Underlying every art is a science. The science underlying an actor's art is the mechanical system of a soundly organized technique for transmitting emotions, words, actions and ideas to an audience.

Technique is simply another word for KNOW-HOW or CRAFTSMANSHIP. There is a know-how, or technique, for everything—from flying a jet airplane to taking out an appendix, from upholstering a chair to enacting a scene in a play.

Your knowledge and application of acting technique will make it possible for you to give consistently effective performances and to find freedom of expression at any time, under any circumstances. Without technique, there is no control.

In the making of a motion picture film today, the actor must
know how to act—plus…………

The actor must have such control, such know-how, that he can quickly and accurately give the director what he needs, the cameraman what he needs, the cutter what he needs—and the audience what it wants.

Now let's give the subject of acting a question-and-answer breakdown.

What is acting?

Webster's dictionary says that to act is "to produce an effect." To produce an effect upon the emotions of his audience is the aim of every actor.

What is the actor's starting point?

You start with every great actor's three fundamental laws: THE LAW OF FAITH, THE LAW OF AWARENESS and THE LAW OF UNDERSTANDING.

Apply these laws right now.

Have FAITH in me.

You will become AWARE of what you can do. Then you will UNDERSTAND how to build and use the tools of acting.

How do you act?

You act by using the three primary elements upon which acting is based: the VOICE, the BODY and the MIND. They're the materials that go into your acting. They're the tools of your craft. They're the eloquent instruments of your art.

THE VOICE AND THE BODY MUST BE MADE SO FLEXIBLE THAT THEY WILL INSTANTLY OBEY THE COMMANDS OF THE MIND WITHOUT CONSCIOUS EFFORT.

The more you know, the more those words will mean to you.

And you will know more—much more—later.

Where do you begin an acting technique?

You begin with the physical apparatus—arms, legs, torso, tongue, eyes, facial muscles and so on—from skeleton to skin. Technique is mechanics. Technique is scientific.

Isn't a scientific technique very mechanical?

Indeed it is. But you must have at your command, ready to serve you immediately—at your director's will—a practical knowledge of the mechanics of modern acting.

The seven tones of the musical scale are mechanical too, but they can be used artistically to create a great piece of music. The three primary colors and their divisions are mechanical, but they, also, can be used to create a work of art.

To take another example, the frame of any house in skeleton form, with its cement, two-by-fours, steel girders, and so on, is a matter of good, sound mechanics. It has very little to inspire you emotionally.

But when a Frank Lloyd Wright applies his creative talent to it, the framework becomes the foundation for a piece of architecture that is artistic and inspiring in its finished form. If the foundation weren't mechanically sound, a Frank Lloyd Wright's inspiration would go to waste. The structure would collapse.

Do I believe in mechanical acting?

No. But I believe an actor must build a solid mechanical mold before he can flood and color the performance of a role with his own talent and personality. Without a substantial technical framework and foundation his performance will be subject to both hidden and obvious weaknesses. Among other shortcomings, it will lack continuity of line and, above all, authority.

A basic technical foundation can be the deciding factor in whether you work—or don't work—in the acting profession today.

Is it possible to teach the technique of acting, as it is to teach the techniques of music and salesmanship?

Yes, it is, to you—or anyone—if you have the desire and drive to learn what you're taught.

Is it possible to give an inspired performance without technique?

Yes—but not night after night on the stage, and not going over the same scene time and again in motion pictures, and not under the tensions of fast production in television.

There are some inspired amateur performances in America every year. Some of them are extraordinarily effective. But those who give them can rarely duplicate their performances—and then only by accident—because talented amateurs haven't developed either voice, body or mind as dependable technical tools.

The important thing is to give an inspiring performance.

It's hardly possible that Judith Anderson could have been inspired during the entire run of Medea, in which she played a heavy emotional role. But with her magnificent technique and dramatic art she consistently created the effects of inspiration and was therefore inspiring to her audiences.

What is dramatic art?

Dramatic art is acting PLUS. It may be described, all too briefly, as acting which inspires an emotional response over and beyond the immediate and obvious word, action or situation in any given performance.

Is there any difference between good acting for the stage and screen, or for television and radio?

