The Mysterious Process of Acting

Audiences far and wide can spot, or rather become fully gripped by a compelling acting performance. The power is undeniable, moving people to laughter one moment and tears the next. And yet it’s quite challenging to fully describe just what the actor is doing to create such a moving experience. The actor “dug deep,” “made it real,” and has the “It quality.” These words only scrape the surface of what’s actually occurring. Indeed, acting has a distinctly mysterious element to it—and isn’t that what keeps us going back for more?

Here are some of the most celebrated actors discussing some of the more mysterious aspects of the acting process.

Gary Oldman

The English thespian Gary Oldman received his third Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Citizen Kane co-writer Herman J. “Mank” Mankiewicz in David Fincher‘s biopic Mank. During an interview with Netflix Queue, the versatile actor spoke about the “headwork” it took to prepare for the role of Mank. Although this sort of work is essential to pull off the character, Oldman insists it’s not enough.

“The process is still a bit of a mystery,” he says. “There’s a certain amount of headwork that you need to do with a character like this; you gather the information as much as you can. But I’ve also said that if you were playing Hamlet, you could read every book there is on Hamlet, you could holiday in Denmark, but on opening night that won’t help you stand there and say, ‘To be or not to be.’ Mank was an alcoholic, and I’ve been in recovery now for almost 24 years, so in that respect I could bring a lot to the party.”

Meryl Streep

In 2006, acting legend Meryl Streep spoke at Princeton University about the artistry of acting. “Acting is an art that I find in its deepest essence to be completely mysterious,” the three-time Oscar-winning thespian conceded. “I have been smug and willfully ignorant. I’ve cultivated a deliberate reluctance to investigate my own method of working because I’m afraid of killing the goose. I’m afraid if I parse it, I won’t be able to do it anymore.” The Iron Lady actress graduated from the Yale School of Drama after studying with several acting instructors, each focusing on different approaches to the craft. She quipped, “The least valuable classes may have been in acting,” so she “decided to make it up as I went along.”

Daniel Day-Lewis

The acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis is famous for his all-in approach to “becoming” his characters. But it all starts with the challenge of bringing a new, mysterious character to light. He says, “Life comes first. What I see in the characters, I first try to see in life … Most of the movies that I do are leading me toward a life that is utterly mysterious to me … My chief goal is to find a way to make that life meaningful to other people.”

Joaquin Phoenix

Joker’s Joaquin Phoenix finds the acting process to be a mystery. The unusual and intriguing actor says the idea of getting into character is something he’s never quite understood and, frankly, doesn’t want to. He told Salon about the unconscious decisions he hopes to make whenever he’s in front of the camera. “The process, honestly, I really don’t understand. It has as much or maybe even more so to do with other people than me. The filmmaker, the other actors, people on set, the crew—so many people that you don’t even know about, and they have such a profound impact on the character and the role and how you’re feeling that day and how you behave. It’s something that I don’t fully understand, and I don’t want to.”

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