“One of the greatest tools an actor (or any artists/human for that matter) can possess is his or her compassion and empathy.
The ability to have an open heart and a willingness to dive into the depths of the human condition is the very foundation for our work and the ability to live moment to unknown moment within extraordinary circumstances.
We have to be willing to see, hear, feel, taste, understand and experience more than just our own small circle of experiences in order to live the vast highly complex life of characters in unimaginable pain, great struggle and overall high stake circumstances.
This is ultimately the ‘in’ to every character we will ever play/reveal/live.
Everyone has struggled.
Everyone has suffered.
Everyone has had trials and tribulations.
Everyone has a story.
Every story has a history that formulates who we are and how we move and function in life and what we strive to get, achieve, be and experience.
We have to understand that at our very core, we function from survival love received and love unreceived.
From there, our story unfolds based on what life throws at us.
This is not just about our technique.
This is about humanity.
It is about our humanity
And every human’s story has within it the worthiness to be witnessed simply because it is part of the essential fabric of this thing we all call ‘Life’.
And this pertains to your own personal story as well.
Sometimes, you may have to walk through your very own Hades in order to get to your very own Utopia.
You may endure a lot.
You may even find yourself suffering at times.
But if you keep persevering…
If you keep sight of what you want…
If you keep on believing in what you are doing…
If you simply do not give up…
You might very well find that all that hardship pays it forward by bringing something profoundly fulfilling into your Life.
You may want to cry at times because it hurts so bad…
And then you may want to laugh until it hurts simply because you got through it when you never thought you would or could.
And once you make it out of that fire, you will finally see all the beauty hidden within the ashes.
Each of us has our very own story of strife and struggle.
And each of us has the potential for our very own deserving and awe-inspiring victory.
I truly believe that we are way more powerful than we have been led to believe.
The only way to lose sight of the dream is by simply giving up on it.
So…
No matter what obstacles show up at our door, all I can say is…
Do. Not. Give. Up!
What you crave is your calling…
What you miss is your mission…
And what you are tested by will inevitably be your greatest personal, artistic and creative testimony.”
~Mario A. Campanaro
Master Teacher
MC² Actors Studio
Los Angeles | New York City | London
