Acting

Great tips, Stephen Folker!

Stephen Folker I appreciate your to-the-point way of giving these tips. It's refreshing and clear. Always good to hear from 'the other side' about what you are looking for/not looking for when casting. Helps to think there are concrete things I can do to give myself an advantage. Not making a drama stands out to me. I remember a Method teacher once saying to our class at the time, are you here to act or act out?

Alexandra Stevens that's a true and powerful statement from your method teacher. Thank you for sharing that!!

Hi Suzanne Bronson great to have you on Stage 32 Community

Suzanne Bronson ooh looks like lots of fun. I hope we get to meet in-person one day too

Ashley Renee Smith love this question which I missed seeing earlier so sorry about that. I"m going to check out that play. I"ve used Camille in Pipeline by Dominique Morisseau and Shirley from Shirley Valentine. They both suit as i'm often cast as a mum and offer the opportunity to show range and raw emotion which i like.

Matthew Gross it's encouraging to hear that CBS, Netflix are looking to hire Native American actors. It gives me some hope and optimism as I have been reading about a worrying trend for other companies like Disney to reduce their emphasis on DEI

Alexandra Stevens The show is casting Native American characters. It wouldn't make sense for them to hire an actor who is white, black or Latino to play these Native American characters.

Matthew Gross no it certainly wouldn't. I look forward to seeing it one day

Suzanne Bronson great question! Listening to a podcast about a casting director interviewing others is a really smart move. As RB says, you need to know about al aspects of the industry. I imagine the podcast might make you feel like they are more human ? A game changer for me was learning the Kristin Linklater vocal warm-up. Particularly the visualisation of imagining my reflection in a pool of water and the breath rising to the surface and traveling up from the belly, through the chest, throat, and out the mouth. It really helped my voice to drop in naturally. In fact, I must get back to it!!

This is an amazing opportunity Alexandra Stevens

Sandra Isabel Correia yes indeed!

The answer Krassimira Belev you said it. "being relaxed and well prepared." Knowing your lines, your cues, your objectives and really listening and being connected to your scene partner is the key. I am nervous right until I walk onstage and then it's like instincts take over. I'm not thinking, I'm listening. On camera acting is a different animal, I agree Steven Kirk . Again, though being connected to your scene partner blocks out the cameras. "Cut" will take you out of the moment, but if you know your lines, jumping right back in is no problem. Breath, focus on the moment before and your partner and it will come to you. For me, I know I was successful when I don't remember doing something.

Suzanne Bronson thank you! I agree! I totally relate with the part about not remembering!

Thank you Steven Kirk! Yes, definitely different things to be mindful of on stage and on camera!

This is such a thoughtful question, Krassimira Belev, and one so many actors can relate to. Letting go and fully living in the moment is often where the real magic happens, but getting there takes trust, both in yourself and the work you’ve done.

Friends of mine who are performers have told me that physical grounding helps tremendously. Simple breath work, body scans, or even just feeling your feet on the floor before stepping into the scene can shift you into presence. They’ve also shared that having a strong connection to their scene partner’s objective can pull them out of their head and into the relationship, making it easier to stay in the moment.

Thank you for the wonderful advice, Ashley Renee Smith!

I don't think I have ever felt over-rehearsed. I rehearse until I know my lines like the back of hand. Sometimes, we just run lines. I haven't improvised the before and after of the scene, I do like that idea. What I was taught in acting class was, spend time building the relationships of the characters. For example, if it's a romance scene, then my scene partner and I will go on a date. Get to know each other in a one on one setting, as our characters. If the scene is me and my bff, then we'll go on a girl date. Don't even have to do our lines, just spend time together in the context of our fictional relationship. If there are characters that are related, then sit down and have a family dinner. Then run the scene.

This is such a fantastic question, Alexandra Stevens. When I would be directing scenes in school, I noticed that over-rehearsal could sometimes lead to performances that felt a little too polished and stiff, like the spontaneity had been ironed out of the moment.

Some of the actors I worked with found it helpful to shake things up during rehearsal by changing the physical space or altering their movements and blocking, walking the scene, trying different emotional temperatures, or even switching objectives mid-run to find new discoveries.

Ashley Renee Smith I think that is a good point, trying to learn something new each time about the character by for example switching objectives is a way to keep things fresh

I agree with everyone else. I always read the entire play/script multiple times. The first time, I just read it. The second time, highlight my lines and make note of anything other characters say about mine. Reading the entire script is the only way to gain insight about your character. Sometimes, there is information about your character in scenes you aren't even in. Even if you are only doing one scene from a play, you still must read the entire play not just the scene. Also, to Alexandra Stevens 's point, if you don't read the entire script how are you going to know the overall arch of your character? A character needs a superobjective. I don't think knowing beforehand what happens to your character changes the way you play that character. Knowing you die for example, has no bearing on what you want overall.

Actors should always read the entire screenplay, especially when they have starring roles. LOL. But when an actor or actress has one line in the script, especially then they should read the entire script, because if they do a line from another story, or if they come up with their own line of dialogue, they could blow the whole movie; they will never be hired again to do any movie in the future. So, yes, always read the entire screenplay, otherwise you might never work again. Of course, if you're the star and you haven't written the screenplay, then by all means do read the screenplay. LOL

I also tend to believe that it's necessary to read the whole script...and if you know your lines, then you have more freedom...but I don't know how things really are...maybe it would be good sometimes to be open to other ideas too...

This seems to me a little bit like those contradictions with few takes and many takes:

If I understood well, some directors say that the first takes are the best (the actor is fresh and things like that and after some takes he starts to get in some kind of routine and the performance is worse).

Other directors say that the actor must be in some way exhausted (and in this way, after many takes he will also will be more relaxed maybe and forget about all the preconceptions he had about the scene and all the other things that stop him from being truthful...in this way his performance would be better) and the directors who have these contradictions are directors who have a lot of experience.

Please say your opinion about this if you wish.

I think that both of these ideas could be true in some way and maybe it depends about other factors too...I don't really know...

Great share, Florin Şumălan! Thanks for sharing this. As someone who believes deeply in storytelling from every angle, I love this reminder that reading the entire script is about so much more than just learning lines, it’s about understanding your character’s place in the story, the emotional arcs, and the context that fuels authentic performance.

Florin Şumălan I could see how after many takes when one is tired one could give a better performance. I remember one rehearsal night when i had been ill during the day and I was tired and my defences were down and i gave a much more raw performance.

Ashley Renee Smith I absolutely lapped this up. So fascinating to hear about someone's acting process. Will comes across as humble and genuine. For example when he says all he had to do was react/respond as the other actor in Revenant gave such intense performances. Just responding and reacting is exactly what acting is about (as I understand) yet he downplays himself. What's great about him (from the video) is naturalness. No schmacting at all. Lots of other interesting parts to this video for example what he says about accents (help him get in role), use of tattoos to help him get in role and how highly he speaks of his colleagues, to name but a few.

Yes, exactly! I’m so glad you enjoyed it too, Alexandra Stevens. His humility and honesty about just responding to intense performances in The Revenant really struck me. It’s such a simple truth about acting, but the way he frames it shows a real respect for collaboration. I also loved what he said about accents and physicality (like tattoos) helping him access character. You can tell how deeply he thinks about every layer of a role without ever overcomplicating it.