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What if your obsession with feeling the

emotion is actually hurting your acting.

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Today we're talking about the

difference between feeling something

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and doing something.

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And trust me, this one tends to make

actors

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very uncomfortable.

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This is cassing actor's guest.

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Well, hello and welcome back to casting

actor's cast.

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I'm Geoffrey driesback.

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And today we're diving into one of the

biggest acting traps I see consistently,

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actors trying desperately to

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to feel.

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Now listen, emotion matters.

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Well, of course it does.

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But actors sometimes approach emotion

like it's a hostage negotiation.

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Come on sadness.

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Please arrive before.

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Take three.

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And when the feeling doesn't magically

appear,

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panic,

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then we get pushing

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forcing emotional strain, fake

intensity, which ironically

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creates less truthful acting.

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So to day I want to discuss a major

shift.

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Stop trying to feel something, start

doing something.

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We're going to get to all of that in

just a moment.

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But first, this is that moment of the

podcast where I get to say, I'm so

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grateful that you're here.

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Thank you so much for tuning in.

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Please check out the website.

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Casting actors cast all one word dot

com you're going to find all kinds of

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information.

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You're going to see the books

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that are available.

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The course that's available.

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So all kinds of good stuff there.

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So please do check that out.

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Finally, I would love.

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I like a share, please write a review.

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Please help continue to support the

podcast.

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Because it means the world to me that

you're there.

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I've said this so many times.

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It's exhausting, I know.

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But as long as you're there listening

and letting me know that you are out

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there.

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By the way, on the website there's a

form that says, dive into the talent

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pool.

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You can leave me a question, you can

leave me a subject to baby cover.

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I'm happy, happy happy to do that.

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But if I know that you're out there,

then I am definitely going to continue

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to share whatever information I can,

based on my years of experience of

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doing this.

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Thank you very much for that.

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All right, let's talk about this.

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Let's just talk about feelings in

general.

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Because this is what I think, and based

on the experience I've had over the

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years, both as an actor now in casting,

feelings

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are unreliable.

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They are.

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Because here's the issue.

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Human beings do not consistently

control emotions,

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right?

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If we did none of us would, oh, I don't

know, eat cake at midnight while

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watching documentaries about failed

amusement Parks.

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Come on.

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You know what I've talked about?

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Emotion

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is unpredictable,

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but behavior,

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behavior is playable.

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You may not instantly feel heartbreak,

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but you can

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plead,

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attack,

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avoid, seduce, pressure,

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joke, withdraw,

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guilt,

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comfort.

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You see, those are actions.

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And actions

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create life.

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The problem with emotion first acting,

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and that's what I call it, and calling

it emotional first acting, or emotion

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first acting, it becomes self focused.

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The actor begins monitoring themselves,

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am I emotional enough?

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Do I feel it?

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Did that look real?

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The performance turns inward.

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But great acting usually moves outward

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toward another person

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that's

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where the energy really lives.

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And here's another thing, casting

notices immediately.

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Actors trying to feel

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often stop listening.

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Why?

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Because they're internally monitoring

themselves,

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they're checking.

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Am I emotional enough?

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Am I connected enough?

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Is this moment working?

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That's all going on while you're

acting?

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Meanwhile, the scene partner just

changed the entire emotional dynamic,

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and the actor missed it completely

because they were busy watching

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themselves perform.

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Now that's a huge shift.

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The best actors are not self watching,

they're engaged,

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they're affected, they're responsive.

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And honestly, some of the best

auditions I've ever seen were not

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highly emotional.

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They were deeply

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needful.

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There's a difference.

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What's the difference.

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Needs creates, urgency

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need, creates, behaviour need.

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Creates.

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Unpredictability.

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An unpredictability

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feels human.

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That's why some actors can whisper and

still break your heart, because truth

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does not equal volume.

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Truth equals investment.

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Oo,

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come on.

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Somebody write that down.

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That is really good.

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Truth equals investment.

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And this becomes incredibly important

in self tapes because the camera is

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brutally honest.

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It sees tension, it sees pushing, it

sees anticipation.

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But what it also sees,

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it sees longing.

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It sees some one trying desperately to

hold themselves together.

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That's compelling.

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Stop asking, what emotion should I play

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instead?

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Ask,

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what am I afraid will happen if I don't

get what I need?

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Now suddenly the stakes become personal.

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Now behavior

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activates.

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Now the acting becomes alive.

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And here's the beautiful part.

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Once the need is real,

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emotion often arrives

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on its own.

