When something is great, it’s considerably above what is normally viewed as average or even good. There is no one formula for greatness in anything, especially art, but we do know that there are some things that are undoubtedly necessary for its existence.
The first necessary piece of the puzzle is exceptional skills. Skills above and beyond those exhibited by most people. And one of the things that takes a skill set from good to great is practice.
This starts with the knowledge that comes from studying all aspects of your craft and all of the different schools of thought. Studying yourself, your heart, your body, and your thoughts so that you can take all of your knowledge and see what feels best to you.
When successful actors are asked how they work, they don’t say, “I’m Meisner,” or “I’m Stanislavsky.” Their responses tell you that they’ve studied many types of acting and had the self-knowledge to put together a technique that gave them what they specifically needed to be a great actor.
Only then does the practice begin. Taking this technique and continually deepening it so it lives in the heart and body on a cellular level. Reading plays, scripts, practicing. Living life with fresh eyes and curiosity, constantly practicing connection and presence.
Practice leads to confidence and strength and these qualities can easily lead to another component of greatness: joy.
READ: Staying Steady: 2 Ways to Regain Control of an Audition
I was working with a group of directors a few months ago teaching them how to work with actors on set. We had some wonderful discussions about greatness. They were telling me about projects they had worked on where they had a great script, top-notch equipment, an amazing crew and creative direction, and somehow the end product was just good. They also told me about projects where the quality of those same elements wasn’t nearly as high and the final result managed to be great.
When they spoke about the “great” projects, they were smiling from ear-to-ear and their eyes were actually sparkling. They didn’t mention the equipment or the script; rather, they talked about the experience. They were fully present in every moment of the process and never forgot that they were making the movie as an act of generosity.
We talked about this for days and finally came to the conclusion that the difference between good and great was joy. When they were making a movie immersed in the process of creating something they felt strongly about with a team of like-minded artists, there was joy no matter what. It’s this joyful energy that has great power and leaps from the screen.
It’s so important to remember that whether it be an audition, performance, screenplay, or film, your creation carries the energy with which it was created. You need a way of working that opens your heart, ignites your imagination, lifts your spirits, and puts you in touch with the joyful energy that got you into this career in the first place.
When actors tell me they can’t stand the audition process, I remind them that 95 percent of that process is them, alone, working on the piece. If they’re miserable, it’s on them. Get happy, damn it! Create the conditions that allow joy to appear and flourish, bust the sense doors of the mind, body, and heart wide open and let the energy that will take you from good to great flow strongly and freely into your work.
The feeling is possible only if your skills can take your work to the level that makes you so joyful as an actor that you can’t wait to get into that room and show them all the wonderful qualities you have to add to the role.
These two elements working in tandem are an unbeatable combination.
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and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Backstage or its staff.
