Introduction
Great acting is not about pretending—it’s about revealing truth. The best actors display depth in their performances while remaining open, receptive, and emotionally available. Depth allows actors to create complex, layered characters, while openness ensures that performances remain alive, flexible, and connected to their scene partners.
Many actors struggle with finding emotional depth or staying open in the moment without shutting down or forcing emotions. This article explores how to cultivate depth in acting while remaining open, responsive, and emotionally available.
1. Understanding Depth and Openness in Acting
What is Depth in Acting?
Depth in acting refers to the richness, complexity, and emotional truth an actor brings to a role. Actors with depth:
- Bring multiple layers to their characters.
- Show internal struggles, contradictions, and subtext.
- Make choices that feel personal and specific.
Example:
- A surface-level performance of Lady Macbeth may only show ambition and power.
- A deep performance will also reveal fear, insecurity, guilt, and desperation, making the character more compelling.
What Does It Mean to Stay Open in Acting?
Staying open means being emotionally available and responsive. It requires the actor to:
- Listen and react truthfully.
- Allow emotions to flow without blocking them.
- Stay present in the moment rather than forcing reactions.
Example:
- If a scene partner unexpectedly raises their voice, an open actor won’t stick to a rehearsed response but will react naturally, letting the moment influence their performance.
Depth + Openness = A Powerful Performance
- An actor with depth but no openness may seem rigid or overly calculated.
- An actor with openness but no depth may seem aimless or lacking complexity.
- The best actors balance both, making their performances layered, flexible, and truthful.
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2. How to Develop Depth in Acting
a) Emotional Exploration and Self-Understanding
To bring depth to a performance, an actor must explore their own emotions and personal experiences. This doesn’t mean reliving trauma but understanding emotional truths and using them in performance.
- Journaling: Write about personal experiences, emotional triggers, and inner conflicts.
- Meditation and Reflection: Spend time exploring how emotions arise and change over time.
- Therapy or Coaching: Many actors work with professionals to explore their emotions safely.
Exercise: Emotional Recall (Method Acting)
Emotional Preparation should be called Emotional Activation. IT is the self activation of emotions that the actor has the skills to do to themselves. If you know how to activate an emotion from a prior experience with accuracy, that is called talent.
So don’t hold yourself back. Typically a lot of actors and teachers argue about method vs. not method acting. But I break acting all down to emotional activation or no emotional activation.
- Think of a strong emotional memory.
- Close your eyes and you may recall details—smells, sights, sounds, physical sensations.
- Don’t force yourself to recall things that don’t get activated.
- Let emotions naturally surface rather than forcing them.
This exercise deepens emotional connection, helping actors bring real feelings into their work.
b) Creating Complexity
To develop depth, actors must move beyond surface-level traits and explore what makes a yourself truly human.
1. The Inner Life
Ask deep questions about yourself and your circumstances:
- What are their biggest fears?
- What past experiences shaped them?
- What are their contradictions? (e.g., confident in public but insecure in private)
2. Subtext and Hidden Emotions
Real people don’t always say what they feel. The best performances reveal emotions beneath the surface.
Example:
- An Actor says, “I’m fine,” but their voice, body language, and hesitation suggest they are actually heartbroken.
Exercise: Playing Against the Emotion
- Practice delivering lines while thinking the opposite emotion.
- Example: Say “I love you” but play it as if you’re angry or hurt.
- This adds complexity and unpredictability to performances.
c) Connecting with the Given Circumstances also known as Imaginary Circumstances.
I like to call imaginary circumstances “acting interaction, because it covers both acting classes and scene work.
Depth comes from fully believing in the world of the play or film.
- Research: Study the time period, culture, and social conditions of the story.
- Imaginative Work: Fill in unwritten parts of the history.
- Personalization: Find personal connections to the time period’s struggles.
Example:
- If playing a refugee, research real refugee stories to understand the emotional stakes beyond just memorizing lines.
3. How to Stay Open in Acting
a) Active Listening and Reacting Truthfully
Actors often focus too much on what they’re going to say next instead of being present in the moment. True openness comes from listening and reacting naturally.
Exercise: Meisner’s Repetition Game
- Two actors face each other and repeat a simple phrase (e.g., “You’re smiling”).
- The goal is to respond truthfully to changes in tone, energy, and body language.
- This trains actors to stay open and responsive instead of delivering pre-planned reactions.
b) Letting Go of Pre-Planned Emotions
While preparation is essential, staying open means allowing the scene to unfold organically rather than forcing emotions.
Avoid “Result-Oriented Acting”
- Instead of thinking, I need to cry here, focus on living truthfully in the moment.
- Trust that real emotions will arise if you are fully engaged.
Exercise: Improvisation
- Perform a scene with no pre-determined choices.
- Let yourself react spontaneously to whatever your scene partner does.
- This builds flexibility and openness in performance.
c) Staying Physically and Emotionally Relaxed
Tension blocks emotional flow and makes performances feel stiff or forced.
1. Body Awareness
- Tension in the shoulders, jaw, or hands can restrict expressiveness.
- Practice progressive muscle relaxation before performances.
2. Breathwork
- Deep, slow breathing keeps actors centered and present.
- Shallow breathing leads to emotional restriction.
Exercise: The “Three-Stage Breath”
- Breathe into the belly for 4 seconds.
- Expand the ribcage for 4 seconds.
- Fill the upper chest for 4 seconds.
- Slowly release.
This exercise calms nerves and helps actors stay open and available.
4. Balancing Depth and Openness in Performance
a) Trusting the Work and Letting Go
Actors must prepare deeply but then release control in the moment.
Example:
- An actor playing Hamlet prepares by studying grief, loss, and betrayal.
- On stage, they trust that preparation and stay open to whatever emotions arise in the moment.
Overthinking kills spontaneity. The best performances happen when actors trust their instincts.
b) Scene Partner Connection
Acting is a shared experience. If one actor stays open, it encourages the scene partner to do the same.
- Make eye contact and truly see the other person.
- Allow their energy to influence your performance.
- Let go of self-focus and prioritize the relationship between characters.
Exercise: Silent Scene Work
- Perform a short scene without words—only using eye contact, gestures, and energy.
- This helps actors connect on a deeper, non-verbal level.
Conclusion
Depth and openness are two essential qualities that transform acting from technical performance into true artistry.
- Depth gives characters richness and complexity.
- Openness allows actors to respond truthfully in the moment.
By exploring emotional truth, character psychology, improvisation, active listening, and breathwork, actors can create performances that feel authentic, layered, and deeply human.
The most compelling actors prepare deeply, trust their instincts, and remain open to whatever unfolds in the scene. When depth and openness are balanced, performances become alive, magnetic, and unforgettable.
Link: 2100+ Emotions Compendium Available Now.
LINK: MEISNER ACTIVITIES. ORDER NOW!
Final Thoughts
An Actor is in a situation every time, balancing both relaxedness and intensity. Learn and teach yourself to balance both.
Simon Blake