| Physical Actions
Towards the end of his life, Stanislavski placed emphasis on physical expression in training. He said that through the physical - the doing - an actor could give his role depth. He believed that actors must be in role all the time they are on stage, and most of the rehearsal time too, even if not required by the text to speak or carry out an action. This meant the actor should assume the role of their characters even during rehearsals. If the character stood in a cold place then the actor should shiver and alter his posture while rehearsing. A good way to experiment with characterisation is to improvise various scenes that do not appear in the text, but could happen between some characters. This activity provokes the actor to think about their character as a real person rather than simply role on a page.
The Magic If
The 'magic if' is the basis of assuming the mentality of a character. An actor asks 'If I were there, what would I be thinking?' and then later 'If I were my character, what would I be thinking?' allowing the emulation of realism on stage. Stanislavski did not require actors to be the part, as is a popular misconception, but he did demand that they lived the part with the magic if.
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