Azure
01-11-2007, 07:56 PM
Brad Lavelle (http://www.bradlavelle.com/) is a professional voice actor, who has very kidndly written an article on voice acting which he has kindly let us post here. You can view his VAA account here. (http://voiceactingalliance.com/board/member.php?u=3341)
Chapter 1
Subheadings
Preface
On Acting with Voice
On You the Actor and Your Confidence-Think Character
The Ego Versus the Actor
Studio Hints & Tips or Do’s and Don’ts
Preface
Before I kick off on this ramble and occasional rant I thought I’d tell you a little bit about me, what I’ve done etc. so that you know I know what orifice I’m talking out of. Since getting into the business I’ve developed a bit of a split personality-acting in the visual sense and the voice acting. I’ve been at it professionally for about 25 years, doing corporate videos, stage plays, feature films, television series, radio dj-ing and radio plays, computer games, anime and animation voices, voiceovers, announcing, telephone messaging, branding… whatever it takes to bring in the bucks, pounds and yen. The isdn link is up and running from a studio close to home in the countryside but I am converting over to a more portable isdn/broadband setup at the moment as I live my life by splitting my time between the urban and rural environments. It is brilliant being able to reach out globally and work for anyone, anywhere and very soon I’ll be able to do it from any place.
Currently the main source of my voice work is VOs in commercials (tons of trailers), TV promotions and narration…but I still love doing the animations and games (they’re the most fun), they just don’t pay as well and the commercial work is good and strong at the moment (he said touching wood) and my agents really do like the bigger pay packs. Then there is also AdditionalDialogueRecoding which helps pay the odd bill and let’s me hang with other voice artists while on the job. On any given day, not including the isdn hook-ups I probably do two or three studio jobs, add to that the isdn and that can increase the gigs three fold if I can fit it all in, luckily there is FTP so I can arrange my day to suit and post a completed job to a client when I’ve finished it. I’m also working on some personal projects: podcasting and writing as well as working with a team developing the web site that’ll accompany the portable studio.
It’s good to get away from the studios though and so I will book out to spend time with my partner and our animals in our garden or enjoy the river, the countryside or the seaside or just simply ponder and people watch while sipping a latte. I also love to cook and share the outcome with friends over a bottle.
On Acting with Voice
Acting is acting is…acting. Wherever and however you do it, that’s what it is. The word “acting” comes from the Latin word “agĕre”, which means “to do". Actors do, and they tend to do it in character. Be it on stage, film, television, on or off camera or voice recording, you are acting the part of a character.
The differences in acting between these mediums are the processes and the disciplines needed to achieve character believability in the medium. You work differently, vocally, on stage, on camera or in front of the microphone.
And as this is all about voice acting I’ll stick to the techniques needed in front of mic.
There are loads of people who think voicing is a walk in the park. Let me tell you, it ain’t. Next time someone says that to you tell them you’ll make them a bet. They have 2 minutes to look over a page in an easy to read book (no need to force them to read a medical journal) and after the time is up, get them to read it. They have to infuse the text with meaning and keep you interested in what they’re saying-if they don’t they owe you a meal at your favourite restaurant. If they stumble more than 3 times they owe you that meal. If they get through it, while keeping you interested in what they’re saying without owing you the meal, they then have to shave 8 seconds off of the read or they owe you a meal. If they shave less than 7 or more than 9 seconds off the read, make them pay up. If they get it right, become their agent and take them to dinner.
Voice acting is, in many ways, more complex than the other forms of acting. At the same time, for the same reasons it is also much less cumbersome. You don't have the advantage of: rehearsal, memorisation, costume, make up, props, scenery, lighting, music, and other actors to interact with. You also don’t have the problems associated therein. When you're voicing you sit or stand in a small room (the voice booth) all on your own with a microphone, a pair of headphones and a stand or desk for the script, ad, or copy…and that is it. You are on your own, just you and your voice. As a voice actor, your job is to create the reality of the character and the moment he or she exists in, with all of the drama, attitude, thought, emotion and complexity needed to be truthful to the script and this must be done quickly and believably.
