Literally, the term cold reading means taking a script or sides, sight unseen, and reading aloud for observers at an audition. This is a rare occurrence, and the experience can be either harrowing or exciting. More typically, the text is made available to actors anywhere from mere minutes to days before the audition. The performer can look it over, see where the scene is headed, and make choices — about things such as intentions and objectives — and establish any necessary personal substitutions for emotional events and relationships. With enough time to prepare, actors can even grow familiar enough with the material to memorize the lines.
A cold reading in its literal sense, on the other hand, offers cold comfort: Actors begin at the beginning, have no direct knowledge of the ending, and must rely strictly on instinct. So what can be gained from reading aloud from a script you've never seen before? Approached properly, this type of reading can deliver valuable information not just about the text but, more important, about the subtext. Actors can begin discovering what lies beneath the words — the subtext that informs the actor of the choices he or she will eventually need to make to realize the role. In a way, it allows an actor to relax from the start — without any obligation to the outcome of the scene — and begin to genuinely feel the role.
In the more typical audition reading, actors still don't make hard choices, though they do have a general sense of where they're headed. The goal of this kind of reading, then, is to build relationships with the other characters, as well as to the circumstances and even the physical world of the play. Building a character always begins with building these relationships.
To explain this further: A character doesn't exist in limbo and shouldn't be preconceived. From the first reading on, actors need to practice give-and-take. Looking and listening is first and foremost — allowing the words to carry information back and forth, not worrying about cues or stage directions. To do this, actors must develop the ability to look up from the page as often as possible, not only to listen to their scene partner's words and tone but to watch his or her facial expressions. Even when speaking a long monologue, the actor must check in on the listener; the same is true when you're on the listening end. Keep your finger on your place in the script while focusing your complete attention on what the other character is saying. To be good at cold readings, this is an absolute requirement. With your head buried in the book, very little of interest, if anything at all, can go on.
I cannot stress this point strongly enough. There's an old adage: "I don't know what I mean until I hear what I'm saying." Add to that: "The other person must hear what I'm saying for me to know what I mean." Trained actors and even new, instinctual actors (the "naturals" we so often hear about) can arrive at an almost full-performance level of emotion by following this rule. I've observed actors moved to tears and laughter in cold readings. When that happens, it's a smooth path to becoming the character for a long run or the length of the shoot.
When reading a script, be sure that every line of dialogue makes its point. Mumbling the lines is a nonstarter. Make it your duty to be as clear as possible to whoever's listening. Don't be hampered by the fear that you don't know what you're going to say or how you're going to say it. To overcome this fear in a cold reading — and in every reading thereafter — always put your attention on the listener.
Years ago I replaced an actor in a Tennessee Williams play. The cast was already off book and into the blocking phase of rehearsals. The sensitive director decided not to give me the script to read alone but instead put me into rehearsal immediately. I held the book and responded as I looked at and listened to a cast already well into its characters. Through sound and sight alone, and without knowing the outcome of the scenes or the play, I found I learned both the role and the blocking much more quickly. It was a great lesson in how to approach a role organically.
Look Out: Inner Objects
Besides building relationships with the other characters, actors must learn how to inhabit any exposition — any mention of people, places, things, or events of the past — in the dialogue. These cannot seem like merely words; they must refer to "real" things, as they do in our own lives. An actor must be attuned to what I call these "inner objects" so he or she can create a picture instantly and instinctively to send to the listener. This keeps the dialogue alive and starts the actor right away on the path to embodying the character. In a cold reading, you can commit to "seeing" what you're talking about only if you've learned the habit of doing so. As with all the elements of acting technique, it takes practice. It might mean taking a split second away from the give-and-take to search inwardly for a substitution, but the actor will have taken an important step toward filling in the character's background — and allowing the listener and the auditors to get a glimpse of it too.
Every actor can learn a cold reading technique, but those with dyslexia face particular challenges. I've worked with wonderful actors who struggle in the beginning due to their dyslexia, and with time and patience they overcome it. I don't purport to be a speech therapist or psychologist, but when I'm working with actors who are talented but who might find it difficult to see all the words in a line, particularly the small ones, and may therefore fear cold reading, one of the first things I strive to teach is patience. They can go as slowly as they need to, so long as they hold on to the flow of the dialogue. Many of these actors were ridiculed when they were young and consequently developed insecurities about their ability to read, much less read aloud or read cold. At the same time, many find that when they overcome this fear, they realize it was somewhat exaggerated. Reminding them that their lines are merely responses to what the other actor said and not isolated words to be recited helps them. You'd be surprised to discover how many working actors have conquered this problem.
Actors can practice cold reading daily. By this I don't mean reading aloud when no one else is about. When you do that, unless you're practicing English as a second language, the tendency is to listen to oneself, which gives a false sense of how you're communicating. Instead, if you're given the opportunity to read to someone, you should grab it. Reading bedtime stories to children is an especially good exercise, since you're inspired to make the story as real to them as possible. To look into their eyes and paint pictures with just the sound of your voice is great practice for an actor.
Alice Spivak is a New York-based actor, teacher, and coach. She began teaching at the HB Studio in the early 1960s and is currently conducting advanced scene study classes freelance. She has coached actors on scores of feature films, TV movies, and pilots, as well as on Broadway and at regional theatres, while continuing to act. She is co-author, with Robert Blumenfeld, of How to Rehearse When There Is No Rehearsal: Acting and the Media.