# Actor Adria Arjona Discovers Confidence Boost Through Action Roles
Adria Arjona is building a career in action films, and she's noticing something beyond the script. Playing powerful characters in gritty thrillers like "Onslaught" changes how she shows up in real life.
"When you get to play this very powerful version of yourself, you can fake it a little bit more in your real life, and it's contagious," Arjona told Men's Health.
This observation taps into a well-documented psychological principle. Researchers studying embodied cognition have found that physical posture and movement patterns influence emotional state and self-perception. When people adopt expansive body positions or engage in powerful physical actions, measurable shifts occur in confidence, assertiveness, and hormone levels like testosterone and cortisol.
Arjona's experience aligns with what psychologists call "behavioral activation" and "role immersion." During filming of action sequences, she physically embodies strength, decisiveness, and control. These aren't abstract mental exercises. Her body learns these patterns through repetition. The neuromuscular memory created on set carries into everyday interactions.
The actress describes this process as something she "fakes" initially, but the terminology reveals the mechanism. Psychologist Amy Cuddy's research on power posing demonstrated that assuming confident physical positions for even two minutes increased feelings of control and risk tolerance. Extended exposure through acting work amplifies this effect substantially. Over weeks of filming, Arjona's nervous system has encoded these powerful movement patterns into her baseline behavior.
What Arjona calls the quality being "contagious" reflects social psychology research on nonverbal communication. When people carry themselves with confidence and physical presence, others respond to those signals unconsciously. Observers pick up on posture, eye contact, vocal tone, and gesture patterns. These visual cues trigger social deference and perceived status in group dynamics. Arjona's colleagues and collaborators likely respond to her on-set confidence, which reinforces her internalization of that powerful identity.
The mechanism works both directions. Playing weak or vulnerable characters can similarly embed those patterns. Research in method acting demonstrates that sustained emotional and physical immersion influences actors' psychological states during and after filming. This is why some method actors report emotional challenges after completing intense roles.
For performers like Arjona, action roles offer a particular advantage. The physical demands are rigorous. Combat choreography, weapons training, stunt work, and cardio conditioning create genuine physiological adaptation. She's not just pretending to be strong. Her body becomes stronger. This creates authentic confidence grounded in real capability rather than pure psychological performance.
The "badass era" she's embracing involves both mental and physical dimensions. Action filmmaking demands technical skill, spatial awareness, timing, and coordination. Mastering these skills generates competence confidence, which operates differently from fake-it-till-you-make-it psychology. Competence confidence comes from actual capability.
Arjona's insight offers practical application beyond entertainment. The principle suggests that anyone seeking to build confidence might benefit from physical practice in their area of growth. Whether through martial arts, weightlifting, public speaking performance, or other skill-building activities, embodied practice creates changes that extend far beyond the specific context.
The actress continues pursuing roles that challenge her physically and psychologically, understanding that the character work shapes the person.