| Acting Tips |
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| How to Turn an Acting Hobby into a Career Study Simply wanting to act isn't enough. Unfortunately, you must study the industry and come to understand it inside and out before you're really ready to pursue acting as your occupation. Knowing the business of acting can help you tremendously. Don't think so? How else do you think you'll be able to find an agent, a manager or a job? Learn the industry and you'll know what to expect. Learn Never, ever, stop learning. Whether you take classes at an acting school or university or make practice your learning tool, never stop learning. You will never get to the point where you've learned "enough." Good actors are always learning, whether it be from their performances, the performances of others or life in general. Understand It is also important that you understand what you are getting yourself into. Acting is hard work with unpredictable hours and a lot of rejection. However, if you can mentally prepare yourself for this and for the great likelihood that you will never be a "household name," you'll be just fine. In fact, being able to act for a living just because you love to act, is a reward in and of itself. Communicate Communicating with others in the industry is a great way to build references and to make friends. Believe it or not, the acting community is pretty close, so you definitely don't want to burn any bridges. Make it a habit to be professional and outgoing and you should be just fine. Thanx and a tip of the hat to: www.actortips.com ActorTips / The Gracia Group 360 West 43rd Street, Suite N9D New York, NY 10036 Click here for your FREE digital booklet |
| Actor Tip #23 Never pay money to a casting director to be in their database, or on their website. Casting directors who are legitimate do NOT charge fees or take commissions to do their jobs. A casting director is paid by the production company, studio, or advertising agency to provide the service of casting. A casting director and a casting agent are NOT the same thing! Don't be lured in to paying just because a company says that they have big projects coming. Supporting these types of operations hurts the INDUSTRY in your area and legitimizes individuals or companies who do not have your best interest in mind. This tip courtesy of: http://www.goodfaithcasting.com |
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| 5 Tips for a cold read As a playwright who directs his own work, I've easily had over 100 cold readings of my plays over the last 20 years. And I had one last night of a new play I'm working on, called Cycatrix Adaptitude, which will be appearing in November 2009, and the experience has given me some insights into what an actor should do and should not do at a cold reading. So I thought I'd share those with you. 1. Come Early - Simple, but vital. Get there 15 minutes early so that when the director shows up, you are waiting there, looking eager. This instantly impresses. 2. Be Social, but Professional - Some actors come into cold readings and instantly start chatting everyone up, telling some loud story, acting like they're at a party. A cold reading is not a party. It is a professional engagement, and you should act that way. That said, it's good to keep your eyes up and smile at people and introduce yourself cordially. Never look bored or inconvenienced by being there. Act like you're ready to work, but very happy to have the opportunity to do so. And it's best not to be studying the script, or asking to see the script in advance. It makes you seem nervous. Just wait for instructions and emit warmth and openness to the situation. 3. Make Big Choices - Cold readings are about showing what you can do, not about showing that you're ready to be told what to do. Too many actors do a cold reading in a kind of neutral voice, as if they can't act without direction. Make big choices. Choose a character, an accent, an attitude, and go with it. That will impress a director. 4. Stick to the Script - You will immediately score big points with the director and/or playwright if you pronounce all the words correctly, say no more and no less than what's on the page, and say your line when it's your cue. If this is difficult for you, then you should practice reading out loud. With practice, you'll get better, and you'll have fewer slip-ups. 5. Interact - It's not enough to be good in and of yourself. You need to be good in relation to other actors. As the play unfolds, search out other actors to build relationships with. React to what they're doing. Laugh at what they're doing. Give them energy and focus. This will show the director you're more than just an isolated presence. 6. Express Interest - If you like the play, tell the director and/or playwright so. Tell them you had a great time, you think the script rocks, you want to be in the show. Everyone loves flattery, and your expression of interest will put you foremost in their minds. Kirk Bromley InverseTheater.org Thanx and a tip of the hat to: Chad Gracia www.actortips.com ActorTips / The Gracia Group 360 West 43rd Street, Suite N9D New York, NY 10036 |
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| How to Study with the World's Best Actors & Directors
On the heels of the recent post of "Acting For The Camera", I would like to point out a rather low-cost way of educating yourself in the craft of film acting: BUY DVDS WITH DIRECTOR AND CAST COMMENTARIES. In my opinion, as an actor, you should ONLY buy a DVD if it has a Director's Commentary. They're a bit one-sided; you generally only hear praise, never: "And THIS is the scene that needed FIFTY takes because you couldn't remember your bloody LINES!" However, commentaries are like 2-hour acting seminars in and of themselves. In the commentary of "The Hours," director Stephen Daldry said "Here's Julianne Moore doing something that only great actors are capable of: she keeps her voice regular and monotone while her expression and body language convey a total emotional breakdown" And indeed, her work was so seamless the fact had escaped me the first time and I had to watch the scene again. DVDs are economical and can be viewed over and over at your convenience. As a matter of fact, if you bought and watched one DVD a week and listened to the commentaries, after a year you'd have a library of 50 DVDs with film acting lessons from 50 different directors. (The "Masters of Horror" series is particularly good as it gives you multiple commentaries and director bios, 'the making of', this, that and the other thing.) - K.K. This is great advice. I would only add a few more tips: 1 - I've found the Criterion Collection and Janus to provide excellent commentary. In cases where the director was available (as in the superb boxed set of Akira Kurusawa's work), they bring in leaders in film analysis to provide extraordinary commentary. 2 - Several publications, most importantly The New Yorker, highlight a new DVD release every week; they often choose that that have particularly good extra features such as commentaries. 3 - In general, this is a form of "active-watching" that applies to seeing movies in the theaters, watching plays, and watching television. As an actor, you shouldn't simply sit back and be entertained, you should engage with the material, ask questions about every choice you see an actor, director, or cinematographer make, and then follow up with more research. And as a bonus, you'll find that your simple "enjoyment" increases exponentially as well. Chad Gracia www.actortips.com ActorTips / The Gracia Group 360 West 43rd Street, Suite N9D New York, NY 10036 |
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