Don’t just look for parts in others people’s projects. Get out there and CREATE your own work!
If you love acting, it will love you back. ❤
Be the master of your schedule.
There are many variables out of your control as an actor.
- Highlight your lines to make them stand out from the page.
- Read through them a few times before even trying to memorise them - just try and understand what they’re saying first. If it’s Shakespeare or something hard to understand, translate it. For example (from my Midsummer script):
“Lysander riddles very prettily. Now much beshrew my manners and my pride If Hermia meant to say Lysander lied.”
this basically means:“You smoothtalker you! But I have my pride, and you said you’d treat me like a lady.”
- Ask a friend or family member to block it through with you - you say your lines, they say another person’s lines, still reading from the script.
- Copy them out onto a piece of paper. Keep copying them. It’s like revising for a test, really, but instead of information it’s lines.
- Try and read it a page at a time without looking at the script. If you look at it, don’t worry - just keep practising!
These great tips from Leah via http://epicluna.tumblr.com
As film and TV actors like Rescue Me’s Daniel Sunjata Condon know, it can sometimes require dozens of takes to get a particular shot or scene right. And if the scene in question requires a lot of shouting, singing, or speaking quickly, multiple takes can place a major strain on an actor’s voice. In this situation, to avoid vocal difficulty or damage, it’s important to:
Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water before, between, and after takes. This helps your vocal cords to stay well-lubricated and avoids friction or irritation. When possible, drink water at room temperature rather than ice cold.
Stay loose. Tension in your facial muscles, neck, or shoulders can creep into your voice as well. Between takes, try some gentle shoulder rolls and neck stretches to keep the muscles supporting your vocal cords relaxed and limber.
Avoid “danger” food and beverages. Alcoholic and caffeinated drinks, acidic or sugary drinks or foods, and many dairy products can all irritate the throat and vocal cords or cause a buildup of mucus and should be avoided before and between takes.
Good advice for anyone using their voice professionally.
by Karen Ann Pavlick
Help! My child is stuck in the body of an actor!
In order to begin something new
You must do something new
QUESTIONS: I’m just feeling “stuck” in auditions, I keep getting the same result—which is no result. Now, I fear auditioning. HELP!
ACTORS: My sister and I have been toasting to “New Beginnings” before the New Year even began. We both wanted this year to be different than the last. It was important for me to reflect come December and see that I just didn’t just “talk” about doing something new, I actually did something new.
What keeps us the same is “habits.” What stops us from taking action is fear and we call it “stuck.”
Just last Sunday, my sister, who is a wardrobe stylist, was asked to audition as a dancer for the Los Angeles Sparks. She is a great hip-hop dancer, but her fear of auditioning and performing in front of a large audience was keeping her from getting in her car!
I reminded her that we always toast to “New Beginnings” and in order for anything new to come into our lives, we have to do something new, and it’s more rewarding, no matter what the outcome, when fear doesn’t stop us.
She went, auditioned and is now on the team! I couldn’t be more excited for her, but it also inspired me. Now I believe I can find a way to go to Bolivia with my church to do charity work, something I have always wanted to do.
The bottom line is you have to get out of your own way!
This month, I invite you to do one thing you have feared doing.
Is it time to get that new agent? I was afraid to leave my agent, because I was with them for years and really liked them, but I wasn’t getting out. Now, after two changes, I have an amazing manager and go on close to 2-4 auditions almost every day! In just this past week I filmed a TV show and 2 commercials. Something new begins by doing something new!
What else have you always wanted to do? Is it time to start writing a book, go back to school, talk to a long lost friend or perhaps take dance lessons? I no longer want dance lessons to be on my to-do list!
The only way out is through.
Get through that audition by being prepared and getting there on time but once you walk in that door, let it go and get out of your own way! Stop over-thinking the lines, the money you could make and the “end result.”
That’s what’s keeping you stuck.
There is nothing more rewarding than doing what you feared doing and doing it!
If you are looking for an end result, walk through it.
Until next time, go to Questions & Actors Facebook Page
Click LIKE! And start communicating with the acting community!
Angela Peters from the Acting B.A.B.E. blog writes about emails in the third part of her series on branding. She shares some excellent advice. Here are a few:
Click through to the full article to see all of the great tips!
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Richard Burton and Deborah Kerr during the filming of The Night of the Iguana, photographed by Josh Weiner
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