What makes a great performance

- How do you know that you've gotten the best performance…from your talent?…What makes an actor's performance great…essentially boils down to two things.…The actor must be emotionally connected to their character.…All of that time you spent…breaking down the character's personality traits,…background, and how the character fits…into the greater world of your story…will ideally pay off in your talent's performance.…They need to understand where their lines are coming from.…And two, great performances consist of honest reactions.…

Their performance needs to feel genuine.…No matter how fantastical…the circumstances of their character or the scene,…it must be believable.…Acting teacher Sanford Meisner said,…"Acting is behaving truthfully…"under imaginary circumstances."…Here's an example of what I feel is a great performance…from a film I directed called Of Dice and Men.…The character Brandon isn't a gamer,…but finally understands why people game,…and realizes that their friend…who is enlisting in the military…will treasure those moments with his friends.…