The Foundation: Action and Objectives

The essential definition of a character, according to Aristotle, is the sum total of an individual’s actions. For an actor, this means focusing primarily on what the character does, rather than how they feel.

To act means "to do," so you must always have something specific, physical, and doable onstage. This physical action is the pursuance of a specific goal, often referred to as the objective.

The actor must define a clear purpose, or Overall Objective, which the character wants from life more than anything, spanning the entire script. All individual scene goals must support this grand mission.

Instead of focusing on vague motivation, actors should define what they are fighting for in strong, positive terms. Every Objective should ideally begin with "I want to..." followed by an "actable" verb. This goal must be constantly visualized as being fulfilled to create the impulse for a strong desire.

The Actor as the Source

A common trap for actors is substituting "characterization" for what they won't do, thereby limiting emotional freedom. To avoid this, and the pitfalls of imitation or mechanical acting, you must utilize your most powerful tool: yourself.

As Constantin Stanislavsky noted, the person you are is a thousand times more interesting than the best actor you could ever hope to be. Since it is virtually impossible (and perhaps psychotic) to truly believe you are the fictional character, the actor must approach the role by constantly asking how they would react in those circumstances.

Key techniques for fusing the self with the role include:

• The As-If: This is a mnemonic device—a simple, compelling fantasy from your own life—used to personalize the action you have chosen for a scene. The as-if sets the personal stakes and helps you gain a fuller understanding of your action.

• Substitution: This rigorous technique involves endowing the other actor in the scene with a real person from your life who adds history, urgency, and desperation to your objective. This personalization makes your behavior real, original, and often surprising, grounding the work in true human response.

• Previous Circumstances: You must investigate the character’s history—the accumulation of life experiences. Then, you must personalize this history by connecting the script's circumstances to parallel emotional experiences from your own life, enabling you to "become" the character from within.

Shaping the Physical and Inner Life

Character is physicalization—with truth. Michael Chekhov's technique offers specific tools for mastering the character’s physical presence:

• Imaginary Body and Center: To portray physical features different from your own, you must first visualize the character's Imaginary Body. Additionally, locating an Imaginary Center—an imaginary area inside or outside the body where all the character's impulses for movement originate—can lead to understanding their entire personality and physical makeup.

• Psychological Gesture (PG): This is a concentrated, repeatable movement, executed with utmost intensity, that embodies the psychology and Objective of a character. The PG gives the actor the basic structure of the character, ensuring the whole character is embraced in a single grip.

From Victimhood to Victory: Using Obstacles

The essence of all drama is the struggle of the individual to win. The actor’s job is not to self-indulgently suffer, but to use pain and conflict as a stimulus to drive achievement.

• The Power of Winning: An actor who merely feels tends to turn the performance inward. The job is to make choices that motivate exciting results, overcoming Obstacles in heroic proportions.

• Fueling Action: The Obstacles—the physical, emotional, and mental hurdles—give power and intensity to your objectives by making the goal difficult to accomplish. Never play the victim. Instead, find the anger, which acts as a powerful fuel to make you do things you normally wouldn't.

• The Through Line of Action: The concept of a single overriding action (or through-action) unifies all individual actions and is life-giving, capable of leading the actor toward subconscious creativity.

This journey requires constant self-study and development. Once you have rigorously analyzed the script using all the technical steps, you must finally let it go. This act of trust allows for organic impulses and surprise thoughts and behaviors, freeing you to truly embody the character and achieve a raw, profound, and dynamic performance.