The History Behind Brokenness

History Behind Brokenness

by Mario A. Campanaro

Life itself will always be the real masterclass for the actor. Our craft is, always has been, and always will be formulated by life itself. What else would it be formulated by? Some may say we are storytellers; I say we are storylivers. We aim to reveal the utmost truth within the story as a service to the writer, to all those willing to commune and witness that story, and to the vast world of the human condition. So why are we not turning to life itself and what we know about it, then marrying that information to our imagination to understand our work from its original source?

Life, married to our imagination, holds all the answers to all the questions about our understanding of how people function and how we, as actors, can use that understanding for the life of the character—if the desire to truly understand and learn is present. Meaning, the hunger to understand, along with a compassionate heart, and the quest to see what may be hiding behind all circumstances (the histrionic self), needs to deeply resonate within the actor's mind, body, energy, and spirit at all times. There need to always be questions appearing within the actor's mind and heart as they go through the journey of the character’s life so they can continue building that histrionic self within their instrument.

By doing this kind of work, we come to realize that within every human life, there is a story that has formulated who that person is and how that person functions physically, mentally, emotionally, energetically, and even spiritually in the world. Though there will never be an adult in a child, there will always be a child in every adult. If we know this about all humans, why then would we not apply that same knowledge to understanding and revealing the character? When we truly understand this fact, it becomes possible for the actor to leave any personal judgment out of the equation so they can reveal the character with the respect that the character's specific story deserves. Most of the characters we will play are far outside the comfortable familiarity of our civilian everyday lives. But thankfully, we have research, exploration, discovery, and, of course, our imagination. And trust me, life married to our imagination offers a delicious, limitless rainbow of colors to teach and offer us as artists. I happen to call it Mary Poppins' purse. It has everything you need right there in it!

Observe, investigate, explore (imagine) the intentions of people. Observe, investigate, explore, discover (imagine) how people listen. Observe, investigate, explore, discover, imagine how people behave based on the circumstances they are in, how they try to find their way out of obstacles, how they try to better their lives, how circumstances stimulate them to behave in certain ways, how they love or hate… Now question… really question… and I mean REALLY question… what the story may be behind all of it. It is gold for the actor! And you have to learn to pull and even steal that gold from the very rich, limitless, abundant, and giving bank account of life and your imagination (as it pertains to the given text)! And hey, the life info out there is free, and so is your imagination! So use it!

By doing that part of the work, which is just as important as figuring out an objective, action, obstacle, environment, wardrobe, prop endowment, sensorial condition, or learning your lines, you give the actor a very high artistic standard that urges them to pursue and reveal only what is truthful in the work, based on the circumstances of the story (and the history—either given or needing to be investigated and justified) that the writer has provided. Never settle for mediocrity or generalizations in the quality of your artistry! Despite what many may think, the actor's work is not about going up on stage or in front of a camera just to “re-sight lines” that a writer has written. There is no art in that other than a skill of memorization.

We, of course, have the foundational tools that we will always use to bring us intimately into the world of the text, making it possible for the actor to live their most private essence in a very public way, as it pertains to the given circumstances. The text is this incredible skeleton just waiting to breathe. And the actor is that brave soul who comes along to give that skeleton the breath of life. This asks the actor to generously share a piece of their heart, mind, body, energy, and spirit within the world of the text. We are asked to LIVE in our work. And the only way we can live in our work is by using our own instrument, married with the accumulation of our life experiences, research, observation, investigation, exploration, discovery, and, of course, the power of imagination. You are the instrument to that life. You, your heart, and your soul are the battery to that life.

To do this kind of profound work, one must go through some kind of unfamiliar or extraordinary journey at times to thoroughly endow what the writer has given and to give the character’s life the respect they deserve. In other words, there needs to be some kind of internal exploration to gain a visceral understanding and personal connection to what you are being asked to live and reveal so the truth can be brought to life in the work. And sometimes it’s just going to be uncomfortable. But the actor needs to, very often, find comfort in the discomfort. And the actor is that creative warrior who volunteers to do just that.

Life is not always a fairytale, and 100% of the roles we will ever play will be about an individual doing all they can to improve their circumstances. We are all doing that on a daily basis. This is a fact of the human condition that we, as artists, must be open and willing to reveal about the struggles of the human experience, which unfortunately often includes human suffering. Sometimes we need to really look, with our heart and soul, at tangible human realities. Sometimes the cards people are dealt are nowhere near the full house they had hoped for. Sometimes there is no house at all, but a tunnel that echoes thoughts and questions in an earnest quest for life’s greatest mysteries, thus stimulating the creative process to express and hopefully come to terms with the human experience.

