Summary: We’ve heard a lot about borders in the last couple of years. But what no one has mentioned is that acting is really a border study. The character the audiences see falls somewhere between you and what the writer has written. In other words, you and the character-as-written live on a borderline. You are separated by a short distance and like all border crossings, the move from you to the character or the character to you is challenging. But by studying the character and your own personality at the same time, you will find it easier to cross the border and play your character. For this approach, as you study the script and explore the character, you need to keep two lists going side by side in your acting notebook. Label one side of the page with your character’s name and the other with your name. The space between them is the border you’ll be crossing. As you study the script, note character elements on one side of the page and your own personal characteristics on the other. You are looking to discover the similarities and differences between you and the character. Soon you will see that the borderline between the two of you is not a straight line. You will see that there are places where you and your character respond in the same way and have similarities and that there are other places where you and the character are very different. Those are the places you will have to work harder to move toward the character or move the character toward you. As Daniel Day Lewis says, “You think you’re traveling a vast distance to understand another life, but it maybe that you’re bringing that life toward you at the same time. What allows that work to live is the common experience, the bond between the two of you.” Understanding that you and the character have many similarities, will make crossing the border and becoming the character easier and more exciting for you and the audience.
