What Makes a Good Actor?: Emotional Memory

Ever wonder what attributes distinguish the supreme from the subordinate actor? No matter from what school actors learn they still possess the same common abilities. Konstantin Stanislavski, the father of method acting, has compiled of list of six areas to perfect in order to act to your fullest potential. This six-part series will delineate these necessities to acting, beginning with emotional memory.

I'm sure you have heard the phrase, "The eyes are the gateway to the soul." This phrase is true not only in real life, but also in acting. Stanislavski coined the term emotional memory, and the phrase defines this term in part. Actors are able to give their character feelings and emotions through a recollection of their own life experiences. There is nothing more frustrating than watching an actor holding back. It becomes obvious that what you are watching is contrived.

It becomes tricky when you note the difference between real life and acting. In the study of acting, it must be recognized that actors live a dual-life purpose on stage in that they are both the character and the actor portraying the character. (The difference being that in life, you are simply you and not you pretending to be someone else, or at least one might hope.)

To further develop the term emotional memory, what Stanislavski insists is that because characters do not have actual events on which to call for emotions, the actor portraying the character must call upon his/her own memories and transform them to fit into the created environment.

During the times of obvious falsity, what is being displayed is an unnatural balance of actor and character. If the actor relies too much on false situations, there is no frame of reference for him or her to recall memories, and this leads to bad acting.

In order to relive memories in a positive characteristic, actors must logically relate them to the created life of the character. Acting is probably the one profession where the phrase, "Do what you know" doesn't apply. What I mean by this is that many times, actors must believably portray characters or events that they themselves have never experienced. For example, if a character is to feel joyous but exhausted after having completed a marathon, but the actor has never run a marathon, the actor needs to first remember the emotions themselves, and then supply the character with a memory to explain these emotions.

Stanislavski said that acting on stage is a "poetic reflection of life's experience." Characters don't experience emotions firsthand. They feel as the actor allows them to feel. To successfully create a character, actors must be aware of this, and give the character everything he or she needs to survive emotionally.