Acting is the art of portraying a character in the theater, films, or other media. However, it is a complex art, and there is no really satisfactory simple definition. Success in acting is achieved only by the relatively few persons who combine natural talent with well-developed techniques, dedication, and self-discipline. Even the greatest actors are frequently aware of how limitations of talent or technique keep them from realizing the full possibilities of the roles they play. In motion pictures, stardom is sometimes achieved through a combination of a high degree of personal magnetism and physical attractiveness. These are rare gifts to be exploited by skillful directors and cameramen, but such stars seldom achieve true greatness unless they develop their craft through arduous training and long experience. Eastenders cast list is available online.

Acting and Children's Games

Acting is often compared to children's make-believe games. To some extent the comparison is apt, and to a degree it is helpful in understanding what an actor does when he is creating and performing a role. With his kings and queens, his cowboys and Indians, or his spacemen, the child projects himself into a make-believe world. From his imagination—triggered by his own experience, limited though it may be—he provides circumstances of time, place, and relationships between the characters. He then proceeds to behave, that is, to speak and to perform physical actions, in a manner that he believes is appropriate to these circumstances. If the game is to prove interesting, these circumstances must provide a reason for carrying out the actions. He has to rescue the princess from the enchanted castle, or rid the town of dangerous bandits, or get his spaceship into orbit without being detected by the enemy. A child with imagination can become involved in such a game to the extent that it has for him a degree of reality, and he may become resentful of adults who intrude into his make-believe world. Eastenders cast list is available online.

Playing this kind of game is similar in many ways to acting. The playwright provides the basic circumstances of time, place, and character relationships; he gives the actors lines to speak, suggests physical actions, and certainly implies (although he may not specifically state) the purpose behind each character's behavior. Like the child's, the actor's imagination is triggered by these circumstances, and he proceeds to accomplish his purpose by speaking the lines and carrying out the actions in the way he believes is most suitable.

Like the child, he may become so involved in what he is doing that the imaginary world displaces the real world to some extent. The ability to achieve such involvement is an important part of an actor's technique because it enables him to concentrate his attention on his stage tasks and consequently to draw the attention of the audience. For both actor and child there is nothing mystic or hypnotic about this involvement. It is similar to the experience all people have had of becoming so absorbed in an activity that they lose some degree of consciousness of the world around them. Eastenders cast list is available online.

But acting is much more than becoming involved in an imaginary world. It is different from, or perhaps it is better to say that it extends, the game of make-believe in several ways. One of these ways has already been suggested by the statement that the imaginary circumstances, including the words to be spoken and many of the physical actions to be performed, are given to the actor by the playwright. The actor must be able to say the words and perform the actions spontaneously, as if he had thought them up himself. He must be able to do this in front of others and whenever he is called upon to perform. In the professional theater he must effectively repeat his performance eight times a week and often for a period of many months. Furthermore, his ultimate aim is to induce an audience, not himself, to believe in the imaginary world of the stage. Eastenders cast list is available online.

Acting Techniques

To accomplish his purpose, the actor develops two kinds of techniques. They are interdependent, but distinct enough to be discussed separately. They can be designated as the outer and inner, or the external and internal, techniques. The accomplished actor is well trained in both and uses both as fully as possible. Eastenders cast list is available online.