Ask A Healer Creative Wellbeing Series

Actors who play themselves - Are you a personality actor? What is Personality Acting?
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This is part two of acting lesson number 4, of the Power Connection Online Acting Class. If you have reached this page directly, from a search engine search of link, you will need to visit the emotional freedom exercises for actors first.

It may also be helpful to start at the beginning of the power connection acting class, complete the intro and first 3 lessons before doing this one on emotional accessibility for the actor.

An actor must have ready access to any emotion that his or her character may need to convey in a powerful, truthful manner. If there is emotional constriction in the actor, there will be emotional constriction in the character as well.

What is Personality Acting?

Related performance art articles: Crying on Cue * What is Subtext? * Acting Tips

Personality acting, by my definition, is when an actor basically plays themselves over and over in different parts. Personality actors are often very successful in soap operas or sitcoms. Tony Danza made a great living for years, just being his lovable self and developing one of the best senses of comic timing I've ever seen.

Anthony Geary, who plays Luke Spencer on General Hospital, are another example of personality acting at it's television finest.

If you have a naturally strong personality, then acting from that personality is a valid place to start. Personality acting can get you acting jobs.

It's an easy place to start for the strong and charismatic person, but why stop there?

I was very happy to finally see Tony Danza branch out into drama, and present a new side to him that I had not seen in all those years on Taxi and Who's the Boss.

Please don't write and ask me what Taxi is, any of you young whippersnappers out there. In fact, if you want to see some fine ensemble acting, go find a copy of an old Taxi rerun. You'll learn a little somethin' somethin' about comedic timing.

I also saw Anthony Geary in a feature film a while back - however, unlike Tony who showed new nuances and shading, Anthony did not create new ways of speaking or walking. He felt essentially like the same character and same personality I've enjoyed on General Hospital for years. In the film, it did not work for me.

Another actor who, at least in my experience of him, has always been more of a personality actor is Jack Nicholson. I may get crucified for saying this but I see essentially the same wild Jack that made him a star in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" in almost all of his work until the past 10 years.

On the other hand, I loved the characterization he manifested in in "As Good as it Gets" with another great personality actor, Helen Hunt. I saw it again in "Schmidt".

By comparison, the Meryl Streep who played Karen Silkwood in the film of the same name would never be confused with the Meryl Streep who played Karen Blixen in Out of Africa.

These two Karen's walked, talked, reacted and even thought differently .... that is to say, you could see them going through their thought process and their minds worked differently from one another.

I will say I saw too much of the same old same old when Meryl did Mamma Mia, It's Complicated and Julia and Julia. Maybe she has gotten tired of creating completely original characters but, for me, all three of those were basically the same character in a different film, although she did change the voice and body mannerisms for Julia Child but not the personality, that I could tell. I was disappointed.

For me, Meryl tends to be cerebral in her acting. I feel the same way about Jody Foster. I can see the wheels turning a little too much. In spite of that, they both have created characters that could not really be recognized as Meryl Streep and Jody Foster. Jody in Nell, for example.

One of my favorite characer actors passed recently. Michael Jeter as Eduard Delacroix in The Green Mile was, quite simply, an entirely unique creation so different than other roles I had seen Michael Jeter play that it was quite a while before I ever realized it was him. When I did realize it, I thought "can this possibly be the same person who played Herman Stiles on Everning Shade?". Bravo, Michael.

And one of the most amazing examples of an actor who worked the conscious mind to the hilt and incorporated the genius of the subconscious mind equally well was Carroll O'Conner. Study scenes from Carroll as Archie Bunker and then watch scenes from The Heat of the Night. Same man but entirely different characters. Amazing, amazing actor.

Acting Lesson Five - The Actor's Mind

Abraham-Hicks on Acting

Free Audition Tips and Info on Ebook for Acting

What Makes Good Acting