An actor has to deliver realistic performances to capture the audience’s attention from the start to the end of a play. This is not as easy as it sounds. Actors have to train and work on their skills to deliver such performances. Therefore, in this article, we will look at how you can act realistically and deliver a natural performance. I hope that this will help you to transverse the acting field.
You have to incorporate realism in your method of acting. You will only become a great actor once you give your audience something realistically natural. This is how you can achieve this:
- Using your real-life experiences
- Human Psychology
- Exercise
- Be a blank canvas
- Allow yourself to feel the emotions
- Relax
- Act like no one is watching you
How to act realistically – Make your acting more realistic
- Using your real-life experiences
You can efficiently deliver a natural performance by incorporating your life experiences into your acting. Certain schools of acting, such as method acting, requires you to draw from your real-life experiences and deliver a powerful performance. You can, therefore, use your experience in the army when acting as an army official. Similarly, your experiences of being a teenager in society can also help you act as a young teenager in a movie show. Drawing from your personal experiences allows you to feel the scenes which make you more natural and authentic. - Human Psychology
I know that you are wondering how you can draw from your personal experience if you take up the role of a thief or ritualist in a movie or performance. Chances are that you have never met a ritualist or had a sit down with a thief throughout your life. Well, this is where human psychology comes into play. It would be best if you took a psychology class to help you through your acting career. You can quickly get a certificate or degree from one of the local community colleges.
A psychology course will help you know and predict how people behave and how to get to them. You will also learn how to handle yourself when people are watching, which is invaluable to an actor. A psych course helps you analyze people based on how they react, behave, or dress. You get a deep understanding of human behavior, which will help you make your performance more realistic. Therefore, you will be at a better place to manipulate your audiences and get them lost in your acting, which is everything an actor desires. - Exercise
You are only going to pull a realistic performance if you exercise thoroughly before the performance or audition. You can easily get your friends or family members involved in your exercising and preparation. You can call your friends or family members and hold phone conversations while interjecting lines of dialogues without telling them the exact time you will be doing that.
The other person’s role is to say when you read the text or just holding a normal conversation. Remember, this requires that the other person takes part in the conversation entirely. They should immediately call you out when they spot a read line or text. You will get to know whether you are real or not. - Be a blank canvas
Most people do not understand what this means. You are only going to achieve a real performance if you clear your mind and allow your acting to be influenced by your fellow actors. This requires you to be fully engrossed in the moment, both emotionally and physically, while allowing yourself to be a blank canvas, responding truthfully to what is happening around you.
You will only be truthful in your responses if you do not know what your partner will say next. Therefore, do not walk into a performance with an aim to ace it, just go naturally and relaxed, anticipating anything. Make sure that you live moment by moment as you act, being open to what is happening around you. - Allow yourself to feel the emotions
You need to lose yourself in your acting. You will only move your audience if you allow yourself to feel and get lost in the scenes. The best way of achieving realism is by embodying your character. Try to feel what he or she is going through. You are also allowed to draw from your emotional reserves as you act. Make acting personal. You don’t have to be in the same situation, however. The best way of exhausting your emotional reserves is by relating a similar previous feeling to the event happening in the performance.
What does this mean? If your role requires you to be angry, you can think of a particular situation that made you feel the same and draw from it. You can apply this to several feelings. If it is jealousy, think of a specific situation that made you jealous and draw from it. - Relax
It is easy to mess when you are tensed. Therefore, you need to breathe in and out before a performance and be in the best mental frame. Being anxious while performing will get you worried, registering in your voice and body movement. You, therefore, have to be confident and willing to spice up the script. Fortunately, modern acting does not require strict adherence to the text. You can improvise while on stage and spice up the scene provided that you do not veer from the script. - Act like no one is watching you
An excellent hack to help you achieve a natural performance is setting yourself free and acting like no one is watching. Do not pressure yourself. You are mostly going to mess up or try hard to put up an excellent performance. However, if you allow yourself to feel and get lost in your acting, you’ll achieve an authentic delivery. Let your face and body be relaxed. This is the only way that you will register a natural performance.
Actors Takeaway:
How To Act Realistically
You need to strive to be natural as an actor. A realistic performance helps capture the audience and make you a great actor. Our guide will, therefore, help you on your journey to greatness. Also, look up for some exercises that will help you in your journey.
RELATED ACTORS RESOURCES
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HOW TO BECOME AN ACTOR
METHOD ACTING EXERCISES – THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO METHOD ACTING
CLASSICAL ACTING – THE COMPLETE GUIDE
HOW TO ACT A DRAMA – WAYS TO ACT DRAMATIC
HOW TO BE A GOOD ACTOR IN MOVIES – BE A MOVIE STAR
GOOD ACTING SKILLS AND HOW TO DEVELOP THEM
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO BECOME AN ACTOR OR ACTRESS
HOW TO ACT IN A MOVIE
THINGS EVERY ACTOR SHOULD HAVE
HOW TO BECOME AN ACTOR WITH NO EXPERIENCE
LEARN HOW TO ACT FOR BEGINNERS – ACTING TIPS AND TRICKS
SIGNS OF A GOOD ACTOR – 6 SIGNS YOU’RE MEANT TO BE AN ACTOR
