In short, there is so much you can learn from consuming the art that came before you; you’ll deepen your understanding of your craft, and contextualise your place in its long history. Even if you’re planning the revolution on all that has come before, works considered canon in theatre (and cinema) need to be studied and interrogated if you wish to address these inequities and, ultimately, dismantle the system. Learn what has come before you and you will have a better chance of understanding the present and how it might change in the future. You don’t need to spend your last money for the month seeing the latest production of your national theatre company’s Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, just get your hands on a copy of the play and read that instead. There is honestly no better way you can improve yourself as an artist.

Build Your ‘Web’

Now, more than ever, actors are graduating from drama school with little-to-no knowledge of plays beyond the works they are forced to study. They’ll have some cursory understanding of the Classics, the residual knowledge of two weeks on Restoration comedy, the obligatory dose of Shakespeare… Most will engage with more ‘modern’ playwrights such as Churchill and Kane, failing to notice that the ‘theatre of today’ taught by many institutions relates more to the ‘today’ of when its staff, themselves, first entered the industry.

Take the time to read more plays and educate yourself. Look at how certain ideas or styles connect authors throughout history—how theatrical concepts like direct address, or realism, or devised theatre go in and out of style and cross cultural boundaries. Playwrights tend to read the work of those who came before them to improve their craft, just as actors might study a performance in a film or attend a masterclass. If you can identify who influences writers, and why they evolved to tell stories in the way they do, your understanding of their work will be far stronger when you step up to perform it yourself.

If you find the concept of this kind of study overwhelming, try thinking of the mess of plays and films to consume not as a timeline, but a web: read a script and think about what ideas and other works connect to it, forwards and backwards. What were its influences? What did it influence? What was happening in the industry at large when it was written? Who loved it/hated it? And what was happening on the other side of the world?

Understand Trends

As your historical knowledge of theatre and film deepens, so will your ability to identify new movements and voices as they emerge. If your web connects you from a play – to its playwright – to a company they founded – to what that company is currently developing, you may uncover a new and exciting work you’d otherwise have missed. 

Studying the past to predict future trends is particularly important if you wish to act in film and television. Cinema has faced so many existential threats in its short lifespan (television, the VCR, internet piracy, Netflix), so its creatives are constantly forced to evolve, adapt and innovate. The majority of people working in the industry, today, were never prepared for surviving in the streaming age when they were at film school. The now-dominant model for funding and distribution simply didn’t exist. 

Facilitate Subversion

If you’re looking to be rebellious, know what you’re rebelling against. If you’re looking to create something fresh and new, make sure somebody hasn’t already tried the same thing twenty years before and failed miserably. And if they did, don’t make the same mistakes. If you want to break the rules and offer something unique to your craft, you have to learn what the rules are, and where they came from. Know which styles and aspects of stagecraft are still effective, and which might need to be retired. How many times have you sat down in a theatre and endured a show by artists who look as though they only discovered Brecht the week before?

By knowing the canon, we can start to identify its most problematic aspects: the lack of cultural diversity; the lack of BIPOC, femme and queer voices; the continued reverence for artists whose life and work would be totally unacceptable in a post-Weinstein world. When we can determine these aspects and speak to their flaws with knowledge and context, it becomes much harder for those who defend them to dismiss arguments on the basis of a perceived ignorance. Some will mount a defence simply as this is the tradition for when a ‘great artist’ or ‘great work’ is attacked. With some reasoning and a little compassion, these people can be converts to the cause.

Discover New Joys

At this juncture, it’s worth mentioning that this kind of exploration doesn’t need to consist entirely of ‘knowing thy enemy’. You are bound to uncover some plays and films previously unknown to you that you genuinely enjoy! It can be a genuine thrill to trace your favourite practitioner’s influences back through their careers; you may even discover that an aspect of their work you have always enjoyed actually comes from an artist you’d never before encountered. 

You should also aim to consume classic works so you can discover why they are so enduring. Sure, you can dismiss Shakespeare as another beatified dead white male, but that would rob you of the richness of his language and the excellent stories he told. If you’re skeptic, that’s okay, but always make the effort to see what people are on about, and have been for centuries. You might find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Contribute

The concept of a canon of plays, or films, or books or music will always be with us; as long as certain pieces of art affect audiences in profound, provocative and enduring ways. And although we are starting to see positive changes in the kinds of work that are counted among their ranks, even retroactively, we must remember that there is danger to the binary presented where some works of art are ‘great’ and others (sometimes their betters) are not.

This is perhaps the most important thing you can do when engaging with the canon: identify this binary and reject it. Aim to create art that deserves to sit among the ranks of great plays and films, that tackles epic themes, and that is geared towards longevity. If the notion of contributing to the canon sounds lofty and self-aggrandising, remember that a system has been carefully built and maintained to make you think exactly that. Learn it, understand it, pick apart the bad from the good and let your work be counted.

The post Tackling the Canon: Why You Should Read More Plays and Watch More Films appeared first on StageMilk.

Punctuation

The first thing to look at when you are looking at a scene is punctuation. Punctuation is the writer communicating with you, the actor, across the centuries. Through the punctuation, you can see a character’s mental state, their emotional state, and their overall approach to life. A character who has a lot of full stops thinks in short, sharp sentences. They are likely to be direct and punchy and utilising their rationality as a primary centre. A character with a lot of commas—big, long, rambling sentences—is hardly drawing breath, emotionally connected or maybe in the midst of a memory or emotional moment. Of course, this isn’t a blanket rule, but it does give you a starting point. It is vital that you honour the playwright’s punctuation. They have agonised over every comma, every bit of punctuation is there for a reason. It is your job, as the actor, to honour that and also to figure out why that punctuation is being used in that spot.

Highlight the punctuation for your character in the scene. I like to put inflection markings above each as well, an upward arrow for a comma, a curving upward arrow for a question mark, a downward arrow for a full stop and so on. On question marks, really make sure you ask the question each time you see one. They are a vital storytelling tool and are often shamefully under-utilised.

For more info on getting the most from words on the page, check out our article on script analysis.

Objective

Every character, in every scene, in every moment of every script wants something. They have a reason why they are on stage and saying whatever dialogue they are saying. The legendary director Alfred Hitchcock said, “Drama is life with all the boring bits cut out.”