If you are doing the recording in a studio or ISDN session and not via an FTP download where you’ve the luxury of multiple takes to get it right, you'll need to put all this together in a very short period of time. As you don’t have the rehearsal time associated with the other acting forms, you aren't memorizing the script and so you must be ready to perform within minutes of walking into the sound booth. Another thing about the lack of rehearsal, there is very limited time for character development- a typical voicing script tells you absolutely nothing about your character, their delivery style, or anything else. It’s just bare bones: the story or message needing to be conveyed by the words of the script.
Lots of actors have a tough time doing voice acting because their training and background in the business is based on rehearsal, memorisation and internalisation of their character's physicality, their words, emotions and thoughts. As I’ve said, there’s no memorisation in voiceover, no rehearsal, so the challenge is to learn how to immediately lift the words off the page and in character. It's a bit like an audition- you walk in, meet the director and casting director, get handed the script and start performing – except in our instance, for the voice actor, the audition is usually take one of your session and someone is paying money for it.
If you've had formal acting training from a specialized acting school, you may be familiar some of the techniques needed, but you'll find lots of other tools that can help you out as well. If you haven’t been to acting classes, go. You need the actors skill set if you’re going to make it in the voice acting business. You could join your local drama group at school or a community based one just to get those acting muscles exercised. After that you might want to consider taking workshops that are specifically based around voice acting, these usually provide personalized coaching from the instructors. A year or more in acting school will do you the world of good in refining your abilities. I would always suggest doing a bit of research though as there are some people out there who are willing to take your money and offer you the barest minimum in return. Subscribe to as many internet and print based newsletters and groups that can add to your acting knowledge pool. If anyone is casting anything nearby that you might be right for, audition for it. Get as much practice and experience as you can before embarking as a professionally actor.
If you’re trying to decide when you should get started on studying acting, sixteen is an excellent age to begin learning. Before this there are (in the professional world) many issues that can inhibit the child actor, things like workable hours, chaperones, school/tutorial time but if you have a parent or guardian who is willing to accommodate your schedule and chauffeur you to and from auditions and jobs, then go for it as soon as you can. There is always your school’s drama club prior to your “coming of age”.
When you’re at the age of consent, you won't be dealing with these issues and you can pretty much run your own life. So if you're serious about learning the craft, develop and hone your acting skills and apply what you learn to everything you do for the rest of your life; believe me this will become instinctive. In addition to the acting and voice classes, I suggest that you get the best education you can. If your school isn’t great spend extra time in the library, read voraciously. The more you know about the people that inhabit this planet, the world we live in, what makes it tick, and it’s history, geography, economics, social structures etc., the more knowledge and tools you will have at your command and these will assist you as an actor. This might may not make a lot of sense to you right now, but you'll definitely know what I mean if you are still acting in 5 or 25 years. The study of acting is something that will never end, as the craft is about the study of people and the circumstances, the personalities and the events that influence them. There is always something new to learn, to study, and to observe. If you embark upon acting as a career, at some point you’ll realise that it has become more than a job, it’s a way of life.
On You the Actor and Your Confidence- Think Character
Most people would agree that if they could be someone else, they’d take more chances, more risks in life. It isn’t you standing in the danger zone…it’s someone else. When you’re voice acting, if you can allow yourself to become that someone else and truthfully embrace the character you’ve chosen, your performance will always flow more easily. You’ll feel free to experiment without the fear of failure because you’ll know that the character you’ve chosen is incapable of failure; unless that failure is a character trait…in which case the character’s failure is the actor’s success.
