A stage name is a name assumed by professional actors and other performing artists, for a number of reasons. Stage names can distinguish one actor from another of the same name, simplify an actor’s real name, or build on an actor’s archetype. Whether or not you should use a stage name will come down to these same factors. What you should change it to is a whole other question. But don’t worry, we’ll get to that.

As always, remember that this article offers up information and advice, but never an ultimatum when it comes to your acting career. Please keep that in mind before you dig up your birth certificate and potentially break your parents’ hearts by telling them the name they gave you just ain’t gonna cut it for Hollywood.

When to Change your Name

First of all, changing your name only really becomes a necessity once you reach a certain level of recognition. If you’re still on that very important independent theatre grind and you’re wondering about whether you’re due for a name change, you’re not. Of course, if you really want to, go for it! But you certainly don’t need to.

The most common reason that actors change their names is to distinguish themselves from other performers with the same name. David Bowie, for instance, was born David Jones and took the surname Bowie from a 1960s film called The Alamo. He did this to make sure no one mistook him for another English singer by the name of Davy Jones (of Monkees fame.)

The only caveat we’ll throw in here is that actors’ unions sometimes specify that you can’t have the same name as another performer in the same union. This rule varies, but is worth some research in your country/city/area.

Why You Might Use a Stage Name

Okay: let’s imagine you’ve hit it big and you’re on the route to worldwide fame. You’re landing some good roles, your agent is very excited and you’re being groomed for stardom. What’s your name in this scenario? Schnitzel Von Crummington III. As far as notable actors with the same name go, you’re pretty safe, but, wow… I mean, what were your parents thinking? 

While I do exaggerate with this example, if you have a complicated name—too long or too difficult to pronounce, or an unfortunate sounding name—it’s time for a change. You also may want to consider whether your name has the potential to pigeonhole you. If you heard the name Schnitzel Von Crummington III, what kind of person would you imagine? Some affluent, pretentious manor lord? 

Our brains are association machines and we can’t help but make connections and assumptions based on what we hear. A lot of big companies use this to their advantage to build an effective brand for themselves using things called “brand archetypes”. Actors can also take advantage of brand archetypes, and this strategy usually begins with their name.

Building a Brand

As an actor, your brand is you, so it follows that your name is also the name of your brand. We’re getting into my least favourite part of being an actor: marketing. As much as I complain about it to my friends on weekends over a glass of red, marketing yourself well as an actor is crucial.

Let’s talk specifically about archetypes. Archetypes are associated with psychology and also literary analysis, and speak to the common examples of character or behaviour that we might use to classify figures in a narrative. 

The examples listed below have their roots in Greek Mythology. I’ve provided a quotation to give you an idea of what each of them represent.

• The Outlaw – “Rules are made to be broken.”
• The Magician – “It can happen.”
• The Hero – “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
• The Lover – “I only have eyes for you.”
• The Jester – “If I can’t dance, I’m not a part of it.”
• The Everyman – “You’re just like me and I’m just like you.”
• The Caregiver – “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
• The Ruler – “Power isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.”
• The Creator – “If it can be imagined, it can be created.”
• The Innocent – “Life is simple and simplicity is elegant.”
• The Sage – “The truth will set you free.”
• The Explorer – “Don’t fence me in.”

I’ve got some homework for you that you can do right now: Open Instagram and scroll to the next ad that pops up, paying attention to the company it belongs to. Then, try to fit that company into one of the archetypes.

Weird, right? Just about any company you can think of makes use of one or maybe a combination of these twelve archetypes. We can apply it to actors as well. Jennifer Lawrence fits nicely into “The Everyman” archetype—she’s relatable, humble, and down to earth. James Dean was textbook “Outlaw”—rugged, alluring and rebellious. 

The reason these archetypes work so well for brands is because people connect best with personalities, not features or benefits. When you get the chance, take time to figure out which archetype best suits you. It’s useful information for an actor.

Let’s return to our up-and-comer friend Schnitzel.

How to Choose a Stage Name

So, Schnitzel Von Crummington III has been working hard and recently landed a role in a major television series. It’s only a few seconds to midnight for Schnitzel but they’ve realised a few things about their name:

1. It is too long and complicated.
2. They will probably be made fun of for it.
3. Everyone they meet seems to think they’re a wealthy English lord when in reality they worked in construction before their Big Break.

Schnitzel does some research on the twelve archetypes and thinks that they align best with “The Outlaw”—they’re a bit rugged from working outdoors all day and they have a gorgeous charlatan grin. Based on that, they decide to drop “Crummington III” and use the surname “Von”. Von makes a great surname: it’s punchy and it’s got a rough edge to it that fits with “Outlaw”.

As for their first name? Some actors use nicknames as a part of their stage name. (For example, Whoopie Goldberg was nicknamed “Whoopie” when she worked in theatre, because she was constantly breaking wind) Back to our friend Schnitzel, when working construction, their friends called them “Schnit”. It’s short and catchy, but it does sound a bit like a cuss. Something else actors do when changing their name is think about someone they’d like to pay homage to. Olivia Wilde took the surname “Wilde” to honour the great writer Oscar Wilde. Schnitzel is a big fan of Nicholas Cage. “Schnit” and “Nick” sound kind of similar, too, which is a bonus.

Schnitzel Von Crummington III is an eccentric aristocrat drunk on power and swan’s blood. However … Nick Von is an actor to keep your eye on. They’re known for playing the villainous characters you love to hate, and for capturing the hearts of everyone with their rugged charm and knowing smile.  

Sounds good to me.

Conclusion

The marketing side of acting can feel like a bit uncanny valley, as you’re effectively marketing yourself. Your name is the thing that people will remember, so it’s important to have a good one when you start to make waves. Even if you don’t need to change your name right away, coming up with a stage name for yourself is always a bit of fun. See if you can create one for a few different archetypes that best suit you. The names should evoke a certain personality or image, and they should be simple and memorable. When the time comes to make the change, you’ll be prepared with a few options in your back pocket. 

Hope this helps. I’ll see you, and your fabulous name (either stage or birth), on the credit roll!

The post Do You Need a Stage Name? appeared first on StageMilk.

Actors become famous for a number of reasons; these are often tied to the larger entertainment industry and its support of talent they deem to be marketable. But there are other pathways that actors may find themselves on that lead to fame and recognition as well. However, being a famous actor doesn’t necessarily guarantee success. There are lots of exceptionally successful actor/artists who aren’t so well known, and a lot of famous actors who aren’t necessarily good at what they do. Whether or not you strive for fame, it’s super important to understand that becoming successful actor does not depend on becoming a famous actor.

Before we jump into the list below: The discussion around fame is somewhat fraught due to a long and entrenched history of racism, sexism and classism within the entertainment industry. It’s important to recognise that privilege does, unfortunately, play a big role in who gets to stand in the global limelight and who doesn’t. Is this changing, and for the better? Yes. But there’s a long way to go until a person’s background is a diminished factor in their level of fame.

The Breakout Role

The best, most promising and (save perhaps for “Freak Accident” below) most romantic way of becoming famous. You’ve been hustling away as an actor for years. Commercial here, showcase there. Day job, bank account more pennies than dollars. And then… Suddenly… Without warning… BAM! A lead role in a brand new series, or a supporting role in the next big superhero movie.

There are 25 years, count ’em: a whole quarter century, between Morgan Freeman’s entry into the arts industry and his recognition by Hollywood as a viable star. Was he out of work? Hell no, he did incredible films and award-winning theatre work right up until 1989, where films such as Driving Miss Daisy and the incredible Glory put him on the map. Arguably, these were breakout roles for him as an actor and his career took off into the stratosphere.

So what’s the lesson, here? The breakout role path to fame does happen. In fact, happens more than you might think. The problem is a point I’ve already made once—and will likely make again before the bottom of this page. Fame does not equal success, any more than success equals fame. There’s nothing stopping an actor achieving a great amount of fame with a break-out role, only for their career to founder just years later. “Remember [INSERT NAME]? Gee, whatever happened to them?” Exactly…

Drama School

Throw a stone in the air and it’ll land on a renowned actor who studied conservatoire. Whilst training for three years at a renowned drama school doesn’t guarantee fame and fortune as an actor, it can do a great job at putting you on the path. Drama school offers structured education with professionals and exists to refine both your theoretical understanding of acting and your acting practice itself. What’s more, they often have standing relationships with agencies, meaning that their students get at least a guaranteed look-in come graduation.

But most importantly, drama schools produce great actors. And great actors generally have a better shot at fame. Some actors in your your drama school year will find work and representation almost immediately after graduating, if not slightly before. Why’s that? Let me throw you a few possible reasons:

• #1 They’re great actors. They’re diligent, they’re talented and they love what they do. They’re the kind of people you want to watch on stage and screen.
• #2 They’ve got the right look. An unfortunate truth about the industry is that there are aesthetic trends. Sometimes people fit the bill based on appearance alone. I don’t mean that these people are getting cast because they’re drop-dead gorgeous, rather they have a certain look/type/brand that the industry, and indeed audiences, deem “in-fashion”. Sad but true
• #3 They’re lucky. Sometimes it’s a simple as right place, right time. You certainly need talent and drive to meet the luck, though. And not all of the golden graduates manage to stick the landing.

