What is an actor?

Perhaps not what you think!

Photo by Arnold Bogdan

For some of us, the image that comes to mind of an actor is not an entirely pleasant one. You might picture a self-absorbed, overly expressive narcissist who doesn’t just enter a room but swamps it with their physical, verbal and emotional self. Those people do exist in the world of acting, but in my experience, they are relatively few and far between, and they tend to drift away quite early in the journey toward becoming a good actor. Acting takes a lot of hard, quiet work, with little or no recognition, and narcissists can generally get their fuel more easily elsewhere.

So that leaves the rest of us. Happily in my experience, the most dedicated and best actors I have known are kind, humble, hardworking and thoughtful people. They can be shy, introverted and quiet. There are actors that work more from emotions, and others who work from a more intellectual approach. In short, actors come in all types, and it’s hard to pin down a specific personality type that suits the work. This means that being an actor is really for everybody who wants to give it a try. There is a place for all of us in this wonderful craft, and by giving it a go, you will naturally gravitate toward the side of the work that makes you the most happy and best reflects your abilities.

There are some qualities that do tend to show up repeatedly among the actors I have known, and here are a few of them. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and for every truth there are several exceptions, but here goes. No doubt you will see yourself in one or more of these!

1. Actors are curious. The word “why” is one of the most powerful ones in the actor’s toolkit. Above all, the actor tries to understand the reasons behind people’s actions, and the reasons why things are the way they are. This involves not only being curious about individuals, but also about broader social and historical contexts.
2. Actors can empathize. How do you play a serial killer when everything about the character’s actions is repugnant to you? Like lawyers, the actor has a job to do, and the system works best when the actor plays to win. Actors bring their powers of empathy to a character, and strive to understand the character’s world view, without judging.
3. Actors love language. Most people enjoy a well-turned phrase, great comedy, moving song lyrics and beautiful poetry. For the actor, these are stock in trade. Actors realize that ideas, words and their arrangement and meaning are the building blocks of great performances. A passionate love of language is one of the actor’s best friends.
4. Actors are playful. Actors generally like to play, with others, with ideas and with language. It takes a certain amount of daring to say you want to play for a living, which is what actors do. A spirit of fun is essential to survive the grind of hard work that comes with dedication to getting better at the craft of acting.  
5. Actors are childlike, and can be almost tragically innocent. It is this childlike willingness to be curious and vulnerable that can lead to very stirring performances. For one reason or another, many actors have been able to retain some of the best aspects of being a child, while learning the self-protective and professional habits needed to survive and succeed.
6. Actors observe others. You won’t generally see an actor who isn’t observant. They like to watch people, and keenly observe details like behavior, gait, clothing, jewelry and other things that give a clue to people’s makeup and actions. They know that the visible aspects of a character can greatly help in storytelling. 
   
7. Actors are driven. Successful actors are driven by a need to get better and learn more. It has been said that it can take 10 years to become decent at the craft of acting, and there is always something to improve, like our ability to use our voices, to memorize lines, to believably inhabit a character.
8. Actors are business minded. Actors that succeed in the long run are those who show up on time, every time. Despite the tabloid portraits of chaotic lifestyles, the average actor is hardworking, methodical, reliable and business oriented. It takes a lot of discipline to be managing the day-to-day business of being self-employed.
9. Actors can focus. Actors know how to protect their ability to do their work. There is a clear line where the fun stops and the work begins. You can see this in an audition waiting room, where someone who isn’t serious about the audition may want to chat with everybody. The successful actor politely asks for and receives the space to focus on the work at hand.
   

Every actor is a unique and complex mix of qualities, including some of the ones above and many others. There are as many different kinds of actors as there are non-actors, and you should feel very comfortable finding your own place in this wonderful mix of humanity. In fact, we are all actors already! Some of the roles we play are family member, the self we show at work, the self we show to good friends, the self we show to our parents, and so forth. A professional actor just learns how to grab control of the levers of the craft of acting and use them in a way that creates entertainment and tells a story.

I had fun building this partial list of actor attributes. What would you add to it? 

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