Your brain is a computer, albeit a biological one, but it’s an amazing one and just like the desk-top or lap-top computer, it can be re-programmed. It will allow you to multi task different personalities. You can see this when you’re people watching; whenever you observe a person moving from one life role to another. For instance, a future’s executive who runs her brokerage team like a demon all day long changes dramatically when she steps into the role of mom with her children. Your bank manager’s behaviour changes completely when he puts on his “hockey coach” hat. That cranky physics teacher softens to an empath when she works the ladle behind the counter in the late night soup kitchen for down and outs on Saturday nights.
If you want to watch some other really fantastic actors who are just average people, watch a group of children playing. As a youngster, I wrote, produced, directed and sometimes starred in a variety of plays in my front yard. I cast a number of local kids to be in the shows and all the parents and the other children in the neighbourhood were invited to attend. In our young minds, we knew we were the characters we portrayed and that we were ready for the big stage! There were absolutely no limits to our imaginations or creativity! We were our characters, we may not have had the technical expertise needed to make the shift to the professional stage but we certainly had the imagination. I continued doing this throughout my years a primary and secondary school, honing skills, learning more craft and still went on to attend two different drama schools and countless classes…Like I said the actor’s learning never ends.
.
Can you remember what it was like when you were a little kid? The sky was the limit, no, the multiverse was the limit. You could be anyone or anything you chose – a police officer, a princess, an astronaut, or even the supreme evil ruler of the universe. You were completely believable in every role you played, because you believed you were that character.
As we grow older, we still have the ability to trick our subconscious mind into believing we are someone else – just the same as you did when you were five years old. You see, our minds subconsciously don’t know the difference between reality and fiction. If you pretend to be the character, so far as your subconscious is concerned, you are the character. It’s only when the conscious mind assumes control that the problem of believability occurs. Belief in your imagination is just the first step to letting go of whatever inhibitions you’re been carrying around.
Many of the most respected actors on stage or in film and television are very shy people in real life. Don't believe that you need to hide your shyness, or in fact behave in an overly gregarious fashion in real life in order to be an actor. Shyness has nothing to do with acting ability. Confidence does. Character does. Acting is a means of outward expression that can be restricted by your shyness but this isn’t always so. Shyness is often based in fear: a fear of looking silly, sounding foolish, or not being accepted or liked. Fear is NOT truth. Acting IS truth. The secret to overcoming your fear, if it is inhibiting your acting is to first realize what the fear is. What exactly is it that scares you? What makes you nervous about being you?
Once you know that, embrace it, in order to rid yourself of it.
So if you know that you’re nervous in public because you don’t want to look silly, you might wear the silliest clothes and talk in the silliest voice and do the silliest things for a day to prove to yourself that your fear can’t kill you. If you can continue on your journey of silliness that fear will eventually leave you and your shyness may go away; even if it doesn’t you can still be strong in the knowledge that being silly won’t harm you. Always remember that when you are acting you are doing/being another person. You are absorbed by that character and all that frightens you will just not exist because you don’t exist; only the character exists, until you step out of them.
As this is acting 101 and not psychiatry 101, I’ll leave overcoming fear at this point and get on with why the performing actor gains the confidence of their character.
The secret to success as a shy actor is to remember that you are acting; you are playing the role of someone who is not you! You are a character, you inhabit someone that is a part but is also apart from you. As an actor, your job is to create truthful characters and to do that you need to research your character in order to present personality traits, emotions, feelings, beliefs, thoughts, body language and behaviours that are not your own; they may be part of you but they are unique to the character you will portray. When you know how to do this, how to create a character that is separate from you, you are working outside of your personal comfort zone, your shyness and any other fears you may have and you are effectively wearing the character as armour, as protection. The world can’t get at you for being silly, stupid or foolish it can only get at your character.
What it comes down to is being willing to take the risk to do whatever is necessary to make the character you are creating as truthful, believable and real as possible. If it is you trying to be the character, your nervous nature will get in your way. However, when you learn to get out of your own way, to step back and allow your character to step forward (to step into character as they say), your personal problems and your bashful behaviour will simply disappear.