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That's true unexpectedly, naturally, or

sometimes not at all.

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And that's ok,

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because truthful acting is not

emotional demonstration.

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It's human pursuit.

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Now I've said this before many times,

but if you've ever had a teacher that

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said to you, after you did a workshop

or a scene, or you're on stage, or in a

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rehearsal, whatever,

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but if the director gave you a note,

and then you did the scene again,

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incorporating the note, and if the

director ever said to you, how did that feel?

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That's a huge mistake on so many levels.

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Now I'm not trying to diss any of your

wonderful teachers that have said that

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to you in the past.

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I would ask that you keep,

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when you hear that, you keep that in

check.

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You sort of move it away.

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And here's the reason why

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it's teaching you

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to watch yourself,

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it's teaching you to gauge your

emotions.

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And that third eye that is watching you

is keeping you from the full expression

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of your character.

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In the scene.

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You see, you lose concentration when

you're splitting up your attention

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between what you're doing with the

other actor and what you're saying to

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yourself while you're acting.

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So please keep that in mind.

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If you ever hear, how did that feel?

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I want you, in your mind to say,

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I have no idea.

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What did you think?

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Truthfully, I think that that is a big,

big deal.

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I don't like it when actors are being

conditioned to do the thing that is

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opposite of what they need to be doing.

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But also, let me give you this reality

check.

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This is some real casting room truth.

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Actors who try hardest to show their

emotions

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are often

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the least believable.

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Why?

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Well, what I just said,

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they're gauging that emotional roller

coaster and gauging their performance

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based on whether that roller coaster is

in a high or in a lull.

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Why?

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Because listen audiences don't connect

to emotional display.

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I promise you,

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they don't.

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They connect to recognizable

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human behavior.

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Someone trying to hold themselves

together.

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Man, that's interesting.

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Someone trying desperately not to cry,

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interesting.

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Someone attempting to stay charming

while falling apart internally.

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Oh my gosh.

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That's very interesting

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that tension

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creates

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watchable.

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Behavior.

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Need

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creates action.

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That's the truth.

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This idea has become central to how I

teach.

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Instead of what emotion am I playing,

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I want you to ask, what do I need from

the other person.

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Because once the need becomes clear,

action

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appears naturally.

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For example, if I desperately need, oh,

I don't know, forgiveness,

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reassurance, validation,

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connection, approval,

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I automatically

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begin behaving.

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Now we're alive.

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Now we're not performing emotion.

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We're pursuing something.

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We need to talk about playable human

behavior.

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And we will,

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after this brief message,

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welcome back.

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Laable human behavior.

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That means something that actors can

do, because actors sometimes use

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emotional adjectives

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that literally are impossible to play.

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Like, for example, be emotional.

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Ok, what does that even mean?

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But then when you say, try to stop them

from leaving.

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That's playable.

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We now have urgency.

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We have listening, we have reaction.

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Behavior

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now becomes dynamic.

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And honestly, it also removes enormous

pressure from actors.

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You stop chasing emotional perfection,

you start engaging another human being.

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But we also have to talk about the

danger of indicating.

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And one of the most common actor habits

is indicating.

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In other words, showing us the emotion,

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presenting,

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sadness, demonstrating,

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anger,

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advertising, fear.

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But real human beings usually try not

to reveal themselves.

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That's where complexity lives

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the strongest acting I see

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often happens when the behavior and the

emotion

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conflict.

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For example, the person is trying to

hide something.

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The need leaks out, accidentally,

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that's gold.

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So here's a quick exercise.

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Take a dramatic scene.

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I want you to remove all of the

emotional intention

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instead.

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Choose one clear action.

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Examples,

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convince them,

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calm them,

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trap them,

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comfort them,

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make them stay.

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Now I want you to only lay the action.

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Then notice how emotion begins

emerging.

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Naturally,

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you see behavior,

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then emotion

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that's the big difference.

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Behavior

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is in front.

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That then

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channels emotion.

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I think this is so interesting, don't

you?

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Cause actors often believe emotion

creates actions, but many times action

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creates emotion.

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And when actors stop trying to

manufacture

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feelings,

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the work often becomes much more

truthful.

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I can tell you, it becomes more

spontaneous and more human.

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Gosh, thank you so much for joining me

to day.

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And Geoffrey driesback.

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You've been listening to casting

actors.

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Cass.

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I want you to keep working, keep

exploring and stop trying to cry on

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queue in isle seven of your acting

class.

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Your work deserves better than that.

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See you next