Tales from the Trenches Part 1

PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF PROFESSIONAL ACTING WITH GUEST BLOG POST BY ACTOR/DIRECTOR PAUL BIRCHARD

“Love the Art in yourself – not yourself in the Art.” – Constantin Stanislavski

“Art – and God – is in the details.” – George Spelvin

Mark Westbrook’s recent post “By Any Means Necessary?”highlighted the fact that how an actor or actress achieves what s/he does is of little to no interest or importance to the director, producer or any of the crew. Each of these individuals has already determined (for the most part) that s/he is incapable of effectively embodying and plausibly recreating at will the powerful and fleeting emotions of an imaginary human being under “Given Circumstances”. Nevertheless they have all dedicated themselves and their various talents to helping actors do just that.

Because – as the great movie director Allan Dwan observed – no matter how vast or overwhelming the location, no matter how startling the architecture or the special FX, it always finally comes down to an intimate scene between two, or maybe a few, people – living men and women – needing, sharing, experiencing together, moment to moment.

Now it’s vitally important for actors to study and hone their technique so as to be ready every time the director says “Action!” or the lights go up onstage. That’s why you’re here reading this.

But there are myriad circumstances in your professional life as an Actor which require you to think on your feet – to be resourceful and pull together many diverse, possibly unconnected things you’ve discovered in the safety of the studio – or in Life! – and focus them on the job at hand – whether that is an audition, a take or a theatrical performance.

As a fellow actor once told me: “Acting is easy. It’s gravy! It’s fun! It’s being an Actor that’s difficult.”

I recently went up for a role in a western, set to shoot out in Romania. The initial meeting was at the casting director’s home (in London) – where she normally conducts these first encounters. Others hold auditions in offices, but almost always you’ll be facing a small handycam on a tripod, the “sides” clutched just outside the frame, or placed on a chair or table nearby where you can glance at them if necessary. The casting director, or occasionally another actor, will speak the other characters’ lines.

You might only have been given these “sides” – the particular scene or scenes – and not the full script, so you’ll have to imagine the rest of the story – and guesstimate at what level of sound, emotion, and physicality you need to pitch your character.

Fortunately or unfortunately, most movies and TV projects are so predictable that this doesn’t pose any great challenge! But that is your job – to figure out how to play the character even if you only have limited clues to go on. That’s why they’ve called you in.

That’s what you do. Don’t expect to ask them too many questions about the scene, the script or the character.

Sometimes it will be a “cold” reading, where you don’t even see the lines until you arrive (early!) for the meeting. But most of the time the “sides” – and sometimes the complete script – will have been e-mailed to you via your agent or some other contact, a few days before the audition.

It’s best to learn your lines – it makes you look more professional to the casting director and anyone else who happens to be in on the meeting. 

And obviously it’s better if you have the whole script – but even this can be a double edged sword, as I recently found out…