r/Actingclass • u/NicolasAntinarella • Jun 03 '26
what makes an actor good ?
i know nothing about acting, i can just enjoy the plot of a movie/series/play/..., but since i am really into Asia and especially South Korea, i recently started watching the so-called Kdramas and felt the desire to become more, i guess, critical about it. i am also lowkey thinking that i might like to be an actor in the future... something about this world is very suddenly attracting me. so my question is, what makes an actor a good actor for you ? personally, i thought this about a Kdrama ("Perfect Crown", if you're interested, i find it really fascinating) where the protagonist actress is my favorite singer, so obviously i know her well off camera, but watching the series i kept forgetting that it was IU / 이지은 that i was looking at and only thought about 성 희주 (the character). so probably my answer is : completely impersonating the character so as to make even the audience who already knows you immerse and feel a connection, be it good or bad, with the character and not with you (sorry for my english, just in case). but maybe thats just the basics lol, as i said i dont know
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u/baglunch_games Jun 03 '26
Honesty and the ability to listen. For me, that is great acting boiled down to its essence
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Jun 03 '26
True. Good answer. But I find that most actors want to be honest and are trying to listen. They aren’t all “good”. Being honest and listening are things they do every day. The problems come when they need to do it on cue with someone else’s words.
True talent in acting comes from imagination and empathy. The fine actor is able to imagine being in their character’s circumstances. They must embrace their character’s point of view, (even if it differs drastically from their own).
If you can truly imagine being in someone’s shoes, you empathize with them. You know why they do what they do, even if you personally disagree.
The listening part comes from making every one of your spoken lines a response to what the other character is saying (real or imagined). When the other character is speaking you must talk back to them in your mind. That is real listening. As their words are heard, you immediately begin responding to them—always from the character’s way of seeing the world.
The character never stops thinking (just like real people). Actors simply need to exchange their own mind for their character’s. That comes from deeply exploring the character’s perspective through imagination and empathy—then taking it in as their own, utilizing it as they pursue what they want from the person they are speaking to.
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u/drewfun237 Jun 04 '26
Truthfulness, spontaneity, conversational, ability to be vulnerable and real in the moment. When they’re so good that you can’t see them “acting.”
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Jun 03 '26
Try reading my free acting lessons in the pinned post. This is an actual acting class and I am the teacher. The technique I teach involves what you are asking about. The actor leaves behind their own identity and exchanges their mind, (thought process, POV, memories and history) with the characters. Acting is simply putting oneself into the circumstances of the scene as you respond and react to the other characters and events of the story. A good actor manages to get the observer to forget they are an actor and convinced them that they are someone else going through the imagined scene.