Being "in it"

Last night was the final night of an acting class I had been taking recently, during which we all performed scenes we had been working on for the last couple of weeks. In discussing the performances post-mortem, I talked with our acting teacher, the amazing Patrick Russell, about the importance of being "in it" - living in the moment, reacting instead of acting, without being conscious of yourself and those around you.

When an actor isn't "in it", it means they are acting self-consciously, aware of their actions and intents, perhaps even judging or criticizing themselves. It happens sometimes to even the best actors, but in truth, it usually shows.

We've probably all seen a performance at some time - on stage, in a movie, or on TV - where the actors appear to be acting, meaning they seem to be pretending to feel some emotion rather than actually feeling that emotion. And when that happens, we as the audience usually become equally self-conscious - we pull out of the story and start thinking about the performance. We stop believing and become critics instead of followers. It's as if we peek behind the curtain to see what's going on backstage, or to try and figure out the magic trick rather than just being amazed by it.

Think about the last great performance you saw, where you were engrossed in the story and the characters. Compare that with a performance where you thought the actor was terrible. What was the difference? What made one great and the other terrible? I bet it was because the actors were either "in it" or they weren't. Because if they're not "in it" you won't be either. And if they are "in it" you won't be able to stop watching them.

What are some examples of good and bad performances? How did the actors' performances affect you? How did the performances affect the storytelling?