Any actor interested in studying the Meisner technique should explore what’s known as the actors instrument. Making a comparison between acting and an instrument is helpful in categorizing aspects of the acting craft and what makes a good actor. Even the most inexperienced audience knows when acting is good or not, simply by how engaged they are in the material being presented. It may also just be a sense of something not coming across in the right way. In fact, it is the actors instrument and how well rounded and how well developed it is.
There are six aspects to consider when looking at the actors instrument. They are: physical expression, emotional expression, imagination, sensory expression, intelligence and empathy. These six aspects of the actors instrument are identified and developed when studying the Meisner Technique. It is easy even for non actors to identify professional actors who have mastered the different aspects of their “instrument.” It is the true legends, the icons of stage and screen, that have mastered all six.
Sylvester Stallone is a physical actor who commands attention simply because of his physical presence onscreen. Stallone is certainly able to express emotionally, but overall his most powerful tool onscreen is his physical expression. As an actor he expresses emotional in a very physical, often external way. Actors must focus and learn about all the aspects of the acting instrument, which will help them be diverse and capable of many types of roles.
Emotional expression is one of the first things most up and coming actors focus on. Obsessing about how a character feels about something and how to express it is usually the primary thing actors concentrate on. While it can be short sighted to put too much weight on any one aspect of the actors instrument, emotional expression is certainly a key acting tool to master. It’s important to remember, however, that each of the six aspects of the instrument are related and must be developed and work together.
Of course, it is meaningful emotional expression that draws people into any character or story. It is through this kind of expression that the audience is drawn in to the story. It is common in classes teaching Meisner acting in nyc to create an emotional history of a character, imagine it in detail and then use all the aspects of the instrument to express them. In Meisner acting students study emotions diligently, their own and those of others. They in fact, build a library of emotions and reactions and methods for communicating them. When called upon to create a specific character, they dig very deep and create and imagine (another part of the instrument) what that character’s emotional story is. Having created a full emotional life and a foundation of behaviors, thoughts and ways of reacting, the actor can then bring the character to life, in the moment, in a spontaneous way.
Vulnerability, for example is an expression of the emotion of insecurity. It’s one thing for an actor to understand that and work with it. But, if they have strongly developed other aspects of their instrument, such as physical expression and empathy, they will be able to present an authentic, vulnerable character. After all, vulnerability can be expressed through tears, or smashing something to pieces or just walking through a park. There is no predictable, safe way to do this.
Acting is not pretending to have an emotion. However, acting is not simply reciting words using certain inflections and gestures to communicate emotions. As Sanford Meisner always said, Acting is DOING. Being in the moment, and opening up completely to whatever emotions the character might present to you is the secret of great acting. This may feel risky at first. Great actors do not force themselves to cry. What they feel is genuine, and the results can range from crying and screaming to sitting perfectly still to express an emotion. Acting students who have developed a deep capacity of raw, true human experience that can express it using all aspects of the instrument are the ones that learn the most about the craft. Give yourself permission to feel fully and strongly, and express it in ways that are physical, intelligent empathetic and real.
The Maggie Flanigan Studio provides training for serious actors committed to improving their craft. Find out more about meisner acting nyc by reading this article about actors instrument by visiting the studio website.