As an actor and someone who grew up in a theater family, I love to see how other creatives work. Actors are an interesting bunch, and at many times, not from this world. I can say this because, well, I am one. Granted it's been some time since I really exercised the muscle, but I still remember it very vividly. However, I am shooting something on Wednesday. So stay tuned! But I digress.
My girlfriend recently showed me this video of Benedict Cumberbatch's performance of Smaug in The Hobbit. Not only was it very cool to watch how the motion capture was done, but it was even more amazing to see Benedict do his thing. First off, in my opinion, when it comes to acting, is the individual's willingness to commit. To suspend, willingly, the disbelief. Then live imaginatively in the moment. This sounds so friggin' easy, yet for most it is not. There are so many things that can get in the way, namely, yourself.
When I was auditioning for college, Juilliard, a group of us were taken into a room for warmups. There, Michael Kahn walked us through a series of exercises to get us in the zone. One of which was an exercise where he would name an animal and we had to play the animal. Sure, at first, you feel silly, but my dad always said that if it feels silly, you're headed in the right direction. Doing this sort of thing requires focus and a lot of energy. Later on, when I finally entered college (not at Juillard), my acting professor had us do a similar exercise. These are fun, but they require you to cast off your ego an create.
This isn't an article on the process of acting. So I won't dig into my own personal beliefs, but let me just say that you need to watch this video above. Benedict commits and commits completely. It's utterly amazing.
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