Social Media and Self Promotion

Now more than ever in our cutthroat industry, actors are empowered to self-promote and build their brands. We have access to casting profiles, cheap and effective solutions for showreels and even the chance to build awareness through platforms like TikTok. Yay for us, right? Sort of.

Recently, one of the writing staff here at StageMilk told me a story about being in a casting meeting for a tv show they were working on. They said the executive producer checked the Instagram accounts of each potential actor and noted their number of followers—stating that it was most beneficial to secure the talent whose social media might translate to new, loyal viewers. Earlier this year, The Hollywood Reporter produced a list of 11 up-and-comers known to have started their acting journey on social media.

If you want to be famous—not good, not necessarily respected but famous famous—you need a presence on social media. This metric will become increasingly important as our industry melds and clashes with new and diverse media. Even if you’re not looking for fans in the tens of millions, it’s still an important field to be across.

Nepotism

Nepotism is the practice of favouring friends and family members in professional settings. When someone has familial connections in Hollywood, there is more of a chance that doors will open for them that otherwise would’ve remained closed. “Hollywood Dynasty” is a term used to describe families with a long history of success in the industry who pass fame and acclaim from one generation to the next. The Barrymores, Baldwins and Coppolas are all prime examples.

The debate around nepotism is largely centred around issues of inequality and privilege. People arguing against nepotism insist that it stifles diversity and opportunities for talented people who lack the same powerful connections. On the other hand, proponents of nepotism cite the benefits of passing down industry knowledge through generations to create a lineage of exceptional talent and familiarity with Hollywood. I don’t think I subscribe to such an idea personally, but it’s certainly worth knowing what is being discussed.

An example of nepotism in Hollywood is Angelina Jolie. Her father is Jon Voight, an Oscar Award-winning actor. It should be noted that her success, and many other actors who achieve fame by way of nepotism, isn’t entirely due to her familial connections. Jolie proved herself to be a transformative and talented actor, winning an Oscar for her role in Girl, Interrupted. That said, it would be naïve to say she started on the same level as everyone else aspiring to win Oscars some day.

Freak Accidents

A.K.A. “getting discovered”. Showbiz, baby, is unpredictable. There are a handful of actors whose journey to fame began with a twist of fate, a chance encounter or truly wild circumstances. Let’s talk about Charlize Theron and how her path to stardom began, of all places, in a bank.

One day, Charlize was in a bank, arguing with the teller. It just so happened that on that particular day, a talent agent was also in the same bank and watched in awe as as she quarrelled with such zeal, such presence and control. The agent approached her at once and asked if she’d ever thought about being an actor. Now set on the perilous path of acting, Charlize Theron had a breakout role in Monster, for which she won the Academy Award. 

Charlize Theron is an example of just how unexpected and downright random the industry can be. There’s no tried and tested path to becoming a successful actor, it can happen over many years or it can happen one day in a bank: you just never know. Do be careful about exploitation when you are ‘discovered’, though. When you operate outside the usual systems, it’s possible for directors or producers to take liberties with safety or appropriate conduct. It can end badly.

Hard Work

Let’s be a little more positive: some actors achieve success purely through hard work and recognition for their craft. Meryl Streep comes to mind, as does Daniel Day-Lewis. Especially in the case of Day-Lewis: do you remember any talk show appearances from him? Any long, profound Oscar acceptance speeches? No. But I bet you remember the conviction with which he approaches roles, the way he throws himself into everything from making canoes to making shoes to painting with his feet.

It’s rare, and it’s often in conjunction with another path to fame (such as a breakout role), but actors can become famous simply by the calibre o the work they put out into the world. Remember this at time, and let it comfort you.

Being a Delight to Work With

This final point relates less to being famous as being internationally idolised and paid in piles of gold. Let’s re-think more about the concept of recognition. You know which actors receive recognition, and with it lasting and fruitful careers? Those who are kind and thoughtful collaborators. Be a delight to work with and fame will come a lot more easily to you. Because people will like you and want to work with you again!

The best part about this point is that it’s true for the entirety of your career. We’ve written a lot of articles about the importance of getting involved in short films, independent theatre, workshops, readings—the list goes on and on. One of the reasons you should go out of your way to find these smaller opportunities is so you can build your reputation and work with the same people again. This is also known as “nepotism”, but this time it works for you!

If you’re a decent person, people will want to work with you again. If you do a good job, and make them look good, there’s no reason they won’t propel you alongside their own careers. Look at what Edgar Wright did for Nick Frost: you may not even know who Edgar Wright is! 

Conclusion

To quote Jason Bateman: “You’re one job away from changing your life.” That breakout role us actors chase can come about in bizarre ways. It can take many years of hard work for little pay and recognition, steadily building connections that one day lead you to that coveted role… Or it can literally happen overnight.

Regardless of what sets one on the path to stardom, it takes skill, talent and determination to maintain a steady course. My tutor says that you can either go for celebrity or you can go for integrity, and I tend to agree. There are pitfalls and traps on every side of fame that most of us are completely unaware of. But the allure will always be there and truly there’s nothing wrong with striving to be recognised for something you love and work hard at.

Hope this helped. See you around the traps!

The post How Do Actors Get Famous? appeared first on StageMilk.

From Stanislavski, to Method, to Meisner, acting techniques are theories on how actors can effectively engage with a character. For actors wondering how to choose an acting technique, it is best to remember that no one singular technique will suit a person entirely. Usually, a mixture of ideas and tools from different practices and practitioners helps create a rounded acting process for the individual performer.

I can’t, and won’t, tell you which technique you should use—that’s something you’ll have to road test along your acting journey. Hopefully, with this article, I can help you make an informed decision when it comes to preparing for your next role, and nudge you towards a system of acting that suits you best.

Technique vs Practice

Before we begin, let’s clear something up. Acting technique and your personal practice are not the same thing. One is a system developed by an individual or school, with methodologies to support an actor. The other is your daily routine as an actor, as well as how you might prepare for a role. If you decide that Method Acting is your cup of tea, it should not replace your wider practice.

A good actor’s practise might look something like this:

1. Daily vocal warm-up.
2. Daily physical exercise.
3. Read a play a week.
4. Prepare two monologues each month.

You can apply your newly-found chosen technique to your monologue prep. But you should still be maintaining good vocal and physical health, regardless of the technique you’re using. Having a strong personal practice will ensure you are open and capable of trying out different techniques.

The Three Pillars of Technique

If you’ve ever had even a mild interest in acting, you’ve likely come across three techniques already: Stanislavski Method, Meisner Method and Method Acting. They form the foundation of modern acting technique and theory, so here’s a quick primer for each of them.

Stanislavski: Emotional Authenticity

Konstantin Stanislavski was a Russian actor and practitioner who emphasized the importance of finding emotional truth and authenticity in performance. The Stanislavski system involves delving into one’s own experiences to connect with a character and help generate their “given circumstances” (e.g. where is the scene taking place, who is in the scene, what do they mean to the character, why are they there) to create an authentic performance. It should be noted that Stanislavski changed his tune towards the end of his life and believed in a more imaginative approach to acting, rather than a deeply personal one.

As the man who introduced naturalism to American theatre, Stanislavski’s teachings have influenced countless other practitioners who have either continued his teachings or challenged an aspect of them. Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Uta Hagen and our next pillar: Sandford Meisner.

Meisner: Imagined Circumstances

Sanford Meisner was an American actor and teacher whose work revolves around the idea of living truthfully in imagined circumstances. There is a strong emphasis on active listening, spontaneity and truthful reactions. You may have heard of the repetition exercise where two actors make observations about each other and repeat them, over and over, to help develop the heightened state of awareness required of an actor when they are in a scene.

Method: Full Immersion

Method acting is one of the most recent techniques that has emerged in modern acting. It is also one of the most controversial. Popularised by practitioners such as Lee Strasberg and his students (among them James Dean, Marylin Monroe and Marlon Brando), Method Acting encourages actors to understand the emotion and psychology of their characters. By drawing deeply on their own experiences, they can explore a technique known as emotional recall. When an actor remembers a time they were sad/happy/angry in their life, they can try to replicate the sensation in their body to engage with a character feeling sad/happy/angry. The main controversy around Method Acting is whether or not it is a safe way for people to engage with characters, as it potentially means digging up personal trauma for the sake of an authentic performance. It remains a controversial—if often misunderstood—field of study.

How to Make a Decision

You’ll be able to recognise the influence of these three foundational theories on just about every western, modern acting technique. That should hopefully be of assistance when deciding about whether or not a particular technique is right for you. It’s important to develop a foundation for yourself when it comes to trying and testing acting theories, and here’s how you do that.

Know Thyself

When I’m trying to impress my friends, I tell them that acting is the active study of the human condition. As pretentious as that sounds, it’s true. When drama schools turn away young, bright-eyed high-school graduates and tell them that they need more life experience, what they’re actually saying is: “Go figure out what kind of human you are.” As painful as it is to hear, it’s good advice.

Knowing your strengths and weaknesses as an actor will be a huge help to identifying which techniques you’re better suited for. Are you drawn to emotional depth and exploration? Do you have a strong imagination? Are you spontaneous? Do you find a character through transforming your body and voice? Aligning your natural tendencies with a technique is a great place to start.

