The Official Newsletter Of The New Collective Acting Studio
Thoughts On Process: Speaking Through The Need
Emotional Life In Acting
Every dedicated actor strives to achieve a profound emotional connection in their work. However, the pursuit of this emotional freedom can often be met with obstacles and confusion about how to start.
When I first began my journey, I was overwhelmed by a constant urge to push, chase, and grasp at anything that even remotely resembled vulnerability. Like all actors, my path was uniquely my own. One day, my coach, Susan Batson, said to me, “You’ll find your vulnerability through your rage.” This advice worked for a few years, until I grew both as an actor and as a person. At some point, my need to rely on rage faded, and I found that vulnerability became much more accessible without it.
Need Is A Sensation
As we discussed in our previous post on Emotion, actors should resist the urge to chase the result of an emotion. Similarly, when it comes to need, it's most beneficial for the actor to experience it as a sensation in the body. When you truly feel need, it’s intense—like a desperate craving, like a junkie needing a fix, or like you're about to die if you don't get it met. This might sound strange to non-actors, but there’s a unique joy in finding the ability to channel that energy into art and speak the character’s words through it.
The Phone Call Exercise
In acting, the Need is often connected to something unfulfilled since childhood, typically tied to one’s relationship with their parents. Susan Batson, in her book TRUTH, shares an exercise called the Phone Call. In this exercise, the actor is asked to choose the parent who represents the strongest unfulfilled need. The actor then faces out towards the audience or camera, using the "fourth wall" to help create a deeper connection.
Through improvisation, the actor speaks from the raw, messy energy of their unfulfilled need. This exercise is invaluable because it allows the actor to explore their emotional foundation, which can then be used to inform a character in a dramatic role. This dates as far back to ancient Greek tragedies and Shakespearean plays, where actors are required to dig deep into their souls to bring life to these complex characters and profoundly beautiful language.
Five Easy Pieces
The clip below comes from a documentary about the making of the film Five Easy Pieces, starring Jack Nicholson. In one scene, Nicholson’s character has to confront his father, who is in a wheelchair after suffering a stroke and can no longer speak. This powerful scene is a perfect example of what it feels like for an actor to speak through their need—raw, unfiltered, and deeply emotional.
This moment beautifully illustrates how an actor can channel their emotional energy to bring an unforgettable performance to life.
