Acting as a part of Communications

I took a long online course on Acting by Brian Cox and I was very happy, impressed, and inspired. I revealed for myself a very new sphere that resonates with me, but honestly, I also found out that acting is a pivotal part of communication, creativity, and our everyday life.

All insights and thoughts that Brian shared with us about acting were also and foremost about life, and communication is an inevitable part/element of life. And of course, I revealed for myself Brian like a charismatic actor (now he is 77 and he played a lot in theaters in the UK and now in movies in the USA), and like a perfect acting coach.

Here are some insights from the course about acting by Brian Cox, but instead of the words “actor/actress” and “acting” you can put any other, and the meaning, and essence will be the same.

• Make short roles big. There are no small parts, only small actors. Every part has its value, there is only a difference if you make it a difference. Don’t underestimate the power of the smaller role.

• Just accept the rejection. Rejection is also part of the experience of being an actor. And it’s a constant. If you can’t deal with rejection, then do not become an actor. You have to have the courage to accept the rejection. If you can’t, then don’t act.

• Instead of thinking doing.

• The main questions while you are acting and studying the script are: “Who am I?”, and “Where am I?”.

• To be an actor you have to be centered, centered in who you are.

• When the great actor walks on the stage, he/she disturbs the air.

• You have to allow the script to play through you. Don’t just do something, stand there (means BE!). Allow the energy of the script, of the play to come through you without getting in the way of it.

• The clue to improvisation is that you should never say “No”. If you say “No”, you immediately block, and that means you are not progressing.

• Don’t anticipate.

• Be ready to wait a lot.

• Everybody has an ambition to become a star, but first, you have to learn how to act, and how to be a good actor. You can have as much ambition as you like, but one day your ambition could be getting in your way. Fuck the desire to be a star and to be great, just do your job, learn the job, be present in the job, be present in the moment.  

We all are actors, we were born with this talent and we continue to play different roles in our personal and professional lives, the question for me is not to become a professional actress and stay on the stage or play in movies (but honestly why not?), the question is to consciously use the talent of acting to become a better communicator, to become a better human being revealing more new facets of us and not being lost in strange and other people’s roles that are not ours.