It’s All in the Script

Certain methods of working as an actor put the actor’s creative powers at the centre of their process. I can understand this, as the people with the least power in a production, one will take any opportunity to have a tiny piece of the decision making. However, to my mind, the script is the most powerful resource the actor has at their disposal. The trouble is that the script is not often the actor’s friend. They fear getting to grips with it, so a few weeks spent in self-pleasuring character exercises tends to make them feel at ease – until it comes to actually performing the script, because they still haven’t overcome that problem.

In television and film, the script is often less-than-respected, in the theatre, the writer is still king. In many ways this is a shame, because it’s the writers who know how to tell stories best.

My own training and what I teach on a daily basis is that the answers to the puzzle of any scene, of any script in any medium, can be resolved by looking to the script. The script has it all. But what about when the script is crap? You can’t save a bad script, you really can’t. You can save yourself, but you cannot save poor craft. You will of course be tempted, but I say resist. Anyway, let’s not look at worst case scenarios, let’s look at your average script for a television show or play, or film. Let’s imagine that the writer spent a long time working on it and it was hell on earth to get it to this stage. Let’s not piss all over it immediately as we disrespect the writer by imagine that we can make it better.

Let’s go to the script. How to play the scene is given in clues by the writer. Let’s face it, writers try to write the most useful script they can for actors – and some will even take out insurance and try to make it actor-proof- meaning even the worst actors with the worst performances based on the worse choices given the worst direction in front of the worst audience can’t fuck it up. Well, they try anyway.

For actors will little experience, I ask you now to learn to respect the script. For experienced actors that have learned many bad habits and begun to think they can do it better, respect the script or start writing your own and prove that you CAN do it better, then try not to pull out you hair whilst the actors tear it to pieces.

Say the lines simply. Don’t overdo it. The audience are NOT stupid. Help them on their dramatic journey by being good at what you do, bringing the 2-D page into 3-D performance. And when you’re looking for help with how to do that, respect the script and start looking for the clues there.

John Strasberg, son of the famous acting teacher Lee Strasberg famously said that he ‘realised that everything is already in the play.’

But an actor needs to have faith in themselves that they can learn to use the script as a tool and not as a painful enemy, an obstacle that prevents them doing their job. Actor Steve Buscemi who was a student of John Strasberg’s said after working with John ‘I think learned to trust myself more, to look for clues in the play to help me with the character I was playing’.

To focus this much on the play means that you have to have a fairly rigorous approach to using the script as your closest ally. So find yourself an acting coach that can teach you to make the script your friend.

And oh… read more plays :o)