Acting and INTPs

[Dimensional Transition]

I love acting. Improvising, making up characters, giving them a special voice, a history... Playing them especially, of course.

I think a lot of INTPs would enjoy acting. Our ability to imagine we're someone else is very beneficial when doing so. I often find that others in my drama club keep everything a little superficial when playing characters, like they're still very obviously playing themselves but with a certain exaggerated emotion or so.

The only thing I think that could be problematic is the fact that when playing in a theatre, hundreds of eyes are aimed at you. Which might be a little uncomfortable for an INTP. For some reason, I don't really feel very afraid anyways, since most of the time you can't really see the spectators because of the lights shining in your eyes.

Thoughts?

 

[Cheeseumpuffs]

Same as you. I would love to forget myself and just pretend for a while but I'd be freaked out by the audience. That's why I prefer video games to acting.

Also: Games and acting can only go so far... There's always a part of me that is still stuck in reality. and it sucks that my reality isn't as awesome as the games.

 

[digital angel]

If you're interested in acting, I think you should pursue it. Look at Meryl Streep; allegedly she's INTP.

 

[Dimensional Transition]

I'm kind of casually pursuing acting. I take part in plays, improvisation battles and such, but my real passion lies more with art and psychology I think.

If I could make some money with acting, I'd take the chance though.

 

[digital angel]

Follow your passions. I'm sure you'll do well.

 

[Jordan~]

When I get overtired and I'm alone I start... doing characters. Aloud. I'm pretty sure I'm not bad at it, either. I think I could be a voice actor, because that's just you and a microphone (and when I'm playing games I often think, "Holy shit, have these people never heard actual humans having an actual conversation?"), but I'd die in front of an audience, even in front of two or three people. Even if I'm just chatting to my friends and I'm going to do an impression I need to practice it under my breath until I know I'll get it right. I've done school plays - not very seriously - but Christ, I was terrified. I know I'm not INTP, but the only difference from INFP is that F and T are switched around in the functions, so the introversion is the same. We do something not unlike the 'chameleon' thing INTPs do, but to a lesser extent: I can't help but adopt a few of the mannerisms of someone I'm talking to, my voice isn't the same for any two people. Though, there is another difference in that INFPs second-guess themselves constantly, which couldn't help, really. I guess it would just necessitate really rigorous rehearsal.

 

[Meer]

I hate performing in front of people, but I do like making up weird voices.

 

[Jordan~]

And the character just comes with the voice? I love the few hours between sleepiness and abject misery when you've been up too long.

 

[Vrecknidj]

I know some INFJs who are actors. I think they're better suited for it.

That said, I think you should do it. Restricting things to types is not always smart.

For me, I get my acting out through two avenues: DMing and teaching.

Dave

 

[Trebuchet]

That's why I am playing D&D tonight. I did some stage acting in college, though. Yes, it is fun.

 

[Dimensional Transition]

Could you explain why INFJs are better suited to be actors, Vrecknidj?

I'm known among friends (and foes) as a weird-voices person. I think I do a character in almost every conversation I have. Maybe you're right about INT(F)Ps being more suitable for voice-acting, Jordan. But personally, I like the physical aspect also.

 

[Jesse]

I really liked Drama. For some reason I could forget the audience. I think the fact that I know what's expected when acting I can lose myself more.

 

[Vrecknidj]

Could you explain why INFJs are better suited to be actors, Vrecknidj?

I can speculate. I might, after all, be wrong about my sense of things.

Most of the INFJs I know are really, really good at knowing what other people feel -- sometimes better than, or before, the other people themselves know what they're feeling.

And, I'm just guessing here, this capacity would be a good one for actors to have.

(Of course, my own limited exposure to INFJs might be anomalous.)

Dave

 

[Picopico]

My life is an act... but there's no curtain.





















LOL WTF.

 

[A22]

I regret not signing up for the theater club. Perhaps I do it when I finish school.

 

[YoungGuns]

Disclaimer: this is semi-incoherent and skips a lot of detail.

I've done some of what you MIGHT be able to call improv acting while In Boy Scouts (I'm 19 and been in scouts for 10 years and am an eagle scout)...Basically, it involved me being outrageous in an over the top skit that involved me being a super hero (mask, underwear, and all) plunging off a ladder into a sponge....kinda hard to explain and still be funny in written form. Since, of course, I'm horrible at memorization and didn't even remember the sequence of events in the skit, I made up for it by being outrageous...making outrageous voices while yelling at my assistant, etc. At the end of the skit instead of plunging of the ladder, someone runs and gets a really long plunger. It was a skit that was all about the character.