Educational Advantage

Have you trained? Drama schools and short courses are some of the best ways to expose yourself to new techniques. Often, they will establish an entire pedagogy based around a specific technique. If you’ve done your three years in drama school, consider the techniques you already know and which ones you were drawn to. It’s always a good idea to build on your educational foundation and branch out from there, rather than throwing away what you’ve learned in favour of a shiny new technique. If you haven’t trained, you have the advantage of malleability. Go out and rent some books on acting from your library and start building up your knowledge of different techniques. See which ones appeal to you most and build on them.

Your Vision

Every actor has a unique understanding of what a fulfilling career looks like to them. My heart lies in theatre, so I’m more likely to gravitate towards techniques inspired by Meisner and perhaps Stanislavski–techniques that support larger than life performances that emphasize the body and voice. My partner, on the other hand, is an excellent film actor and wants to have a career mostly in film. Techniques that draw from Method Acting, that encourage deep emotional engagement but also allow for subtlety, are more suitable. Consider your goals as an actor and then consider which techniques support your particular style.

Collaboration

You will rarely be working in isolation as an actor. Directors and other actors you meet on set will usually have their own personal style that aligns better with specific techniques, so it’s important to stay open. You don’t have to set yourself on one technique and one technique only, and you really shouldn’t. Develop your personal toolkit and be open to having a few extra screwdrivers thrown in, when you work with a director who obsesses over Suzuki.

Examples of Acting Techniques

Now that we’ve looked at some foundational theories, and you’ve done some honest introspection to figure out your style, here’s a few examples of some more advanced acting theories that are in practice today.

Viewpoints and Suzuki

Developed first by Mary Overlie, later Anne Bogart and many other acting theorists; Viewpoints emphasizes the importance of space and movement when it comes to developing a character or a scene. The practice combines gesture, movement and vocalization to emphasize the non-verbal component of theatre – and in some cases, film. Similarly, Tadashi Suzuki developed the Suzuki Method which places great emphasis on physical training to strengthen an actor’s connection with their body. Both of these methods are commonly used in a theatre setting.

Grotowski

Jerzy Grotowski coined ‘Poor Theatre’, a style of theatre that rejects elaborate sets and lights; stripping theatre back to the raw essence of an actor, attempting to connect with audiences on a primal and visceral level. Grotowski’s Cat is a popular physical warmup and a signpost for much of his techniques–highly physical and vocal, aiming to create a direct connection between the actor and the audience.

Commedia dell’arte

What began as a style of theatre in 16th century Italy is still used in many training institutions around the world today. Commedia dell’arte gives a set list of archetypal characters that are extremely versatile and, as such, can be applied to a wide range of characters. The technique encourages actors to embrace spontaneity, physicality and a deep exploration of archetypal characters which can then be adapted to just about any genre. Commedia dell’arte is often explored using techniques such as mask work and clowning.

Continual Growth

It should go without saying that no actor is bound to any single technique. Acting is a lifelong journey of growth and self-discovery. The more work you do, the more theories and techniques you’re exposed to. Therefore: the more your artistic preferences are likely to change. Whilst you may resonate with one particular theory in your early career, this may completely change later on and that’s a good thing. It’s a sign that you’re evolving and adapting with the ever-changing landscape of acting and all of the weird and wonderful parts of it. 

Conclusion

My acting teacher used to describe actors at the early stages of their career as a being stuck inside a circle. They could only extend their imagination and their bodies as far as this circle allowed. The more that they learned and worked, the more the circle started to break apart and the further they could stretch themselves. There will always be blocks that they run into but the more broken the circle is, the more likely they are to rebound off a blockage and find something new.

The more acting techniques you expose yourself to, the greater your range of potential becomes. There will be some techniques that you click with and others that you won’t, and others that you will come to love over time. Stick with the ones you enjoy but stay open to having that changed the more you grow as an actor. 

Hope this helped. See you around the traps!

The post How to Choose an Acting Technique appeared first on StageMilk.

That line comes from Carolyn Minnott, played by Jacki Weaver, in The Disaster Artist. If you agree with the sentiment, then congratulations my friend: you are a certified actor. 

Sometimes, all I really care about is getting on set or on stage. I don’t care about how big or small the role is, or how insane the hours might be—I just want to be where the people are. Whilst principal and supporting roles can be tricky to land purely because of how many people are going for those roles, extra (background acting) work is rarely in short supply. If you’re like me and you’re itching to walk the boards and make just enough cash doing it that your parents will be impressed, extra work for actors is your ticket in.

When you’re cast as an extra, you’re usually there to populate the world of the film, commercial, play ,etc. You’ll be sitting at tables having pretend conversations, dancing to the sound of silence in a nightclub, walking back and forth along a street. While the pay is less than you might get as a featured actor, extra work is nonetheless a stable and lucrative job in the industry—and a far easier job to land.

What is an Extra?

An extra, background actor or supporting artist, is a performer in a production (stage or screen) who populates the background of the scene in a non-speaking role. They are commonly used in television series, as well as larger budget films such as war or fantasy epics, which require a large amount of performers in a given sequence.

The role of an extra on stage or set is heavily regulated; for instance, extras are not permitted to speak or spoken to by the director (usually an assistant director has this role.) This is to ensure that actors livelihoods are preserved, and that extras are not required to perform additional labour that should warrant a featured actor’s salary.

The Reputation of Extra Work

I’ve known certain people who turn their nose up at extra work, because they don’t think it’s “real acting”—whatever that means. Sure, you’re not going to get famous from being an extra, but you’re just as essential to the project.

The most recent stint of extra work I did was for another one of those musician biopics that are so popular these days; I was part of a crowd of one hundred other extras pretending to be rabid fans at a concert. Imagine if they shot they shot the project without rabid fans. Not really a movie about a famous musician anymore… The director thanked all of us at the end of the day and said: “We couldn’t do it without you”, which is absolutely true.

Working as an extra helps you gain experience, gives you an opportunity to network and lands you a paycheque at the end of the day. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Don’t do Extra Work for Free

A quick word of advice before I tell you how to find extra work: don’t do it for free.

I’ll happily do a friend a favour for their short film, but any sizeable production will pay their extras; unless you’re getting some on-site experience (which is the real reason to be there) you at least want to be paid for those balmy 14 hour days. You’re also protected by an actor’s union when you work in a professional setting, which is super important.

Got that written down? Great. Here’s how you get paid extra work:

Where to Find Work as an Extra

First things first: if you have an agent, let them know you want to do extra work. Sometimes agents won’t put their actors up for extra work because they assume they don’t want it. Other agents will discourage you, not wanting to rob you of later opportunities to work on a particular show. Either way, it warrants a chat.

If you don’t have an agent, there are companies who specialise in extra work, such as OnCue Talent. But only sign with such an agency if extra work is all you’re interested in getting (and make sure you’re not surprised by any hidden agency fees.)

A good place to look out for extra work, whether you have representation or not, is casting networks. Start browsing options like StarNow and, well, Casting Networks. StarNow has a much broader range of work which usually includes a lot of unpaid work, so keep that in mind when you’re perusing. Casting Networks is more quality over quantity, but the yearly subscription is more expensive as a result.

Extra Work in Australia

If you’re based in Australia, check out Screen Australia’s website. They list professional projects that are about to be shot or are being shot. Pick a project that sounds like it might need extras—feature films and tv series are a safe bet. Give the production company a call and ask to speak with the extra department for that particular project. If you have representation, it’s always good to mention that to them so they know who to contact when they’re ready to cast. If you don’t have representation, your personal contact details will suffice. Just don’t miss the call when it comes!

While I’ve never been cast as an extra for a theatre show before, a good friend of mine recently worked as one with Melbourne Theatre Company and loved it. Landing extra gigs in professional theatres usually requires a well-connected agent or a personal contact—they won’t be advertised publicly. But they can provide long-term work if the show proves popular enough.

It’s always a good idea to go to general auditions for major theatre companies to potentially land a principal or supporting role, but you can also let the panel know that you’re happy to be considered for extra work on any upcoming shows; they’ll definitely appreciate the offer if nothing else comes of it.

What to Expect as an Extra

The average pay for extras varies according to the type of project. You can expect anywhere from $20-30/hr for most extra work on feature films and television series.  Commercial work, by comparison, is usually a little higher. I got paid $300AUD for being on a commercial set for 15 minutes, once. That was a good day.

If you’re working on a feature film or television series, you’ll be given a call time and a location to check-in. You head to the check-in at the start of the day and get a catered breakfast (if you’re lucky.) Then, after a stint in costume/make-up, you settle in for a long day of waiting around.

When it comes to screen, actors are paid to wait so bring a good book or a deck of cards and make some friends to play with on set. I was once called for 8 hours and ended up being on set for 14. Try to keep the whole day and night free for this reason.

If you are there all day, you’ll be fed. And from what I’ve seen in recent years, the catering is usually pretty awesome.

What Does an Extra Do?

Before every scene, you’ll be told what’s happening and what you need to be doing. A word of advice: if you’re doing a scene that requires a lot of physical exertion, pace yourself. You could be repeating that scene for over an hour.

