Dumb It Down

I was waiting for it. I tried to avoid it. The director of Wit finally said it last night. I have to dumb my character down. I'm smarter than she is, he says, and it shows through on lines that I know what I'm talking about but the character's not really supposed to. I agree and I disagree. To me, the character is a bit spacey at times, but she's a nurse. In my experience, nurses are very intelligent...my mom is a nurse and one of my best friends is in nursing school...and the amount of information that you have to know is mind blowing to me! So, how do I be a dumb nurse?

Now I'm stuck on this because I don't want to "play" dumb and be totally inauthentic. I've been getting praised by a couple of the other actors for how good and believable I am and how I'm a "natural" actor (and I credit my acting class for helping me to come from an authentic place). So, I'm a bit worried about pushing the dumb and being annoying instead of believable.

I've got more character work to do. Dumb it down. I look forward to the day that I get to play a strong, intelligent, intriguing, likable woman.

Love,
Aislinn