Finding a great TV scene you can use for a class, audition practice, or an open call can be one of the hardest and most daunting tasks for any actor. You may have scoured audition websites, hoping someone did the work for you. They didn’t. And if they did, everyone else found the same sides. Maybe you combed through all your old auditions, but there’s always something, some weird piece of action, too many eye lines, or just not wanting to do something you didn’t book. Did you watch TV with the idea that you’d just type it up yourself when you found a scene? Asked friends, who simply point you to the same ideas you already had?
Sound familiar? It also sounds exhausting. But there’s a faster and more efficient way to go about this process. It just requires that you think like a writer, not an actor. Follow these three simple rules.
1. Only pull from series regulars and recurring guests. Not guest stars.
The biggest mistake actors make when picking scenes for themselves is to think that guest star auditions are the easiest place to find material. You’re wrong and here’s why. From a writer’s point of view, co-stars and guest stars are simply tools. They’re devices we use to move either the story or the emotional arc of the series regulars forward.
When we break story in a writers’ room, we aren’t thinking about guest stars. We’re thinking about our series regulars: what their season arc is and what their episode arc is. Guest stars are simply nameless faceless people we use as we develop the story of our series regulars. When we’re pitching a story, or walking through the acts, we’ll use phrases like this: “And then they’ll meet some tech guy who will tell them where to go look next” or “when Patient A gets all upset about delivering the baby—that’s when our series regular will realize this important emotional truth about themselves.” Even if it’s a funny scene, I promise, you’re just the set up for the series regular’s jokes.
Even if the guest star cries, it’s only to emotionally affect the series regular. You don’t get the climax of the scene. Guest star scenes aren’t about the guest stars at all. So, therefore, choosing a guest star scene will not highlight you, no matter how hard you try. Instead pick a series regular or a recurring guest scene, which leads to rule two.
How to Decide When a TV Monologue Is Right for You 2. Only pull from pilots.
So now you’ve left guest stars behind and you’re going to look at scenes from a series regular. But you can’t look for scenes from four seasons into a show. Here’s why: as writers we’ve now developed a shorthand with our audience about these series regulars. They know them, how they act, how they think, what their fears are, and what their weaknesses are. We take advantage of this shorthand so we can focus on the story. But that’s not going to get you a good scene.
On the other hand, if you go back to the pilot, that’s a whole different ball game. When we write a pilot, our goal is to not only introduce you to our series regulars but to get you to fall in love with them. How do we do that? We have to show you their vulnerability, we have to make them relatable, we have to give them clear intentions, and sharp character voices, and a profound reason for you to care. Sounds like a way better scene already right?
3. Look at Act IV (one hour) or the end of Act II (half-hour).
As writers, we have a lot of work to do in a pilot. We have to set up a problem, introduce you to the characters and the world, and set up the question for the series.
In a one hour drama, go straight for the emotional act, otherwise known as Act IV. (Side note, some shows are written in six acts in which case you want to look in Act IV and Act V.) This is the point in the pilot where our series regulars reveal their vulnerability and confront the largest conflicts that will drive the series (i.e., the good stuff.) Start looking from around page 36–50 of a pilot and you’ll find what you need.
In a half-hour comedy, raised stakes are where the comedy lives and also where the truth comes out. Scenes here will not only have the jokes but they’ll also have an emotional payoff, rather than just building stakes like earlier scenes in a comedy pilot. Start looking between pages 22–28 of a pilot and you’ll find what you need.
It’s that simple! There are a slew of online resources for screenwriters that publish produced and unproduced pilots, so why not use this resource to your advantage as an actor, and go find yourself a great scene.
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