Trust Your Instincts

I just finished shooting an independent feature film. I was having a very
difficult time figuring out my character. I knew that this film was a dark comedy,
but I still needed to make sure that my character was real, believable and not a caricature. My
character gets kidnapped. My first inclination was to play this guy scared to death.

I was constantly thinking please don’t hurt me, don’t hurt my family. Something did not
feel right about this approach. This was my mind set throughout rehearsals, but I knew that
I had to make a change.

The weekend before we started shooting, I had this interesting idea. What made much more sense
for me was instead of the character showing extreme fear, he actually was a fighter. Although he was scared,
he expressed a toughness that the older version did not show. I talked with the director about the new concept,
and he liked my idea. That is how it was shot.

When you are working on a character and something is not quite sitting right in your gut about
how you are playing the character, trust your instincts. Spend some time and figure out what makes
sense to you. Make sure that you honestly believe that your words and action make sense.

Let others know how you dealt with working on a character. Please let a comment below.

Has this ever happened to you? Add a new comment.

About the Author: Aaron Marcus

Aaron Marcus has been a full-time actor and commercial model for over 33 years. His new book, How to Become a Successful Actor and Model is an Amazon Best Seller. Aaron has given his seminar: "Book the Job" over 700 times spanning 3 continents. He also offers online workshops. Aaron saves 5 days each month to give private on-line coaching sessions.