Be certain about what you need to do. When the cameras roll, do it. Don’t try to get yourself a cheeky bit of screen time by moving closer to the camera or looking over at it and never ever look down the barrel of the camera: the operator sees everything.

Remember that you’re there to help create a vibrant world. Without you, the project wouldn’t be possible. Be professional, be respectful and commit to your action every take. That’s the kind of attitude that will take you places in this industry and get you noticed by the right people.

Should I Put Extra Work on my CV?

When the job is all said and done, I’d advise against it. You could potentially put something down if you were a featured extra. This means that you have a proper credit and maybe a few lines. But even then, it’s not something that’s going to make your CV stand out.

Think of it as something in between your regular, muggle job and your dream acting gig. It’s certainly going to give you some much-needed professional experience. But it’s not quite the same as an acting role you auditioned for and worked hard to develop.

Conclusion

After graduating from drama school, I worked as an extra on a feature film for three weeks. I’m telling you: getting on my bike each morning and riding out to the studio instead of my boring muggle job was such a good feeling.

If you’re not working on a project in a principal or supporting role, you might as well be working as an extra. There’s a process to how high-budget entertainment is created and it’s important to understand that process as a professional. Simply put: extra work is the easiest way to do this. And the free lunch doesn’t hurt.

Hope this helps. See you around the traps!

The post Extra Work for Actors appeared first on StageMilk.

Actors are paid a wide variety of wages, determined by such things as their level of fame, expertise, agent/representation and type of work. Given that some actors are paid millions, while others work for free, it is difficult to determine exactly how much actors get paid. The best you can do to explore this topic is to avail yourself of the many determining factors of a performer’s compensation.

All yacht jokes aside, it’s very important to know your worth as an actor. Oftentimes, particularly in the early stages of our careers, we will settle for very low paying or unpaid work, but this isn’t sustainable long-term if you want to make acting your full-time job. Let me remind you right now that what you do takes a whole lot of skill, and you deserve to be paid for your time. How much you are paid depends on many different factors, so let’s dig in!

Project Type & Budget

The type of project you’re working on has a lot to with how much you get paid. More prestigious, high-profile jobs are going to pay out a lot more than a no-budget film shot on iPhones. Even across the different media, commercials, screen work, theatre and voice acting all have different pay rates. Let’s do a quick financial breakdown on each:

Commercials

Commercials and voice acting are some of the more lucrative jobs the average actor can land; they take less of your time and pay you well for it. As an example, I was paid $5,000 AUD for two days of shooting for a nationally broadcasted commercial. Pretty good money for the time I spent on set.

Screen Work

Covering film, television and any streaming companies: these tend to pay out incredibly well. That said, you’re unlikely to book enough bit parts on a series of shows, or cameo in enough big-budget films to make a sustainable living. If you’re able to land a leading role in the next big Marvel blockbuster … what the hell are you asking us about pay for? Go call your money manager! The pull of screen work for actors is often that their fortunes can change with a single phone call.

Theatre

How much do actors get paid in theatre? Again, it depends on the type of project. A mainstage theatre production pays very well—and, perhaps more importantly—for an extended period of time. You might not be making yacht money as a servant in The Mousetrap, but you could be making it for years on end if the show is popular enough. On the lower/independent end, most theatre jobs pay out in a profit-share agreement, meaning you’ll make a percentage of the box office once expenses are covered.

Voice Work

Voice work pays modestly, but can be a big earner if you can line up a large number of gigs. Post COVID, many actors have their iso-inspired recording studios at home, meaning you could book a gig in the morning, record before lunch and be spending by sundown! As with any other medium, there are voice actors working on shows like The Simpsons who are being paid a literal fortune for every episode. Good work if you can get it!

Sidenote: Join Your Union

If you’re serious about turning acting into your career, join your union. Actors who are union members will generally earn more than non-union actors and have the support of the union should anything go haywire on a production. If you’re based in Australia, check out Media Entertainment Arts Alliance (MEAA); memberships are billed yearly and are fully tax-deductible. For the U.S, SAG-AFTRA is the most well-known actor’s union, but are quite selective and require proof of employment covered by SAG. You need to have worked professionally as a background actor for at least three days or in a principal role for at least one day. You also need to have been a paid-up member of one of the recognised unions (ACTRA, AEA, AGMA or AGVA) for at least a year. In the U.K, Equity membership requires proof that you to have earned at least £500 working professionally as an actor.

There are lots of benefits to joining your union–so many that it’s a whole article within itself–better pay is just about guaranteed. So, join your union.

Star Power & Experience

Your reputation plays a big role in how much you get paid. Production companies will pay famous actors more their face becomes a recognised brand and has the potential to bring in an established audience. Because of this, actors with a lot of clout can usually set a higher base rate for their work. Some actors even negotiate a kind of profit share with the production, taking a cut of the overall earnings of the project which, if it does well, is likely going to be a lot.

Less famous actors are also entitled to something similar called “residuals“, which compensates them for their work being streamed or broadcast after its first showing. Residuals support many actors through lean times, although rates in the streaming era have been labelled by many as unfair, and exploitative of legal loopholes.

Many jobs in the world have something called a pay scale which is a structured system outlining the range of salaries or rates for different positions. Acting has the same kind of system. Lead roles pay more than supporting roles; if you’re more well known, you’ll likely be cast in more lead roles that pay out better.

Genre & Role

If a certain genre is popular, working in that genre can pay more because there will likely be a larger production company behind it. Disney, with its stranglehold on properties like Marvel, Star Wars and live-action cash-ins enjoys huge financial success due to the popularity of these genres. If everyone suddenly realised how stale and overused those brands were, the company would be in serious trouble. Give people what they want and you get paid accordingly. Simple. 

The demands of a role are a huge factor in determining pay, across all mediums. Lead roles have more screen or stage time and usually have more character development. Because they require more from the performer, they usually compensate at a better rate. Complex roles that involve emotionally intense scenes, physical transformations or stunts might also influence the amount of pay.

International Variations in Pay

Alright folks: strap in for a round trip of the world, as we tour the different structures of pay in different film industries. While we’re not going to cover the whole Small World Ride, we are going to examine each of the major film markets and how their structure/box office draw affects an actor’s purse.

The United States & Hollywood

Aside from the base salary, there are a few different contributors to how much an actor will earn when they work in Hollywood. “Backend points” are a system we spoke about earlier that pays out a percentage of a film’s profits. Some actors will also receive bonuses for their work if they are nominated for awards or achieve certain box office milestones. A portion of the revenue from international distribution, streaming rights and syndication can also be negotiated as payment through backend deals. 

Some of the top earning actors in the US include:

• Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who reportedly makes around $20 million per movie.
• Robert Downey Jr., who made somewhere around $75 million for starring as Iron Man in the MCU.
• Scarlett Johansson is one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood; she actually sued Disney for the simultaneous release of Black Widow in cinemas and on streaming services, as this affected the box office numbers that would determine her percentage.

Are you spotting the trend of popular genre here? I sure am.

India & Bollywood

Bollywood actors are usually paid an upfront fee that is negotiated on a per-film basis. Similar to Hollywood, some actors negotiate a profit-sharing scheme where they are paid a percentage of the film’s total earnings. Music is a big part of Bollywood films, which can result in royalty payouts for actors if they are featured in songs from the film’s soundtrack. Bollywood actors will also make money through endorsements of brands, television show appearances and expanding into the international film industry (which can offer higher pay and global exposure.)

Some of the top-earning actors in Bollywood include:

• Shah Rukh Khan, also known as “The King of Bollywood”, has been among the industry’s top earners for many years.
• Salman Khan, whose box office earnings have been some of the industry’s highest.
• Akshay Kumar whose versatility and prolific output secures his spot as one of Bollywood’s top earners.
• Amitabh Bachchan is a veteran of Bollywood and continues to earn a significant income through films, endorsements, and voice-over work.

Endorsements are a big part of earnings for Bollywood actors–all of the actors listed above and other top earners are known for making money through advertisements as well as their films.

European Cinema

The budget for European films is generally lower compared to that of Hollywood films, which can result in lower pay. Profit-sharing is not as prevalent in the European industry; actors are paid a fixed rate or salary without receiving any substantial backend points. Public funding is more prevalent, too, which constricts budgets and allocates more money to production than actor salaries.

There is a different kind of emphasis placed on theatre and film in Europe. The project goals are often more culturally or artistically orientated, rather than commercially. The cultural and artistic value placed on theatre and film is arguably more significant than in the US and India, which means that actors are usually willing to work for less pay if they believe in the creative vision of the project. Plus, many European stars choose to work in Hollywood in order to fund local, artistically-driven passion projects or philanthropy.

Chinese and Asian Markets

The Chinese film market is one of the largest and most lucrative markets in the world, and had the leading box office revenue in 2020 and 2021. This is having a significant impact on the salary of actors around the world as more cross-cultural exchanges between Western and Asian film industries are being made. The rise of the Korean film industry has also been very significant in recent years, bringing Asian actors onto the global stage and more Western actors into Asian industries.

Into the Future

Globalisation means that more international film markets are collaborating; as a result, more international opportunities are available for artists to work overseas. Hollywood studios, in particular, have increasingly targeted international box offices with productions, because global success of a film means more money in the pocket of those involved. There is also a higher demand for dubbing (when actors who are fluent in the local language give voice-over translations of the film) making it a great time to be a voice artist. There is, however, more competition in casting as a result of globalisation. More international actors are being given more opportunities to audition for international projects. On the plus-side, there is also more opportunity for actors to negotiate higher fees if they are in greater demand.

