Actors and Characters
Like a lot of people who enjoy TV shows and movies, I sometimes wish I was like a character that I see on screen. Perhaps I relate to them on some level, or wish for their kind of life, their kind of friends, or their kind of worldview. Or maybe I’d like to meet someone like that female character, and I wonder what the actress behind them is like - they may share their looks, but what of their personality? Then, suddenly, it struck me.
Actors and actresses are not the characters they play. That may seem completely obvious, but I really didn’t realize, or had chosen not to realize, in favour of fantasy. In truth, the actress cannot be the same as her character, because she does not live in the same world and does not have the same history. She may act that part, but it isn’t her life. Her life consists of acting that part, with all the behind the scenes acting and directing and producing stuff that goes on that we aren’t meant to see or think about as viewers when trying to buy into the reality of the show that we’re watching.
Yes, completely obvious, but it has given me a great sense of satisfaction and peace in suddenly understanding it. Up until then, my vague fantasies would often be crushed, when I’d see an interview of an actor or actress and see that they aren’t the people (well, fantasies) that I had made them up to be. This really was very refreshing, because now there’s no longer the need to think “I wish I could be him” or ” I wish I could meet her”. Having separated reality from the illusion, there’s no longer the sense of favouring the illusion over reality, no longer that unhealthy and although promising, ulitmately unfulfilling fantasy.
As always, having one less illusion means the chances of accepting and working with reality is that much easier, which is good, because that is of course where all the best things happen.