character
This is perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of character acting. Unlike other acting methods, character acting is best achieved when the actor lives his life off-set like the character. The only way you can bring truth to your performance is if you can react and relate to others through the character’s mind, and the only way to accurately do this is to spend time outside of the script and film set as the character.
