The Dharma of Acting

 

03.10.2023 THE DHARMA OF ACTING It’s awards season where I live in Los Angeles, the time when members of the film industry are recognized for their talent at the Golden Globes, The SAG Awards, the Critics Choice Awards, and, of course, this Sunday, the Oscars. I myself started acting in my teens, have a BFA in acting, and have been a member of SAG-AFTRA since 1985. One thing I know about actors is that most of us will never win any of those coveted awards — the golden statues meant to signify some modicum of success. Indeed, many talented actors may never make a living in the profession they’ve spent many years and dollars investing in. Like all of us, actors are sentient beings prone to suffering. In the acting world, job insecurity thrives, and when you do land a job, you’re often faced with harsh criticism. For every Meryl Streep, there are hundreds (probably more like thousands) of actors hoping to pay rent. I was on the nominating committee for the SAG awards one year, where I had access to both the biggest movies of the year and the smallest of independent films made on a shoestring budget. There were dozens of names submitted for consideration. Watching the films, I was overwhelmed by the talent and heart that the actors put into their performances, no matter the budget or size of the film. There are a number of famous actors who are Buddhists, as well as many unknown Buddhist actors. Perhaps it’s the themes of impermanence, suffering, and the end to suffering in both the acting profession and the projects we partake in that actors find appealing. Or maybe it’s the necessity of focusing on the present moment and the questions of “self” that arise when an actor embodies their character. Lion’s Roar has done a number of interviews with Buddhist actors talking about how their practice influences their work. It was hard choosing just three to highlight, but the three pieces below left an impression on me. When asked how Buddhism impacts her work, Orange is the New Black actor Jessica Pimentel says, “It’s behind everything I do.” Peter Coyote shares how his Zen-influenced acting exercises shake his students from their comfort zone. And what discussion on Buddhism and acting would there be if I didn’t include a textured interview with Richard Gere, who shares the moment His Holiness the Dalai Lama asked him about his acting process. May their insights help you watch your next film in a new light. —Noel Alumit, Associate Editor, Lion’s Roar

The Zen of Peter Coyote Actor, writer, narrator, and one-time radical — Jennifer Keishin Armstrong on the many roles of Zen priest Peter Coyote. Coyote will likely continue being the voice of Ken Burns’ documentaries as long as he can. That’s where the real magic of Peter Coyote comes through, the acting and the voice and the Beat poetry and the Zen all working as one. “If I’m really in that moment, my emotions automatically adjust,” he says, describing the instant when his eyes meet the words on the page as he’s in front of the microphone. “There’s nothing I have to falsify. People tell me, ‘I really believe you.’ It’s because I’m always staying on the front edge of what I’m learning in my feelings. The other way I do it is by being conscious of breath. I let my stomach completely relax and start with a full set of air. Allen Ginsburg used to talk about ‘bop prosody.’ He used to talk about poems being floated on the breath. Every sentence, every phrase, everything is coming off the breath.”

How “Orange Is the New Black” taught actor Jessica Pimentel the danger of attachment Jessica Pimentel on what she’s learned from seeing life through the eyes of her character, Maria, on Orange Is the New Black. Sam Littlefair: Is it true that you almost gave up acting to become a nun? Jessica Pimentel: I considered it for a long time. I wasn’t sure what direction my career was going. I didn’t have a partner or family to look after. But a Buddhist teacher told me, “You’re really of more value to dharma and the world if you continue on your path as an actress and a musician. You come in a form people can relate to.”

Richard Gere: My Journey as a Buddhist In this 1999 interview, Richard Gere talks about his many years of Buddhist practice, his devotion to his teacher the Dalai Lama, and his work for Tibetan freedom. Melvin McLeod: When did you meet the Dalai Lama for the first time? Richard Gere: I had been a Zen student for five or six years before I met His Holiness in India. We started out with a little small talk and then he said, “Oh, so you’re an actor?” He thought about that a second, and then he said, “So when you do this acting and you’re angry, are you really angry? When you’re acting sad, are you really sad? When you cry, are you really crying?” I gave him some kind of actor answer, like it was more effective if you really believed in the emotion that you were portraying. He looked very deeply into my eyes and just started laughing. Hysterically. He was laughing at the idea that I would believe emotions are real, that I would work very hard to believe in anger and hatred and sadness and pain and suffering.

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