But I've always thought that sympathy was one of the gifts of art, and it's certainly one of the reasons I struggle forward with fiction, even though I'm not very good at that. It's a chance to absorb yourself in what you imagine someone else's life is like, to disappear from your own for a while and emerge a little disoriented and refreshed. Certainly, the process of immersing yourself in someone else's character isn't inherently good for you: it doesn't sound like Heath Ledger's experience as the Joker was particularly beneficial to his mental health at what sounds like a very difficult time. David Foster Wallace seems to have spent his career struggling with a contention that he wasn't entirely convinced is true, that life is worth living. But he could create the art he did because he understood both sides of that particular debate.
I don't understandhow you can create a good performance or good art in general without at least some level of understanding the person you're willing into being or becoming. Someone like Meryl Streep has always seemed serene and at peace to me, she's been married for more than 30 years, has four children, and is never in the news for anything related to her personal life. I've always suspected that serenity comes from the same core understanding that makes her an astonishing actress. She understands other people in a way that few of us will ever be able to, even if the people she understands aren't actually real.