How does an actor keep the emotions real after performing something dozens of times?
Any advice on executing a consistent and powerful performance time after time? Links to any articles are greatly appreciated.
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No two performances are the same. Find ways to keep it fresh by playing it truthfully and finding new things in it. Obviously you can’t detour too much from the direction but there is always a little room to play and keep it interesting. Just don’t recite it, live in the moment like it is happening for the very first time, which it is to your character.
If you are using emotional recall and it is no longer working for you, think of something else. For instance, if you are trying to get in to a scared emotion and you’ve been thinking of the time you were almost eaten by a lion but that’s not working anymore, try something new.
Basically, just play and play the moment truthfully. Maybe the person delivering you the line before you said/ did something different which causes you to respond slightly different. Anything like that can keep it fresh and so you aren’t just phoning it in. Constantly look for new ways to improve your performance.
I don’t know
The key is to be able to think of how you’d feel in the situation and remember some past experience. Just let that simmer and when you get up there, snap into character. You have to be that character, which I often find tricky, because everyone has a peice of their character in themself. You just have to dig it out.
pretend you’ve never performed it before. maybe try harder to get into the character and his/her problems