This week, I've been feeling under the weather and spent a lot of time in bed with warm mugs of Ovaltine and cozy blankets. I immersed myself in reading Howard Fine's A Vision of the Craft, with spy movies and reruns of The Nanny in between.
Fine’s insights were so captivating that I couldn’t put the book down. His words left a lasting impression, especially when he talked about honouring and supporting the story. He beautifully says, “You bring yourself and all the aspects of your personality into these circumstances until we don't see the acting. Until it's you. That is your job.” This idea reminded me why I love acting so much.
I was thrilled to discover that Fine loves historical fiction as much as I do. It's always fun when someone you admire shares your tastes. He also speaks about how important it is for actors to read, read, read. Yay! If I could time travel or sit in a room where time stops for a while, I'd spend it reading as many books as I can without worrying about the limit of books I can possibly read in a lifetime.
The book offered a great mix of validation and inspiration. I had many “aha” moments that made me feel both on track and open to new ideas.
This weekend, I received an audition that required extensive research to understand the huge sci-fi world I was in. Initially, I worried about how I would sound after reading all the information I could find and learning the special terms the characters used. Fine's reminders to focus on the "why" rather than the "how" were incredibly helpful. The switch in how the scene went when I remembered that felt really interesting. You're able to tap into very real whys despite the world of the character being so technical and tricky to understand. It's the most I've had to prep for a character in a while. It was so much fun!
Next up is Uta Hagen’s Challenge for the Actor. Her books were among the first I added to my collection. It’s nice to know it’s one of the additional resources Fine mentions. I’m excited to get my hands on her recorded lecture!
In his book, Howard Fine mentions something about what kind of actor we'd like to shoot for. Questions like this always remind me of Florence Pugh's portrayal of Amy March in Little Women when she says, "I want to be great, or nothing." Honestly, I feel the same - and this is coming from someone who grew up imagining she was Jo March. Haha!
I know I need to keep working on self-compassion because, like Amy or Jo, I can be very hard on myself. But when it comes to what I shoot for, I definitely want to keep striving to be the best, strongest, most versatile, and most joyful actor I can be, serving through stories and competing with no one else but myself.