Whenever I am out I play this internal game. You have probably heard variations of this game and I will add my own twist. If you are able to observe people walking about in a mall, outdoors, etc, (and you must be able to observe one individual for more than a minute), you will notice something fascinating, and that is, the image that they think or wish to portray to the world. Waiters and bartenders (no wonder so many good actors have gone that way for money) are at an advantage for this game but anyone can play it. It is without question a reality of human interaction. Even a non-image is an image. Your imagination will take over and write story lines for you without fail. Why is that? It will flow easily from you and without effort. Again, why is that less complicated than a script right in front of you. Try and answer that question. (I remember in 1986 while taking a master class with Uta Hagen she told me that in her mind she thought she looked like a butterfly floating about in loose dreamy clothing and then she would see this older creature reflected back on a store window and it would shock her. That simple statement from her blew my mind away. How beautiful this concept of "self" creation and it is part of every single character you will ever play)
Could you play one of those people you just saw walking around on a leisure Sunday? I challenge myself continuously with that question, making a mental inventory of the people I meet and see. The cool stuff then becomes: who does your character (or that person you are watching) thinks he deserves to be? Deserve to have? Deserve to achieve? Deserve to dream? There are no wrong answers. Have fun and make little stories describing as much as you can of the individual.
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