Authentic Voice Acting Beats "Perfect" Execution

I enjoy art. Not like a collector or anything, but I do appreciate it. I was one credit away from an art minor in college. Personally, I gravitate to the California Impressionists. They make me think of a time when the country was unspoiled, when you might gaze across a vista and see a herd of elk drinking at a stream. I get lost in those paintings.

So I was surprised when I came across a piece by Marc Chagall. "I and the Village" hangs in the Guggenheim and has cubist influence. It depicts a religious man and a goat, a village with a church or synagogue, a farmer, and a woman playing music. From what I read about the piece, it captures memories of the small village where he grew up in modern-day Belarus.

Thinking about him, remembering his home, got me thinking about my own. And I felt like I understood the work a little better.

Then I read that Chagall once said something like this: create from the heart and nearly everything works; create from the head and almost nothing does.

Isn't that what our coaches tell us over and over? Be you. Your true self. Let your authentic voice acting come out in the read.

I took that advice last week. Used the techniques my amazing coach, Lili Wexu, has been sharing with the group. And I'll be darned if I didn't book the spot.

It helped that it was a testimonial spot, so I could put myself in someone's shoes. It was about organ donation, and I have a dear friend who used to work for a non-profit arranging organ donations, so there was that attachment too. I remember volunteering to wrap gifts and refereeing basketball games for the foundation. Happy times.

But yeah. I was able to bring myself, my empathy, and my knowledge to the spot. And it actually worked.

That's authentic voice acting. Not the technically perfect take. The one where you show up as you, memories and all, and let that be enough.

So next time you're staring down a script that isn't landing, maybe don't dig for the perfect read. Dig for the memory that makes it yours instead.