We returned from the US and Canada yesterday. I was on the faculty at TIFF and Stuart was researching a new verbatim play. So, just before writing this substack, I went downstairs to take our two pairs of jeans out of the washing machine. Disaster! I had left a whole packet of gum in my back pocket! Facepalm.
The only good thing about this laundry-catastrophe is that it's a great way to introduce this article, which is about actors' choices in the transition from self to character.
What? How?!
Well, I had to become a completely different person from my usual self in order to slowly, gently, carefully pick all the tiny dots of gum off those damn jeans with singular focus and care. It took ages. Later in this article I will show you a system that describes the physical and emotional changes I had to make in order to achieve this task. I had to change from my natural self — into a different kind of person.
THEORY OF MIND + CHARACTERISATION
I wrote my last substack in Toronto while I was wor…