"ROAD TO EL DORADO"
The latest mega-budget DreamWorks animated feature is a disappointment, despite the excellent voice performances of Kevin Kline and Kenneth Brannagh in the lead roles. The animation is gorgeous of course, but the story is as cold as ice. No heart and not a single character you can care about. Even worse, the movie reeks of contemporary Hollywood ethic. The problem crystallizes in a single scene that occurs mid-story. Our "heroes" are losing at what amounts to an ancient game of basketball. If they do not win, they will certainly be fodder for the natives' human sacrifice ceremonies. One of them turns to the other and cries out, "What we need is a miracle!" The other calls back, "No! What we need is to cheat!" And so they do, and so they win. I realize the exchange was intended to be comedic, but what we learn in acting is that there is TRUTH underneath comedy. And the truth underneath this comedy is very ugly. Pass.

THANKS TO WILD BRAIN and all the animators who have worked with me this past month in the Acting for Animators classes! I had a totally terrific time! The next AFA workshop will be Saturday, May 13th.

CRAFT NOTES
"Knowing vs. Feeling"

Newsletter subscriber Terry Young sent me an interesting question after he read my Craft Notes about David Mamet's book "True and False", and I'd like to answer him in this forum.

TERRY WROTE: "Given your point of view that actors should bring their own interpretations--what formula or rule can an actor use to make acting choices (actions, and "to do's") that would make a clean, well shaped performance...Specifically I'm not always sure if I'm making a good choice when I change actions when there is a beat change. There is a world of actions to choose from (to ridicule, to command, to calm, etc.) but I am always unsure if my action is in keeping with the character? Is my action strong enough to carry the scene? I am always told to do what is real for me, but yet when I play a scene for the first time my teachers often tell me to use a different action."

ED'S REPLY: Actors are, as Artonin Artaud observed, "athletes of the heart." The problem you're having, Terry, is that you are too cerebral. The rightness of acting choices comes from feeling, not from thinking. Thinking tends to lead to conclusions; feeling tends to lead to action. You cannot recognize the rightness of an acting choice by thinking about it mid-scene. Indeed, if you think about acting choices while you are acting, then you are no longer acting! You're obviously a hard worker, the kind of guy who can surmount any obstacle you're given in life. You have learned that the harder you work, the closer you are to a solution. Right? With acting, that's not the way it goes. Acting choices are more "allowed" than "caused".

Acting is a process of exposing, not of hiding. When acting is right, it feels mildly embarrassing, like you are telling secrets about yourself. With acting, the harder you work the tighter will the door to understanding be shut! I realize it is a frustrating process. The good news is that it never gets any easier. Every time you act, you have to reinvent the wheel. Each time is new: a different scene partner, a different context, a different you. You will never be able to come up with a Chinese menu of acting choices where you pick one from column "A" and two from column "B" and be certain that you have picked the right ones. You'll know you are on the right track when, in mid-scene, you experience a rush of feeling. It will probably startle you the first time it happens, but I'm here to tell you that it is utterly exhilarating, even addictive. You'll find that the feeling causes you to...well...just to DO things! You'll surprise your own self! And then you'll see that your scene partner is responding in ways you hadn't planned on! Suddenly, the two of you are on that wave, the biggest one in the ocean, and it is thrilling! That's what acting feels like. (I'll be happy to consider Craft Notes topics from readers. Drop me an e-mail.) Until next month. Be safe. (...or, as another reader suggested recently, "Be dangerous!")

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