Actors who study the Meisner Technique are likely familiar with the term the actors instrument. Making a comparison between acting and an instrument is helpful in categorizing aspects of the acting craft and what makes a good actor. Audience members are quick to determine whether actors are portraying a new reality well enough to hold their attention. It may also just be a sense of something not coming across in the right way. They can also sense when an actors instrument is not well developed, because they don't "believe" the character portrayal.

There are six aspects to consider when looking at the actors instrument. The aspects of the instrument include sensory expression, emotional, empathy, intelligence and sensory and physical expression. These six aspects of the actors instrument are identified and developed when studying the Meisner Technique. If you run down the categories mentioned, anyone even slightly interested in acting should be able to name successful actors who have mastered several of these aspects of expression. It is the true legends, the icons of stage and screen, that have mastered all six.

For example, an actor like Stallone is known mainly for his physical expression and presence. While this does not mean the Stallone cannot express a character emotionally, he is general know for his physical expression, which is the most powerful of his acting tools. As an actor he expresses emotional in a very physical, often external way. Actors must focus and learn about all the aspects of the acting instrument, which will help them be diverse and capable of many types of roles.

Emotional expression is the most common aspect of the instrument that actors are focused on. Thinking deeply about how a character feels about something and trying to emulate it is a very common thing for up and coming actors to try and master. One one hand, it is short sighted to place too much emphasis on this particular aspect of the actors instrument, however, emotional expression is certainly a key aspect. Each of the six aspects need to be studied and mastered so that they can all work together.

Of course, it is meaningful emotional expression that draws people into any character or story. Emotional expression is they way that the internal aspects of a character's conflicts, needs, and feelings are expressed. It is common in classes teaching Meisner acting in nyc to create an emotional history of a character, imagine it in detail and then use all the aspects of the instrument to express them. In Meisner acting students study emotions diligently, their own and those of others. They in fact, build a library of emotions and reactions and methods for communicating them. When a specific character needs to be presented, these then delve more deeply and specifically into imagining (another aspect of the instrument) what the character's emotions feel like. They create and live the emotional life that the character would live so that it is instilled in them and can be called upon at will.

Vulnerability, for example is an expression of the emotion of insecurity. It's one thing for an actor to understand that and work with it. If the actor has also worked hard to develop other aspects of the instrument, such as imagination, sensory expression and intelligence, the complexity of emotions will be there. A single tear, without words can accomplish this, but how about a sense of vulnerability shown while one is smashing a clock to pieces? These are very nuanced yet, essential things to study.

Acting is not pretending to have an emotion. However, acting is not simply reciting words using certain inflections and gestures to communicate emotions. Sanford Meisner was often heard to say, "acting is DOING." Being in the moment, and opening up completely to whatever emotions the character might present to you is the secret of great acting. This may feel risky at first. The best actors do not pretend to feel something, or coach themselves to do anything while in character. There are genuine emotions in their performances, often unpredictable ones that appear as they work as character. Developing a deep capacity to understand and feel the full range of human emotions and experiences is a great way to become an open, flexible acting student, the best kind of student. Give yourself permission to feel fully and strongly, and express it in ways that are physical, intelligent empathetic and real.