I should be studying for bio, but I can't look at gene regulation packets anymore. Over the past two days, I've used Meryl Streep to procrastinate. It's been fun. I've watched Julie and Julia and the Devil Wears Prada, and I've come to the conclusion that she is perfect. If only I were her! Watching her reminded me of a line in my first play. It's kinda weird how certain lines stick in my head and float out at the most random times. Claire (my character) was talking about someone's voice and how she sounded like Meryl Streep in the movies, "like she always does the character perfectly but it's not really her." I've kinda wondered what this line actually means. Maybe it means that when she acts, Meryl is so much her character that it's no longer her who's the character. The character is the character so you don't hear Meryl when she acts. You hear the character. It is her, but it's not really her.
Even if that isn't what the line means, I'd like to act that way. I would love to be so much my character that it's not really me anymore, that the audience doesn't see me but sees the character and believes in it completely. That's almost a scary wish, though, in a way. To lose myself completely in someone who's not even real. Or maybe that someone is real, just in a different way. I often wonder what prolific actors and actresses are like at the end of their careers, the ones who've played so many varied roles. Do they become a product of their characters, a mishmash of exaggerated personality? Or just empty shells with not personality waiting for a script to fill them up with a character? They're romantic notions either way, but I still wonder. Perhaps one has to absorb or embody some aspect of a character to play it well. Secretly, maybe I am a nosy reporter, an airhead who speaks before she thinks, the wacky Prince of Denmark, two overprotective mothers, a heartbroken fiancee, an interfering British spinster sleuth, and a self-serving opera guild chairwoman. It's an interesting thought.
Even if I'm not the sum of my characters, acting has certainly made me who I am. It's ironic, really, how I became who I am today by becoming someone else first. Being Claire Ganz in Rumors was the beginning of my life, and that's not an exaggeration. Because of the people I met and the experiences I had in that first play Freshman year, I try to hold onto friends instead of being a lazy communicator, letting friendships die, and staying inside my comfort zone. I talk more, and I feel free to share my opinions with others. (Whether that's a good thing or not, you can tell me) In a graduation speech she gave that I watched on Youtube, Meryl Streep said "Being an actress has opened my soul." I believe that's the truth for me too. Being an actress has opened my soul. Now back to studying for bio...
Even if that isn't what the line means, I'd like to act that way. I would love to be so much my character that it's not really me anymore, that the audience doesn't see me but sees the character and believes in it completely. That's almost a scary wish, though, in a way. To lose myself completely in someone who's not even real. Or maybe that someone is real, just in a different way. I often wonder what prolific actors and actresses are like at the end of their careers, the ones who've played so many varied roles. Do they become a product of their characters, a mishmash of exaggerated personality? Or just empty shells with not personality waiting for a script to fill them up with a character? They're romantic notions either way, but I still wonder. Perhaps one has to absorb or embody some aspect of a character to play it well. Secretly, maybe I am a nosy reporter, an airhead who speaks before she thinks, the wacky Prince of Denmark, two overprotective mothers, a heartbroken fiancee, an interfering British spinster sleuth, and a self-serving opera guild chairwoman. It's an interesting thought.
Even if I'm not the sum of my characters, acting has certainly made me who I am. It's ironic, really, how I became who I am today by becoming someone else first. Being Claire Ganz in Rumors was the beginning of my life, and that's not an exaggeration. Because of the people I met and the experiences I had in that first play Freshman year, I try to hold onto friends instead of being a lazy communicator, letting friendships die, and staying inside my comfort zone. I talk more, and I feel free to share my opinions with others. (Whether that's a good thing or not, you can tell me) In a graduation speech she gave that I watched on Youtube, Meryl Streep said "Being an actress has opened my soul." I believe that's the truth for me too. Being an actress has opened my soul. Now back to studying for bio...
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