Your character has an objective: something that they are ruthlessly trying to pursue to get what they want. When you pursue this, there are no boring bits of just chilling out for the hell of it. Interrogate each line your character says. Why are they saying that? Why those words, specifically, out of all of the words in the dictionary, and in that order? There is no chaos or coincidence in the writers’ words. The character is saying them for a reason, to serve their objective. I tend to write my objectives like this:

I want ________ because I need ____________

Wants are driven by a characters needs. For example. Romeo, when he’s outside Juliet’s balcony: he wants to be with her romantically, but that isn’t what is driving him deeply. On the inside, he needs desperately to feel loved. He says it in his first scene with Benvolio. “Out of her favour, where I am in love.” He talks a lot about needing to be in love, but he’s only just met this girl, right? So the immediate thing is to get close to her, in order to feel that love he so desperately craves. An objective for Romeo might be:

I want to be with Juliet because I need to be in love.

An important note, make sure your objective is something you can get in that scene. If it’s something ethereal you won’t be able to get it in the scene and therefore your character will feel listless in the sea of performance. Don’t shoot for the super-objective, that drives your character’s arc.

Oh, and one final tip with objectives: notice how Juliet appears in Romeo’s objective? Good objectives involve the scene partner, every time. What do you want from them? When your objective has nobody else involved, the scene loses tension and conflict and we all might as well go home from the boredom.

For more information on objectives, look at our article on how to find your character’s objective.

Beats

Now listen, beats can be confusing. Everyone I have ever met has a slightly different interpretation of what a beat is and where they start and end, millions of ways of marking them etcetera. So here’s my overall guideline: beats denote a building of energy, until a change in energy. What that means is, the beat continues until someone exits or enters or the conversation stops or changes. I like to use beats to build narrative tension and increase the stakes of the through-line of the scene. See below:

Through-line

Every scene tells a story. Every single one. A scene is part of the bigger story of the script for sure, but every scene has a beginning a middle and an end. Generally speaking, most confirm to the story outline below.

You can use your beats above, to work out what the narrative through-line of your scene is? What is the climax of it? The most important point of your scene, where the most vital information is revealed? Make sure that the energy of your scene builds up to that moment. So the audience can feel a cathartic release when that moment hits. Not all scenes are massively high stakes, I get that, but every scene does have a climax however big or small, it’s your job as the actor to find it and make it shine.

If you still feel lost, maybe think about beats as when your character’s actions change. Remember that your action is the how you get the what of your objective. If your character has been trying to flirt with somebody (action) to borrow $5 (objective) and that hasn’t worked, a beat change can happen when they think “This isn’t working, lemme try something else.” and they start to guilt, or beg, or intimidate.

For more information on finding and plotting actions, check out our article on plotting actions for objectives.

Subtext

What is really going on in this scene? Is what the characters say actually what they mean? Subtext is absolutely key in understanding what is happening in your scene. It might take a couple of reads of it, some investigation of the characters’ motivations and a thorough application of beats, before you really figure out what is happening. Take this scene from the movie Sideways:

Now clearly, the character played by Miles is talking about a lot more than a type of grape right? This is a man talking about how much he dislikes himself, he is opening up by having a vulnerable moment, talking with her about a topic they both understand, to make her understand him more. An actor who didn’t understand the subtext of this scene might assume that he was lecturing the other character about different grape varieties—when with a thorough understanding of the subtext this scene becomes so much more.

In a way, it’s kind of like catching sabre tooth tigers: challenging to get, but worth it once you’re there.

As if…

This comes out of the Atlantic acting school, set up by David Mamet and William H. Macy. Their big innovation was Practical Aesthetics: an amalgamation of Stanislavsky, Sanford Meisner and the Stoic philosopher Epictetus. The idea is three-fold; let me take you through a massively simplified version of the concept…

What does my character want from the other character? Answer literally: “I want them to get the money out of the till, etc.”
What is the essential action of the scene? To knock them off their high horse, bring them back to earth, make them see it’s going to be okay, etc.

Create an as if: make up a situation using real people you know that hasn’t happened. Use the imagined scenario as an improvisation, then hit the dialogue at the top of the scene.

This technique, to me, feels like a hack. It’s an acting hack folks! This can very quickly get you to somewhere close to the emotional heart of the scene—particularly the last point. If you make a realistic ‘As if’ using an imaged scenario, with real people from your personal life, you will be amazed at how quickly you can find yourself living the emotional truth of the scene.

Conclusion

You may find that this technique—and in fact all of the techniques I have gone through in this article—don’t work for you. That is totally okay! There is more than one way to skin a cat (or a sabre tooth tiger for that matter!) We have a tonne of acting resources on StageMilk.com as well as our online scene club, where you could try out of a few of these ideas each month and then get expert feedback on each scene you do! What a time to be alive… Hopefully, you did find something in this article that resonated with you; if so, why not share it around with your friends!

Until next time, keep tiger hunting people!

The post Tips to Tackle any Scene appeared first on StageMilk.

Listen. Actively listen!

This is so important, not only as a scene partner but as an actor in every possible format. You have got to listen, be actively listening to not only your scene partners words but their body language as well. The very worst thing in the world, outside of war, famine and the increasing popularity of coriander (this is a hill I will die on, don’t at me) is scene partners who are not paying attention or even worse are actively disinterested in the scene. There is no more sure-fire way to kill a scene than one person who is acting their heart out, across from another who is utterly disinterested.

Don’t be that guy. Be fascinated by your scene partner, remember even if you are doing three shows a week, your character has no idea what the other person is about to say! Stay in that moment, keep yourself focussed on them by examining their facial expression or body language, and ask yourself, how does that make me feel? What are they doing with that eyebrow? Whatever it is, to keep your focus on the other person and stay active in the scene

It’s not all about you

I know, I know this came as a shock to me too, but it is really not all about you. Sometimes you are just there to be talked to by a more significant character in that moment of the story. This does not mean that you are insignificant, quite the contrary, however, the story is always the most significant thing. Where does your character fit in that grand landscape? In what way can you aid the telling of this tale? Sometimes that means taking a backseat and listening to other characters as actively and attentively as you can.