Think of it this way: You may be very timid or uncomfortable in a public speaking situation - that's fine, I still tremble at the thought of it. But if, before I stand up to say my piece at a public meeting, I assume the role (the character) of someone who is an authority, an expert on the subject being discussed, my fear doesn’t exist. Would the expert I’m playing be nervous or shy when they’re talking about that subject in front of a group of people? No, no way, no how, never! That person would be confident and comfortable talking about the subject they know so well.
When you take on the characteristics of another person, to create a truthful, believable character, it is the character doing the talking - not you. You can use this trick in your classes at school, when you need to make a presentation, in day to day life, in any situation… with practice. All you need to do is figure out everything you can about the person you’re going to play and how they would be comfortable in that situation.
Here’s an exercise for this: start from a relaxed position, in your mind’s eye watch your character walk towards you from far away, down a long road…what is their posture like, their movement, do they roll their feet in or out as they step, what are they wearing, what is their sense of colour, style? Do they have anything in their pockets, if so what, if not, why? Do they carry luggage…what’s in it …how do the contents help you know more about the character. Watch them walk closer to you, hear their breathing, what is their voice like, where is it produced from, head, chest, diaphragm, what are they hiding, what are they using to hide it…observe and ask more questions, learn more, observe more…find out everything from their past history right down to flaws in their DNA structure and then let the character walk into you. When you’ve done this in your imagination a few times you’ll know all that there is to know.
The next step in your journey into character is to step out from that imaginary understanding of your character, take the risk, allow yourself to discover what it would be like to be that person for awhile. It may not come easily at first, so start off practicing it in private, not in front of a mirror…your conscious mind will make judgement calls on what it observes. When you can be your character in private then go someplace where no one knows you and just be the character; walk around with the body language, the movement, attitude, and thoughts that you've associated with the character you are creating. You'll be amazed to discover how comfortable you can be when you take on these traits. One note on this, NEVER use this in an antagonistic situation unless you’ve studied at the Shaolin Temple. The key to the exercise is that you MUST let yourself to become the character, temporarily. You can't – not for a second - think about what you are doing or you will slip out of character and the you that is shy or fearful or bashful or whatever, will be back.
Chapter 1
Subheadings
Preface
On Acting with Voice
On You the Actor and Your Confidence-Think Character
The Ego Versus the Actor
Studio Hints & Tips or Do’s and Don’ts
Preface
Before I kick off on this ramble and occasional rant I thought I’d tell you a little bit about me, what I’ve done etc. so that you know I know what orifice I’m talking out of. Since getting into the business I’ve developed a bit of a split personality-acting in the visual sense and the voice acting. I’ve been at it professionally for about 25 years, doing corporate videos, stage plays, feature films, television series, radio dj-ing and radio plays, computer games, anime and animation voices, voiceovers, announcing, telephone messaging, branding… whatever it takes to bring in the bucks, pounds and yen. The isdn link is up and running from a studio close to home in the countryside but I am converting over to a more portable isdn/broadband setup at the moment as I live my life by splitting my time between the urban and rural environments. It is brilliant being able to reach out globally and work for anyone, anywhere and very soon I’ll be able to do it from any place.
Currently the main source of my voice work is VOs in commercials (tons of trailers), TV promotions and narration…but I still love doing the animations and games (they’re the most fun), they just don’t pay as well and the commercial work is good and strong at the moment (he said touching wood) and my agents really do like the bigger pay packs. Then there is also AdditionalDialogueRecoding which helps pay the odd bill and let’s me hang with other voice artists while on the job. On any given day, not including the isdn hook-ups I probably do two or three studio jobs, add to that the isdn and that can increase the gigs three fold if I can fit it all in, luckily there is FTP so I can arrange my day to suit and post a completed job to a client when I’ve finished it. I’m also working on some personal projects: podcasting and writing as well as working with a team developing the web site that’ll accompany the portable studio.
