Over the holidays my uncle gave me a book called, Stella Adler on America's Master Playwrights. I put the book on a shelf and promised myself I'd read it once I got through the others on my list. I decided to pick it up this morning and was instantly glad I had.
Admittedly, it's been quite some time since I read an "acting book." But I think the distance from such works provided a clarity I didn't have as a young actor deep in the trenches of school and auditions.
One passage in particular grabbed my attention in which Ms. Adler drives home the point about truly embodying a character through first understanding the playwright:
So when the playwright's job is done, you come along and say, "I'll take it from here and just say his words."
But you can't just take his words, because the words, by themselves, won't help you. You have to take his soul. You have to take his life, his experience of life, his ethic, what he has said to the world.
In other words, we have to humble ourselves greatly before stepping into a role. It requires in depth understanding, but more importantly, an appreciation for the point of view the author has toward the world before diving in to interpret his or her work.
A heightened sensitivity toward the author is where it begins.
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