Acting creation processes in chilean soap operas during the transition to democracy: situated study approaches to characterization

Abstract

This article analyses the acting in the so-called “golden age of Chilean teleseries (soap operas)” (1995–2005) on Televisión Nacional de Chile in the period following the end of the dictatorship. It delves into the methodological approach adopted by the acting teams of these productions, transferring knowledge from the theatre into the culture of the television industry. Using a qualitative approach, through interviews and the viewing of a sample of episodes from 11 productions, the research examines the procedures, types of rehearsal, fieldwork, analysis of documentary sources, observation—both participant and non-participant—and the integration of external consultants. This allowed for a deeper exploration of the physical and vocal aspects of character development, shaping the collective imagination of Chile’s sociocultural diversity during that era. These procedures influenced a theatrical style of acting rooted in situated study, which, through the development of cultural repertoires and embodied knowledge—constructed from the physical and vocal—contributed to embedding collective memories and sociocultural diversity within the identity-forming imagination of the Chilean transition to democracy.