Since I have no acting experience whatsoever and I’m taking on such an emotion-heavy role, I knew I needed some support. My best friend, Jianna, has been a thespian for over three years. She’s performed in multiple productions and has been on many stages. I’ve even had the chance to watch one of her shows from the audience, and it’s clear to me that she knows what she’s doing so she’s the perfect person to help me with this project.
Originally, I hoped she could play the main character in my film opening, but since some scenes have to filmed at my school and we don’t attend the same one, that wasn’t possible. Even though Jianna has only ever performed on stage and never in front of a camera, I actually think that works to my advantage. This past summer, I took an FLVS class called “Theater, Film, and Cinema Production”, where we studied the difference between stage acting and film acting. Stage actors rely on bigger expressions, movements, and body language so their emotions reach the audience, even those sitting all the way in the back. Film acting is more subtle since cameras can capture small details, allow retakes, and rely on specific angles to help convey emotion.
Since my character only has one spoken line in the entire opening, getting advice from someone who specializes in expressive, physical storytelling makes perfect sense. I also took theater for three years in middle school as an elective so I’m confident I can handle delivering that single line. What I really need help with is communicating my character’s heavy emotions through my body language and facial expressions, something stage actors do naturally and constantly.
Now that I’ve fully written my character and the plot, I’ve put together a list of questions to ask Jianna so I can learn how to portray those emotions more authentically. Fortunately, she’s more than willing to let me interview her.
The questions
1. How do you prepare yourself emotionally before acting out an intense scene?
2. What helps you access strong emotions without forcing them?
3. How do you make emotional acting look natural and not exaggerated?
4. Do you use personal memories to create emotions, or do you stay fully in the character’s mindset?
5. How do you stay in the emotional headspace of a scene during multiple takes?
6. How do you handle emotional scenes that you can’t personally relate to?
7. How do you practice facial expressions and emotional range?
8. What’s one common mistake beginners make when acting emotional?
The interview video
After finishing the interview, I walked away with a better understanding of how to approach my future performance. Some of the key takeaways for me were:
- To get ready for emotional or intense scenes, it’s important to fully understand the character’s mindset and imagine myself in their situation.
- Putting myself in the character’s shoes allows emotions to come through more naturally, rather than feeling forced or exaggerated.
- Emotional performances are strongest when they come from real feelings instead of pretending, even if I haven’t gone through the same experience as the character.
- Using personal memoirs is one of the best ways to connect with a character and express their emotions in an honest way.
- It’s important to keep a clear boundary between myself and the character, especially when portraying someone in a toxic or unhealthy state. This is a role, not who I am.
- Finding personal moments that bring out the same emotions the character is feeling helps make the performance more believable.
- Practicing different facial expressions and understanding how emotions show physically is an important part of acting.
- Overdoing natural behaviors, like breathing, can pull the audience out of the scene, so keeping things subtle is key.
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