Oct 13, 2026 · 42 min · 12 segments
Imagination is on full display in acting, as people pretend to be someone who they are not. How does this work? And how can the theater, broadly construed, help us to understand ourselves? John de…
John de LancieGuest
Deena WeisbergHost
I'm also interested as we're talking in this interplay between imagination and reality in the moment.
So to what extent are you losing yourself in the character, or becoming that character and feeling their emotions and being their story, as opposed to reciting your lines, or remembering to hit your marks, or reminding yourself to pick up that prop on your way out of the scene?
Uh, somebody said to me once, "There are actors who illuminate the character, and there are actors who illuminate the scene." I tend to illuminate the scene less than I do the character.
I also come f- from the point of view that, at least in the roles in which I've played, they're not so far from who I am.
And as one gets older, I think it's more fun, at least for me, to be playing that than to be trying to play something which is outside of what my usual persona is.
Can you say a little bit more about character-driven versus scene-driven, just to explain what that contrast means? I've not heard those terms before.
Just does it work? Is it clear? Does it say what it's supposed to say? On and on and on.
I found it really interesting that he was unable to answer any of those questions, because that's not how he looked at the work that he has to do.
He looks at the work that he has to do s- solely from his point of view, both as a character and as an actor.
And you kinda go, "Yes, but that's not really answering the question of whether the scene is making any sense." You know? It's sort of the height of, um, e- egoism or what have you.
... could not bring himself u- up, enough at, you know, at the, whatever, 30,000-foot level to look down at the scene and go, "What is this scene about?"
"What, what is this scene trying to say?" That's the differentiation that I'm making.
And the scene working, I presume working within the context of the story, or working in that the emotions are coming through, right?
I'm also interested as we're talking in this interplay between imagination and reality in the moment.
So to what extent are you losing yourself in the character, or becoming that character and feeling their emotions and being their story, as opposed to reciting your lines, or remembering to hit your marks, or reminding yourself to pick up that prop on your way out of the scene?
Uh, somebody said to me once, "There are actors who illuminate the character, and there are actors who illuminate the scene." I tend to illuminate the scene less than I do the character.
I also come f- from the point of view that, at least in the roles in which I've played, they're not so far from who I am.
And as one gets older, I think it's more fun, at least for me, to be playing that than to be trying to play something which is outside of what my usual persona is.
Can you say a little bit more about character-driven versus scene-driven, just to explain what that contrast means? I've not heard those terms before.
Just does it work? Is it clear? Does it say what it's supposed to say? On and on and on.
I found it really interesting that he was unable to answer any of those questions, because that's not how he looked at the work that he has to do.
He looks at the work that he has to do s- solely from his point of view, both as a character and as an actor.
And you kinda go, "Yes, but that's not really answering the question of whether the scene is making any sense." You know? It's sort of the height of, um, e- egoism or what have you.
... could not bring himself u- up, enough at, you know, at the, whatever, 30,000-foot level to look down at the scene and go, "What is this scene about?"
"What, what is this scene trying to say?" That's the differentiation that I'm making.
And the scene working, I presume working within the context of the story, or working in that the emotions are coming through, right?
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