Basically, no. The fundamentals are the same. The differences lie in the way an actor or personality adjusts the same tools and materials to the various mediums.

What is the difference between actors and personalities?

An actor is a performer who can up to a point efface himself and, motivated by a playwright's words and a director's guidance, can, within the limits of human feasibility, create and interpret any character.

A personality is a performer whose individuality is so distinctive and strong that it dictates the color of every role he plays.

Do you have to have talent to be an actor?

No. Many actors have made a very good living by being such capable craftsmen in their use of the tools of acting that they have overcome the handicap of not having native talent. They've made up for what they lack as inherent artists by becoming highly skilled, superior artisans—experts in the mechanics of acting.

If you have talent, and know you have it, why must you study?

Even if you have talent, it may be blocked and jammed up by inhibitions and tensions, dissipated by lack of discipline, or cluttered and confused by egotism. Intelligent training in the technicalities that support talent and compensate for its lack frees you from these drawbacks.

However great your talent, you have to build a mechanical foundation in order to organize that talent and use it most effectively.

What is a "good, actor"?

In the final analysis, a good actor must excite an audience, must be interesting to look at, and pleasing to listen to. He must be able to transmit these qualities with impact. He must have polarity and balance.

What does polarity mean in this context?

For an actor, polarity is the quality of having opposite, or contrasted, poles of feeling.

The world in general has countless examples of physical and emotional polarity. The North Pole at one end of the earth and the South Pole at the opposite end illustrate physical polarity. Happiness and sadness are an example of emotional polarity. Black and white, heads and tails, courage and cowardice, night and day— all these opposites are examples of polarity.

Ed Wynn offered a sensational demonstration of polarity by his swing from wild buffoonery to poignant drama. Comedian Red Buttons did, too, with his dramatic Academy-award-winning performance in Sayonara.

Henry Fonda's polarity is exemplified by his equal effectiveness in portrayals of laughable comedy and emotional depth. Tallulah Bankhead's dramatic power and comedic punch proclaim her polarity.

There are two reasons an actor must have polarity, or opposites, in his emotional scale, even when playing a role that does not call for obvious contrasts of emotional expression.

1. Polarity is the basis of dramatic conflict.

2. The skillful use of contrasting extremes in the emotional scale enables an actor to project these extremes with authority while not actually experiencing them himself.

It is not an actor's function to "feel" per se, but to make his audiences feel that which he wants transmitted to them. He can show anger without being angry. He can depict love without being in love with his leading lady. He can portray pride without being in love with himself.

To clinch the argument, an actor need not die to play a death scene convincingly. By using his well-developed and thoroughly trained poles of feeling, he can play on the emotions of his audiences and make them feel they have seen someone die.

What does balance mean in this context?

By balance I mean the ability to equalize and to compensate. By offsetting one factor against another, an actor establishes equality and achieves symmetry, or balanced form. Through symmetry he gains poise.

Balance is a key word to poise for an actor.

Perfect balance between the desire to express and the ability to express contributes to poise. This balance between the desire and the ability to express any given idea or emotion can be achieved by correct knowledge and use of technical tools.

What else should you know to start with?

You should know that the late, internationally famed authority, Constantin Stanislavsky, in his book An Actor Prepares, points out the necessity for an unusually well-trained and responsive vocal and physical apparatus.

The vocal and physical requirements are either suggested or actually dictated, of course, by the mind.

So there you have a restatement of my declaration that acting must be based on three primary elements—the VOICE, the BODY, and the MIND. This is an unchangeable fact for you to remember always.

Thorough training of voice, body and mind requires work. Start this training by meeting your first problems with enthusiasm and vitality.

What are those first problems?

They're really quite simple—things like how to stand and sit and walk, how to exercise your face and eyes.

What has all this to do with acting?

It has a great deal to do with acting.

If your physical apparatus is flexible, alert and well enough controlled to obey the commands of your mind, your body will be able to do its part in projecting thoughts and emotions—with or without dialogue.

Basic parts that add up to the sum total of the science underlying the art of acting—the technique—craftsmanship—mechanics —know-how—are what this book is all about.

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