Concentration for actors is one of the most, if not the most, important skills to develop. If you are able to develop your concentration, then your acting skills will develop alongside it. It can be worth thinking about concentration as the container for every other acting skill in your toolkit, including method acting, the Meisner technique, and the Stanislavski system.
You can develop all the other skills as much as you like, but they will only grow as long as you continue to develop your concentration.
In this post I’m going to go over why concentration is so important, how it helps us, and how to develop it through concentration exercises and other techniques to overcome challenges like stage fright and performance anxiety.
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Being ‘in character’
There is a concept in acting that is referred to as being ‘in character’. There seems to be an idea that you somehow mentally transform into the character – as though you completely lose yourself and only know the life, the memories, the feelings, and the thoughts of the character. This is part truth and part myth. The myth is that you completely lose yourself.
Sadly, you still need to remember your blocking and your eyelines. If you were to completely become the character, I’m sure you would wonder why on Earth an entire team of people were filming you and breaking the fourth wall. No, of course, you know that this is all pretend, really.
The truth is where the concentration for actors comes into it. The more you can concentrate on the imaginary world you’ve built up in the scene the more immersed you will become in it.
The more you can keep your concentration on the other actor, using your listening skills, the sensory elements of the scene, your objectives, and your inner monologue, the more ‘in character’ you will be, because your focus will be on the scene.
Of course, you may need to concentrate on other things momentarily, for example, when taking direction. Your concentration may simply slip – especially as a beginner.
But the more frequently you are able to bring your concentration back to the elements of the scene, the more ‘in character’ you will be, allowing you to develop a strong stage presence.
Think of being a character not as simply ‘in’ and ‘out’ but as a sliding scale. Sometimes you are less your character, sometimes you are more. It all depends on where your concentration is at any given moment.
Check Out David Strasberg Talking About Concentration
Lee Strasberg’s song, David Strasberg, now runs the Strasberg Institute. Check out this video of him talking to one of his students about concentrations. David has a wonderful way of explaining an actor’s work so I really recommend checking out his other videos too.
Achieving A Result – i.e. Emotion!
Some actors seem to think that what we need to do to achieve an emotion is to really concentrate on it. For instance, if I think about how I felt when my dog died, using emotional recall or I concentrate really hard on getting tears to form in my eyes – if I try really hard – then I will achieve sadness, I will achieve crying.
This is known as “pushing for emotion” and is probably the worst possible way to go about this task.
As humans, when we feel emotions, we become extremely vulnerable. This means that as soon as we are aware that we are becoming emotional our body and brain tries to shut it down. This is why if we will ourselves to cry really hard, our eyes will dry right up. It’s because our brain is resisting us. It’s saying – No! That’s dangerous! I’m vulnerable if I cry, and I’m not letting that happen! It is our instinct coming into play.
The first thing we need to do is get in touch with our bodies and our instinct. Stanislavski relaxation is great for this, as it was specifically designed for this purpose. Then we need to put our concentration entirely on the scene.
Whatever practitioners or techniques you choose to work with – whether it’s Meisner’s focus on the other actor, Strasberg’s sensory memory, Adler’s imaginary worlds or a combination of all three. However you like to work and become invested in your scene, put your concentration on that. Place your concentration entirely on those things – of the world of the scene and of the elements you have prepared.
As long as you have prepped the scene and your concentration is on that and not what you’re feeling, the emotions will come naturally. This is one of the most important parts of concentration for actors.
How do I stop focusing on my emotions in a scene?
Do not expect to be able to do this straight away. Habits are formed very easily. Chances are you have formed a habit of checking for emotion during a scene. Without even meaning to, your brain will monitor your emotions and check you’re feeling what you think you should be feeling.
This is a completely normal habit for beginner actors to get into – however, we cannot work well with this habit still in place. So, we need to build our concentration in order to break this habit and allow ourselves to progress as actors.
How To Build Your Concentration
Think of building your concentration as going to the gym. Your concentration is a muscle. You need to regularly train it so it can build. How often do you train your concentration now? If I have a goal of doing 100 push ups and I never train, I will be stuck not being able to even do 1. The more often I train, the quicker my strength will grow. Training concentration is key, thinking of concentration as a muscle that needs to be exercised.
Pick a schedule that works for you. If you train every day you will improve more quickly, but don’t run before you can walk. Choose something manageable – that you know you can stick to. The worst thing you can do is overcommit and quit altogether when developing concentration for actors.
Exercises you can do for concentration:
- Strasberg Relaxation. This is pretty much designed for actors and for this purpose, so makes it the perfect tool to employ here as part of your actor’s toolkit.
Find out more about Strasberg’s work my reading his book “A Dream of Passion” here.
- Instinctive sound and movement. If you can stay focused on your instinct and how your body feels, that’s a great place to be.
- Mindfulness meditation. This practice involves bringing your focus back to your breath whenever it drifts off. It’s also known to help with anxiety and stress, as well as improving focus. Yoga and breathing exercises can also help with this.
Check out Headspace – a tool that can help you to improve your mindfulness and concentration skills.
- Sensory Exploration. Exploring an experience with your senses. This is a great one for keeping your concentration of the circumstances of your scene. If you can focus on external circumstances or keep gentle focus on a sense memory in a scene without letting your concentration drift, this can be an extremely valuable skill to have.
The most important thing with all of these focus exercises for actors is, when your attention drifts off, just gently bring it back to where you want it to be. Don’t beat yourself up when your attention drifts – it’s natural, and if you aren’t used to practicing, then it will happen a lot.
How can you do 100 press ups without ever practicing right? Just gently bring your attention back and refocus. Over time, you will find your actor’s concentration sits easier, drifts off less and, most important, it is easier to bring it back whenever it does drift.
Try Out The Relaxation Exercise
Follow along with this guided video by Peter Kalos. He will help you to learn more about the relaxation exercise and how you can practice it.
Conclusion
So, as you can see, concentration is one of the most important acting techniques you can develop. You can only improve this skill with regular practice and it is absolutely one of the most important things you can improve in your own personal practice as an actor.
Start every session with a concentration exercise and you won’t go far wrong. Keep committed, keep practising, and over time you will see a great improvement in your work. It is the key to making every other element of acting easier, from character development to script analysis to improvisation skills.
Concentration will help you stay present, manage distractions, and break the fourth wall to truly connect with your scene partners and the audience.
I hope this post has been helpful to you. Please feel free to message me with any questions and I will do my best to help you!
