Get Real

Why do so many people like movies like A Walk to Remember so much?  Because it gives them the opportunity to experience emotions and life situations vicariously; emotions that they feel boiling deep inside themselves, but fear to express, because they don't want to be mocked by their friends or family. 

Great actors are shepherds of emotion.  They understand that real emotion comes from the inside out, not the outside in.  Therefore, they begin by removing their everyday masks and costumes and explore their inner selves.  From the platform of reality, they provide emotions and life situations convincing enough to move not just themselves, but their audience.

When you get right down to it, acting is the least mysterious of all crafts.  Whenever we want something from somebody, or when we want to hide something from somebody, or when we pretend that we're somebody we're not, we're acting.  Most people do it all day, every day, without ever stepping on a stage.  Acting is easy.  Being real in front of an audience, is not.

"Proud, I am, of the Jedis and Padawan Learners, for making an effort," Yoda told Mrs. Erskine.  "Painful, for some, it was.  Behind a mask, most of them live.  If learn, they do, their true selves to expose, better actors and, more importantly, better people, will they be."