Well, to teach an acting lesson here is impossible, but you are kind of on the right track asking them to find empathy in the character. Do some sit down character analysis stuff. The more the actor 'knows' the character, the better they can portray them. Whether they are playing a serial killer or a average joe, any actor can find some way to relate to the character. We have all been mad, but odds are we haven't let it drive us to serial killing. However, if we can use our experienced anger and let that explain the character we can further become the character. I once had to do a scene in theatre where I attempted to rape a girl (language, physical abuse, tearing of clothes the whole 8 yards). It was very hard to do, but if the actor can understand that research shows that most rapists do it for the pleasure of power, not sex, the actor can then relate to a time or circumstance where they really wanted to control a situation or person. So, basically, have your actors determine what the character wants. If the actor can answer what the character wants in the overall movie, the scene, the moment; then they can be 'motivated' for lack of better terms. If you ask them 'why' they should be able to answer you. Even if you ask them what college their character went to, they should know even if it seems irrelevant. Does the characther speak as if educated? Well, then the 'givens' of the script dictate that the character must be educated and it is up to the actor to decide logically why that person speaks the way they do. Acting is reacting. Acting is living realistically in imagined circumstances. Acting is driven by wants.

I could ramble forever, so I'll leave you with that to absorb for now. Just remember, yeah it is nice your family and friends are helping you out, but if it was easy everyone would do it. So to get what you seem to want out of them, they are going to have to do some character work and invest more than just pretending when called upon.

Take care.

Also, don't tell the actor what you want. Help steer them in the right direction. That way they can 'make it their own'.

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A two good tips I've heard before are:

Tell them to go way over the top. If you want them to be sad, tell them go nuts. From there it's easier to tell them to tone it down a little (if needed).

Try telling your actors/actresses to write an autobiography of their characters. Give them the worst thing and best thing that happened to them in recent history, yanno? Give them a little more of your characters.

If all else fails, get new actors ?;)?

SS

An alternative is to write scripts that don't require acting :). David Mamet's book on directing talks a lot about making movies by telling the story with the cuts rather than the shots, and if you can manage to write a script which works that way you don't need a lot out of your actors.

Generally, if you minimise the dialog and have actors do things rather than say things, it's much easier to get away with inexperienced actors.

You could try using goals/objectives. For instance, instead of saying, "Be sad," you could tell your actor, "Make him pity you." That way the actor not only has something interesting to do, but has a reason to connect with the other person.

Coming Out of Left Field
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