It’s good to get away from the studios though and so I will book out to spend time with my partner and our animals in our garden or enjoy the river, the countryside or the seaside or just simply ponder and people watch while sipping a latte. I also love to cook and share the outcome with friends over a bottle.
On Acting with Voice
Acting is acting is…acting. Wherever and however you do it, that’s what it is. The word “acting” comes from the Latin word “agĕre”, which means “to do". Actors do, and they tend to do it in character. Be it on stage, film, television, on or off camera or voice recording, you are acting the part of a character.
The differences in acting between these mediums are the processes and the disciplines needed to achieve character believability in the medium. You work differently, vocally, on stage, on camera or in front of the microphone.
And as this is all about voice acting I’ll stick to the techniques needed in front of mic.
There are loads of people who think voicing is a walk in the park. Let me tell you, it ain’t. Next time someone says that to you tell them you’ll make them a bet. They have 2 minutes to look over a page in an easy to read book (no need to force them to read a medical journal) and after the time is up, get them to read it. They have to infuse the text with meaning and keep you interested in what they’re saying-if they don’t they owe you a meal at your favourite restaurant. If they stumble more than 3 times they owe you that meal. If they get through it, while keeping you interested in what they’re saying without owing you the meal, they then have to shave 8 seconds off of the read or they owe you a meal. If they shave less than 7 or more than 9 seconds off the read, make them pay up. If they get it right, become their agent and take them to dinner.
Voice acting is, in many ways, more complex than the other forms of acting. At the same time, for the same reasons it is also much less cumbersome. You don't have the advantage of: rehearsal, memorisation, costume, make up, props, scenery, lighting, music, and other actors to interact with. You also don’t have the problems associated therein. When you're voicing you sit or stand in a small room (the voice booth) all on your own with a microphone, a pair of headphones and a stand or desk for the script, ad, or copy…and that is it. You are on your own, just you and your voice. As a voice actor, your job is to create the reality of the character and the moment he or she exists in, with all of the drama, attitude, thought, emotion and complexity needed to be truthful to the script and this must be done quickly and believably.
If you are doing the recording in a studio or ISDN session and not via an FTP download where you’ve the luxury of multiple takes to get it right, you'll need to put all this together in a very short period of time. As you don’t have the rehearsal time associated with the other acting forms, you aren't memorizing the script and so you must be ready to perform within minutes of walking into the sound booth. Another thing about the lack of rehearsal, there is very limited time for character development- a typical voicing script tells you absolutely nothing about your character, their delivery style, or anything else. It’s just bare bones: the story or message needing to be conveyed by the words of the script.
Lots of actors have a tough time doing voice acting because their training and background in the business is based on rehearsal, memorisation and internalisation of their character's physicality, their words, emotions and thoughts. As I’ve said, there’s no memorisation in voiceover, no rehearsal, so the challenge is to learn how to immediately lift the words off the page and in character. It's a bit like an audition- you walk in, meet the director and casting director, get handed the script and start performing – except in our instance, for the voice actor, the audition is usually take one of your session and someone is paying money for it.
If you've had formal acting training from a specialized acting school, you may be familiar some of the techniques needed, but you'll find lots of other tools that can help you out as well. If you haven’t been to acting classes, go. You need the actors skill set if you’re going to make it in the voice acting business. You could join your local drama group at school or a community based one just to get those acting muscles exercised. After that you might want to consider taking workshops that are specifically based around voice acting, these usually provide personalized coaching from the instructors. A year or more in acting school will do you the world of good in refining your abilities. I would always suggest doing a bit of research though as there are some people out there who are willing to take your money and offer you the barest minimum in return. Subscribe to as many internet and print based newsletters and groups that can add to your acting knowledge pool. If anyone is casting anything nearby that you might be right for, audition for it. Get as much practice and experience as you can before embarking as a professionally actor.