Additionally, don’t upstage, unless specifically instructed to do so by the director. 99% of the time upstaging is about you, and your ego getting in the way of the story being told. Acting requires you to leave your ego at the door and get into the work. You can be confident in who you are and what you bring to the table, without ego getting in the way. Literally watch any interaction with Hugh Jackman for a perfect example of this.

Be generous and surprising

Even if you are not heavily involved dialogue-wise in the scene, you can still be generous and surprising for your scene partner. Can being surprising and generous go hand in hand? Absolutely, when I say that I am talking about sticking to your blocking, hitting all your marks, but offering different actions on your lines, giving your partner offers to bounce off. Being vulnerable and open to change at any point and allowing your emotions to naturally react to the given circumstances, as they change. The worst thing you can do as a scene partner is so rigidly locked into your choices, utterly inflexible and predictable that any energy or life in the moment is destroyed. This obviously has to be balanced with the directors’ vision of the scene being kept sacred, but finding life and spontaneity in those moments will go a long way to taking your scene to the next level and turning you into a fantastic scene partner.

Be kind

This applies across the board, but I’m specifically thinking about being a scene partner for someone shooting a showreel scene. Showreel days can be extremely stressful, sometimes the person acting in the lead has paid thousands of dollars for the privilege. The last thing they need is a scene partner who is being less than kind. Even if you think the other persons’ performance isn’t great, unless you are the director, their performance is not your problem. Leave that to them, if they ask you for advice try and work with the compliment sandwich, something positive, something to work on and then something positive again. Being harsh on your scene partner is rarely a good option, were all in this together – let’s work as a team people!

Take direction

Please, for the love of everything that is holy – take direction. Actually. Really. Seriously, take direction on board. They are just trying to make the show better, and if you are not the focal point of the scene or even if you are, take on board what the director is telling you. Sometimes it can be difficult to understand exactly what a director wants from you, language barriers, stress, different terminology for things, people who are just poor communicators all of these things can be an issue. However, you have the power to change these challenges, simply ask questions and clarify with the director what they need from you. This is absolutely essential for any actor and is a muscle that you have to learn how to flex.

Be a pro

Be on time, know your lines, be polite, be ready to work. If you are there for more than a day, do everything you can to learn the names of the cast and crew. I re-read cast lists and shooting schedules and memorize peoples names before I arrive so I don’t get into any embarrassing situations! The modern industry does not have time for divas, if you are unprepared or unprofessional – word will get around. Your reputation takes years to build and minutes to destroy. Again, don’t be that guy. Be the person that when everyone walks away they say ‘Sure, they didn’t have many lines but damn they’re a pro! Let’s get them in again!’ Next thing you know you’re on the set of Star Wars!

Conclusion

Being a great scene partner is simple, doing it day after day, week after week and year after year can be challenging. Just like being a great athlete, it is often about doing the basics well. Listen, be open to new ideas, take on direction and don’t be a diva! If you are able to bring these ideas into your practice you are going to have a great and glorious career!

The post How to be a Good Scene Partner appeared first on StageMilk.

#1 Punctuation matters

When I first went to acting school, I was a pretty cocky young actor. I thought I had an incredibly good understanding of the craft, I had done some professional work and figured I was pretty ahead of the pack. Well in the bastardised immortal words of Ygritte the wildling ‘You know nothing Pat Cullen.’ It turns out folks that punctuation really matters. Punctuation is the writer communicating with you the actor, potentially from beyond the grave (spooky right?)

Moreover, punctuation has vocal inflection attached. If you have a question mark, really ask the question with your inflection. A comma, a dash, a semicolon and a colon all indicate a slight upward inflection. A full stop, a downward inflection. An ellipses indicates a hold on that vocal tone. Suddenly text becomes music, the words have tonal shifts, and you the actor begin to discover an emotional life you didn’t know existed, just from honouring the punctuation. Now obviously this isn’t the be-all and end-all of acting, but it was an extremely important lesson for me that made me a better actor.

#2 If you don’t believe you, no one else will

George Costanza famously said to Jerry in an episode of Seinfeld “Jerry, just remember. It’s not a lie if you believe it.” Now, strangely enough, this quote forms the backbone of our work as actors. If you do not believe what you are saying, if you think it’s stupid or unrealistic or that your character wouldn’t say or do that, that moment will not work.

Because I am quite orange and relatively funny, I go in for a few commercials. Every commercial I have ever booked has been because I – Patrick – really believed in what I was saying. I did an ad for a telecom company, the character was really annoyed with his coworkers and was making fun of them. The casting people on the day were very disorganised and running behind. It didn’t take much for me to believe in what I was saying and I consequently booked the gig. As opposed to all the other auditions I’ve missed because I did not believe my own words about how amazing insert product here was.

#3 To be fascinating, you must be fascinated

This one is a direct quote from the great Andrew Lloyde, our former head of acting at the Actors Centre Australia. An exceptional trainer of actors Lloydie was full of these sorts of statements. This one really stuck with me, because it is beautiful in its simplicity.

If you want to be interesting in your performance, you must be interested in the other actors on stage, in the world around you. If you want to be fascinating, you must be fascinated by those same factors. This comes down to detailing the pants out of your characters history and environment. What does this location mean to them, what do the other characters in this scene mean to them, what drives them to be fascinated?

An actor that is fascinated by themselves or even worse obsessed by themselves instead of the other people on stage, or the world on stage is far more suited to being an Instagram influencer than an actor.

#4 Listen. No really.

The most embarrassing moment (or at least top 10) of my career to date was when I discovered that I had never truly been listening on stage, like actually ever. One of my friends pulled me up that I was mouthing his dialogue as he was saying it. I knew the text so well and was so in my head, so terrified about missing my next line that I was not listening to what he was saying at all. That same young cocky actor from point one, had his world turned upside down.

So how did I fix it? An acting teacher gave me the tip of examining my partners face while they were talking, asking myself questions like “Did they shave today? What’s he doing with his eyebrow? How does what he’s saying make me feel?” This put my focus completely on to my partner and totally changed my listening as an actor.

#5 Breathe

I know, it sounds obvious but everything comes from the breath. Especially if you are doing stage work, it is the source of all of your power. Breathing deep into your diaphragm and using the full power of your voice is the only way you’re going to be able to hit the back of the room in an 800 seat theatre. Plus you can manipulate your emotions through breath alone. Try taking three short quick breaths in, then one long exhale, feels like your about to cry right? Reverse that – almost feels like laughter.

