I have been in the room with the greats. I have cast in Australia since the early 1980s. I have been in the room with some of today’s movie icons when their careers were just starting. Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving—I was there when these stars were…well, simply actors starting out.
But it is not these actors who taught me what I now know, and now teach about auditions. The people who taught me the most, were the people off the street, or the youngsters who come into the room with no preconceived technique or training.
Because they follow their instincts.
One of things I say to actors about auditioning is “break the rules,” because most actors put rules, techniques, methods, and superstitions on a pedestal. So, you deliver a predictable character; an uninspiring audition.
But young or inexperienced actors do not have any audition room rules. They have never done this before. They do what comes natural to them. They are themselves.
And alas, so many highly trained actors are unable to deliver that naturalism, that instinct, in an audition, because their training and technique gets in the way.
Am I advocating anarchy in the audition space? Well, yes and no. You need to have training—acting training—to deliver a great character, but I see too many actors come into my room and deliver their training. They deliver an actor-structured character—a character that could only exist as a result of classical character analysis, and not a character derived from their natural instinct.
Think of the great naturalistic dramas onscreen. It started with “Hill Street Blues” in the ’90s, and more recently, “The Wire,” “Sons of Anarchy,” and “True Detective.” The characters on these shows look as if they are played by non-actors because of the rhythm of their delivery. The moments are delivered despite their training, rather than because of their training.
How do you achieve this? I urge you to let your instinct dictate the moments in the scene and not your training. Put pauses in the wrong place, rather than where the writer has placed them. Overlap the dialogue of the reader, find an energy and momentum for the character, rather than what is on the sides.
But the truth is, the casting director of shows like “The Wire” and “True Detective” is looking, first and foremost, for the character. And if someone with little or no experience or training comes in but they create a unique, memorable character, they stand more chance of getting called back than the actor who delivers the clock-like precision of an over-prepared audition.
You are an actor, we know you can do the part, but does your audition match the tone of what we are trying to create?
Yes, I believe I am advocating anarchy.
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