The most important thing for me as a performer is to understand my character’s psychology as it will influence every aspect of the character… the choices she makes, clothing she wears, how she walks, sits , stands, what her triggers are, her likes and dislikes and she finds herself here and now.
To create a solid and Comprehensive backstory is probably one of the most important things to for me…imagining it, seeing the story in full, what she might have felt during those significant moments of her past , are in a life, these will also add to why she is where she is,why she feels the way she feels and the choices that she has made that brought her to be where she is today
1. The Psychology of the Character ! The psychology of the character will also determine how she interacts with other characters in the story… Does she feel safe with them or not and this intern will determine how she reacts and interacts with them, from the space and distance she stands from them, to the voice and the attitude she has with the other characters.
2. Personal Introspection! It is also very important that you do some personal introspection and understand your own psychology so as to know where if any you and the character overlap in experiences as it might be able to assist Giving a real and genuine performance.
3. Access Your Memory! you might not have gone through the same experiences but you might have experienced something similar and know how it felt at the time as you could access the memory of the feeling and play it with conviction. Let the character sit inside of you and let her speak to you and decide how you will play her physically, emotionally and spiritually. it might be that the character is far removed from your lives experiences or circumstances and that’s why doing research on the circumstances of your character is imperative as to be able to have a deep insight into it
4. Understand the backstory! In playing Angelena I had to first understand her background and back story was very important.she was first vagrant before she became a car guard. I had to know her journey to the parking area to understand for instance why she had so much money in her house and why not in the bank… her fear of authority and everything to do with government as she was in the system as an orphan child and eventually living on the streets.
5. Know The Script ! Often the script is given to you with only dialogue and minimal background of the character and it is your duty as an actor to fill in the gaps between the words….. fill in the gaps between the imagery that is described as the scene ……fill in the gaps between the characters and what they don’t say and not the dialogue and these are some of the things that make for a rich performance when you layer back stories …characters attitudes and the psychology of your character and why are they the way they are and her life’s experiences that, for me makes for true creation of a character and and genuine true portrayal and performance.
