ACTING IS A WAY OF SHOWING THE COMPLEXITY OF LIFE” STATES ACTRESS SOFIE G
“I can’t imagine doing anything other than acting.” That’s what Swedish actress Sofie Gallerspang said about her life. She’s a young woman but she has tons of experience and has acted in more films than most American actresses twice her age. She loves acting, as we can tell, by what she said. She also says that “For me acting, whether it is theater or film, is a way of showing the complexity of life, in both the happiness and sadness. That is what I want to show throughout my work.” We can see that this is true also by the films she has done. Some of them are wonderful slices of life and some are character studies and some are just short bursts of entertainment that share the human experience in some way.
Sofie’s film list is too lengthy for this piece but some of her work can be seen in these productions: For the good cause, Meatwall, Monica Z, Call Girl, Blondie, Existens, The Painting, Stop Police!, How Long Can You Go?, Afraid of The Dark, It’s Not You, It’s Me!, Innocent Mara and Crimes of the Heart, to name but a few.
Another interesting thing Sofie said was, “As an actress I am very present and I listen carefully to what my scene partner is telling me in the scene.” That is the key to how she acts and how she gets into all the different characters she has played. Being present is a technique that enables the actor to respond appropriately to the other actors in the scene. Sofie also feels that being calm or relaxed while acting is imperative and that it is interlocked with the art of being present. Calmness helps the actor to see what isl around her and gives her that extra time to react in the right way. It’s very close to the great saying by an American Western (real) character when he said, “Take your time, in a hurry.” And that’s what being present while remaining relaxed and calm is all about to some of us. An actor can be in the middle of a tornado, so to speak, and calmness expands time for her which allows for more choices of how to express herself, emotionally.
Sofie can play any role she is given and she can become that character and respond appropriately to her fellow actors because she has taken the time to study and perfect many of the existing acting techniques that are available to all of us.
