Getting Out of Your Head - Part I

I am sure most acting students have heard their acting teachers exclaim, "Get out of your head!" I know I heard that command more than once when I was a student; but as an acting coach I rarely give that direction. Why? Because it's incogitable. Short of surgically removing one's brain from one's skull, one cannot "get out" of one's head nor even comprehend the concept. Secondly, the advice is too general. If we, acting coaches, demand that our students make specific acting choices, then mustn't we give specific acting instruction?

When I was a student, however, receiving this generalized instruction did not stop me from trying. I would roll my eyes back to search my memory banks for information correlating to "getting out of the head." In my search, I would naturally have to stop my line of thinking heretofore. 

Then, in my frustration to come up with a plausible, and more importantly, doable strategy for getting out of my head, I would have to straighten up my posture, pull my shoulders back and down (I am determined to succeed!) and take a deep breath so that I can try to uncover the solution to this mysterious state.

To reiterate, I would stop my previous line of thinking and reposition my body while taking a deep breath. 

Then it would be time to restart the scene in class, and without having a clear-cut strategy for getting out of my head, I am thrust into the dialogue - this time feeling somewhat out of control and more than a little confused. In a word, I am feeling vulnerable.

Stop, reposition, deep breath, GO! vulnerability....YIKES!

Invariably, some form of performance anxiety now rears its head, and I go blank or go big. More often than not, I go BIG. And by big, I mean I start performing, essentially losing all subtlety. 

However, on the rare occasion when I can accept my vulnerability and allow myself to respond organically verses needing to be in charge, an internal space opens whereby magic and subtlety can occur.

In a nutshell, it's fairly easy to stop your current line of thinking, reposition your body, take a deep breath and start. The hard part, it seems to me, is the acceptance of the vulnerable feelings of uneasiness (or lack of control) and the allowance of spontaneous response.

It may take months, years, maybe even lifetimes to learn to accept and allow. Or, if fortune smiles upon one, surrender may happen instantaneously. For most of us, however, accepting and allowing often require additional exploration via methods like writing in a journal, therapy and/or turning to a power greater than our own. And, the process takes practice. Repeated practice.

Exhilarating at times, challenging at others, these steps which comprise "getting out of your head" (among others) are a lot less painful than brain surgery.


(Stay tuned for Getting Out of Your Head: Part II regarding focus and response.)

Amber Waves to Fame: A Salute to Spader

The male actors of my generation, the actors who played teenagers when I was one, were a broody bunch of brunette boys: Matt Dillon, Charlie Sheen, Robert Downey Jr., Rob Lowe, Jason Patrick and Tom Cruise, to name a few. But, then there was the blonde outsider, James Spader. In his youth, Spader was rarely cast as the lead. He often played the best friend or the nemesis of the protagonist. And while his golden locks and chiseled features qualified him as a bona-fide movie star, his appearance seemed to "pale" in comparison to those of his darker co-stars.

When I was a teenager, I didn't think much of James Spader. If anything, he was the annoying stuck up guy who reminded me of the conceited fraternity boys I was growing up with; so I wrote him off, not realizing that he was a sensitive genius ACTING like an asshole.

Then came Sex, Lies and Videotape, a film where Spader, the angst-ridden teenager, became James Spader, the artist. Film director Steven Soderbergh gave the actor the opportunity to reveal his complexity, vulnerability, intelligence, ability to be still and also deliciously sensual. From that point on, James Spader didn't stop surprising his audiences with the risks he took, the choices he made and characters he portrayed.

I think the biggest surprise for me is his command of the English language. As the articulate and sardonic lawyer on The Practice and Boston Legal, Spader memorized and delivered page upon page of difficult dialogue and seemed to make it look easy. I don't think his brunette counterparts could do the same, with the exception of Rob Lowe who was impressive on The West Wing.

In the end, if I had to pick the best actor of my generation, it would be James Spader. Of the bunch, I think he is the most versatile. He has demonstrated longevity and flexibility, working in both film and TV. And he has been willing to grow older and heftier in the public eye while maintaining his integrity and more importantly, his sense of humor.

James Spader is a stable guy too. Like most Americans, he is on his second marriage, devoted to his kids, likes to drink wine and loves his parents. To my knowledge he has never been a part of a sex scandal, been arrested or needed rehab. He is not a member of a cult, and he doesn't jump up and down on couches during interviews.

I think he's a pretty swell guy (and a great actor).