Sunday, 24 June 2012

Acting Classes Los Angeles- Creating Personas

By Kirk Baltz


As with any art form, acting is an ability that requires hard work and long hours. It is only through rigorous study and training that actors can reach their goals. To reach this goal, an actor must delve into his soul and discover who he truly is as a person.

Both human persons and created characters share a multi-dimensionality and depth. These facets include the inherent insecurities and fears that are integral in forming our personalities, the persona that we adopt to conceal these vulnerabilities, as well as the tragic flaw. Training with an acting coach can both aid the actor in discovering these dimensions in himself as well as allow him to utilize these personal traits to create very real characters.

According to the works of Carl Jung, humans form their exterior or public personas as a means of exuding a feeling of strength and stability to the world so as to conceal weaknesses buried within. Expression of this persona occurs in all areas of our lives. Similar to actual persons, characters develop public personas that must be unraveled and good acting workshops are designed to teach students how to accomplish just this.

Although the public persona is the dimension that is the most easily recognizable and obvious in a character, it is only an exterior facade and not the core of the individual. However, the core of a person lies in their innate strengths, fears, and issues that travel with us from childhood into adulthood. Acting classes are designed to instruct actors in identifying these difficulties in themselves so as to form multi-dimensional characters that audiences can relate to on a personal level.

Our childhood challenges and situations mold us as adults and remain with us for the duration of our lifetime. Characters on stage or on film are no different. Characters and real persons alike adopt public personas as a means of shielding their weaknesses and helplessness from the world.

A great actor is one who succeeds in stripping away both the their own exterior and that of their character to reveal a deeper identity. Quality coaches work to train actors in communicating the sacred and intimate core of a person's soul and being.

All persons in the audience, like the actor and the character, have both a personal core as well as a public persona they have created to protect it. Presenting a character of similar dimensions is sure to create a bond between the audience and the story being told. The exceptional actor is one who is able to create such a character.




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