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The Charismatic Chameleon
The Actor as Creative Artist

Leslie O’Dell
Leslie O’Dell is a professor of Theatre and Film at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada. Her publications include Shakespearean Scholarship, Shakespearean Language, and Shakespearean Characterization. Her current research focuses on the psychology of acting and the phenomenology of creativity. She has worked in theatre and film as a director, actor, and script writer as well as a coach and dramaturge.

“A definitive survey of acting-techniques that lucidly describes the processes by which theatre is created. Invaluable insights that no one entering the acting profession should be without.” Charles Marowitz, a leading critic, playwright, director and author whose recent books include The Other Chekhov and Roar of the Canon

A working actor needs chameleon-like skills to transform into fictional characters shaped by the conventions of any of a wide variety of genres. Equally important is charisma, that unique personal energy that transforms a skilled mimic into a star. What is the secret of the charismatic chameleon? Beginning with the premise that actors are creative artists, and tracing individual creativity to six distinct temperaments (personality types), Leslie O’Dell demonstrates how actors can tap the profound resources of the psyche in even the most stress-filled situations. After introducing the nuances of the theory behind the practice, readers encounter a “Virtual Workshop” – A dialogue among acting students, each representing one of the six Creative Personality types, as they diagnose their individual temperaments and then explore how the charismatic chameleon insight might assist each of them in mastering their craft, confronting barriers to personal excellence, and in preparing themselves for a successful acting career. The volume concludes with an annotated bibliography that positions the concepts of charisma, creative temperament, and the dangers and challenges of acting training within the context of writings by leading scholars and theatre practitioners.
… At the heart of the book is one simple truth: that an effortless flow of charismatic energy is available at any time and that the process for tapping into that source of authenticity and creativity is straightforward, flexible, and easily blended with other acting strategies and styles. The Charismatic Chameleon is essential reading for working actors, for students of acting, and for teachers and directors who seek a more finely-nuanced understanding of the source of acting excellence and how best to optimize creativity through collaborative and individual praxis.

Preface ix Part One An Introduction to Creative Temperament Charisma 5 Flow 6 Chameleon Work 8 Considerations 9 Disciplined Creativity 10 An Actor’s Individuality 11 Temperament and the Actor 12 Categorization and Creative Flow 14 Self-Diagnosis 15 The Four Conduits 15 Yin and Yang 17 Part Two The Virtual Workshop The Charismatic Chameleon 23 In Search of a Well-tuned Engine 24 The Creative Temperament 24 The Four Conduits 25 Yin and Yang 25 Relationship 25 Action 26 Perception 26 Power 26 An Actor’s Creativity 27 Creative Considerations 27 Temperament, Conduit, Consideration 28 Diagnostics 28 Subcategories of the Six Creative Personality Types 29 Crimping and Noise 29 Authenticity 30 Danger, Safely 30 Virtual Workshop Session One: Exploring Conduits Self Diagnosis through Reflection and Comparison 31 Perception 32 Relationship 32 Power 33 Individual or Universal 34 Action 34 Narrowing the Field 35 Exploration with Improvisation 37 Mismatched Creative Temperaments 40 Diagnosis through Self-Reflection 41 Conduit or Trained Consideration 41 Learned Suppression 41 Avoiding Assumptions and Hierarchies 43 Courage 44 Labels 45 Exploration with Neutral Scene 46 Test Driving Discoveries 50 External Shape, Internal Energy 53 Creative Problem Solving 54 Digression: How do you know you are you? 56 Virtual Workshop Session Two: Exercises for Self-Diagnosis Similar but Significantly Different 58 Dance of the Yin/Yang 59 The Yin/Yang Dance of Action/Relationship/Power 59 The Magnetic Yin/Yang Dance 65 Magnetic Pairs 66 Certainty and Uncertainty 70 Perception Pairs 71 Rethinking First Impressions 75 Acting Habits 77 Reality Check 78 Stanislavsky and Conduits 79 Emotion Words via Stanislavsky 80 Playing Emotions 85 Digression: Love/Hate Chameleons 90 Virtual Workshop Session Three: Conduits and Considerations Gifts and Pitfalls 92 Power/Relationship/Action/Perception Actors 92 Character Shape and Chameleon Energy 98 How Translation Works 100 Receptive Mode Dominance 105 Personalized Warm Ups 110 Ideal Learning Environments 116 Conduits and Considerations 120 Digression: Socialization 122 Virtual Workshop Session Four: Safely Dangerous Perfectionism 124 Present Tense 124 Disciplining the Flow 125 Craft and Creativity 125 Directing from Within 126 Cooling Down 130 De-briefing with Considerations 134 Negotiating Socialization 143 Emotional Blow Out 144 In Harm’s Way 146 Power Pitfall 147 Safety Net 148 Relationship Pitfall 151 Bungee Jumping 153 Resistance 154 Digression: Temperament and Aptitude 155 Virtual Workshop Session Five: Mismatches and Simultaneous Translation Type Casting 160 Avoiding Mismatch 162 Channel the Energy 166 Encrustation 167 Flow versus Effort 168 Fake versus Authentic 170 Conduits and Teaching Acting 175 Credibility and Dishonesty 178 Artistic Living 182 Real Emotions 186 Digression: The Authentic Chameleon 191Virtual Workshop Session Six: Questions and Concerns Monologues and Impulses 194 Auditions and Using the Real 199 Everything Counts 206 Stage Fright 209 Memorizing and Knowing 210 Camera Acting 211 Charismatic Chameleons 213 Summation 215 Works Cited 218 Development of the Theory: An Annotated Bibliography Stanislavsky, the Method, and a Shelf-full of Acting Textbooks 219 Psychological Gold and Dross 222 Pragmatic Research 225 Laban for Actors 226 Great Minds Thinking Alike? 228 The Actor as Chameleon 230 Creating a Character 231 The Limits of Empathy 231 Believable Acting and the Audience’s Experience of Meaning 232 Charisma 235 Courage 236 Destructive Mismatches 237 Toolbox or Legacy? 241 Master Teachers, Legacies, and the Development of Systems of Acting 244 Hegemony and the Ascendancy of Method Acting 247 Ethical Standards for the Classroom and Rehearsal Hall 249 Honouring Diversity 251 Bibliography 276 Index 304

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