That’s an acting hack from me to you. The great Larry Moss said ‘If you feel your feet on the floor and breathe into your emotions, there is no limit to what you can do’ and he is not wrong.

#6 Better to be an a**hole than a chickensh*t

Now I went into this in a lot more detail in my article about working with Steppenwolf. But long story short, you cannot control how you are perceived by other people, casting directors or audiences. People are going to think what they think about you and if you are playing Iago, it’s probably not going to be kind things. So often in my life I have got stuck thinking ‘Oh god I really want this person to like me’ – so much so that I am going to be really cautious in my choices so they don’t think I’m weird or pushy or whatever – basically I was most comfortable being a chickensh*t. Trying to be meek, mild and palatable

Working onstage or onscreen you actually have to be the opposite, get up there and do something. Commit to it and if you come off looking like an a**hole then at least you went for it! If you are going to fail, fail gloriously do not go meekly into that creative goodnight.

#7 There is a moment before, for everything

Uta Hagen’s book Respect for Acting is a classic. More than a dusty tome full of platitudes and etherial nonsense, this is one of the most practical, actionable and down to earth acting books ever written. I cannot recommend it enough. One of the exercises that really stuck with me was getting onstage and doing a mundane task for two whole minutes. Something like staging your daily routine after waking up in the morning. Getting the sleep out of the ol’ eyes, checking emails, brushing teeth etc. And rehearsing it like a scene, then using that to moment to go into dialogue with scene partner.

The idea being that every character, always has a moment before. They have come from somewhere, doing something, that meant something to them. That informed the way they enter the next moment. From arguing with a spouse, to eating a whole packet of Doritos on the train and feeling bloated as hell. The moment before is vital to nailing the moment you are in and the next moment you are heading towards.

#8 Book your script

Organisation is not a crime folks, having your script well preserved and looked after is going to make your life easier. When I am working on a play, I like to cut out each page of the script from a photocopy and glue each page on the right-hand page of an A4 notebook. Leaving me the left-hand side page to write notes on. This means in the early stages of rehearsal I can walk around with my script in one hand and write my blocking or other notes all over the pages, and the notebook keeps everything in good condition as it’s thrown around between home, rehearsals, opening nights and all the other parts of life

#9 Vulnerability is strength

For some people vulnerability is the easiest part of acting, accessing their emotions is a walk in the park and it is more a question of controlling them and not playing a state. For me, the challenge is allowing myself to have an emotional response and not trying to control it and limit it in any way. In a lot of senses, it comes back to point 6. If I don’t keep myself in check, I will try and present my anger, sadness or jealousy in a ‘polite’ or ‘appropriate’ way, not allowing the audience to see the true vulnerability that has been in me all along.

The truth is that vulnerability is strength, showing your emotions is a pure human connection, and it is exactly the reason why the audience has come to see you perform. They’ve come for catharsis, for an emotional journey, why are you getting in the way of them experiencing that? The only way they are going to get it, is if you allow yourself to really experience it and put that strength, that vulnerability out there for everyone to see and feel.

#10 The magic really has been in you all along

Okay so this really ties in all of the above points, but guys – Disney was right. The magic really has been in you all along. You just have to let yourself believe it. I’ve written about my Larry Moss experience at length, here most notably. And no joke, it has changed my life and my work. Like, what if you just completely believed that you have a right to work, what if you are not an imposter but a valuable creative artist with something to say, and furthermore you don’t have to apologise for that. What if you truly, really and genuinely believed that. Don’t you think it would have an effect on your work?

It has on mine folks, seriously. If you are not quite there or don’t think you could ever believe it, then maybe it’s time to fake it till you make it! That or join our Online Scene Club and start practising till you get there!

The post 10 lessons that made me a better actor appeared first on StageMilk.

Dacre Montgomery – Stranger Things

This self-tape is incredible. Nearly on every front. Especially if you have watched the show, Dacre completely encapsulates the character in this tape, not only in the scenes but in the vignettes in-between as well. Personally I would never have the guts to do this in a tape and that probably points to why he is on the show and I am not. This is the definition of making a bold choice to make yourself stand out from the pack.

Dacre also does a whole bunch of technical stuff really well here. He has a clear point of view about what he is talking about and who he is talking to. He uses the frame incredibly well, the change in costume gives you a real change of place, he’s really aware of the location of each scene and he makes you feel like you are right there with him. Even the music he chooses ads life to each scene and is really period-appropriate. Plus it is all so easy, it all feels really natural and unforced. This is my number one

Daisy Ridley – Star Wars

There is only a tiny part of this tape on the internet at this point, but it gives you a snippet of how awesome Daisy’s performance was here. The reason this tape is in at number 2 is because of her emotional connection to the moment and extraordinary ability to repeat it over and over. You can hear the director JJ Abrams talking in the voice-over saying he was blown away by her ability to really encapsulate the stakes of the scene, have a powerful emotional response to them and be able to take direction and repeat the scene with the same levels of commitment.

This lets the director know that this actor can do thirty takes of the same moment and give it all each time. It also shows exceptional craft from Ridley who, in landing Star Wars set up her career for life. This short piece of footage tells you all you need to know, that this performer has technique, craft and undeniable power. You can also see that moment in the film done nearly exactly the same as this tape.

Benedict Cumberbatch – The Hobbit 

So this is a bit of a weird one, the likelihood of getting an audition to be a literal dragon is pretty low however his commitment to voice and physicality here is exceptional. Similar to Daisy Ridley above, this clip isn’t the entire audition, but the parts that you can see it’s clear that Cumberbatch took the serpentine nature of the character really seriously. For these high fantasy auditions, fully investing in the characters world can be challenging espeically if that character isn’t human. Cumberbatch here fully invests himself in the dragon, not only vocally but physically too.

Watch the part where he sniffs the air for the intruder. Somehow he manages to make that action which could have seemed very on the nose (see what I did there?) feel grounded and natural. Vocally he made a really strong choice, the performance here could easily feel too big for screen, it’s highly theatrical. Lots of emphasis on keywords, heightened diction and a really unique melodic approach to the dialogue. But it is highly effective and fascinating to watch.

