From The Masterclass Lecture On The Actor’s Generosity Of Spirit..
“It takes a very special actor… And it takes something very special in that actor… It takes an actor… That has a very open heart… It takes an actor… That is so willing to give… That is so willing to be vulnerable… In whatever situation (textually speaking) he, she or they finds him, her or themself in… In pursuit of the truth of those circumstances… And you can see it… You know it… You know when an actor is there… You know when an actor is giving… You know when an actor has that generosity of spirit… You see it in their eyes… You see it in their soul… You see it in their energy… And it’s this powerful thing… That gets us from sitting back… To leaning forward… Because there’s something magnetic about them… And that magnetism… Is our ability to relate to them… To understand… Somewhat, someway and somehow… What they are going through… And that is what that generosity of spirit does… It’s this magical energy… That brings a collective… To a commonality… Of the human experience… And those are the actors that we see… That transform us… That move us… That take us somewhere… That inspire us… And that we greatly respect and admire… But at the end of the day… There always has to be a generosity of spirit… There just has to be.”
Much Love, Mario Campanaro Master Teacher MC² Actors Studio Los Angeles | New York City | London
*The Skeleton Scenes text was written by Mario Campanaro
It’s tough to be human.
It’s not an easy job to be a human being.
And what I think the actor has the opportunity to do is examine that.
To examine…
‘What is this being human?’.
And…
‘Why do we do what we do?‘.
‘Why do we feel the way we feel?‘.
I don’t really think many people realize how difficult it is to be an actor.
I don’t think many people really understand how complex it is.
One of the most paradoxical things about being an actor…
Or any artist for that matter…
Is to be able to reveal the work in a way that seems like there is no effort whatsoever.
So you’re just living.
But the truth of the matter is…
There’s a lot of work that goes behind that level of ease…
And that level of excellence.
Many people have an idea of what they think acting is.
They don’t realize what it really entails.
But as actors…
We need to be aware of what it takes.
If we go through our lives sleepwalking…
We don’t have anything to really connect to.
We don’t have anything to really pull from for our work.
We need that full awareness of humanity…
To be able to invest what life has to fully offer…
And then to be able to contribute all that to and for our work as artists.
I think the more we expand our consciousness…
The more we expand our awareness…
In our own life…
And in the hopeful contribution to the lives of others as well.
And most importantly…
To have some level of deep human connection.
Because at the end of the day…
Isn’t that what the job of the actor really is?…
To be able to reveal something that we can all connect to…
So that we can all feel some sort of belonging…
Some community…
So that we can all have some kind of healing.
I think it asks the actor to uphold the responsibility of understanding…
And be willing to reveal the human condition…
In a way that’s not always so comfortable…
In a way that’s not always painless…
In a way that asks of us to look at suffering…
And try to understand why human suffering is the way it is.
And then to really look within…
To see where that lives within…
So that ‘we’ can connect with and to that kind of human suffering…
And then be able to bravely…
Courageously…
Honestly…
And authentically…
Allow our instrument to bring ‘our BE-ing’ to the most extraordinary circumstances through story.
People suffer.
That’s a fact.
We all have that in common in one way or another.
We all have that beautiful brokenness in us.
But…
When a bone breaks…
We know why the bone breaks…
There is an event that causes the bone to break.
And very often when we see someone that has a broken leg…
Or is physically hurt…
The common response is
‘Oh my God, are you OK?’…
Or…
‘Oh my God, what happened?’…
Because we see someone physically in pain.
We see someone that is struggling in the here and now moment with a visual wound.
Well take a moment to think about that.
That’s the ‘norm‘.
The empathetic part of us…
The compassionate part of us…
Sees someone in pain and wants to know what were the events that led to that break.
Well a lot of the time we forget about the awareness of wounds in someone’s history.
Emotionally.
We see someone’s actions (the character) that may be broken…
And we automatically judge those actions.
We don’t really ask with a compassionate heart:
‘What were the series of events that led to that brokenness?’.
