INVEST IN EVERY THOUGHT : Radtai’s Top 10 Acting Tips

2) Invest in Every Thought

“Thought is Speech” said Aristotle. All art starts from thought, thought leads to feeling, and feeling leads to new thoughts. The artist sees, hears, and starts to have a feeling about something and then they think, and then it leads to another feeling. It’s a natural process.

One of the teachers who taught me in the UK once told me that what they are looking for in people who come to audition for a place in drama school is the ability to think on their feet. It is a quality that will make them a good actor.

Simon Russell Beale is considered one of the British greatest actors, if not the greatest, at the moment. In live theatre, you would be amazed by how fast he could process his thoughts on a stage, and how much he cares to invest energy in each moment of the thought he is playing, as a results, his performance is riveting, surprising and compelling. I believe he is also often surprised himself.

Simon Russell Beale, great British actor performs Richard II at the Almeida Theatre, see the attached video link.

This tip is actually quite easy. All you need to do is not to let characters’ thoughts go to waste as many inexperienced actors often do. So figure out how your character’s thought process works, and play them well. Invest your energy in every thought. Resist your desire to control and dare to venture into the unknown. You would be surprised by how much you could achieve in each moment of a performance just by investing your energy in the thought.