Prepping For Ugly

This weekend, I'll be shooting a short film in which I'm playing a character analogized to Christian Bale in American Psycho and Mark Wahlberg in Fear. Even though it's the lead role, there isn't much dialogue for my character which means it'll all be in the expressions, or lack thereof.

The film is a snapshot of the life of a workout-obsessed meathead named Chad. For those of you who know what CrossFit is, he's a CrossFit fanatic chasing the ever-elusive perfect body (obviously he hasn't achieved it yet since they cast me). Chad works out like crazy, religiously downs protein shakes, and considers his workout buddy his arch nemesis. He's so singularly focused on his goal that he has little to say; he'd rather save his breath and do another sit-up. 

The challenge is to display Chad's intensity and psychosis nonverbally. "You can just tell there's something 'off' about this guy," the producers told me. It would be inaccurate to portray him as a typical tough-guy gym rat, with an angry don't-mess-with-me demeanor and hard stare. While both Bale and Wahlberg's characters had anger issues, they were more than just balls of rage. They were disturbed - you could see it in their eyes. My challenge is to achieve that same effect with Chad which means I'll have to get into Chad's head, a scary place to be.

I'm working on breaking down each scene and trying to put myself in Chad's place, imagining what he would be thinking in that situation. The camera will see what I'm thinking, so my head has to be in the right place - a disturbing and ugly place. I'm taking baby steps for now so as to not plunge myself into insanity just yet, but this weekend I'll be living like Chad for two days.

Come Monday, if you see me and I seem a little "off," it's because I've been in the head of a psycho for a few days. It won't be permanent, I promise....at least I don't think it will.

 

How do you prep for disturbed characters?

(photo courtesy of Kim Kelleher)

-- Gabriel Voss

Comments

[Linda Fausnet]

Creepy! Good luck!

[Anna]

I'd say don't judge your character as a psycho path. For me, whenever I label a character as this or that, especially "good" or "bad", I slap on ALL kinds of expectations for myself and I end up giving a one-sided performance. So, I would try to rid your self of any expectations of what a "psycho" might be. So much easier said than done, but it's what works for me. Break legs!

[Linda Fausnet]

That's a good point Anna. A piece of writing advice I heard once that really stuck with me is that most villains don't see themselves as villains. They can often justify their actions and believe they are right. Similarly, a psychopath probably thinks he is normal.

[Gabriel Voss]

Linda - Totally right about psychos not seeing themselves as crazy. Thanks for wishing me luck!

Anna - I didn't mean to suggest I was going to think of myself (as the character) as a psycho. I meant that this is how whatever is going on in his head needs to be perceived by the outside world (which as you said, is different then his self-image). Thank you so much for pointing this out and reminding me not to judge my character.