If you’re trying to decide when you should get started on studying acting, sixteen is an excellent age to begin learning. Before this there are (in the professional world) many issues that can inhibit the child actor, things like workable hours, chaperones, school/tutorial time but if you have a parent or guardian who is willing to accommodate your schedule and chauffeur you to and from auditions and jobs, then go for it as soon as you can. There is always your school’s drama club prior to your “coming of age”.
When you’re at the age of consent, you won't be dealing with these issues and you can pretty much run your own life. So if you're serious about learning the craft, develop and hone your acting skills and apply what you learn to everything you do for the rest of your life; believe me this will become instinctive. In addition to the acting and voice classes, I suggest that you get the best education you can. If your school isn’t great spend extra time in the library, read voraciously. The more you know about the people that inhabit this planet, the world we live in, what makes it tick, and it’s history, geography, economics, social structures etc., the more knowledge and tools you will have at your command and these will assist you as an actor. This might may not make a lot of sense to you right now, but you'll definitely know what I mean if you are still acting in 5 or 25 years. The study of acting is something that will never end, as the craft is about the study of people and the circumstances, the personalities and the events that influence them. There is always something new to learn, to study, and to observe. If you embark upon acting as a career, at some point you’ll realise that it has become more than a job, it’s a way of life.
On You the Actor and Your Confidence- Think Character
Most people would agree that if they could be someone else, they’d take more chances, more risks in life. It isn’t you standing in the danger zone…it’s someone else. When you’re voice acting, if you can allow yourself to become that someone else and truthfully embrace the character you’ve chosen, your performance will always flow more easily. You’ll feel free to experiment without the fear of failure because you’ll know that the character you’ve chosen is incapable of failure; unless that failure is a character trait…in which case the character’s failure is the actor’s success.
Your brain is a computer, albeit a biological one, but it’s an amazing one and just like the desk-top or lap-top computer, it can be re-programmed. It will allow you to multi task different personalities. You can see this when you’re people watching; whenever you observe a person moving from one life role to another. For instance, a future’s executive who runs her brokerage team like a demon all day long changes dramatically when she steps into the role of mom with her children. Your bank manager’s behaviour changes completely when he puts on his “hockey coach” hat. That cranky physics teacher softens to an empath when she works the ladle behind the counter in the late night soup kitchen for down and outs on Saturday nights.
If you want to watch some other really fantastic actors who are just average people, watch a group of children playing. As a youngster, I wrote, produced, directed and sometimes starred in a variety of plays in my front yard. I cast a number of local kids to be in the shows and all the parents and the other children in the neighbourhood were invited to attend. In our young minds, we knew we were the characters we portrayed and that we were ready for the big stage! There were absolutely no limits to our imaginations or creativity! We were our characters, we may not have had the technical expertise needed to make the shift to the professional stage but we certainly had the imagination. I continued doing this throughout my years a primary and secondary school, honing skills, learning more craft and still went on to attend two different drama schools and countless classes…Like I said the actor’s learning never ends.
.
Can you remember what it was like when you were a little kid? The sky was the limit, no, the multiverse was the limit. You could be anyone or anything you chose – a police officer, a princess, an astronaut, or even the supreme evil ruler of the universe. You were completely believable in every role you played, because you believed you were that character.
As we grow older, we still have the ability to trick our subconscious mind into believing we are someone else – just the same as you did when you were five years old. You see, our minds subconsciously don’t know the difference between reality and fiction. If you pretend to be the character, so far as your subconscious is concerned, you are the character. It’s only when the conscious mind assumes control that the problem of believability occurs. Belief in your imagination is just the first step to letting go of whatever inhibitions you’re been carrying around.
Many of the most respected actors on stage or in film and television are very shy people in real life. Don't believe that you need to hide your shyness, or in fact behave in an overly gregarious fashion in real life in order to be an actor. Shyness has nothing to do with acting ability. Confidence does. Character does. Acting is a means of outward expression that can be restricted by your shyness but this isn’t always so. Shyness is often based in fear: a fear of looking silly, sounding foolish, or not being accepted or liked. Fear is NOT truth. Acting IS truth. The secret to overcoming your fear, if it is inhibiting your acting is to first realize what the fear is. What exactly is it that scares you? What makes you nervous about being you?