Dean Norris – Breaking Bad

Now this is not technically a self-tape but it is a fantastic audition none the less because Dean is utterly himself and completely the character. In even better news, he actually makes a mistake in this clip, he gets his own characters name wrong but keeps on rolling through – because he recognises that the character of Hank isn’t the sort of guy who gives a damn. This clip is the perfect example of the actor being themselves, under imaged circumstances.

He is utterly unapologetic, calling it how he sees it and is very natural. Also, note he has the script in his hand and he is referring to it through the scene and that this in no way affects his performance. He’s making jokes, improvising, making mistakes and keeping on moving forward for what his character wants, just like we do in the real world.

Blake Lively – Gossip Girl

Blake Lively is seriously underrated in my humble opinion. She’s a wonderful actor, with real depth and range and all that is on display in this tape. Where some of the other self-tapes here have had people making really bold, out there choices or intense emotional commitment to high stakes scenes, this tape makes the list for how unquestionably real, down to earth and genuine it feels. Watch this and try and tell me that you know what is going to happen next, Lively is so in the moment and so focused on getting what she needs from her scene partner that the entire artifice of the audition seems to dissipate.

If you forget the lighting this could be two friends who have accidentally left a camera recording. It feels so far from scripted it’s wild. This is the sort of performance that would book you a lot of work, and provided the foundation for the rest of Blake Lively’s career.

Henry Thomas – E.T.

The OG of all audition tapes. Again not a self-test, but you have to give credit where it is due. This kid is in the final round of auditions with none other than a small-time director by the name of Steven Spielberg. If you listen to the end, you can literally hear the Oscar-winning director say “Ok kid, you got the job!” Which frankly, is every actors dream! I watch this at least once every few weeks. An incredible all-round performance and commitment to an improvisation.

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Lady Bracknell – The Importance of Being Earnest

“To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”

One of the most famous parts in the history of theatre, filled with some of Wilde’s most cutting and hilarious lines. Lady Bracknell is an absolute force to be reckoned with. I have always enjoyed playing high-status characters and Lady Bracknell is about as high status as it comes. Not to mention, she is nothing short of utterly hilarious. I think it would be an absolute riot to don the forty petticoats and take the stage as Lady Bracknell.

King Lear – King Lear

“I am a very foolish, fond old man,
Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less;
And to deal plainly,
I fear I am not in my perfect mind.”

The mad king, desperate for love, hanging on to his last shreds of power, dominance and cognisance. Playing the King would be an incredible challenge. Not only that, but as with Lady Bracknell playing a role that has been done by all of the greats including Gielgud, Olivier, Gambon, McKellen and a young up and comer by the name of Hopkins, presents its own daunting challenge. Finding a genuine, personal truth and not being daunted by the interpretations of those other brilliant actors would be an extraordinary challenge. Let alone the rigours of the role, the physical challenge and the sheer weight of text on the actor. Playing Lear would be a dream.

Tilden – Buried Child

Tilden: I didn’t do anything.
Dodge: Then why should I have worried about you?
Tilden: Because I was by myself.
Dodge: By myself?
Tilden: Yeah. I was by myself more than I’ve ever been before.

Sam Shepard is not here to mess around. I came across this play in drama school and it absolutely ripped my heart and mind apart. A creeping insidious dread drips through this visceral family drama. Love, sex, murder, pride and anger form the centre of Buried Child and amid all of that swirling vortex sits Tilden. A former All-American and now mysterious failure he is this powerful, destructive, pained, broken creature. Playing Tilden would be an incredible challenge, and if you haven’t read the play, go and go now.

Barbara Fordham – August Osage County

“If he thought that, and I doubt he did, he was wrong. Anyway, what difference does it make? It’s my life. I can do what I want. So he was disappointed in me because I settled for a beautiful family and a teaching career, is that what you’re saying? What a load of absolute horseshit.”

August Osage County is a phenomenal play, coming from a large complex family myself I relate to the chaos and mind games that occur throughout. Barbara is so desperate to control the situation that she ends up being part of breaking it. A powerful female character Barbara is the person who takes control in the face of her mother’s addiction but on the inside, she is barely holding it together. I would love to play a character with this dichotomy, in these high stakes with words from one of America’s greatest writers.

Hamlet – Hamlet

“I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is
southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.”

The Dane has to be on everyone’s list. The quintessential actors’ role, the ultimate challenge. Every great actor has played him from the 1600s to now and the mountain that is the role is still a hell of a summit. Mammoth monologues, a descent into madness, a complicated plot but at the centre of it is a young man trying to work out who in the hell he is and how to make sense of a world around him that is unfair, frightening and in a lot of ways straight-up evil. To climb to the summit of this role, and inhabit a personal genuine truth within it would be extraordinary.

Conclusion

So there you have it! My top five theatre roles I wish I could play. About half of which I am very unlikely to ever play and that is okay. I will go to the theatre and admire them from afar! The others, well I am going to keep working on my craft and one day my chance will come! What are your top five roles you wish you could play? Put them in the comments section below, and good luck!

The post The five theatre roles I wish I could play appeared first on StageMilk.

Preparation

It is all about preparation, ladies and gentlemen. Preparation is the entire ball-game. The more preparation you do, the more you can rely on and trust the work that you have done. The times when I have gone into auditions feeling confident that I have done all of the work that I need to do to be ready are more often than not the times I get a callback. Sure, once or twice I have rolled into an audition hungover and underprepared and scored a gig – but usually it’s because the role suited that particular preparation. These occasions are few and far between (literally once in 11 years!) and the best and most reliable course of action is to maximise your preparation.

In so many ways acting is like being an athlete, and just like being an athlete how you prepare is how you play. If your preparation is erratic, unfinished, inconclusive and indecisive, in the room you’re going to feel like you are ‘pretending’ or doing lots of ‘acting’. For casting directors and producers it is obvious within the first few seconds that an actor is underprepared or did not prepare appropriately.

These performers are nervous, uncertain and when the opportunity arises to make a bold choice, they make a safe one instead. The key here is getting to the root of the scene. Getting right down into the nitty-gritty and finding the genuine truth in the text for you. No idea where to start? Check out our article on scene analysis, learning lines, objectives and then practice pulling it all together in our online scene club.

