An Actor`s Life For Me.

Most actors can`t help doing what they do, they soldier on regardless of all obstacles. Wages in the theatre is not high, and even when an actor is working on a show the job will, most likely, not stretch to more than few months of paid, and then it`s time to get the next job. So what make actors stick to such a difficult way of life? Simply put, it`s a love of storytelling. Storytelling in the the theatre is a collective enterprise and actors love being part of a group that takes an audience on a shared journey. They love the whole way of life, but most of all they love the performance energy that flows between the audience and the performers. It becomes a kind of magic. Years of practice and training are channelled into each unique performance and when it`s over, it`s gone. To quote the poet: It is written on water an ephemeral episode that is repeated but is never the same. This is part of the actors strong fascination with his craft even if working in front of a camera. For the actor, working on a film not so different to working in the theatre. An actor`s performance may be "immortalised" on film but the essence of the performance remains is the same, It is something fleeting that just happens to be captured by a camera. The very best film actors will confirm this Robert Duval (now 92 years of age) in The Godfather said that the moment his character broke down at the bedside of his Godfather was totally unexpected and unplanned, and yet that moment showed, more than any other of his scenes, his total devotion and loyalty to the man who had taken him in from the street, and adopted him as a son. It`s these kind of mysterious moments that good actors search for in every performance. No matter how many performances they may have done in a particular production, each performance is a search for something fresh and revealing of the character and the story being offered to an audience. It`s a magic which is addictive. It`s called the acting bug!