8/12/2019 Psychological Gesture - Hollywoods Best Kept Acting Secret

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THE PSYCHOLOGICAL GESTURE:

Hollywoods Best Kept Actin Sec!et"

By: Lisa DaltonReprinted fromActors InkIssues 35 & 36

PART 1

The Psychological esture is an ama!ing acting tool de"eloped #y the great Russian actor$ director and teacher$ %ichael he'ho"()*+) to )+55,- Designed to get the actor instantly into character$ the Psychological esture is used today #y many great actors suchas .ac' /icholson$ 0nthony 1op'ins and .ohnny Depp-

%r- he'ho" 2as deeply admired #y tanisla"s'y$ %eisner$ tras#erg$ 0dler and 1agen and many thought his #rilliant acting 2as un4teacha#le genius- 1e #elie"ed other2ise and dedicated his life to de"eloping and inspiring genius in other actors- tanisla"s'ys finalde"elopment in the %ethod$ The %ethod of Physical 0ctions$ 2as inspired #y he'ho"s #elief that the path to great acting 2asthrough the physiology- Today$ most actors training in the nited tates relies on changing only the psychology of the actor- 1ighlymystical at the time$ %ichael he'ho" #elie"ed in the mind4#ody connection and too' the psychological approach and married it tofull4#odied gesture to create: The Psychological esture-

What is the Psychological Gesture?

If 2e define gesture to mean a mo"ement that has intention$ 2e could say that the Psychological esture is a mo"ement that e7pressesthe psychology of the character- he'ho" defines the psychology to consist of the thoughts$ feelings and 2ill of a human #eing-1ence$ the P is a physical e7pression of the thoughts$ feelings and desires of the character$ incorporated into one mo"ement- 8ou canli'en it to a mo"ing logo$ li'e the /i'e logo$ 2hich captures the essence of /i'e in one image-

o$ in one mo"ement$ the P a2a'ens the essence of the character in you thus aligning your thoughts$ feelings and 2ill (o#9ecti"e,2ith that of the character- hen this happens$ your 2al'$ your e7pressi"e mannerisms$ your "oice and line deli"ery are all inspired #yone mo"ing image- 8ou perform the gesture prior to your scene to trigger your artistic nature- hile in the scene$ if your inspiration2ea'ens$ you simply en"ision the gesture in your imagination as you are acting and it 2ill re"itali!e you-

How do you find the right Psychological Gesture?

There may #e times 2hen the image of the P appears to you as soon as you read the script$ or story #oard- This spontaneousinspiration 2ill occur often 2hen you ha"e trained your #ody$ mind and "oice to respond to each other- hen the intuiti"e processdoesn;t happen$ there are a couple of other 2ays-

uestions- 8ourimagination 2ill respond instantly and your #ody 2ill #egin to e7press the mo"ement in small 2ays #efore you can e"en "er#ali!eyour ans2ers-

?or e7ample: if you are playing a "illain$ you might #egin #y as'ing 2hat it is your character desires- Po2er@ ualities until you feel the >uality and desire to dominate in e"ery cell of your #eing- If you need further help:

8/12/2019 Psychological Gesture - Hollywoods Best Kept Acting Secret

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PART 2

In Part uence #y "isuali!ing the character and as'ing it to sho2 you its P- Thisre>uires 2ell4de"eloped concentration s'ills-isuali!e a #eam of energy (light, going up from your core through the top of your head straight into outer space- /o2$ "isuali!e#eaming the character do2n as in tar Tre'- Imagine the details as the character materiali!es from the feet to the head- /o2$ imagine itsho2s you the P-

Imitate 2hat you see as closely as possi#le-