Join me, as I tap into my female side.A friend of mine recently called, needing advice. He was about to propose to his girlfriend, and wanted an actor to teach him how to keep from crying when he got down on his knee.
"Why?" I asked. "Why suppress that real sentiment during one of the best moments of your life?"
We're all born with a range of emotions that are one-by-one eliminated because parents, teachers and society as a whole want us to "behave." In the beginning of our lives, we have glorious imagination; watch little kids play and you'll see how fully committed they are to whatever world they've dreamed up. Then revisit them in ten years, and this freedom will have vanished. And that's a shame.
Actors spend years trying to resuscitate their feelings, because the motion camera is a very intimate instrument that captures everything in a person's eyes and mannerisms. It's why a great performance can make you cry, and a lousy one just screams "acting." But beyond acting, the world would be happier and more well-adjusted if we all were just honest with our feelings.
The night after my friend asked me his proposal question, I got a text message from him. "I cried," he said. "She said yes anyway."