Attention

Declan Donnellan says in his seminal acting book ‘The Actor and the Target’:

“Without the target, the actor can do absolutely nothing at all, for the target is the source of all the actor’s life.”

What he’s talking about here is where you are placing your attention and your focus while you are in the midst of the scene. The truth is, if you are feeling like you are ‘acting’ you are thinking about yourself, and how you feel ‘out’ of the current moment. What helps you most get back ‘in’ the moment? Taking your focus, your attention utterly off yourself and placing it completely on the other person. Making them the target of your attention.

What if instead of being stuck in a performative rut, being unsure of yourself, making choices for the sake of making choices, you just genuinely listened to the other person in the scene? Not only to their words, but their body language and emotional state also. What if you fixate your attention on that and allowed yourself to genuinely react subconsciously to their words, actions and emotions as they changed throughout the scene. Sounds good right? That is where the magic happens, where your focus is on the target of your attention, the other person.

If you have become the target of your own attention, your performance will be insular and you will be more inclined to feel the differences between the script you’re saying and the truth of who you are – thus ‘acting’. There must be a target of your attention, and they hold all of the energy and the life you need to be alive in the moment of the action. That target must be outside of yourself, a person or a thing or even an image in the space. If you are fixating your attention on your performance, you are on a hiding to nothing.

Les Chantery, renowned Australian acting coach says; if things aren’t going the way you want them to during a scene, go for extreme love or extreme hate. Break the cycle that you are in and in that moment fully take in your partner’s reaction, this might be the kickstart you need to reactivate yourself into the moment.

Nerves

There are always going to be nerves, a 2018 poll by Gallup polling found 41% of Americans had a phobia of public speaking. Performing in front of people is nerve-wracking even for the most seasoned of professionals. There is always a lot at stake and these factors combined mean feelings of anxiety or stress are going to be a very common thing for performers. If you are stressed or anxious, there is a chance you might not let yourself become vulnerable, you might find it difficult to listen to the other actor, you might be challenged to allow yourself to react naturally to the circumstances of the scene. So what can you do?

Firstly, prepare as I mentioned above, and then trust that you have done the work to be successful. By the time you’re in the audition room or on the job, you are out of time to do more work, and worrying about whether your preparation has been significant enough is not going to help you. Instead, the time has come to believe in yourself. Believe in your preparation and trust that you can do what you need to. You can rely on yourself. If this is true and you believe it, you should start to feel relaxed.

Secondly, understand the science. Nerves or anxiety is the reptilian part of your brain, the amygdala kicking in and giving you a flight or fight response. Now you probably aren’t going to come into contact with a sabre-toothed tiger in an audition room. But that doesn’t mean you wont feel like you are under attack sometimes, see the Gallup polling above. Because you are always going to feel a little stressed going into work, it’s just about managing your stress response. Make sure you breathe, try and stay as calm and relaxed as possible and trust yourself.

Finally, and this is some of the best advice I have ever received, remember that it’s fun. Acting is fun! So often we get caught up in the pressure cooker of auditioning and performing that we can forget why we do this thing. It is incredibly fun and challenging and wonderful and magical so enjoy every possible moment you get the chance to do it!

Conclusion

So there are a couple of things to help you next time you’re feeling like you are doing far too much acting! Keep yourself alive and present in the moment, really connect with your partner and react genuinely to them and stay cool! So often the reason that we feel like acting is going on is because of one of the above factors, but there could be other options at play as well. If you have experienced other challenges in your craft why not comment on this article? Or join our online scene club below! Hopefully, next time you are on the floor these tips help you rock it!

The post How to stop feeling like you’re ‘Acting’ appeared first on StageMilk.

Note: for the purposes of this article I will use the term agent. There are differences in some countries between agents and managers, but that is not imperative for this article.

Get Better Representation

To get professional auditions you need to realise there are gatekeepers. The main ones are Casting Directors. Though you can occasionally circumvent casting directors and bump into Spielberg at Starbucks and get offered a great role over your Cappuccino, mostly you will only get professional gigs through casting directors. And the only way to get access to casting directors is through your agent. And to keep things simple, the better agent you have, the more opportunities open up.

So we’ve established that you need a great agent to get seen by casting directors, but this is tricky. It can be very hard to sign with a top tier agent, but if you want more auditions that should always be your long term goal. We discuss the “how” in a few other articles across StageMilk, but this is definitely the main place to focus if you want more auditions.

Note: As a freelance actor you can still develop great relationships with casting directors. But at the end of the day, an agent has those relationships already built, and all you have to do is show up and do good work. It will be one less thing you need to worry about in your career.

Develop the relationship with your agent

If you are in the fortunate position of having an agent, that isn’t the end of the journey. Even if you are signed with one of the big wigs in town, if you just wait for the auditions to come in you will quickly run out of opportunities. Most agents are looking after a lot of actors! And to put it simply, it is often just a memory game within your agency. Have you ever noticed that you book a role, or get a call back and all of a sudden you receive a steady stream of auditions? That’s because you have a little bit of internal hype. Just because you have signed with an agent, doesn’t mean you don’t have to develop the relationship. Be professional, proactive, and keep up the communication. If you have a great relationship and do great work you will remain at the front of your agents brain.

Update your toolkit

Do you have great headshots? Is your showreel showcasing your best acting work? Has your CV been a bit lonely? Updating any and all of these can be helpful in getting more auditions. They also can be used as talking points with your agent or with casting directors. This doesn’t have to cost you a fortune, but it is one of the most practical steps we can take as actors to help us book more auditions.

Casting Profiles

Whether you have an agent or not, you will have at least one online casting profile. These profiles include headshots, a CV and some form of showreel. These simple casting profiles are your main business cards, and if they are neglected, then your chance of booking auditions will be slim. I have already mentioned the importance of updating your actor’s toolkit, but you would be amazed how often actors don’t update their profiles, even if they have new headshots or a new showreel waiting in the wings. Give your casting profiles a look over this week and honestly ask yourself whether they are accurate, updated and showcasing you at your best.

