In what way have you used your research to inform your choices for the development of your character?
My main and favorite source of research was watching the 1996 movie “Romeo + Juliet”; I used this to inform my choices on my portrayal of the priest character, Friar Lawrence. In the movie, he was presented as a calm and indifferent presence, someone who served as a kind of middle-ground between the feuding families and someone for Romeo and Juliet to turn to in their times of need. He’s an older man who dresses rather casually when he’s not in his clerical clothing, appearing rather friendly and somewhat like a positive almost paternal-like figure to the younger characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this portrayal and wanted to try something similar, so I tried the embody this energy of being friendly and sympathetic to the main characters’ predicament. I made sure to keep my body language and tone of voice comforting and remorseful, yet willing to help and reassuring. I believe my research allowed me to achieve this well.
How have you applied your research towards the development of the overall project?
I applied my research on Stanislavski’s acting style to develop the overall project by using the “Magic If” method; this is a method I researched during the beginning of the project and it entails pinpointing key points of the story (especially your character’s arc specifically) and asking yourself how you would feel if you were in that situation, how would you feel if you were them, how would you feel if you had gone through everything they had? I asked myself these questions and acted on them accordingly.