Need a little inspiration? Our Backstage Experts are full of amazing advice to help move your career forward, and we wouldn’t want you to miss one drop of it. Here are five tips to keep in mind during the week ahead!
Surprise the CDs.
“Create a beat change after the first line of your monologue. Industry people disagree on so many areas of the business and performance, but one thing I’ve never heard any disagreement on is that they want to be surprised. So, let’s imagine the first line of your monologue is something, like, “I don’t want your money, I want you to listen to me,” and the second line of your monologue is, “It seems like nothing I say means anything to you.” Stop after you’ve delivered your first line. Assign a reaction to your imaginary scene partner upon his/her having heard what you just said. Choose something like shock, denial, resistance—anything that keeps the conflict ongoing and strong. Then, instead of continuing on rant-style (which is what so many actors do), with your next line, “It seems like nothing I say…” take a breath and change your tactic.” —Brian O’Neil
Play nice on social media.
“Don’t leave a trail of negative breadcrumbs that will come back to bite you in the butt! You may think it innocent enough that tweeting how bad last night’s episode of _____ is, but think how quickly that director or writer or actor or producer or casting director might see that tweet. Then think about how difficult it is to get auditions. Then think about how quickly that tweet might go sour.” —Jeremy Gordon
Show the possibilities of the character.
“Pilots are more complicated. The role will go to the actor who expands the possibilities of the role past the end of the scene—the actor whose audition makes the people casting think, “I can see this character fall in love, have children, get a promotion, have an affair, become seriously ill, recover, fall in love again…” That’s the actor who has gone further into the recesses of their emotional life and experience and is able to show not just who the character is now, but the possibilities of who they could become.” —Craig Wallace
Move on gracefully.
“You have nothing to ever be embarrassed about or ashamed of. Just do your best and let it all go. Whether that’s auditioning or creating or asking someone out on a date and getting rejected or being dumped by your agent. Just keep moving forward.” —Anthony Meindl
Read the directions!
“The biggest mistake I see actors make in the room is simply not following the directions. They often have access to the breakdown, which will give them information on the character(s) and, in the case of my auditions, access to all scenarios for all characters so they can gather even more insight, but then they come in and steer the conversation in the wrong direction. This is frustrating, because reading a paragraph with a scenario is probably easier that memorizing several pages of sides. Just because it’s an improv, do not discount preparation.” —Brette Goldstein
Like this advice? Check out more from our Backstage Experts!