Research

I am always blown away by how little actors know about the industry they are trying to work in. If you want more auditions you need to have your finger on the pulse. Whether that’s reading industry magazines, getting on IMDB Pro, or just chatting with actors, producers and directors, about what is being made in your city, you need to research. The more you know about what’s happening, the more you can look into projects. I can’t tell you the amount of times I have spoken to actors who book massive roles and weren’t originally called in to audition. They heard about it from friends, spoke to their agent, asked to put down a self-tape and booked the role. You have to understand your industry to know where you might fit!

Note: I am not recommending sending unsolicited tapes to casting directors, but you can definitely speak with your agent and try to get in for a part – but only if you think it’s right for you, and have confidence in your work.

Outreach

Again, whether you have an agent or not, you can still do plenty of your own hustle as an actor. It might be contacting up-and-coming directors, writers, and producers or it could be emailing a few casting directors (if you are freelance). This sort of outreach can be really powerful especially if you are early on in your career. I would definitely avoid generic emails asking for roles and try to always be specific. Connect with people by having a conversation and never ask for opportunities. If you are reaching out to a casting director, do it for a reason. Have you created a new showreel? Are you in a theatre show coming up? Those are GOOD talking points. Just emailing people asking for roles or auditions WILL NOT WORK. It shows a lack of understanding of the process, and is disrespectful to Casting Directors. Trust me, I get literally 100s of emails a week asking for more auditions!

Make Your Own Work

I know many actors are a little tired of this one. Everyone in the industry right now is encouraging actors to make their own work. The honest truth is: making your own work will not instantly result in more auditions. It is a long game. But there are so many benefits of making work that it will help build momentum for your career. It is a great talking point when you are chatting with the industry, and gives you a chance to show off your work.

Apply for more auditions

Auditioning is a numbers game. I think way too many actors just aren’t applying for enough jobs. There are tonnes of places outside that list general auditions publicly – whether that is joining Facebook groups, online casting platforms like StarNow, theatre companies, mailing lists etc. Don’t be afraid to ask, and accept that you won’t get them all but you will get some. Even still, paid or unpaid – the more auditions you do, the better you get.

Conclusion

So before you email me complaining about how hard it is to get auditions have another read of this article. Is there something that you can do right now that would lead to more opportunities? The answer is yes. Not all of them will be garner instant results and success, but there is always something you can do. Take your career into your own hands (whilst you wait for the phone to ring.)

The post How to Get More Auditions appeared first on StageMilk.

1. Put down a self tape

Pick a scene, any scene, and film it. Make sure you’re using a professional self-taping set up (pictured below, it me!) – whether that’s at home, at a mate’s place, or book in to a studio. It might cost you a few bucks, but it’s worth it to get that professional standard. If you’re not getting any auditions, choose something that plays into your type. Don’t make it hard for yourself by picking something with a different accent, in the fantasy genre, with 2x tigers chasing you down in the scene. Drama or Comedy is good, but nothing with crazy high stakes. Want to audition for Home and Away? Pick a scene from Home and Away, and put that down. Want to audition for Riverdale? Pick a scene from Riverdale, or another similar genre series and put that down. Be smart about it – if you don’t think you can pull it off in self-tape form, then don’t try to. Make it as easy for yourself as possible. Once you’ve put down a solid tape, upload to Vimeo.

2. Refresh your Online Casting Profile

You must, must, must keep your profile up to date at all times!

1. Update your credits: this means adding new ones, and if there’s something random on there for 2004 e.g. a student film – you can probably take it down.
2. Change your headshot thumbnail: try using a different headshot. You should have a few options there, that are all up to date. Maybe swap out something serious and brooding, for one that’s warmer and lighter. Who knows, a different thumbnail might be all that’s needed for a Casting Director to see you for a different role.
3. Upload your new self-tape: Either incorporate it into an existing showreel, or simply upload as a separate video file.
4. Check your details are correct and up to date: Need to adjust your height / hair colour / skills section? If you’ve recently learnt a new skill, e.g. Kickboxing or horseriding, then add that skill. Be honest, there’s no use in lying or exaggerating your skills – you will get caught out. In Casting Networks, you can also upload clips to attach to different skills. A video of you horseriding, or doing kickboxing can come in handy for a casting director. iPhone videos will suffice here, no need to have professional production footage (however if you do have it, then use it!)

3. Set up a meeting with your agent

It’s important to check in with your agent every month, every fortnight even – whether you’re auditioning or not. They won’t reach out to you and tell you to get a new showreel, or update your headshots. You need to call them, make the first move, and then they will advise you and you can come up with an action plan together. Ask for feedback – “Are my self-tapes up to standard?”, “Do my headshots need refreshing or are they working?”. First of all, it’s important to be at the forefront of your agents brain. They have a lot of clients to look after, and the more you fade into the background, the less likely you will spring to mind when they’re submitting actors for roles. Honestly, the more you keep in touch with your agent, the more auditions you get, the more work you get, and therefore the more you keep in touch with your agent. It’s a cycle – and if you’re not in the cycle right now, then make it happen. Give him or her a call, and ask if you can pop in to their office for 20 minutes tomorrow. Agent’s love chatting to their actors! You should not feel like you’re wasting their time. Here’s where that self-tape you just put down comes in handy – when you go in, show them the new tape. Get some feedback, and then upload it to your casting profiles. Agents LOVE to get new material from their actors, and they will use it when submitting you for roles.

4. Send your new self-tape to a Casting Director

Haven’t been in to see a particular Casting Director in a few months or years? Send them a short email, and link to your new self-tape. “Hey, just wanted to check in and send through a recent tape I put down, hope you’re well – thanks!”

Better yet, if you’re currently in an Independent theatre show, send them an invitation – but make sure you get them a complimentary ticket, don’t ask them to the show and expect them to pay for their own ticket. “Hey, just wanted to invite you to a production I’m in, let me know what night works for you and I’ll get you 2x complimentary tickets. Here’s some info about the show…”

Keep it short, sweet and personal – no need for an essay update on your life as an actor.

5. Research what is casting right now. And ask for an audition.

You should always have your finger on the pulse in this industry – what is casting in your city right now? Who’s producing it? Who’s directing? Who’s already been cast? The info is out there on the web, or some of your friends might have auditioned for it. You can also ask your agent in the meeting you’ve got set up for this week – they’ll definitely know. Often I’ll have a friend go in for a particular role, which I know I could fit for, and I’ll email my agent and ask if I can put down a self tape, or better yet, get an audition. It’s no skin off my back to put down a self tape, and it only takes the Casting Director 3 minutes to watch your submission. It also shows initiative, and drive. Maybe not every week, for every film that you hear about, but don’t be afraid to ask for auditions in this industry. As long as you’ve done your research and truly believe you could fit into a particular role, there’s no harm done.

