Everyone sees the final product of a play when it’s brought to the stage, but long before the audience has even heard there’s a production going on, work begins.
Before casting, a character is nothing more than ink on a page. But what does it take to make the character come to life?
For the upperclassmen of the Lakeland acting class, it’s all about figuring out how you would play the character.
It depends on what the actor decides to do, and for Junior Kylea Bartram, that means understanding the character’s background.
She said that knowing what the character needs helps an actor properly portray the character. But sometimes it’s better to not know anything other than what’s in the script.
“If you’re comparing the character to what you’ve seen in the past, sometimes you’ll be less creative,” Bartam said.
Senior Sydney McDonald had a similar opinion, saying that she uses a reference if there was one but also does her own thing.
“If there’s something to reference off of, I’ll reference it, but normally I kind of go off my own personality and how I think I would portray that character,” McDonald said.
Junior Jenna Olson said she works off of what’s in the script.
“I look at how the character expresses their lines through body language and practice reacting to others onstage like how my character would,” she said.
These three have been in acting their entire high school career, which goes to show that there is no one way to bring a character to life.
But what if they’re unhappy with their role?
Actors have to audition for their roles, and there is always that feeling of disappointment when they don’t get a role they want.
What’s important is that actors still do their best with the role they were given.
Olson mentioned that, to overcome her disappointment, she focuses on being happy for whoever got the role.
“Even though they may have gotten a role that I wanted, I am extremely proud of their accomplishment,” Olsen said.
McDonald and Bartram said very similar things, making it clear that the disappointment lessens if you’re happy for whoever got the role.
Characters aside, the acting class at Lakeland High School is an environment built to make friends.
Bartram said that it gets rid of a lot of social anxiety because you’re forced to talk to people, creating a friendly air around acting.
Olson said that the Lakeland acting class is a really supportive environment, one that encourages friendships.
McDonald said acting friendships are often underrated and overlooked, but they are some of the strongest because you’re working with each other for months before your work is even announced.
Creating a character has a lot of different aspects, but having companions that support you along the way is one of the best tools to have.
Creating the Character
