Charisma
The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that an aspiring
actor needs considerable charisma -- that mysterious charm and magnetism
that audiences recognize in the actor and makes them identify with them.
Charisma means the audience members fall in love with the actor, at
least to the point of being charmed by the actor and admiring him or
her. Actors need to be attractive to audiences if they are going to
succeed to any extent. Audiences want their actors to have qualities
that they lack. They want to see happiness and success in actors. They
want personality -- charm and wit and sparkle, sexual energy, and
attractiveness. This does not have to be physical beauty, it could be
power, wealth, social position or self assurance.
So what does the aspiring actor have to do to achieve charisma? They
can practice being suave. They can learn social graces and practice
manners and tact. They also need to practice performing with energy in
their demeanor and in their responses -- vocal and physical. And they
need to learn to love the camera. Whenever they audition, they need to
be thrilled to be there, and they need to exude the charm of every
character they read for. They need to have the kind of charm like when
someone walk into a room, and everyone stops what they are doing and
watches them, because they exude the charisma of a James Bond or a Clint
Eastwood or a Meryl Streep. Aspiring actors need to work on it. And I
suggest the aspiring actor takes plenty of time, doesn't rush, relaxes
and that they REACT! Remember James Cagney's advice, "...look the other
guy in they eye and speak the truth."
Additionally, you cannot act if you are carrying baggage from home into the scene room. You must have no outside problems bothering you at class, in rehearsal or in performance, You have to leave all of that home or certainly outside the performance space. You create charisma by enjoying what you do. It shows in your energy and charm, your relaxed and happy demeanor of loving being there and having no other care in the world.
Otherwise, the only prep you need to do is to create the physical
character and learn the lines. Then don't think when you act, just
listen and react. There is no halfway to knowing your lines, you either
know them or you don't. It is the actor's responsibility to know his
lines. It is impossible to act without having the lines down to
perfection. Knowing your lines frees your mind to receive the stimuli of
the scene and to respond honestly, fully and without inhibition. It
relaxes you the same way that meditation or yoga relaxes many actors.
Being relaxed clears your mind for being charming and frees the body to
respond with energy. There is no room in an actor's read for anything
but the scene. That is why Mamet includes leaving home at home and the
theatre at the theatre in his list in True and False of behavioral
traits that actors must have. Actors who have charisma are not
preoccupied by anything. They can concentrate on the task at hand.
To do your very best in your audition, your performance and in your
career, you need to develop strong charisma. It is the indefinable
quality that makes an actor a star!