The Rise of Artificial Intelligence

Sit down in an acting class, any acting class in the world, and look around you. Odds are, most of the faces you see will have their jobs taken by AI in the next ten years. Artificial intelligence is an existential threat for many in the arts industry; for this reason, it is important to be aware of how it is being deployed by studios and producers and how it might affect your pay packet.

The one on everyone’s mind is AI’s potential to replicate actors digitally: be it their voice, or their entire likeness. This raises some interesting questions around the rights human beings will have to their own likeness and voice, and the ethics of casting actors who may long since have died. Will they still make money off digital replicas of themselves after they’re dead? Or will using a deceased person’s likeness be outlawed?

While the news is decidedly “not good” in all directions, we are still in the early days of AI’s proliferation in the creative industries. Make it your job, as an actor, to stay up to date with current trends. For now: join your union.

Conclusion

How much do actors get paid? How long is a piece of string? Some people will work hard their whole careers to scrape up beer and rent money; others will land their first lead role at sixteen and never look back. One thing we can say for sure: if you’re looking for fame and fortune, you’ re probably barking up the wrong career-tree.

Finally, it’s important to mention that for all the modifiers and outliers in this article, the uncertainty of an actor’s pay packet grows even more fraught and unfair if they are from a diverse background. There is still not enough being done to ensure income equity across all abilities, genders and ethnicity in the entertainment world. And it is essential that we think very carefully about the industry’s future with how quickly the world is changing. (Maybe join your union?)

The best you can do is fight to get paid what you’re worth. Look for the better opportunity, the favourable rate or the agent who will negotiate for you like they’re firing two guns at once. And if the money isn’t there: find the jobs you love. They might not buy your cousin a yacht, but they’ll keep you happy ’til your ship comes in.

Hope this helps. See you around the traps!

The post How Much do Actors Get Paid? appeared first on StageMilk.

Learning how to get better at auditioning requires an understanding of the industry, as well as some hard work invested into your actor’s toolkit. Ensure you are prepared, have strategies in place to deal with nerves and have a good understanding of the brief. Most importantly, practice auditioning and all it entails: script analysis, learning and memorising a monologue or short scene, and be ready to modify what you’re showing based on the casting director’s notes.

It might sound strange to hear this, but auditioning and acting aren’t the same thing. They’re very closely related, but there are a different set of skills we can hone that will be a huge help to us when our number is up and we step into the audition room. So let’s dive straight in, and catch you up on how to get better at auditioning.

The Room vs. The Tape

We audition for a role in one of two ways: either in a room with ugly carpet and the production team sitting behind a trestle table, or in our own bedrooms with a blue screen behind us and a camera in front of us. Before we move on, let’s quickly break down what separates them—as there’s actually a whole lot more they have in common.

Auditioning in Person

Auditioning in person is far less common these days, which is a shame, because it gives you a great chance to foist your personality on the casting team. Unlike a self-tape, you get to walk into the room and make a good first impression. So bring your charm and your personality and let that work to your advantage!

However: when you’re in the room, you’re on a timer. You only have about 15 minutes or so to strut your stuff then it’s: “Thanks for coming, we’ll be in touch.” Be prepared, be prepared to nail it and watch out for those pesky nerves (see below.)

Auditioning via Tape

When you’re putting down a self-tape, you can shoot it as many times as you like before sending it in. You could do 600 garbage takes, absolutely kill it on Take 601 and send that through like you shot it in your lunch break, no biggie… Generally, if you’re doing more than five takes to get it right you need to do more preparation.

I’m of the belief that the first take is usually the best take if you’ve done your preparation well. The more tapes I do, the more I find I start to intellectualise the text rather than focusing on my character and their connection to the words. But it’s different for everyone.

Getting Nervous in an Audition

How many times have you rehearsed a piece in the comfort of your own bedroom with no one watching and thought: “Wow, this is perfect, easily some of the best acting I’ve ever done”, only to step into the room or in front of a camera and do something completely different? I think many of the challenges we face in auditions can be brought back to nerves.

Nerves are a big enough curveball that our team at StageMilk have been addressing the issue for years—whether for remote auditions or in person. But I’m here to argue that nerves can be a good thing, as long as they don’t overwhelm you. My dad always tells me before an audition that it’s good to be a little nervous, because it means that you care. That fluttering in your belly is energy and energy is good if we can harness it properly. 

Being Prepared for an Audition

The key to harnessing your nerves is focusing on what you can control. The biggest thing you have control over is your preparation. That means reading the script, learning your lines, and doing a good vocal and physical warm-up. We have several articles on these topics (linked in blue below), but let me give you the cliff notes version on each to get you started and feeling prepared!

Recommended Reading: The Audition by Ed Hooks. Whilst the process of auditioning has changed since this book was published, the advice Ed Hooks gives is timeless and super valuable. Add it to your list.

Reading the Script

If you’re lucky enough to get the whole script, read it all the way through a couple of times. You’d be surprised how many actors need to be taught this: read the whole damn script. Guess what happens if the director asks you a question about the script you can’t answer? Doesn’t matter if you acted like Meryl Streep: you’re not getting that part, because nobody believes you give a damn.

If you don’t get the whole script, read the excerpt you have and squeeze all the meaning out of it you possibly can. Analyse the script: know the words, find the character—their objective and their actions—and plumb the piece for subtext. All of this will help you realise your role.

Finally, focus on your character. Build them based on the text and make them feel real. It’s common for actors to try and build a character from the ground up—and sometimes you need to. But with any decent script, all the information we need to create a compelling character is usually already there.

Learning your Lines

When I say learn your lines, I mean know your lines inside out, back to front and side to side. There are a million and one ways to learn your lines effectively, but I’ll share my favourite method with you.

When I am given a script, I like to attach a physical and vocal quality to each word or couple of words while I’m learning them. For example, if need to say “fire” I might shake around a bunch and lengthen out the “i” sound. I’ll repeat the process until I find something that feels like the word “fire” in my body. It might sound strange, but it helps you connect your body to the saying of the words. And suddenly, the words become easier to remember!

Warm Up

On the day of your audition, before you leave or before you shoot, do an awesome warm-up. It’s different for everyone but generally, you want to spend 5 minutes warming up your voice and about 10 minutes warming up your body. Even if you’re shooting a self-tape and never leaving your house, you still want to find that switched-on energy that comes from pumping blood and oxygen around your system.

Do whatever is going to get you into the zone. Me? I like to dance to my favourite music. Really dance—as in flail my limbs and throw my body around. Your warm-up should be fun, and it should energise you before the audition.

Personal Practice

Let me tell you a secret: I will occasionally submit myself for projects that I don’t actually want to land, purely so I can practice at auditioning. (Don’t tell anyone I told you that; not even our fearless leader Andrew!)

If you have a StarNow subscription, follow independent theatre companies and low-profile casting directors on Instagram. You’ll be exposed to an ocean of projects. Apply for these projects for the practice, and if you get the role you can simply say no. Use this trick with discretion, though, because you don’t want to build a reputation for yourself of turning down projects.

Okay, after being very sneaky, I’ll give you some more ethical advice. Build up a strong personal practice. I’ll share mine to show you what I mean.

• Morning Pages, every morning.
• Five minute voice warm-up, every day.
• Read one play a week.
• Prepare one classical and one contemporary monologue each month, and film them*.
• Exercise every day.

*I film myself doing monologues so I can send them to people I trust for feedback. You can send these to a friend, mentor or old drama school teacher. You can even join us on here at StageMilk’s Scene Club for professional feedback each month!

Your personal practice is what will carry you through not only auditions, but your entire career. It’s easy to let acting fall by the wayside occasionally because it’s such a slow game and work is hard to come by, but acting is a muscle. If you don’t use it, it will atrophy—and it will show in your auditions. So put together a routine and get training.

Your Best Friend

Once you’re feeling prepared, and keeping yourself in practice, it all comes down to attitude. Here’s something I like to use to keep positive for self-tape auditions. I like to pretend that the camera is my best friend in the whole world and loves me a lot. Even if I have someone reading across from me, I still pretend that it’s not an iPhone with a cracked screen standing next to them, but my best friend.

It sounds simple because it is. But the minor psychological adjustment this makes can be really useful for dealing with nerves and also giving a more engaged performance. You may have heard things like: “The camera sees everything”, “The camera doesn’t have a heart”… This kind of chatter about cameras can be quite detrimental to us. If we internalise that the camera is some kind of stone-cold killer, then it will peek through in our acting. Try to reframe that and see the difference it makes.

You can also apply this to some extent in the room. Imagine the panel and/or the actor reading across from you are all your best friends. If I know who’s directing and casting the project, then I like to look them up to see what they’ve worked on but also just put a face to the name. Doing this makes it less intimidating when I walk in.

Little tricks like this add up and can have a super positive impact on your performance. So start asking your acting pals what kind of little things they do and start building up a toolkit of audition tricks for yourself!

