​

Actors are transformative athletes—artists whose instrument is both body and mind, capable of embodying the full spectrum of human experience. To be truly effective, an actor must be elastic in their expression, able to step into lives, worlds, and emotions far beyond their own. They must learn not only to reflect life, but to channel it, reshape it, and breathe into it a new kind of vitality. Creating Character is designed to cultivate this transformative power, offering actors the tools, practices, and inspiration necessary to evolve their craft. The course emphasizes the expansion of expressive range—physically, emotionally, vocally, and imaginatively. It challenges the actor to explore the complex landscape of human behavior and to develop the skills needed to inhabit a character's full inner and outer life.

​

The foundation of the course lies in the belief that character is not merely “played”—it is embodied. Through an integrated approach that includes physical exercises, psychological exploration, and improvisation, students will develop a deeper awareness of the body, voice, and imagination as entry points into character. Techniques will include exploring a character’s walk, posture, center of gravity, emotional temperament, and thought patterns. Students will also study tension states, energy centers, and emotional availability in order to understand how internal psychology manifests externally. The work will push actors to find specificity in detail—how a character breathes, how they carry weight, how they shift energy depending on their environment.

​

In today’s ever-changing landscape of performance—across stage, screen, virtual reality, and hybrid digital forms—the definition of “actor process” is no longer fixed. Twenty years ago, actors primarily needed to live truthfully in a naturalistic setting. Now, they must inhabit hyper-real, surreal, or stylized worlds just as convincingly. The range of characters actors must portray has expanded alongside technological and cultural shifts, requiring an equally dynamic and versatile training. Creating Character addresses this evolution, offering practical, repeatable techniques for building character from the inside out, and helping actors discover the many lives that already live within them.