CRAFT NOTES
"ACTING WITH AUTHORITY"
I was recently reading a 1966 Life Magazine interview with Charlie
Chaplin when something he said resonated deeply with me: "What
differentiates the professional actor, the good actor, from the
amateur is the fact that he knows what he is doing - the mechanics
every minute. And does it with authority. If you're an authority,
the audience will listen to you; if you are not, they won't."
(Interviewed by Richard Meryman)

What exactly does it mean to act with authority? How can this
attribute be developed by a new actor? The answer goes once again to
the roots of acting - shamanism. If you draw a circle in the dirt,
the tribe will gather to hear what you have to say. They do that
because they expect you to know more than they do about certain
things. It is the same as when you go to church, synagogue or
mosque. You expect the priest or whoever to know something about
life. You are there for a renewal, a fresh perspective, a point of
reflection, and a sense of your own humanity. Religion and the arts
are joined at the hip and deal with what it means to survive
successfully in the world.

Over the years I have seen many new actors training in a variety of
techniques and methods that foster honesty but not authority. They
work hard on repetition exercises and relaxation exercises and they
tap into deep and personal psychological places. They strive to be
intuitive and "in the moment", all of which is a definite part of the
actor's art, but it does not speak to the thing that Chaplin was
talking about. Acting with authority implies a communication with an
audience.

Acting with authority means accepting your mantle as a leader. When
you act, you are saying to the audience, "I understand this about how
this character is surviving in the world." When the audience cries,
laughs and applauds, they are saying, "I see what you mean." This is
not to suggest that you make your characters Pollyanna. You may be
portraying a character that is making lousy choices in life. Your
point would be, "Do this and you will die."

An actor that acts with authority accepts the responsibility of
considering the bookends of life. Most humans spend their entire
lives trying not to think about their mortality. Actors get paid to
think about it.

Acting with authority means that an actor has clarity of purpose.
This does not imply that you must toot your horn or strut around like
a jerk. And of course acting with authority has nothing at all to do
with being a movie star. We are talking about art here, not celebrity.

There is a centered-ness, a peacefulness that comes from accepting
ones lot in life. It is not always easy to consider our fragility as
humans. It is not always easy to look into the dark heart of a
character you may not personally like. But that is what actors do.
It can be difficult and it can cause an artist pain, but it also
generates great joy and satisfaction.

Let me close these notes with more insight from the master, Charlie
Chaplin. His words could have been inspired by today's headlines and
go to the heart of the artist's mission: "There is a lot of sorrow to
life, there's plenty of trouble in the world and I think to make a
picture showing the possibility that there is another aspect to life
is very charming. It's not the question of what life is; it's the
question of what the possibilities are." (same interview, 1966)

Until next month...be safe!
Ed Hooks