Skip to main content

Theater Workshop Lesson #2: Acting Equals Opportunity to Fail Big Time




Sucking Big Time (second from right)
Shucks, I sucked in this scene! This is the first thought that rushed through my mind when I had just finished an improvisation, playing an old man talking to his friend. I somehow had a great gut feeling that I sucked big time. I can't do this thing they call "acting". 

My teacher read my face. He looked at me and said, “If you fail trying, your efforts are appreciated at the least. If you fail because of negligence you are mocked." So the ball was back in my court, and the big lingering question was, “HOW DID I FAIL?"

I failed because I tried something which was different than my usual self. I wasn't negligent. Due to my inexperience I couldn't strike the right chords. I tried and I failed. I am happy I tried.

So I can't be a good actor if I fail? Nope, acting is the chance to fail. In failures lies the magic recipe of success. The more I hit the wall the more I'll learn about the character. I don't have to act if I “find” the character; I would just have to behave. I don't have to be the best but I have to be honest.
Dustin Hoffman

Academy Award winner, Dustin Hoffman said in an interview, "Failing is not the worst. There's nothing wrong with failing, you're gonna fail, everyone fails. Take a big risk, let the film not work, let the actor be inconsistent, but take the risk, that's worth everything."
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Scuba Diving 36 feet deep in Goa (Surreal but Nice!)

"Surreal but nice" that's what Hugh Grant's character managed to blurt out, mesmerized by the beauty of Julia Roberts (in the movie Notting Hill ). And this was the exact thought that was running in my mind as I was rising from a depth of over 35 feet under water in the Arabian Sea near Goa, India. I had just finished my first dive (rather second dive of my first dive) with grouper fish, tailor fish - and many more - knelt at the bottom of the ocean floor and touched a ship wreck that sunk more than sixty years ago! It was a surreal experience that has left me with a feeling of self-satisfaction as well as endless curiosity. The two feelings very rarely take a house together in my mind. Probably the last time they shacked up together was when I got an admit for my Master's from State University of New York . The feeling of gliding underwater among the fishes, water pressure trying to burst your ears drums, flying over huge boulders of rocks under sea; like an un...
21 comments
Read more

How not to read History? Avoiding Sophistry, Deceitfulness, and Irrational Narratives

Introduction A few days ago I wrote on how a contemporary Dharmic mind is enslaved with various narratives meant to degrade the tradition of Dharmic spiritualism (or Hinduism) and relegate the spiritual path as non-sensical, patriarchal, and regressive (i.e. against modernity). I've three examples below that show the eagerness in contemporary conversations to push this narrative. Since free speech and vaad (Sanskrit: वाद, discussion) are two-way streets so it's well within my right to share my opinion based on sound reasoning and well-established examples. And my opinion doesn't rely on the play of words (Sanskrit: सामान्य छल, quibble)) or a mere attack on the opposition (Sanskrit: वितंडा, cavil/sophistry). Just a side note, these categorizations are based on the ancient  Nyaya philosophy composed by Akṣapāda Gautama between the 6th century BCE and the 2nd century CE. Example 1 -  वितंडा / Sophistry Buddhism and Sanatana Dharma have a long history of coexistence and assim...
Post a Comment
Read more

9000 days of destiny

I was wondering about my doubts and prejudices I have at this stage of life. It is in human trait to suffer from these emotions. But history has given enough evidence to form a case when humans have risen beyond their flaws I recently saw the movie "Invictus". It is based on the true events that lead to South African national rugby team, the Springboks, winning the 1995 rugby world cup. The movie shows how two persons from completely different backgrounds rose above their beliefs and prejudices to unite a country broken by apartheid. These were South African President Mr. Nelson Mandela and the captain of the South African rugby team Francois Pienaar.  Clint Eastwood directed this movie. It stars Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar. The movie is thought provoking and inspires you to dream big. It in its' limited time depicts the segregation created by decades of apartheid in South Africa. However I was captivated by the song played ...
Post a Comment
Read more