Childlike Innocence, Imagination, Vulnerability, and Concentration
I was sad to learn when Ray Liotta passed away suddenly. Who didn't love watching his performance in Goodfellas? His piercing eyes full of mood and fire; he was a captivating actor.
“You have to have the hide of a rhinoceros and the heart of a baby.”
In reading a story about his life, I saw he had heaps of praise for his acting coach Harry Mastrogeorge. Curious, I looked into his ideology. Certainly someone who helped shape such a captivating actor would have something interesting to say. Mastrogeorge describes his vision as the Four Muscles of Acting, something I think is applicable not just to actors but to anyone in the creative fields. Maybe to anyone in any field? As he put it, "Every human being born on this earth...is born with the natural faculties to play this game, if they're willing to pay the price".
Acting is a state of mind.
It is not a theory.
It is not a method.
It is not a technique.
It is not a process.
It is not a procedure.
It is a state of mind. It is about priorities.
The Four Muscles of Acting
1. CHILDLIKE INNOCENCE. You'll be glad to know according to Mastrogeorge it isn't lost, just buried under this shroud of adulthood.
2. IMAGINATION. Infinite and limitless.
3. VULNERABILITY. Also limitless, sorry to say!
4. CONCENTRATION. Focus your conscious mind on something.
The Cancers of Acting
1. CONCERN ABOUT RESULT. Product, presentation, good/bad, right/wrong, approval. Why? When your focus is on how it'll look, you just can't be open. This holds true for architects 100% - if you're concerned about what magazine editors will think, how the Instagram algorithm will react, how it aligns with trends, the work will suffer and not reach its potential.
2. SUBJECTIVITY. "I don't have enough time/information", you're cutting your legs out from under you before you begin. The better actor says "I absorb" when you absorb the information you take in, you can understand it more deeply.
How This Relates to Architecture
How doesn’t it? I think you could take everything here an apply it directly to architecture and it would make sense.
Innocence - It is easy to be a jaded architect. Rising above that takes active thought.
Imagination - Who wants an unimaginative architect?
Vulnerability - We don’t know it all, and that’s ok.
Concentration - Sometimes taking a project from design to completion is like riding a canoe across the ocean.
And the Cancers of Architecture?
Concern about result - Thinking about what others will think is for followers, not leaders.
Subjectivity - We never have all the information or time, but we can get there.
Do the muscles of acting relate to your field too? Tell me all about it please!