You could also just as easily hit up StarNow, Casting Networks, Spotlight, Mandy, Backstage – whatever casting noticeboard you use, and find yourself an audition. It might be unpaid, or under Award rates, but if the writing is good, there’s no harm in getting more audition experience.

The post 5 Ways to Get an Audition This Week appeared first on StageMilk.

10,000 hours. That is what it takes to become successful at something – whether that’s playing the violin, tennis, woodwork or horse riding, it takes hours and hours of work and practice to get good at anything. But for some reason, actors seem to think this rule doesn’t apply to them. Instead they spend most of their time waiting for the phone to ring, or on Instagram, thinking that Instafame is a viable shortcut to an acting career. That may have worked once or twice, but it’s certainly not going to lead to a fulfilling, sustainable acting career. Rant over. Here’s the work that actors should be doing every day…

Vocal Warm Up

An actor’s body is her instrument, and her voice is an integral part of that instrument. So it needs to be worked and tuned every single day. Not only on the days you have an audition, every day. A cellist doesn’t just practice for 20 minutes before she goes on stage once a month. And so an actor should never just do a warm up because they’re doing some acting that day.

Build a vocal warm up into your daily routine. It might suck at first, getting up earlier, finding space, making time etc. And it might also get pretty boring – which is why you need to make it hold importance for you. Get some voice books, do a class, get some private coaching – if you’ve got no idea where to start, seek something out to help you begin. I can tell you now the best, and busiest actors are doing a vocal warm up every morning.

Homework: Do a 20 minute vocal warm up every morning.

Click here to watch our video guides on vocal warm ups.

Physical Warm Up

Just as an actor’s voice is an integral part of her instrument, as is her body. Don’t let your instrument go flabby. Whilst you’re up early and doing your vocal warm up, tack a physical warm up onto the end – or combine them if you like, I’m not averse to an occasional multitask… You can always stretch your ribs, whilst humming, or shake your body out whilst siren-ing. Whatever works for you. You can also include Yoga as part of a physical warm up, so if you’re a fan, sign up for classes, or take yourself through a couple sequences at home. The idea is to get the blood flowing, energise the muscles and oxygenate the body. And again, if you don’t know where to begin – seek out more information. The internet is an amazing place…

Homework: Do a 20 minute physical warm up every morning.

Click here for our guides on physical warm ups.

Read

We’ve banged on about reading plays time and time again on StageMilk, and I’ll keep banging on about it until I see more actors reading every day.

I meet so many actors who haven’t picked up a book or play in months. Much of the trouble with the modern world is that we’re taking our cues and learning from the Newsfeed, instead of from books and evidence-based facts. We look to social media for ideas, and to keep up to date. It’s curated to show us the most entertaining and controversial opinions of the last 30 seconds, instead of the truth, instead of what is probably more important. It’s terrifying.

So put your nose in a book every day. I don’t really mind what you read about; whether it’s acting books, self help books, plays, biographies of comedians, economics, fantasy fiction. Reading improves your vocabulary, presents you with different ideas and opinions, and encourages curiosity. Which is why it’s such a great resource for actors. I will also allow online reading here – articles, and podcasts. As long as you’re steering clear of E! News, and leaning more towards The Guardian and StageMilk acting resources…

Homework: Read a play every week, and a novel every 2 weeks.

Best plays of all time
Best films for actors
Best books for actors

Watch

Films, documentaries, theatre, real world people – there is more content than ever available at our fingertips, and yet I meet many actors who stick to what they know and like. E.g. Rick and Morty, Disney Channel, The Bachelor… Whilst yes, there is always a place for trashy TV, I myself enjoy it from time to time when I need to just switch off and not think for a little bit. But we’ve only got a small amount of time here on this earth, and only so much time to absorb stories, so why the heck aren’t you making the most of it? Expand your horizons, make a commitment to yourself – watch something new, something that isn’t a blockbuster hit, or something old that flew under the radar. Take notes if you want – what did you like about the story arc, what did you like about that actor’s performance, how about the cinematography, do some research into the director, the producer, the writer. Don’t just consume content – absorb it, learn from it, have an opinion on it. You’re going to find yourself (hopefully) working with some incredible creative people, directors who have spent their entire lives studying film, cinematographers who have been working on films for over 30 years – it’s about time you submerge yourself into your own creative industry.

Homework: Watch 1 documentary every week, 1 new/challenging/different film every week, and 1 play every 2 weeks.

Learn

Get thee to a classroom. Always, always, always be in a constant state of learning. Talk to any Award winning, successful actor and they’ll tell you that they themselves haven’t figured out acting yet! Acting is not something you do for 6 weeks, 6 months, or even 3 years and then master. It is a constant learning curve, and for me, that’s what I love about it. There’s no such thing as perfection, and it’s all subjective. Which means that if you haven’t been acting in a while, then you should get yourself into a classroom. It can just be one a night a week for a few months, or it can be a more intensive short course – whatever you feel like you need, and whatever is within your budget. If you’re not auditioning lots, and you’re not booking roles – chances are you’ll be out of practice. And when that audition finally rolls around, you’ll be nervous as hell, and probably pretty rusty. So, keep up the momentum, do some scene work, pick up scripts, practice your acting – and it’s going to be impossible for you NOT to get better at it!

Homework: Sign up for an acting class. OR put down one self-tape every month.

OR Join our monthly online scene club – work on scripts every month, attend online Q&A’s with industry experts, read plays, get access to exclusive StageMilk learning material, and receive personal feedback on the work you submit! Learn more.

Conclusion

These days, it’s pretty easy to get distracted – by your phone mainly – so I think that making these practices a habit is necessary. It’s not enough to make a commitment one week and give it up the week after. Write it down, stick at it for at least 6 weeks, and hold yourself accountable.

Always strive to improve and perfect your craft. If you’re working on it daily, building momentum and learning – then the universe will do its part to bring about more opportunities for you.

The post Work that actors should be doing every day appeared first on StageMilk.