The artist must not only know and understand life’s moments of love, joy, happiness, health/vitality, and success but face unanswerable questions of suffering, greed, poverty, war, disease, trauma, lovelessness, abuse, darkness, addiction, evil, etc. We have to question in order to genuinely care about the character’s humanity. We cannot be scared to ask and confront questions because it is the job we signed up for. Yet, no matter how much we may try... no matter how hard we may dig... we have to be willing to accept that there will always be more unanswered questions. Life will always be in a state of flux, and there will always be some kind of suffering somewhere in the world. And you are probably reading this looking for some statement that illuminates the promised light at the end of the tunnel. But sometimes there just isn’t, and we, the artists, have to do our part in revealing the struggles humans go through in order to help bring awareness to these unanswerable circumstances. Otherwise, the work becomes just an empty tunnel that we are walking, or even running through, without knowing “the why,” which is reasonable for leading things to where they lead... or even what the meaning of all of it is.

The facts are… Sometimes we are here with people who are good. And sometimes we are here with people who are not so good. Sometimes we are here with people living through compassion. And sometimes we are here with people living through agenda. Sometimes we walk with people who use troubling circumstances to help the greater good. And sometimes we walk with people who choose to bank on it. Sometimes we walk with trust. And sometimes we have to walk with cautious discernment or distrust. Sometimes people will walk with us to wherever the tunnel leads. And sometimes they’ll just fade away. Sometimes it will bring treasures. And sometimes it will bring trauma. Sometimes it will please. And sometimes it will disappoint. Sometimes we get ahead. And sometimes we get left behind. Sometimes we rise above. And sometimes we break. Sometimes we heal. And eventually, we all die. The point being, there are circumstances surrounding all of it.

When a bone breaks, we know why that bone breaks. There is an event that literally causes the bone to break. And very often, when we see someone who has broken their leg or physically hurt themselves, the common response is “Oh my God, are you OK?” or “Oh my God, what happened?” because we see someone physically in pain. We see someone who is struggling in the here-and-now moment with a visible wound. Well, take a moment to think about that… That’s the ‘norm’… the empathetic part of us... the compassionate part… That part of us that sees someone in pain and wants to know what led to that break. But a lot of the time, we forget about that awareness. We see how someone functions in life, their behavior, and how they filter life (the character), and we automatically judge. We don’t really ask with a compassionate heart, “What were the series of events that led to this person existing the way they do?” We’re just seeing the actions, but we’re not understanding... or not willing to understand... everything that led to that person executing those specific actions, or functioning, filtering, existing the way they do. The Why!

We, as actors, have an obligation and responsibility to artistically connect to what the character is going through and why. We have an obligation and responsibility to artistically connect (with safety through skill, technique, craft) to the pain, suffering, and brokenness of the character as a means into their life. This ensures that we don’t get stuck in a world of judgment, resentment, or bitterness. We ask ourselves, “What happened? Where did the break happen? How did the break happen? When did it happen? What were the series of events? What were the relationships? What were the circumstances that caused this human being to behave or react the way they do? How, with a compassionate heart, am I able to justify whether the actions are right or wrong? Why does someone do what they do? And how now can I justify everything that this human being is doing, as a means to try to improve their existence, their life, moment to unknown moment?”

We have to remember that the way in is not through our judgment of the unmentionable. It is through our willingness to enter with a compassionate understanding of the histrionic origin of one’s life (often their pain and suffering) that has caused them to behave in unmentionable ways. Just like a broken leg, all ‘brokenness’ has its own story that caused the break!

We have to be willing to face the reality of things, no matter how scary, unpleasant, dark, or uncomfortable. This is our job as artists: to see what others are not willing to see, to face what others are not willing to face, to step into the trenches and face the human condition head-on, mask-free, in all its grit and glory. Because that is what life is: a series of moments defined by grit and glory… and sometimes somewhere in between... based on love received, love unreceived, and survival.

The ability to have an open heart and a willingness to dive into the depths of the human condition is the very foundation for our work and our ability to live moment to unknown moment within extraordinary circumstances. We have to be willing to see, hear, feel, taste, understand, and experience more than just our own small circle of experiences in order to live the vast, highly complex life of characters in unimaginable pain, great struggle, and overall high-stakes circumstances. This is the ultimate ‘in’ to every character we will ever play, reveal, or live.

Everyone has struggled. Everyone has suffered. Everyone has had trials and tribulations. Everyone has a story. Every story has a history that formulates who someone was, who they are now, and how they move and function in life and what they strive to get, achieve, be, and experience. AGAIN, we have to understand that at our very core, we function from survival, love received, and love unreceived. From there, our story unfolds based on what life throws at us.

This is not just about our technique. This is about humanity. And every human's story has within it the worthiness to be witnessed simply because it is part of the essential fabric of this thing we all call ‘life.’ It’s about allowing the questions and being OK with the exploration of them.

I encourage you to walk through this beautifully complicated life tunnel—this path, this journey, this road—without any expectations but with imagination, curiosity, exploration, innocence of discovery, bravery, awareness, and compassion. Allow yourself the willingness and innocence of discovery and experience it for what it is in all its authenticity, and then be willing to share that beautifully complicated authenticity through your work.

Copyright © 2025 Mario A. Campanaro, All rights reserved."