I was known as "Super-Plunger" around several counties for a year.

I was the host of the closing ceremony at this event (the same event as superplunger)...several hundred people (10-16 year olds mostly, but many adults). When I was under this kind of pressure and I guess an adrenalin rush, I definitely was not being introvertive...I became extremely extrovertive. Although I DREADED actually doing the event, once started, it was very very exhilarating.

I had most of a really long post almost finished, but I think you'd have to have been there to understand the situations anyways.

 

[YoungGuns]

In summary of my above post, I'd love to act if it wasn't for the memorization.

I hate performing in front of people, but I do like making up weird voices.

Shouting a variety of weird voices at the top of your lungs continuously is very exhilarating.

 

[Jessel INTP]

Okay so, I'm new, so if I sound weird ( even if I'm not talking but you get the drift..) that's why! I found this post through google. I typed in acting and INTPs cause, lately, I've been thinking a lot about it. Usually I'm into music, and psychology but ever since I was little, acting seemed interesting... Anyways, it's cool how I'm not the only one who's into those things.. I know I write a lot but hey.. watev :P

 

[skip]

I consider acting an essential life skill for us.

 

[Sophius]

I personally love to act, by virtue that it is the only occasion where I can play pretend in public without getting funny/dirty looks, though when I tell most people that I enjoy acting, they tend to react with incredulity.

I think introverts in general with highly devloped intuition functions are good at acting, due to the fact that they can develop complete innner worlds and contexts for which their character to exist and dissasociate themselves with reality into that world, though I do have a bit of a hard time imagining an INTJ actor per my personal experiences with them.

 

[Sigma Octantis]

hmmm, Im quite an actor but its more of a survival tool for me lol

 

[RedN]

only thing i can think of about acting is be careful not to get too deep into the characters you play and forget who you are outside of the theater. sometimes we wear too many masks that we dont know anymore which is really us...

 

[ghostrobot]

Following up on what some other people have said I think that as INTPs, at least those of us who have developed somewhat adequate social skills (which has taken me years of practice), are natural actors. I was asked to be in a few student films in the last few years and found it to be very easy as long as I knew who the character I was playing was and what their motivations were.

 

[Nocturne]

Ah. I do enjoy acting and reading aloud stories. If only I weren't so bad at it... Argh.

 

[Fghw]

To many people, acting is about getting out of your comfort zone.
To me, it is a well-needed vacation to my comfort zone.

 

[Extraterrestrial]

Yes! I love acting. Sometimes I fool people who think they know me well too. One of my stronger powers. Ha ha.

 

[Chuuz]

Anyone have any general advice on getting into acting for a newbie? Like where to look or what types of acting are good for a beginner to get into.

I suppose you might need to know where I live to make any relevant suggestions :/ If you feel like you might have a suggestion that's area dependent just PM I gess? I dunno

Right on!

 

[StarmanSam]

I think that INTP's (myself included) are very dedicated to whatever we pursue. I love acting, and I think improv is wonderful. I've passed major projects in school by coming up with presentations on the spot. I know that some of us wouldn't do well with it because it doesn't spark their interest; but for those who do enjoy it; it can be almost an instinct.

 

[Leaded Wings]

I enjoy acting, but I adore Improv specifically. Although memorizing lines and portraying a partially predetermined character is fun, I find myself enjoying most the process of "filling in the gaps," taking liberties where I can to completely define the character I am playing. With Improv I am much less limited, for the character I play is simply one big "gap;" I create the whole thing! The quick-thinking aspect of Improv is great as well. When acting with others, I must respond to their actions in a realistically quick manner, but how I respond is completely up to me; I build my own character. I usually find my mind working ecstatically, as one spontaneous thing I say provokes another spontaneous thing as I paint an extremely intricate canvas of this character's present life. By the end, I have created a meticulous story that miraculously makes logical sense. This is due to the fact that each spontaneous thought is carried by a burst of intuition. And trust me, by the end of whichever skit I'm doing my dopamine levels are through the roof as I revel in the the world that I have created.

 

[joal0503]

i think its definitely fun to dream, and sort of play things out intrapersonally...but the idea of having to perform in front of large audiences...or to contribute to the decay of society via acting in hollywood really turns me off.