ACTING VS. LYING: HOW ACTORS USE THEIR SKILL AND TRAINING TO CONNECT WITH THE AUDIENCE
The misconception that actors are skilled liars.
I remember it like it was yesterday. The woman I was seeing and I were having a disagreement, and I was sharing my feelings and trying to reassure her about how I felt about her. She remarked back to me, "How do I know you're telling the truth? You're an actor, right? You sound sincere, but you're an actor, so you could be lying." We didn't last too much longer after that, but I want to talk about how acting isn't lying.
First, acting requires an immense amount of vulnerability. Actors are expected to open themselves up emotionally and connect with the material and their fellow actors. They must tap into their own experiences and emotions to create a truthful and compelling performance. Lying, on the other hand, is a defensive mechanism meant to protect oneself from vulnerability. It involves intentionally deceiving others to serve one's own interests.
Second, acting is a collaborative art form. Actors work with directors, writers, and other actors to bring a story to life. They must listen to and trust their scene partners to create a cohesive and believable performance. Lying, on the other hand, is a solitary act meant to benefit oneself. It involves concealing the truth and disregarding the needs and feelings of others.
Third, acting involves a commitment to truth. Actors must strive to create a truthful and authentic portrayal of their character and the story they are telling. They must understand their character's motivations and actions and make choices based on those truths. Lying, on the other hand, involves intentionally disregarding the truth and creating a false narrative.
It is true that actors use techniques such as vocal inflection, body language, and facial expressions to create a believable performance. However, these techniques are not meant to deceive the audience but to communicate the truth of the character and the story. Acting is not about tricking the audience into believing a falsehood but about exploring the truth of the human experience, which can be emotionally and mentally challenging.
As someone who has been involved in the craft of acting for years, I understood where her concern was coming from. Acting requires individuals to embody and portray a character's thoughts, emotions, and actions convincingly. However, research shows that acting is not about lying but about revealing the truth in a fictional world. In fact, actors use their training and skills to be truthful in their performances
One study published in the Journal of Social Neuroscience found that professional actors had a higher level of authenticity in their emotions and behavior than non-actors. The study measured brain activity in actors and non-actors as they viewed and responded to emotional images. The results showed that the actors had more activation in the amygdala, a part of the brain responsible for processing emotions, indicating that they were experiencing more authentic emotional responses.
Another study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology found that actors who were asked to lie in their performances had a more difficult time than those who were asked to tell the truth. The study asked participants to perform a monologue either truthfully or with a lie inserted. The results showed that actors who were asked to lie reported feeling more negative emotions, such as guilt and anxiety, than those who told the truth.
Acting is also about conveying the truth of a character's experience, even if it is different from the actor's own experience. This requires a deep understanding of the character's background, motivations, and emotions, as well as the ability to empathize and connect with the character's experiences. Actors use techniques such as sense memory, emotional recall, and improvisation to create truthful and authentic performances.
In fact, acting can be seen as a form of heightened reality, where the actor is expressing truths in a way that is more intense and focused than in everyday life. The actor is not pretending to be someone else but embodying a character's experiences and emotions in a way that is truthful and authentic to the story being told.
So, the next time someone questions an actor's sincerity, it's worth remembering that acting is not about lying but about revealing the truth in a fictional world. Actors use their training and skills to create authentic and emotionally resonant performances, which can be a difficult and rewarding process.