Take A Risk - Essential for good acting.
Take A Risk - Essential for good acting.
There is probably no other profession where the term “Fortune favours the brave” is more relevant than the performing arts. It takes courage simply to walk on stage in front of an audience let alone perform. Or stand on set in front of a director and crew that is costing thousands of dollars a minute, all waiting for you to get the take.
There is no time to be timid as an actor. You have to take a character by the scruff of the neck and commit to a role 100% no matter how embarrassing, cringeworthy, insane, dangerous, evil, rude or unlikeable that character may be. No room for apologies.
How do you do it? Where do you draw this courage from?
You give yourself license.
To give yourself license means giving yourself permission to let go of self-consciousness.
It’s allowing yourself to explore behaviour, emotion, and choice freely, knowing that you are working through the character — not being judged as yourself — so you can play boldly and truthfully.
By giving yourself license you break free from the fear of doing something “wrong”, of worrying about what people think of you, of breaking free from social norms knowing it is the character who will be judged, not you.
Give yourself license to:
Let yourself go further than feels polite.
Allow emotions without managing how they look.
Not apologise for strong choices
Trust that risk is part of good acting
Accept that “too much” is often more useful than “safe”
Taking risks is essential to good acting — not optional, not advanced, but foundational. Without risk, acting stays safe, polite, and forgettable. With risk, it becomes alive, specific, and truthful.
Artistic Director / Acting Tutor - The Actors Class