Indecision

For the actor…

Just like most people don’t know what they want in life, is why it’s often hard to figure out what your character wants. But you must. What does the character want? So much so that they will die (metaphorically and sometimes literally) if they don’t get it?

Even Hamlet, the king of indecision, wanted something deeply at first. But then when he was presented with new information, he wanted something else. And then something else. And then something else. And so on and so forth. The sum total of all these different wants was indecision. But make no mistake, he had giant, all out, desperate wants.

Work your ass off to figure out what your character wants. I recall an acting teacher saying you should get a headache from all the thinking about wants and desires. But here’s the thing…once you get those wants down and lean into those bold choices, you cannot go wrong. You’ll have fun every night trying to achieve them and in doing so, you’ll be riveting and on fire to watch.