Conclusion

I’ll conclude this article with one last piece of advice. As actors going for roles, what we’re ultimately doing is charming people. I’ve heard casting directors say that they knew straight away that an actor was perfect for a role as soon as they walked in the room, simply because they’re professional and likeable people.

Your charisma is important as an actor. I say that with love and compassion, because I know what it’s like to feel socially anxious in auditions and I know how strange it can feel to force a persona. This is why I think a lot of drama schools, and directors, talk about actors needing more life experience. The best actors are human beings who know themselves and who are comfortable in their own skin—which is something everyone can achieve with time and little introspection.

When you walk into a room, when you hit record on the camera and introduce yourself, stand up straight, smile and show them how much of a pleasure you would be to work with. That kind of attitude will take you very far in life, I think.

Anyway, hope this helps. See you around the traps!

The post How to Get Better at Auditioning appeared first on StageMilk.

Mask for actors primarily functions as a tool for developing characters. Masks used for performance can mimic popular archetypes that encourage a very specific way of moving and vocalising or they can be completely neutral, serving as a foundation upon which to build an entirely new character.

In this article, I’ll talk about the historical significance of masks for actors in performance, then look more deeply into specific kinds of masks and their application in a training and performance environment. Whether you’ve had formal training or not, mask for actors can be an invaluable addition to your actor’s toolkit!

A Brief History

Masks have been around for at least 9,000 years. They have been used in many different cultures for a variety of reasons including protection, ceremony and performance. There is a huge range of masks used specifically for performance from all over the world with characters and applications unique to the culture.

I recently returned from Bali where I was fortunate enough to live and train with Balinese artists. I learned about many traditional art forms, including Balinese mask. Balinese masks are exceptionally transformative and are generally paired with traditional dance or movement to tell stories or entertain audiences.

You might already be familiar with the theatre masks of Ancient Greece, which were used to transform actors into any gender, creature or deity they desired. What you may not know is that masks were also a way of amplifying a performer’s natural voice. The Greeks knew certainly knew a thing or two about performing, so it’s no surprise that mask has remained a popular training tool for actors throughout history.

The Evolution of Mask in Acting

When you think of acting, what kind of images come to mind? Could it perhaps be a pair of masks? Is one smiling and the other one frowning? I knew it. 

These two famous masks were invented a very long time ago by the Athenians who popularized theatre and mask-use all across central Europe. The masks were initially used in performances that celebrated the gods—especially fan favourite Dionysus, the god of fertility, wine and theatre. As the masks became popularised in Europe, their use extended to religious ceremonies, including funerals where professional actors would wear masks and re-create the deeds of the deceased (which is exactly how I want my funeral to go.)

Masks evolved over time and became more specialised for performance. Japanese Noh theatre came about in the 14th Century and is still performed today, using a staggering 450 different models of mask for various roles.

Fast forward to the Renaissance. Everyone from the royals to the commoners were using masks in one way or another. Masquerade emerged around this time and is still used today as a party theme by unimaginative people. The roots of ballet and clowning come from artforms then known as ballet de cour and commedia dell’arte, with masks being integral to both. 

In modern times, masks are more intricate than ever and are in use on the stage and the screen. Think of all the films that use practical effects like Alien, Predator, Friday the 13th and just about every horror movie ever that have actors sitting in chairs for six hours getting a prosthetic face put on. It all comes from the roots of mask.

Full and Partial Mask

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of mask when it comes to acting for stage or screen: full and partial mask. Full masks cover the whole face, creating a very specific kind of character, whereas partial masks might reveal the mouth and eyes, allowing a more open interpretation. 

Full mask coaxes the body into weird, wonderful and highly exaggerated shapes. It’s very difficult to speak articulately with your lips pressed up against a full mask, which is perhaps why many traditional practices don’t allow speaking (Balinese Mask, Larval Mask, Neutral Mask.) Full mask forces you to communicate exclusively with your body.

Partial mask is a little less restrictive, and has quite a profound effect on the voice as well as the body. In many partial mask performance traditions, you are usually expected to vocalise which is why these masks are typically used in comedic performances so that actors can have an audible dialogue with each other or the audience. These masks can stretch an actor’s voice into incredible places.

The most fascinating thing about both of these mask-types is the transformative potential they have. It’s very difficult to put on a well-made mask and still behave exactly like you normally do.

The Energy of Mask

When I was studying mask in drama school (and more recently in Bali) I noticed some interesting phenomena that occurred every time I put on a mask. 

The first was that I felt safer in the mask. Every actor I know has some level of anxiety when they get up to perform, and I’m no exception. Whether I’m in the wings at a show or sitting on a plastic chair in an audition waiting room, my heart-rate goes up and my stomach floods with butterflies, no matter how many times I do it.

Putting on a mask seems to alleviate this. Not completely, mind you, but definitely a significant amount. I don’t have any scientific reasoning for why this happens, but my personal theory is that wearing a mask gives me total permission to be someone or something else. Suddenly, I’m not myself: so therefore I can’t get self-conscious. Weird, right? 

The second thing that happens is that the mask itself shows me how it wants to play.  I don’t need to invent or intellectualise anything because it’s already there in the shape of the mask’s nose and eyes and the energy that it exudes. In Bali, before we wore the mask we were working with, we would hold it up and look at it, imagining that it was looking straight back at us. As we stared lovingly into each others’ eyes, my posture and my expression started to shift and I started to imagine what the mask would sound like if it had a voice. This all happened really quickly. Before I knew it, I had a fully embodied character to play with.

The Applications of Mask

Perhaps the most obvious benefits of training in different kinds of masks are the physical ones. Much like animal work, they help you to create shapes and sensations in your body that you aren’t typically used to. This is hugely beneficial for any kind of acting: stage, screen, even voiceover. Mask encourages a boldness of expression that few other methodologies can.

The practice also introduces you to a variety of different archetypes, depending on the mask. It might be tempting to dismiss archetypes as uninspired cliches, but I believe they are a great starting point for character generation. Cliches and archetypes and stereotypes are the way that we paint broad strokes as actors. You can’t create detail without them.

After a particularly fulfilling mask class, I approached my tutor and told her that I felt so much freer and embodied when I’m wearing a mask. She replied: “All acting is a mask.” It’s advice that I will hold and pass on to others for the rest of my life. Regardless of whether or not we are wearing a physical mask, we are always someone or something else when we act.

The beauty of this philosophy is that it gives you full permission to be someone other than yourself. You can put on a mask when you’re ready to play and take it off when you’re finished. It doesn’t need to come with you into your day-to-day life.

Conclusion

Mask has been around for thousands of years. It continues to serve as one of the most transformative performance practices in the world. Even if you don’t own a mask, next time you’re making faces at yourself in the mirror, imagine that you’re creating one for yourself and see what kind of characters you can come up with.

When you find one that really shocks you, explore their voice and their posture and remind yourself that this is the essence of a practice that has informed theatre and acting as we know it today. Experiment. Play. Have fun!

See you around the traps!

The post Mask for Actors appeared first on StageMilk.

Animal work in acting refers to exercises in which performers study animals in an attempt to mimic the creature. Often, animal work begins outside of the classroom—in nature, at a zoo or a similar enclosure—although it can be undertaken through the watching of documentaries. Animal work can subsequently inform physicality of a character, and even the character’s personality and behaviour.

Just about every drama school I’m aware of teaches animal work to some extent. This is heartening for those of us who paid money to act like a mouse or a bee for a week straight. So let’s talk about what animal work in acting is, how to go about the process and how it can help with developing and complexifying a character.

Animal Work in Acting

Before we get our Dolittle on, let’s cover  some acting theory. For animal work at drama school, my studies were centred on Laban Movement Efforts.

Laban Movement Efforts are a sub-category of Laban Movement Analysis (LMA)—which is a terminology used to describe different qualities of movement. Its creator, Rudolf von Laban, was a dancer and choreographer. He laid the groundwork for LMA, which was extended and developed by practitioners such as Lisa Ullman, Irmgard Bartenief, Warren Lamb and many other talented folks.  The Laban Movement Efforts are a way of understanding and interpreting subtle movement characteristics and can be applied to anything and anyone:

The Four Laban Movement Efforts

• SPACE which can be DIRECT or INDIRECT. If you saw someone on the street moving with direct space, they would know exactly where they were going and would be moving directly towards it. Someone with indirect space could be lost and spinning around in circles trying to find the right street.
• WEIGHT which can be STRONG or LIGHT. Someone with strong weight could be moving with very heavy footsteps whereas someone with light weight could be moving silently.
• TIME which can be SUDDEN or SUSTAINED. Someone moving with sudden time could be moving slowly in one moment, then quickly in the next: stopping and starting a lot with no rhyme nor reason. Someone moving with sustained time could be moving at one single pace with very deliberate and calculated starts and stops.
• FLOW which can be BOUND or FREE. Someone moving with bound flow could appear rigid or upright whereas someone moving with free flow could appear loose and wavy.

Each of these efforts combine to create all kinds of weird and wonderful ways of understanding movement, but that’s a whole other article in itself. The reason Laban Movement Efforts are so commonly used in acting and dance is because they serve as a shared language for understanding movement and can be easily replicated later on.

Homework: See if you can assign these movement efforts to people on the street and note what efforts come up the most. 

