Whenever I have free time, I pick up a task from this list above the line and start working on it. I don’t have to do them all, though I try to do as much as I can. The list below the line is extra work.
And this is what I am trying to accomplish as an actor when I do the tasks.
Mortality/Beliefs: Most people (and I mean almost all) have not yet accepted their mortality. They have intellectually accepted it, but not in their being. This is why we create a set of beliefs to live by and hopefully be at peace (or other such “term”) when we die. As a character, I have to know why I do what I do. Hence confront mortality and find my beliefs.
Consequences of not getting what I want from a scene: Self explanatory.
Rawness / Being: This is where we feel the raw emotions of my character and I can get the proper trigger and stimulus response.
Primary State of being / Swing: As the actor, I have to know what drives my character, and how each action in the story leads to the positive or negative (the swing) in regards to my primary state of being.
Weakness / Strength: Every strong character has a strong weakness, and every weak character has a strong strength. Find it.