Out of all the Four W’s of Acting, the fourth “W” is by far my favorite. The Four W’s of Acting include: who, what, where and why? However, it is the latter that truly peaks my interest and fully engages my creativity while performing this aspect of scene study and character development.
Within this article I describe the fourth “W” out of the Four W’s of Acting, and in doing so, you as an actor may have a better understanding of character development and internal acting processes.
Why?
Why are you reading this article? Why are you sitting where you are? Why are you not outside? Why did your friend tell you that secret? Why are you in such a bad financial shape? Why do bad things happen to me?
While each of these “why” questions is worded differently, each has the same overall goal – to discover the hidden, or underlying, purpose of things. To discover the true objective or desire that pushes you to think, to move and to speak.
As you begin truly delving into your character, the “why” question is one that you must ask yourself, over and over again. After reading a piece of dialogue or action, ask yourself why. Once you’ve answered that question, ask yourself why, again. Continue asking yourself “why” until you feel you’ve broken apart the actions, desires, objectives and primary motivation of your character.
This form of character discover is one of the most enlightening and entertaining; however, you mustn’t truly delve into this “W” question until you have a solid understanding of your character, of the story and of the overall objective of each scene.
This is one of the last forms of character development you must do, and you will likely find yourself asking “why” throughout an entire rehearsal and performance run.
Perhaps one of the most important rules to remember when you’re asking yourself “why” is to not think like yourself. Don’t think as an observer, but rather, think as your character. Train your thoughts to not stick with your way of thinking, but that of your character. This is why it is vital to not ask yourself “why” until you have fully understood and adopted your character’s way of being.