Acting Hurts

Acting hurts. Literally. From the audience view, it looks cool and looks like an ideal occupation- don’t get me wrong; I agree, but it hurts. “I can do that!” is a typical statement that I hear from people when discussing the craft, and I hold no doubt in my heart the level of validity in their comment, but I wish these same people knew the amount of work actors have to put into each character. Specific roles call for a piece of you that requires a journey into some dark places in order to deliver an authentic performance while telling the character’s story. In life I was taught to let the past be the past, to get over the things that hurt me, and to let go and let God. In acting classes, we are taught the opposite. I am trained to recall what my mother said to me in her angry state, or what my dad said as he walked out of my life. I must vividly remember that day I was stabbed and almost died, and any trauma that altered my mental, I have to recall it, because the more pain I’ve felt, the better my delivery will be. This is law for actors. Acting is not about learning lines and adding emotion to them; it’s about living in the moment of the situation at hand and responding to what is happening, this requires every aspect of you; mainly the hurt. When you dig deep into yourself, at times, it is hard to get out, and it’s hard to get back to your regular self again. After a performance in Washington D.C, my character was left for dead by his mother at the age of 5, which forced him to grow up sooner than he was supposed to. This story was compelling and had to be told in the truest form; so I dug deep into my life and my pain- and got stuck there. It took days for me to escape my character, my mind, and the work that I’ve done. Walking away from the theatre I was down; I took on all the emotions that my character felt- I brought myself to his level; the things we do for the craft right? I was able to use my reality not just to act, but to become my character. I agree, acting is definitely the best occupation to have, but it’s more to it than what it seems. In order for it to be powerful, you have to add pieces of yourself, and sometimes it hurts.