Acting Advice From A Professional Me
OK folks, it’s time to roll up our sleeves Baranovsky-style and get down to business… ACTING BUSINESS. You see, Yuri’s inspired me with the way he’s trying to share his knowledge of writing with the rest of the world and not hoard all of the talent for himself. I though I’d do a little of the same with acting, especially since it’s the giving season. You know, Gift Of The Magi, etc?
So I’m not a writer… yet! These tips may not be organized or even, for that matter, intelligible. I’ll try to get them out as coherently as possible and then let you, dear reader, get to the hard work of organizing it.
Know Your Lines
Yeah, this is really almost the only one you need for the most part. I should say, this is the minimum: if you don’t know your lines then you’re pretty much not even doing your job. That’s kind of all an actor really does, right? Talk? So yeah, know your damn lines when you show up (to the shoot, audition, what have you) or at least have the ability to know them really fast.
Don’t Be An Asshole
Seriously dude, dial it down. Yes, you’re young and attractive. Yes, people pay you to simply be young and attractive. Yes, you actually showed up knowing your lines.
You know what, scratch that. Assholes don’t generally show up knowing their lines. Ergo, if you take the time and consideration to learn your lines before walking on set, you are probably not an asshole. So assholes out there, find that place inside you that makes you want to know your lines when you walk in the door.
Shut The Hell Up
Nobody cares, dig? I think it’s great that you were on Nash Bridges and now you’ve been on Trauma. I’m really thrilled that you were on America’s Most Wanted and worked with that guy who was on that other show that one time but you can’t remember his name but I’d know him if I saw him. Actually, seriously, nobody in this room cares, even the guy you’re talking to right now. You know how I know that? Because that guy that you’re talking to is just waiting his turn so that he can vomit his resume all over YOU. If you actually have something interesting to talk about that has nothing to do with acting then I’m all ears, but you know what? Talk about it quietly because there are people here trying to get some work done, this is a casting director’s office after all.
Sub-Corollary To Above: Don’t Talk About Acting
People like doing business with people they like. People that aren’t actors don’t want to hear you talk about acting, and if you read the above paragraph carefully you may have noticed that people who ARE actors don’t want to hear you talk about acting either. They want to hear THEMSELVES talk about acting. So just read a book that isn’t a biography of some famous dead actor and come prepared to talk about that.
Watch A Lot Of Movies And TV
Shut up, I don’t want to hear how you “haven’t had cable for years” and you “don’t miss it one bit”. You’re an actor, unless you have a live closed-circuit feed from the Globe Theatre or Broadway in your home, you are NOT watching enough good acting by running around seeing regional theatre five nights a week. If you can afford to go to the movies every night, that’s terrific, but you probably can’t and wouldn’t want to anyway. That leaves TV, sorry, but it’s just the truth. And if you’d stop kissing your own ass for being a TV snob long enough you’d see there’s a lot of great storytelling going on all over television, but guess what? Most of it’s not on broadcast, which means you need cable. Or a fast Internet connection, or a Netflix account, whatever it takes. Just watch TV, it’s really where all the action is whether you like it or not.
There’s another reason to watch TV: despite what I say below about commercial auditions, every casting director for TV wants to cast someone that just fits right into what they’re looking for in the role. That means that you speak and deliver your lines in a way that fits with how everyone else on the show speaks and delivers their lines. It doesn’t dictate your delivery or your character or your acting choices within the scene, but it does dictate to some extent your overall tone of delivery.
Don’t believe me? Watch an episode of Law and Order, watch an episode of Mad Men, then come back here to apologize and tell me that I’m right.
“They” Have No Idea What They’re Looking For
I’m a ridiculously firm believer in this. When you go to an audition you will frequently get some idea what they are looking for in the character.
We’re talking commercial/paid work here, not film/TV/Indie, those guys really DO know what they’re looking for and wouldn’t call you in unless they thought you looked like THAT.
