Suggestions for Suggestions for an Actor

[pentameter]

Hi there

Like most actors, I hate auditions, but they're an essential part of getting work. I'd like to put together a script to tackle some of the issues I face each time I have to audition for a particular job.

The most common problems I face in an audition are to do with self-consciouness. I'm rarely self-conscious on stage, during a live performance, but somehow at 10am, in some featureless room in front of a potential employer, all sense of the moment disappears, and as a consequence my performance feels forced and wooden. (Literally, in the middle of one audition, while I was doing a speech, the thought went through my head "God, I'm boring *myself*!")

I hate to feel that I'm being assessed, and knowing that (after all) that's what the auditioner is doing during my speech makes me nervous and self-consious. What I want to be able to do is to enjoy living the character for the 2 mins or so of the speech, to feel what he feels, to open myself to his vulnerability, to know (as an actor) that what I am doing is good acting. Coming from the English tradition of acting, I'm not interested (as might be many Method-trained American actors) in actually believing that I *AM* the character, but I want to know what he knows, feel what he feels, as if giving life and form to some otherwise powerless entity. Good acting feels (to me) like a shared intimacy with a character, and of course it's hard to be intimate with someone if you're conscious of someone assessing you. (You might wonder how its possible to do that in front of a 2000-member audience, but that rarely seems to be a problem - something to do with the kick I get from *performing*, which has in turn something to do with ... not sure of the right word... overcoming, seducing, getting the upper hand, subjugating the audience: "Sit quietly and watch something good... great, even!")

The other problem is a more general one - nerves getting in the way of remembering the words to a speech or song, especially if it's not long since I've learned it. Perhaps a general instruction to relax might help - although there's always the fear that if I loose concentration for a moment then the wheels might fall off!

So, as a complete newbie, can anyone suggest any suggestions/commands/triggers that I might be able to assemble into a useful script for audition preparation? Any help you can offer would be much appreciated - I'll get you tickets for when I'm performing on Broadway!

[Jack]

This is interesting...

Your job as an actor is to create a plausible reality.

It seems to me that one of the differences between the two situations you described(in front of a large audience and being in an audition) is in the intimacy of the situations. Is that a factor for you? If so, you might want to begin to realize that when you're in front of an audience you're creating an intimacy with 2000 people, not just 1, 2, or 20. What do you think holds the audience spell-bound, captive, rapt, or as I said earlier.. involved in the reality you create. Just create that same reality for the people who hold the auditions.

Another difference is that the people you audition for choose whether or not you get a fix of that being able to perform. What do you think of this? If this seems like a part of your problem, here's something else to think about. Do the people in the audience not get to choose whether or not you get that fix of being able to perform for them?

If I were in your shoes, I would work on building your characters reality for yourself. For example, I would make a mental image of the character going through each scene, refining it like that until my representation was flawless, and then replacing the character with an image of myself going through each of the characters scenes. Then I would step inside that representation and look out at the world through his/her eyes, letting my body and mind adapt to the physiology and psychology of the character.

[pentameter]

Thanks, Jack - your reply took me by surprise - a blind spot! Yes, the intimacy with 2/intimacy with 2000 is definately one to thing about.

I think it has also to do with the sense of continuity one has on stage - at any given point in the play I know what has happened to the character thus far, where he's come from and where he's trying to get to - because I've been there myself (as much as an actor can) only minutes previously. The trick will be to have that back story, not just in my head but in my body and soul, at the moment when I launch into a speech for an auditioner.

Part of the problem is exposed by your instruction to "Just create that same reality for the people who hold the auditions." - like many actors, I don't really know how I do what I do... and sense that if I did then I'd stop being able to do it! The trick is allowing acting to happen - giving over your energy and your breath to the control of something not entirely conscious.

But what you say about the character's reality is very sound, and that seems to be at least a first step to overcoming the problem.

Thank you.

