The Actor’s Art on Screen: Inspirations from John Howard Swain

Abstract

Acting is meant to be a conscious effort at creating a living being from a somewhat inanimate character from the pages of a script. With proper interpretation, acting and real life can have a semblance that makes it difficult for the audience to draw a distinction between the actor’s character life and the life of the actor himself. Many actors find it difficult to create this semblance as a result of their desperation to copy the style of other actors whom they refer to as mentors. This has given rise to repetitive and plastic kind of acting which does not show creativity. John Howard Swain provides a whole new dimension that breaks down the study of acting in order for the actor to fully come to terms with his potential in his book The Science and Art of Acting for the Camera. Consequently, the study discovers that the bane attached to the acting profession is inseparable from the following; actor’s laziness and redundant attitude toward learning, lack of self-confidence, pride, unprofessionalism etc. To get it right, this paper therefore recommends that actors pay close attention to their script, ceaselessly possess the habit of learning newer ideas, hard-work and diligence and ultimately live their characters’ lives rather than merely acting them.