Anyway, not only should you not try to guess what they’re looking for and be that, you shouldn’t even listen to what they SAY they’re looking for and be that. Because you know what? You’re not a “Jim Carrey type”, or a “Steve Carell from The Office” type, or whatever comedic style all the ad agencies are imitating these days. You’re just… you. You bring something to every role that no other actor anywhere on the entire planet has the ability to do, and that’s by being yourself.
Now obviously you’re going to be someone else too, but this is where actual acting training and workshops and practice comes in. Figuring out how YOU can say those lines in a way that’s real for YOU. Not by trying to transform yourself into somebody else, which is actually impossible. Transport yourself in your mind to some alternate dimension where you, yourself, say those lines for a real reason. It’s much easier that way. Read Mamet’s True and False, it’s a handbook for this sort of thing.
Summary
So I think we’ve covered a lot of ground here. I can’t get too much deeper into a lot of stuff without it becoming some sort of blog-based actors workshop, but you have the basic ground rules covered with this post.
- Shut Up
- Know Your Lines
- Don’t Be An Asshole
- Watch TV
- Be Yourself
Questions, comments, hit it.
December 15th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Amen
December 24th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Good post, Drew!
Tell us more! How do you become an actor? What do you start with? Are classes necessary? How do you get an agent? Do you HAVE to move to LA? So many questions…
December 24th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
I became an actor for the same reason most men become actors: to get close to
other dudeschicks.Classes? I would say yes, but then I don’t take classes so it’s easy for me to tell you to take them. In general I’d have to say acting classes are necessary and desirable, I just always found myself getting bored and would just stop going. So to save time I just stopped signing up.
Agent? The short answer is send them your headshot and resume and cross your fingers. The better answer is to know someone who’s already represented, get them to put in a good word, and be creative. DON’T just send in your headshot and resume and cross your fingers, in other words.
That’s pretty much good advice for getting any job or foot in the door at some place or other, isn’t it? Be creative, use whatever advantages you can scrape up, and don’t take no for an answer.
LA? Moving to LA depends on whether or not you want to make a living at being an actor. That said, I think something like 99% of “actors” in LA are waiting tables, so who the fuck knows? At least in LA you have the sheer volume of opportunities to get work: theater, commercials, soap operas (don’t snicker, it’s hard work and it pays tons), and of course pilot season.
In SF we have a lot of industrials and a few commercials, but of course we have FAR fewer actors cluttering up your audition waiting room. To put it into perspective though, where would I be if I had moved to LA fifteen years ago instead of SF? Either rich and famous, burned out and on drugs, or shooting porn.
Or yeah, maybe I would have just quit and moved back home to Monterey, there’s that option too.
The real deal is that LA is a much more likely place for you to catch your “big break”, because more people are looking for the Next Big Thing. In San Francisco they’re looking for the guy who will say their ad copy in a little moving postage stamp-sized video window on their client’s internal website, not the next What-The-Fuck’s-His-Name-From-Twilight.
I can honestly say though that the only thing keeping me in SF right now is Yuri Baranovsky. And my family. And my job. And the fact that San Francisco is a much more pleasant place to live. And Yuri. And my awesome apartment.
January 2nd, 2010 at 8:31 am
Hey Drew! You have a bloggy sitey thing! I didn’t know! I only follow you in responses on Yuri’s blog or formely at http://www.breakaleg.tv (why am I plugging that?-habit I suppose) Thanks for the insight, its probably more important than all the acting theory and the insider tips for actors looking for commercial work. Me and my girlfriend who has spent considerable time in LA rap about the industry and generally end up ranting about what we think the machinations of casting, directors, and actors are about. We generally agree that trying to be a more relaxed, genuine and less narcissistic person will only make you more, not less desirable to work with. I think this goes with acting theory hand in hand actually– so much of pressure put on actors in the substance of acting is to transform into someone else, to embody the character, the put on layers of: voice, characterization, intensity— instead of viewing it from the angle of discovering who you are, uncovering yourself, using all of yourself in a role, finding what you have in common. And why ever did you cross out that trauma bit???
January 2nd, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Thanks Hugo, that’s what a terrible self-promoter I am. You didn’t even know I had my own blog.
Thanks for commenting too, now go out there and be the best yourself that you can be!