A Trip to the Zoo

Back in drama school, Animal Week rolled around and we went on excursion to the zoo. (It’s amazing how similar drama school is to primary school, at times.) Our task for the day was to watch the animals we had been given to study and assign Laban Movement Efforts to them. 

My animal was the kangaroo rat, which I decided had the following efforts: Direct Space, Light Weight, Sudden Time and Bound Flow. The following days in the studio were spent replicating these efforts to embody each of our animals.

Where the practice got interesting and started to make more sense for me was when we introduced a sliding scale from 0 to 100. When we were at 100, we were 100% animal; moving like them, breathing like them, behaving like them. As we moved down the scale, we became more human whilst retaining qualities from the animal which started to develop some really interesting and embodied characters that we hadn’t seen before.

To Animal, or not to Animal

Human move quite similarly to one another. The movement of our bodies reflects a lot of things, including culture, societal expectations and more personal reasons such as long-term injuries or familial influence.

I think the reason animal work in acting is such a common practice is because it helps to break us out of our learned structures of movement so that we can explore the possibilities and limits of our own bodies. But when is this most useful in acting? Let’s return to the sliding scale and how it can be applied to different styles of acting:

Animal to Stage to Screen

At 100% of the scale, you’re playing an animal. Now that might sound far-fetched that you’d ever be playing a role that is 100% an animal. But think about motion capture, video games, the technology that can turn human bodies into just about anything. I always think of this scene from Ruben Östlund’s The Square featuring an incredible performance from Terry Notary. He is primarily a stunt performer and motion capture artist, but watch the clip below and tell me this isn’t a committed performance…

70% – 100%: Motion Capture

If you’re doing any kind of motion capture or voice-over work, you’ll most likely be working somewhere between 70% to 100% animal. These mediums demand actors who can stretch their voices and bodies into subhuman or inhuman characters, and I think strong animal work in acting is one of the most effective ways you can achieve such feats.

60%: Stage Acting

As we move down the scale to 60%, this is most likely the realm of stage acting. Characters on stage need to be somewhat larger than life to reach the audience members in the back row. If you’re playing a character who is loud, proud and takes up a lot of space, you could look at animals like lions, tigers and bears (oh my). There are plenty of plays like Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco and Animal Farm by George Orwell where the characters turn into or are already animals. And let’s not forget poor Bottom in A Midsummer Nights’ Dream. I’d argue that for such productions, animal work is essential. 

<60%: Screen Acting

The further down the scale we move, the closer we get to screen acting. It might sound bizarre that you’d ever need animal work for the characters you’d play in front of a camera. But there are still some undeniable benefits. Remember that what animal work is ultimately trying to do is to break you out of your personal movement patterns and show you other possibilities.

One of my tutors used to say there are generally two kinds of actors: the ones who bring their own personality to roles and the ones who develop entirely new characters for roles. Neither actor is necessarily better or worse than the other. But if you think you’re more of the latter, animal work is going to be a huge help to you.

Beyond the Body, Improving your Voice

Another great thing about animal work that I’ve yet to mention is its ability to influence the voice. Growing up, I learned that being loud was annoying and unlikeable. Wo without even realising it, I started to constrict my throat and change my posture so as not to let the full power of my voice come through.

Try this: tuck your chin in towards your neck and try to keep your neck straight and your eyes level, without straining. Now say “Hello, how are you today?” Next, stick your neck out as far forward as you can and say that again. Notice the difference in how your voice sounds? The way we move and stand has a huge impact on our voices because our voice and our bodies are not separate things.

Thankfully, for us poor conditioned humans, animals are blissfully unaware of how loud or quiet they’re being or what they look like. They don’t change the way they hold themselves, which means their voices are exactly as they should sound. By embodying different animals and making sounds in these weird and wonderful shapes, we can start to explore not only the possibilities and limits of our bodies but our voices as well. Maybe we can even rediscover what we’re actually supposed to sound like. Doesn’t that sound cool?

Conclusion

Whether or not you’re a drama school graduate who spent a week of their lives imagining they were a rat, animal work in acting can unlock some really interesting potential. I also think it does a lot for our egos as we tap into a more primal, unique way of moving and being. I’m a firm believer that we already have everything we need to be great actors in the world around us. Animals can serve as a good reminder of what we’re really capable of outside of polite society. So do yourself a favour: pick an animal, plan a daytrip to the zoo and pretend you’re a hippopotamus for a while; see what you discover.

Hope this helped. See you around the traps!

The post Animal Work in Acting appeared first on StageMilk.

Clowning is the study and practice of a form of comedic performance. Clowns are usually characterised by loud make-up, bright clothing and acts that utilise slapstick—usually in ridicule of the clown themselves. Despite the ‘low brow’ comedy and the open, simplistic nature of most clown personas, the study of clowning is extremely rigorous and requires great physical and mental focus on the part of the actor.

Most actors will do some form of clowning in drama school, or at the very least some kind of training in physical theatre. And while you can sell all your possessions and move to France to study the art of clowning, there are plenty of things you can incorporate into your actor’s toolkit that don’t require buying red noses in bulk.

Keen to discover more about clowning? Read Discovering the Clown by Christopher Bayes. Many of the ideas I talk in this article about come from Mr Bayes, who is one of the modern masters of clowning.

Clowning: The Fact of Joy

The stereotypical iteration of the clown (think Pennywise without the teeth) is a fairly modern iteration. Turns out clowning has been around since 2400 BCE in Egypt, and has popped up in almost every culture since. To me, this suggests that it’s an innate part of the human condition—speaking a lot to do with our desire for joy and play. Everyone looks for joy in some capacity throughout life, and the one of the earliest forms of joy we experience is playing as children. Play is at the heart of clowning. But while it sounds simple enough, it can throw up some big obstacles when we take classes in the art as adults.

We’re generally taught, as we grow up, that making mistakes is bad. The mistakes we make when we’re children often occur when we follow our emotional impulse. “I feel so angry right now; I’m going to throw this stone at that window!” Smash. We learn that being impulsive or emotional leads to scary reactions from parents and teachers, so we train ourselves not to be. Clowning wants to us to unlearn this behaviour: to express it in a safe and controlled way.

Perhaps this is the reason why some people are afraid of clowns? It’s genuinely strange to watch an adult behave impulsively and openly. When we practice clowning, what we’re really doing is unlearning this highly restrictive way of being. This teaches us how to be more magnetic performers.

The Little Driver

Inside all of us, there’s something Christopher Bayes calls the Little Driver. It’s like your inner child, the one who I talked about in my Morning Pages article, who looks at everything with awe and wonder and says things like: “What if we climbed that tree all the way to the top and howled at the moon like a wolf then grew wings and flew to Jupiter?” The Little Driver is always looking for ways to have the most fun and the practice of clowning is all about letting the Little Driver go crazy.

It’s a little tricky to explain just how amazing it is to watch someone let their Little Driver take over. If someone is following their Little Driver with joyous abandon, it is impossible to take your eyes off them. Isn’t that exactly what we’re all trying to achieve when we perform?

Clowning is about Letting Go

I started clowning classes in my second year of drama school. It was terrifying. Every class, we took turns to get up by ourselves and try to make everyone laugh. For the first few classes, I sat there hoping I wouldn’t be the first to have to go up so that I could plan my attack. I sat in my chair racking my brain for things that I could say or do that I thought everyone else would find funny. When it was finally my turn to get up, I felt sure that I had it in the bag. I took a deep breath, got up and delivered. Nothing. Not a peep from my tutor or my classmates. It was nightmarish. 

I eventually learned a very important lesson about clowning. We all know what it feels like when we’re home alone and doing weird stuff to entertain ourselves like strutting around, making faces, singing at the top of our lungs and making terrible jokes. We do that because it’s fun and it feels good. Well, that’s what clowning wants you to do.

It’s not about being a comedic genius and having a full stand-up routine planned out and ready to go, it’s about following whatever you find funny in the moment. Human beings are pack animals. And whether we list it on our Hinge profiles our not, we’re very empathetic creatures. If we see someone enjoying themselves and laughing, then we’ll feel inclined to do the same. But the same is true of the opposite, too. If we see someone feeling uncomfortable, then we find ourselves cringing. “Is that a party you’d want to be at?” is what our tutor used to ask when someone was trying too hard. Watching someone experience a childlike joy and being brave enough to share it with everyone is incredibly special.

Why do Clowns wear Red Noses?

Ever asked yourself this question? There are a few ideas, many of which are related to the famous, influential clown Albert Fratellini (who was associated with the appendage.) Some say it symbolises the red, swollen nose of a drunkard—perhaps explaining the loose behaviour of the clown character. But many believe it’s more to do with mask work.

Like clowning, mask work is something you tend to encounter once in drama school. If you’re unfamiliar, mask technique is a style of acting informed by the wearing of masks. Much like clowning, mask technique has cropped up across many cultures over human history. Modern mask technique is informed by Commedia dell’arte—a sixteenth century Italian form with instantly recognisable character archetypes.

Masking and clowning is often taught hand-in-hand, because the two are so closely related and informed. Whether you’re opening your mind up in a clowning exercise, or donning a mask to shed your everyday persona, such techniques are about letting go of the person you are and giving over to impulse.

