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Warm-Ups And Stretching - An Actor's Best Friend
By Tyler Jonsson

If there is one realization I have made recently as an actor, it is this:

Proper Warm-Up and Stretching is crucial for Actors.

For some of my personal tips and methods, read on...

I used to be the type of actor who felt that I could simply walk into a space, take a few seconds to "get into character", and just launch myself into a brilliant, dramatic piece of acting.

Was I ever wrong!

One of the biggest stumbling blocks of novice (as well as veteran!) actors is the fact that many do not give themselves adequate time before an audition, rehearsal or performance to warm up their instruments. Now you may find it silly that I refer to an actor's "instruments". But if you really think about it, that is exactly what the body and mind of an actor is, an instrument!

For example: if an gymnastics squad is about to compete in a tournament, you had better believe that each individual member of the squad is going to warm-up both mentally and physically in preparation for the tournament. They need to fine tune their bodily "instruments" in order to be prepared for the difficult task ahead of them. But for the sake of argument, what could happen if one member of the squad did not?

* This gymnast's routine may suffer because their body was not adequately prepared to perform the necessary moves, and their score might drag down the overall score of the squad.

* The gymnast may be unprepared mentally, physically, or (most likely) both. Once the tournament starts, they may perform poorly because of a lack of mental focus and physical preparation.

This is just one obvious analogy. But the fact remains, an actor needs to warm-up just like an athlete would. Seems logical, right?

But as an actor, how do we take this knowledge and put it into practice to help us further our craft?

The answer to that question comes in three steps:

1. Analyze your tendencies

2. Release your habits

3. Incorporate character traits

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