Four Character Acting Objectives Actors Need Know

Characters, like people, are machines that want things and do things to get those things they want. They want something now and later. The wants change and sometimes even conflict with each other. You might want one thing in your 20's and another when you turn 45. You may have a certain set of desires when you are single and they may drastically change once you have children.

A character's desires will affect how you portray this character and it's important to know the major types of desires and how they can function in a production.

Lifetime

Not something that can be defined precisely in the text of a production, nevertheless it can be useful to make specific a character. Everybody has issues, dilemmas, or problems that last a life time. These things never get solved so we deal with them our entire lives. Often they are two conflicting desires and the dilemma is the choosing between one or the other. We may think we have the problem handled when later in life it rears its ugly head again. This can help you color any parts of your performance that you don't feel are definitive. It needn't be fireworks and nobody has to consciously notice. It could be that added touch that often elevates great performances to the sublime.

Story

Each character has something they mean to achieve by the end of the play, movie, act, episode, whatever. It may not seem to match any scene or immediate objective but will none the less become evident. More likely the scene and immediate objectives are related somehow to the task of achieving the overall objective of the piece. We don't always take the most obvious route to get something. Every person has a unique way of thinking and they can come to drastically different conclusions about how to get something important to them.

Scene

No matter what little desires the scene may be filled with, overall the scene will have a single overarching desire that supersedes it. At times another desire may become more important and conflict can come into play between scene and immediate objectives. A scene is a story in miniature. The character lives out this scene as if there is no story but just these moments. They do what they think will work, gauge reaction, are reminded of their desires occasionally and then regroup. There is no straight line to getting things that are difficult to get. There is a lot of guessing, risk-taking and side tracking. The thing that will hold them all together is character desires now and soon.

Immediate

This is what the character wants right now. Not in a few minutes but in a few seconds. This might be in reaction to another character or to a physical sensation. This immediate desire may or may not help the character achieve any other desire and in fact may conflict with it. These desires will at times be stronger than others and will change the way you go about trying to get something. In the best of circumstances a person will always be goal-oriented and never let any other desire get in the way but people and characters are rarely like that. We meander and wander our way to our goals and along the way have to take care of others that might seem important at the time.

It's crucial to be able to have a good conception of what your character is about and desire is one of the best ways. Contemplate not only what your character wants in the scene you're doing now but for the whole play and in their lifetime. It might seem like a lot of work for little gain but the slightest advantage is something you can't overlook.