Acting Analysis

You’re sitting on your couch, as your mind and body is ingrained in your favorite television show. While you are watching, you are caught in the suspense of the show, causing the characters in this show to seem like real people with the same personalities, however, in reality they are acting. Many people believe that actors are pretenders, but to a well-known American actor, producer, and comedian, Alec Baldwin, actors are great mimics. Alec Baldwin took part in an interview with Inside the Actors Studio, hosted by James Lipton, in 1994. This prestigious actor discussed various topics, which are important in helping an actor develop their character and become better at acting.

In this interview, Alec Baldwin said, “Actors are excellent mimics.

They would then take a person they know in their life who is like that, and impersonate them. Mimicking can help improve an actors understanding of a character and can be beneficial in the realism of acting. Many performers say, “You have to look like a performer to be the performer,” well in acting this can be translated to “You have to be the character to play the character”. The word “be” in this quote summarizes how one must mimic the character, to play the character. When mimicking, one becomes what they are impersonating, thus, they are the character they’re playing. Also, the actor should become what the audience wants to see. Actors must show their passion for playing a character, through impersonation, choices, tactics, and how they navigate through obstacles. Mimicking helps an actor follow through in their decision making process, whether it’s the choices or obstacles. Taking people from an actor’s own life who has similar personalities as the character the actor is playing, gives a better understanding of how they react to certain situations. Actors can gain inspiration from how these people react to certain situations, allowing the actors choices to become more believable. In addition, mimicking can make a