[cardigan]

I think some time line regression would probably help. Go into a trance and imagine yourself at a point in the future where you have already won the audition and got the part. Imagine that you are playing the role in front of a full house, and that you are a tremendous success. Feel the awe and joy from the audience and feel yourself revelling in that. And then take that feeling with you back in time and plant it in your present time just before the audition. Take that feeling with you. It goes without saying that you should know the part by heart and not be in any way insecure. Projecting this feeling of the success-to-be is a great way of achieving success.

Good luck!!! :D

[sandy82]

Pentameter,

Your username and avatar put me in a frame of mind. And my previous poster's stated place of residence only reinforces the feeling. :)

I've spoken to large audiences, with some success; but I haven't been in a play since fourth grade. (I don't recommend that script.)

When you go for an audition, do they tell you ahead of time what part of a play you will be acting/reading? I assume that at least they tell you ahead of time which character to focus on. Based on my experience, which admittedly may not travel well: if you know beforehand that you will be giving Henry V's speech before the walls of Agincourt, memorize the lines so well that you will never forget them. If you do that, then nerves will not derail you. Also, if you have engrained the lines, you can concentrate instead on speed, pitch, volume, body language...and you'll be better able to adjust to, and compensate for, the size of the room in which the audition takes place.

It would take a miracle to feel the equivalent of full-house feedback from one auditioner, whose waist may be hanging over his belt. You might try thinking that, while you're speaking, you're also appraising him. Psychologically, that may level the playing field somewhat. And when you look him in the eye, he may see an expression to which he's not accustomed. That alone might help you make the cut.

You make an interesting point that, like most actors, you really don't know how you do what you do. From my experience in front of a crowd, you project...and then there's some sort of energy feed that continues between you and the audience. There's one aspect I can't explain, and you'll know what I mean. You're on stage, you're anticipating, the curtain goes up...and a switch clicks in your head. You're in a different mode, and you're ready to go.

Harder to feel that way in a shabby audition room where the only switch is the pull-down cord on the overhead lightbulb. :wink:

Hope this is helpful in some way...coming from someone with little experience at stage-acting. And if all else fails, call Ioan Gruffudd and ask him! Best of luck. :)

[loony28]

:twisted: I'm not an actor so forgive me if I give you some bad advice or info. One thing sandy said got me thinking a little bit.

There's one aspect I can't explain, and you'll know what I mean. You're on stage, you're anticipating, the curtain goes up...and a switch clicks in your head. You're in a different mode, and you're ready to go.

Perhaps I can explain it. When the curtain goes up it's a hypnotic trigger and you go into a lite trance. You spend a lot of time conditioning yourself, learning the lines and getting into the mind of the character. All this to prepare for the curtain going up. It's the same thing with the trigger files. You keep listening to the file letting the suggestion sink into your mind, conditioning yourself for the moment when the trigger is spoken. Now the trick is to get into that same frame of mind when you audition. Maybe all you need is to realize that acting is hypnosis and you set going in to do the audition as a trigger to relax you and get you somewhat into the character. :twisted:

[morrcomm]

Hi, Pentameter,

You posed a really interesting question. Have you found more success in tackling a problem head-on with hypnosis or in using a more indirect approach?

For the acting itself, it might be worth considering a file that focused on "empathy" rather than "performance." Building and enhancing the skills that let you get into another character's head and then understand what makes that person tick and how he or she would react to a given situation. It sounds to me like your approach to acting is closer to this than to the "Method." It might be a slower change, but it might be deeper and more long-lasting. (Think of it as a subtext change! :wink: )

As far as the nerves during an audition, that could be approached indirectly as well. Auditions often hinge on things completely outside of an actor's control. One person might give a slightly better performance, but someone else will be chosen because they fit better with someone who has already been cast, or because his physical type is closer to what the people behind the camera had in mind. A file that reinforced this as an underlying truth might take some of the pressure off you in the moment. And instead of focusing on whether you nail a word-perfect performance, you end up being more relaxed, which could translate into a better performance and overall presentation.

Like I said, I don't know which approach (direct or indirect) works best for you, but it could be something to think about.

Good luck!