ABSTRACT
Only then can you under stand their genuine, artistic merits. Often you need to observe a long time and recog ni tion of their talent is delayed. ‘The ques tion arises, isn’t there a way on the one hand to cultiv ate in
oneself, even to a limited degree, charisma which nature has not provided
and, on the other, is it really not possible to fight against what is off-putting in an actor who is not blessed by fate? ‘You can, yes, but only to a certain extent, both as regards creat ing
charisma and elim in at ing off-putting defects. Of course, the actor himself must, above all, under stand them, that is feel them, and, having under stood them, learn to fight them. Often that requires great obser va tion, consciousness of self, enorm ous patience and system atic work to erad ic ate natural attrib utes and daily habits. ‘As for vaccin at ing your self with that unknown some thing, which draws
the audi ence’s atten tion, that is even more diffi cult and perhaps impossible. ‘One of the best aids in this regard [is] famili ar ity. An audi ence can
become accus tomed to an actor’s faults, which acquire a certain attract iveness since habit stops you seeing things you once found shock ing. You can, to a certain extent, manu fac ture “charis matic charms” thanks to tech nique and good train ing which are attract ive. ‘We frequently hear people saying: “How this actor has improved! You
wouldn’t know him! And he was so unat tract ive before.” ‘In response to that one might say: “Work and a know ledge of his art brought about this change.” ‘Art makes beau ti ful and ennobles. And what is beau ti ful and noble
attracts.’
