Kevin Shen, 24 January 2015

In a purely selfish session, I wanted to glean from other actors how they improve

themselves at their craft. Fiona Whitelaw and I (Kevin Shen) had a wonderful sharing

session about what we do to fight the insecurities of being an actor and becoming

better actors.

We discussed preparation as a significant part of acting. Doing the “invisible work” of

preparation - creating a backstory and knowing things about your character that allow

you to do make choices that are in that character's reality. That “invisible” work is what

makes actors feel connected and real when you watch them.

Along the lines of preparation, we also talked about text analysis - what the character

says, what others say about the character, what happens in the script, etc.

We discussed our proactive elements - writing to people, meeting people for coffee,

etc. Also, in preparation, or working, or whatever, don't, as so many actors are, be

afraid to ask for help.

Thanks!

Tags:

acting, Acting