You’re So Impulsive

What I realised, after three years at drama school, was that every single one of our classes was ultimately trying to hone our impulses. The paradox of acting is that you’re rehearsing for a performance that shouldn’t look rehearsed. You need to know your lines back to front but say them as if you’re speaking them for the first time. It’s hard. Acting is hard. But the key to good acting, I believe, is to have razor sharp impulses and not be afraid of following them. 

Clowning is one of the most effective practices for honing your impulses because it’s the most tangible way to test them. If people are laughing and cheering, you’re following your impulses! If they’re not, then chances are you aren’t. The more you do it, the better you get at identifying your impulses and following them. And you can take that skill into any acting you do, whether it be dramatic or comedic.

Taking a Class in Clowning

You’ve probably gathered from all of this that clowning makes you vulnerable. Therefore, it’s super important to find a teacher who knows the craft well and who will maintain supportive and safe space for people to work in. I can personally recommend my two teachers, Budi Miller and Fabio Motta at The Clowning Workshop. They operate out of Melbourne, Australia and run a handful of great workshops throughout the year. Whilst I haven’t trained with him personally, Giovanni Fusetti is very highly regarded amongst my peers who have taken his workshops and he runs them all over the world. 

If you want to go for the white whale of clowning, there is the great Philippe Gaulier in France, whose teaching and reputation marks him a living legend. But no matter where you hail from, there’s no shame in looking close to home first. Wherever you end up, I can guarantee you’ll learn something and challenge yourself.

Clowning Exercises

Finally, there are plenty of clowning exercises and techniques you can discover on your own actor’s journey. I’m going to include a couple of favourites below, but there are hundreds out there you can learn. Much like a good physical or vocal warm-up, seek out your fellow actors for inspiration.

• Exaggeration exercise. Start with one actor walking around the rehearsal space. Then have another person follow them and exaggerate their movements. Be as precise as possible: do they swing their arms, move their head, have a particular expression? If you have a third actor, have them exaggerate these movements again behind the second. You can do simple tasks, emotions, even performances of other scenes!
• Mystery object. Put an object in the centre of the space between the actors. Each performer has a turn stepping into the circle and announcing “This object is not an [OBJECT] … it’s a-” and declare it to be something totally different to what it actually is. Chair? Snail shell. Pencil? Tiny submarine. Egg-beater? Mic for karaoke. You can extend this exercise by using the new object as the inspiration for an improvised scene.
• The chair. This is a fairly famous clowning exercise: put a chair in the centre of the room. Your character has to interact with it, without touching it. Eventually, you are allowed to touch the chair but you mustn’t use it as a chair. Take your time with this exercise. Enjoy the build-up of tension in the room before you finally get to interact!

Conclusion

Clowning is hard work. It takes a lot of practice to un-polite your adult brain and get used to embarrassment (something our self-obsessed selves fear above all else!) But clowning attempts to train this bias out of us. It reminds us that within this fear of being embarrassed or failing, is a joyous state of play that resonates with every single human being. 

So: go learn how to trust your impulses by being an idiot for a few hours a week. Pop on that red nose and play.

See you around the traps!

The post What is Clowning? appeared first on StageMilk.

You don’t need to go to drama school to have a career in the arts. It can be beneficial, and provide a strong network and pathway for your future, but it is only one option. Furthermore, there are several political and economic factors to consider about drama school that might not be readily apparent. Before you make any decisions, grant yourself the advantage of some unbiased information.

An important disclaimer before we jump in: this isn’t an article written to undermine drama schools, or the formal training system. It’s more a chance for me to give you a few pointers (from personal experience) so that your decision-making around jumping into the drama school audition process is as rounded as possible. Let’s jump in!

NOTE: this is an opinion piece from one of our guest writers Frazer Shepherdson.

What We’ve Been Taught

This article was bound to get political at some point, so I might as well start right now. The general pathway we’re taught to follow in life looks something like this: go to school → get qualified → get a job. It’s important to realise that we’re taught this because it’s good for business. All of the time we devote to getting a career and working in one helps keep the money flowing and, whether you like it or not, money is what makes our world go around. 

I think the reason for a lot of aspiring actors being convinced that drama school is the only way to become successful is because of the way the modern world programs us. You need some kind of qualification if you want a good career, so go spend lots of money on that and then you can be successful and work for 40 years (so you can retire and spend the last 20 or so years of your life gardening and going on Mediterranean cruises.)

Acting or not, it doesn’t take much to step back, look at this model and realise that it isn’t the only way of doing things. A performing arts career, and many other great careers, are often dismissed as pipe dreams because they aren’t perceived as being important by society. You only have to look at the insane cuts the arts suffer at the hands of the government bodies to figure out that they don’t want people spending time on such an unpredictable career. And this is despite large contributions the entertainment industry makes to a country’s GDP.

Acting Isn’t Qualification-based

A successful career in the arts isn’t dependant on any kind of qualification. What it ultimately comes down to is how much effort you’re willing to put in behind the scenes. Most of that effort won’t turn any kind of profit, at least initially. The golden rule of capitalism is productivity = profit, which is why we can feel disheartened and even lazy when our parents ask us whether or not we’re being paid for that independent theatre show. It’s what we’ve been taught.

We have to play the game by the rules we’re given to some extent, but next time you’re thinking about auditioning for drama school, ask yourself whether you genuinely want to train there or if you just feel like it’s the right thing to do. Either answer is fine.

Drama School is (Mostly) Great

There are many reasons why drama school is great, and they’re all compelling enough to make it worth your time. For the record, here at StageMilk we are huge fans of drama school and the formal training they offer to emerging actors. However, we’re not doing our jobs if we don’t give you all the options on offer. And there are some important illusions to dispel about conservatoire raining.

Most importantly, going to drama school won’t guarantee success in the industry. It can give you something of a head-start in that it helps you build a network with other artists and industry professionals, but the hard truth is that many people I know who went to drama school are no longer actors. Success comes down to persistence above anything else, and three years in drama school doesn’t guarantee you anything. 

As for the networking, which is the thing that even the most drama-school-cynical-person, would acknowledge is a benefit of formal training… you can get the easily get the same benefits from other courses or just through your own proactivity in the industry (doing shows, heading to opening nights, reaching out to local film makers etc.)

For more on Networking

An Australian Case Study

In Australia, the three largest, most well-known schools are WAAPA, NIDA and VCA. Every year they attract hopeful applicants from all over the world. Many years ago, each of these schools were independent organisations which meant they could dictate exactly how they were run and what they taught. Since then, mostly due to a lack of arts funding, they have had to attach themselves to a government-supported university – Edith Cowan, UNSW and University of Melbourne, respectively.

Now, each of these schools have to adhere to curriculum and policy set by the university. When I was studying at VCA, the curriculum and the faculty were chopped and changed so often that the pedagogy of the school became almost impossible to follow. There was hardly any consistency, and the quality of the training suffered greatly as a result.

Have their wider reputations suffered? Arguably, no: there is still a lot of prestige and covetous behaviour attached to these institutions. So while the quality of the teaching can’t be guaranteed, the school actually continues to raise its profile (and, usually, its fees.) Don’t be enchanted by the prestige of these schools, because once you get in you’ll likely find that it melts away in an instant.

The important takeaway is that trusting a “prestigious” institution just purely based on the name (or the fact that Cate Blanchett went there) is not a reason to apply. You always have to research thoroughly before committing your time and money. 

You’re Not Good Enough, but Come Back Next Year!

The first time I auditioned for drama school, I got a callback. The second time I auditioned, I got through to the final round. The third and fourth times … I was turned away at first round. The audition process for drama school is brutal and sometimes downright nonsensical. In fact, I think it’s really quite sinister how these schools get away with stringing young people along year after year, insisting that it’s a matter of life experience but that they should keep auditioning to see if they’re ready next year. It is exhausting being on the receiving end of this rigmarole.

If you’re feeling the sting of rejection from these schools and your confidence is starting to wane, maybe stop giving them the satisfaction. At least for a while. There are other ways you can forge ahead in the industry. Look at other universities with performing arts programs, look at reputable short courses. You can film yourself doing some scenes and monologues to post on your casting profiles and start chipping away at some small (but legitimate) gigs to start building your network.

Drama school auditions do not reflect your abilities or, more importantly, your potential. This career is what you make it and, even if you do spend three years being taught that you’re not breathing correctly, you still have to back yourself when you get out into the real world like everyone else. 

Finally, the institutions you audition for will still be there. If you want to try again in a year or two, you still have that option. Just think of all the good you’ll achieve between now and then, instead of waiting for what you’ve been sold on as the “correct path”.

Final Thoughts

To summarise what has certainly been a somewhat indulgent and impassioned rant: drama school isn’t everything. I want to be clear in saying that there are benefits to going to drama school. If you’ve read this and you still want to study in a conservatoire setting, chances are that you’re pursuing it for the right reasons.

If you’ve been auditioning year in, year out with no luck, remember that the path of an actor is so winding and varied. There is no prescriptive trail to follow! If you’ve decided that drama school isn’t for you, you’ve joined an enormous list of successful actors who didn’t study conservatoire. Also, congratulations on avoiding a huge student debt. Now get out there and get to it!

See you around the traps.

The post Why You Don’t Need to Go to Drama School appeared first on StageMilk.