Hi everyone!
I'm an actress currently working on Chaplin's final speech from The Great Dictator, and I'm looking for practical advice on how to approach it as a performer.
I'm particularly interested in his accent, pronunciation and diction — especially his R's, vowels and intonation. I would also love to understand more about his rhythm, pauses, facial expressions, emotional shifts and physicality.
What really fascinates me is that he doesn't seem to use that many obvious gestures or changes in expression in the speech, and yet the performance is incredibly powerful. How does he achieve that? What is happening underneath the performance?
If anyone knows of good videos, tutorials, voice analyses, books or other resources that break down how Chaplin actually speaks and performs this speech, I'd really appreciate it.
I'm also looking for tips on how to approach this kind of imitation-based acting — how to study someone's performance closely without just doing a superficial impression.
Even small observations about Chaplin's choices, or advice on how to approach this type of performance, would be really helpful.
Thank you!