GETTING GOOD
Dear Actor
Yesterday, I wrote a blog that introduced you to the 5 stages of getting the acting career that you want. Today’s blog tackles the first stage, getting good.
What do I mean by getting good? Being good enough to impress, to act well enough to get noticed – which is Stage 2.
Now I can’t tell you how many actors that I’ve met that are so desperate to skip to Stage 2 and 3, that they can’t wait to get good.
You know what happens? They disappear and make a few crappy short films or do a bit of amateur theatre and then wonder why they haven’t been noticed, why they are really working, or if they are working, why it’s never more than a line here or there.
They want to work, they think that working to get noticed is the best way. If you aren’t any good, getting noticed is a waste of your time.
And yet, having the patience to wait and get good, it’s very difficult.
So what does good look like? Well, after many years of working with actors, I can tell you it’s pretty simple. It’s not some mysterious intangible ‘talent’ that others will verbally masturbate about. Talent – if it exists, is subjective, and while yes, some people do seem more inclined towards excellence in acting, without a conduit to bring that ability to the surface, the person will struggle.
When I look to give someone an honest assessment of where they are at, they may not want to hear. Most people aren’t really that good, even those that have been told they are talented.
You may not be good but I’ll tell you something, you can get better, and if you are willing to work, to learn, to grow and develop, you can get really good. Most won’t. It’s hard work.
When I look at an actor to give them an honest assessment of their acting, I am looking at just a few very simple things:
1) INVISIBLE ACTING Is your acting visible or invisible? If it’s visible, you will be consciously performing, if it’s invisible, it will be just like you were when I was chatting to you before you began to act. It’s the easiest test. Record yourself talking about something, then record yourself acting, if you can see a performance, you are Acting, and no one will believe your performance. Good acting is invisible. No one can see you doing it.
Most people don’t want to change, are you like that? They would rather protect what they believe they have, than risk failure by changing to be better. The very best will never fear improving – they know it’s the only way to get really really good.
2) SCENE INTERPRETATION Have you gotten to the dramatic heart of the material you’re performing? Do you understand the dramatic action of the scene? Do you understand why the character is there – what they want (MOTIVATION), what they doing to get it (TACTICS) and what will happen if they don’t? (STAKES)
3) TENSION Is your body leaking tension, nerves, discomfort or stress? This can be fixed, but it immediately shows any problems.
4) CHARACTER I don’t mean the fictional one – I mean YOU. Are you mature? Fun? Playful, respectful, professional and determined. Are you easy to work with? Do you listen? Are you early? (but never too early).
5) FULLY HUMAN - This is an odd one. When people act, they become boring. They become too simple, too singular, they act only what they can see happening in the scene. Real people, scratch their face, stretch, smile – they are fully human. If you are really good, then you ‘live truthfully’ as Meisner said – LIVE – be fully human.
These are the areas to focus on – but will you pay attention? Will you just ignore these and hope the same dumb luck that made you the lead in your high school play, or got you cast in that semi-pro stage production will also help you get noticed, signed and out into the industry?
The choice is yours. Get good, or try to get noticed before you are.
In tomorrow’s blog, I’ll discuss getting noticed…