Man has not begun to live until he can rise above the narrow confines of his own individual concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
– Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. Martin is a hero of mine. A man who truly believed in what he preached. A man who stood tall in the face of injustice and took action when action was needed. A man who was labeled by opponents and critics as an agitator and hypocrite, who wasn’t always perfect, but sacrificed his own well being for a belief in something greater than himself.
Whether religious or not I feel we actors, who are committed in belief to this craft, follow the same vein. We who hold up a mirror to nature. We who expose through that mirror and the lives of such tragic characters we play, the injustices or problems of this world. Even exposing the truth within ourselves we might not want to see.
In each new character, setting, and play we expose ourselves to the broader realm of the human condition. With that comes more empathy. Not only for humanity but ourselves. I don’t think we can have true compassion or true empathy without the realization and acceptance of our self and our faults. Recognizing our fellow man and whatever he is, as our self.
My coach has said that working this craft will change you. There is no escaping the recognition of a piece of yourself in a character you play. For we are all human and all privy to the same faults and strengths. Upon realizing that it’s hard to look at one’s own concerns as separate or special in any way. They have transcended concerns of individuality to those of all humanity’s.
It is there, in that transcendence, where the actor truly lives and as Dr. Martin would say man truly begins to live. It is no easy thing to let go of, that individuality. We cling to it to be safe or guarded, because we fear that those different from us are in reality not that different from us at all. That if we keep this separation we can elevate ourselves and excuse our faults on our fellow man.
But that is not the way of love and as I have said before acting requires love! Even more so in that love and acceptance and understanding of our fellow man we can better accept and understand our self. Only then can humanity progress forward and grow. Through empathy. Through compassion. Through love.
I always wonder why acting? Why do I act and pursue this craft? There are many answers and this is simply one of them. Because through acting we as artists begin to live a life that is part to something greater than ourselves.