Once you know that, embrace it, in order to rid yourself of it.
So if you know that you’re nervous in public because you don’t want to look silly, you might wear the silliest clothes and talk in the silliest voice and do the silliest things for a day to prove to yourself that your fear can’t kill you. If you can continue on your journey of silliness that fear will eventually leave you and your shyness may go away; even if it doesn’t you can still be strong in the knowledge that being silly won’t harm you. Always remember that when you are acting you are doing/being another person. You are absorbed by that character and all that frightens you will just not exist because you don’t exist; only the character exists, until you step out of them.
As this is acting 101 and not psychiatry 101, I’ll leave overcoming fear at this point and get on with why the performing actor gains the confidence of their character.
The secret to success as a shy actor is to remember that you are acting; you are playing the role of someone who is not you! You are a character, you inhabit someone that is a part but is also apart from you. As an actor, your job is to create truthful characters and to do that you need to research your character in order to present personality traits, emotions, feelings, beliefs, thoughts, body language and behaviours that are not your own; they may be part of you but they are unique to the character you will portray. When you know how to do this, how to create a character that is separate from you, you are working outside of your personal comfort zone, your shyness and any other fears you may have and you are effectively wearing the character as armour, as protection. The world can’t get at you for being silly, stupid or foolish it can only get at your character.
What it comes down to is being willing to take the risk to do whatever is necessary to make the character you are creating as truthful, believable and real as possible. If it is you trying to be the character, your nervous nature will get in your way. However, when you learn to get out of your own way, to step back and allow your character to step forward (to step into character as they say), your personal problems and your bashful behaviour will simply disappear.
Think of it this way: You may be very timid or uncomfortable in a public speaking situation - that's fine, I still tremble at the thought of it. But if, before I stand up to say my piece at a public meeting, I assume the role (the character) of someone who is an authority, an expert on the subject being discussed, my fear doesn’t exist. Would the expert I’m playing be nervous or shy when they’re talking about that subject in front of a group of people? No, no way, no how, never! That person would be confident and comfortable talking about the subject they know so well.
When you take on the characteristics of another person, to create a truthful, believable character, it is the character doing the talking - not you. You can use this trick in your classes at school, when you need to make a presentation, in day to day life, in any situation… with practice. All you need to do is figure out everything you can about the person you’re going to play and how they would be comfortable in that situation.
Here’s an exercise for this: start from a relaxed position, in your mind’s eye watch your character walk towards you from far away, down a long road…what is their posture like, their movement, do they roll their feet in or out as they step, what are they wearing, what is their sense of colour, style? Do they have anything in their pockets, if so what, if not, why? Do they carry luggage…what’s in it …how do the contents help you know more about the character. Watch them walk closer to you, hear their breathing, what is their voice like, where is it produced from, head, chest, diaphragm, what are they hiding, what are they using to hide it…observe and ask more questions, learn more, observe more…find out everything from their past history right down to flaws in their DNA structure and then let the character walk into you. When you’ve done this in your imagination a few times you’ll know all that there is to know.
The next step in your journey into character is to step out from that imaginary understanding of your character, take the risk, allow yourself to discover what it would be like to be that person for awhile. It may not come easily at first, so start off practicing it in private, not in front of a mirror…your conscious mind will make judgement calls on what it observes. When you can be your character in private then go someplace where no one knows you and just be the character; walk around with the body language, the movement, attitude, and thoughts that you've associated with the character you are creating. You'll be amazed to discover how comfortable you can be when you take on these traits. One note on this, NEVER use this in an antagonistic situation unless you’ve studied at the Shaolin Temple. The key to the exercise is that you MUST let yourself to become the character, temporarily. You can't – not for a second - think about what you are doing or you will slip out of character and the you that is shy or fearful or bashful or whatever, will be back.