Building Bridges: Character Research and Acting Internship in Vampyr: The blood is the Life
Abstract
My initial challenge was to connect with a character I
found very foreign and outside of myself. As an actor, one is
asked to play many roles that are opposing to one's
personality or nature, yet there are a few special roles in
an actor's life, in which she needs to make a special effort
in order to find the character within herself. An actor who
never drinks alcoholic drinks and is vehemently opposed
drinking is liable to have a more difficult time playing an
alcoholic than someone who has had alcoholic beverages before.
It is not the fact that she has not had an alcoholic drink
that hinders her, her imagination and observational skills
can bridge that. It is the fact that she is vehemently
opposed to drinking that makes her transition tougher. She
must overcome these primary beliefs that she has always held
in order to act believably. Similarly, I had a very
difficult transition from Hindu woman to Christian woman. To
fully understand Minnie Westendra within the play, I first
decided to study her connection to the vampire. I had to
understand Minnie's battles with the blood drinker, her
attractions to the so called "beast" and the vampires within
her own soul. To recognize these struggles and relate them to
my own life, I researched the definition of the vampire and
the entire concept of a creature who drinks blood. I had to
find the interest in myself and in society to them. For me,
this interest lay somewhere in my own rich cultural
background. To understand my own personal fascination for a
taste of the "demon", I researched the vampires in Hindu
mythology. Hinduism, an integral part of my being since my
childhood, has several colorful legends about pisacas and
baitals (vampires). I felt that if there were a common ground
between Minnie and I, the root of it lay within these
legends. These stories, rich in detail, became fertile
grounds for research. The choices I made based on this
research not only supported and enriched my character but
connected me to her. Through these readings, I felt more in
tune with her frustrations with a sexist unjust society, her
fears of the unknown - the different, and her overwhelming
fascination and attraction to the mysterious, the free. I,
like Minnie, found myself enchanted by this vampire lore.
Through Hindu mythology I found a deeper connection between
American culture's storybook monster and the Asian American
woman that I am. I found that the differences between a
modest, virtuous, traditional, Christian woman of the 1900's
and a rebellious feminist, somewhat lost "generation x"
Hindu woman of the 1990's seem minor once you feel the hot
seducing breath of a timeless, ageless predator burning at
your throat, softly whispering the promise of utter freedom.
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