Because we’re just seeing the actions…
And we’re not understanding…
Or not willing to understand everything that led to that person executing those specific actions.
‘The Why‘…
‘The Because Of‘…
We as actors have an obligation to artistically (and safely) connect to the pain of what the character is going through.
We have an obligation to artistically (and safely) connect to the brokenness of the character as a means into their life…
So we don’t get stuck in a world of judgment.
So we are not blocked from inhabiting the character’s world with judgment…
Or resentment…
Or bitterness.
We ask ourselves important human questions with an open heart:
‘Where did the break happen?‘…
‘How did the break happen?‘…
‘When did it happen?‘…
‘What were the series events?‘…
‘What were the relationships?‘…
‘What were the circumstances that caused this human being to behave or react the way they do?‘…
‘How with a compassionate heart am I able to justify whether the actions are right or wrong?‘…
‘Why does someone do what they do?‘…
‘And how now, can I justify everything that this human being is doing as an attempt to improve their existence, their life moment to unknown moment?‘…
‘How did this person formulate the way they go through life, the way they function in their life, based on the relationships, the events, and circumstances that they have experienced?‘…
‘And the defense mechanisms that they may have created because of their history to get them through?‘…
‘How are they searching for solace?‘…
‘For peace?‘…
‘For an improvement in their world based on what they do?‘…
We have to remember that the way in is not through our judgment of the unmentionable…
It is through our willingness to enter in with a compassionate understanding of the historical origin of one’s pain and suffering that has caused one to behave in unmentionable ways…
Just like a broken leg…
All ‘brokenness’ has its own story that caused the break!
We, as actors, are not just ‘story-tellers‘…
We are truly ‘story-livers‘.
The Skeleton Scenes is dedicated to all the stories of human suffering.
And each and everyone of us has a story worthy of being witnessed.
I hope you enjoy the incredibly beautiful and heartbreaking work from our extremely talented international ensemble breathing life into the world of The Skeleton Scenes.
When you can live your most authentic genuine Self in each other’s presence…
You will never feel ‘alone’ in the work…
And you will never walk away feeling lonely…
There will always be a willing generosity of Spirit…
There will always be an undeniable human to human energetic sharing…
There will always be a connection…
There will always be a wanting to give…
And as we have seen with what is going on in our world today…
Sometimes it is through the darkest of moments…
And sometimes it is through the most inexplicable of circumstances…
That guide us…
That lead us…
Or that detour us…
To that tribe…
Those same circumstances…
That we may think are causing us to crumble…
Or break our hearts…
And our Spirit…
Are the same circumstances…
That actually break our hearts open…
And allow our Spirit…
To be IN-Spirited (inspired)…
Opening our mind, body and soul…
And awakening us to something greater than we could have ever imagined…
Those same circumstances that begin to help lead the path to our greatest purpose…
Our greatest potential…
And so we find our tribe…
Or our tribe finds us…
A tribe that meets through the most unlikely…
And yet, likely, of circumstances…
A tribe that is generous in knowledge, skill, creativity, heart, compassion, passion, love, support, kinship, responsibility, accountability, creativity, talent and Spirit…
As we continue to walk our path as artists together…
We must remember to remain students of life…
We have to be mindful to never allow the ego to rob us of the growth our work and life itself has to offer us…
There is an inexplicable creative currency in growth..
Get ‘paid’ in growth…
Keep learning…
We must continue to hold ourselves to the same demands that our art form demands…
Understand that that demand is what keeps us all striving to be and do our absolute very best…
As artists…
As actors…
We must continue to strive, discover and walk toward our very own excellence…
And run like hell from mediocrity…
We must continue to work hard on the path toward all of our artistic dreams…
And know in our heart of hearts…
That all the sweat equity we put into our work and dreams…
Will indeed pay off…
And so we do so together…
We do the work…
As our very own actor tribe…
As an ensemble…
And we continue to get ‘paid’ by all of our growth…
Because we love the work…
And because we simply want to!”
Much Love,
Mario Campanaro Founder & Master Teacher MC² Actors Studio Los Angeles | New York City | London
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