Characters are representations of human beings. Human beings feel emotions. Often, those emotions are in the full control of the person “experiencing” them. Sometimes, they are not. The emotion one is experiencing will enormously alter their behavior, and their reactions to others. An angry man does not respond in the same way to communication received as does a happy man.
We’ve talked a lot about characters USING emotions to get what they want, as in the tactics and beats step. However, there will be emotions that assail the character, seemingly from outside and beyond his control. As an actor, you will need to understand this and locate such emotions. These will alter your character’s actions, thoughts, and reactions to the environment and other characters.
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EXERCISE: Using a scene and character selected from A BAD HEIR DAY, locate emotions the character may be feeling which would be beyond his or her control.
Then, decide how experiencing such emotions might impact the character’s actions and thoughts, and how this might change your performance. With a partner if possible, run the scene at least five times, allowing the emotion or emotions selected to influence what the character thinks and does. When you’re certain you understand how that emotion can influence your character, and how you would portray that influence, move into the next part.
Select an ARBITRARY emotion to influence the character, one not suited to the scene. It does not need to, and in fact, shouldn’t make much sense. Run the scene five times using that new emotion to hinder and control, or push the character. You’re looking for the ways an emotion can alter a performance, and the audience’s perception of a character. Do this until the new emotion controls the character and his thoughts and actions.
Do this again with a third emotion, in the same way as above. You should now have a pretty fair idea of how a character is influenced by an emotion.
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