TOP 10: ADVISE TO GET A ROLE
1. Be a better actor
a. OBSERVE. CREATE. BUT ABOVE ALL: INTERNALIZE
An actor must be an observer. A detailed observer. Stop and analyze other people’s gestures, moves and reactions…But hey! Never... be too obvious watching the others if you do not want to get in troubles. Create then: do stuff (Practice laughs, walks, voices, looks, etc.) to learn your capacities. Go to the limit! In the acting world, less is never more. Mandatory: an actor MUST be truthful. Acting must be a trustable lie (get it?) …if you do not connect with your inner self, nothing is happening (no matter how many times you say “Oh. My. God. I reaaaally felt it”) it’s just not there. Period. Learning how to internalize is a process you must learn. Get a coach. A good one… A GOOD one!
b. READ. BE LEARNED.
There was a literary world before Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games. Read…read…read. Particularly the Classics. Trust me; they have been considered classics for a reason. KNOW THEM!
c. BE OPEN MINDED, AUDACIOUS… BUT RESPECTFUL
Remember: Acting is proximity. Be ready to be close to other people. To touch and be touched… to smell and be smelled… BUT, respect. Boundaries must be negotiated… (Removing bodily odors and grime would be a plus)
d. ENGAGE IN A SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY. DO NOT LIMIT YOURSELF.
You are a spiritual being. Then, be in contact with your spiritual senses and don't be a mess! Be as fit as you can be, look as good as you can look, be as healthy as you can be, know as much as you can know. You can pretend to have less, but you can't fool the audience pretending you have more.
e. ANNOTATE THE TEXT
Always make notes in rehearsals, and in class. Analyze and dissect your character as you would have done during literary analysis in the twelfth grade. Do not trust your memory…at the end read what you wrote, and choose what is good for you. An artist makes decisions with the tools he has learned everywhere.
2. In the moment
a. KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS AND STERNGHTS.
If you are 35, no matter how young your friends say you look, NEVER audition for thirteen-year-old-Juliette (and this is for guys too). Know who you are and where you can fit. Should I say more?
b. MAKE THE DISADVANTAGE AN ADVANTAGE.
Overweight? Too short? Acne? Ok, ok. Take yourself to the top. Build the best you. But at the end, if the zit or the extra pound didn’t go away, accept yourself the way you are and let it flow. Think... Danny DeVito, Ron Perlman, Christopher Walken… trust me: their features helped them BIG TIME!
c. TAKE THE AUDITION SERIOUSLY. LOOK YOUR AUDITIONER AT THE EYE.
Don’t be texting, chatting or using ANY electronic devices before your audition; and don’t be wandering around and socializing. Take at least five minutes to concentrate. Take deep breaths and always be ready to propose …and if it didn’t work, dismiss and propose again. ALWAYS look at your auditioner’s eyes... (But not during the monologue).
d. READ YOUR SCRIPT BEFOREHAND (if given the chance)
Know what you are saying, where you are and what you are doing because improvisation is not speaking aimlessly, and who knows when you might need to improvise… right?
e. BE AS NEUTRAL AS POSSIBLE
30 face tattoos? 30 inch beard? 30 inch high fro? Well… 90 less opportunities to get the role. It’s better to be told: we need to add "blank characteristic" Rather than: you need to remove "blank characteristic"!
By,
Carlos Ramirez Bernal
Acting Coach
1. Be a better actor
a. OBSERVE. CREATE. BUT ABOVE ALL: INTERNALIZE
An actor must be an observer. A detailed observer. Stop and analyze other people’s gestures, moves and reactions…But hey! Never... be too obvious watching the others if you do not want to get in troubles. Create then: do stuff (Practice laughs, walks, voices, looks, etc.) to learn your capacities. Go to the limit! In the acting world, less is never more. Mandatory: an actor MUST be truthful. Acting must be a trustable lie (get it?) …if you do not connect with your inner self, nothing is happening (no matter how many times you say “Oh. My. God. I reaaaally felt it”) it’s just not there. Period. Learning how to internalize is a process you must learn. Get a coach. A good one… A GOOD one!
b. READ. BE LEARNED.
There was a literary world before Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games. Read…read…read. Particularly the Classics. Trust me; they have been considered classics for a reason. KNOW THEM!
c. BE OPEN MINDED, AUDACIOUS… BUT RESPECTFUL
Remember: Acting is proximity. Be ready to be close to other people. To touch and be touched… to smell and be smelled… BUT, respect. Boundaries must be negotiated… (Removing bodily odors and grime would be a plus)
d. ENGAGE IN A SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY. DO NOT LIMIT YOURSELF.
You are a spiritual being. Then, be in contact with your spiritual senses and don't be a mess! Be as fit as you can be, look as good as you can look, be as healthy as you can be, know as much as you can know. You can pretend to have less, but you can't fool the audience pretending you have more.
e. ANNOTATE THE TEXT
Always make notes in rehearsals, and in class. Analyze and dissect your character as you would have done during literary analysis in the twelfth grade. Do not trust your memory…at the end read what you wrote, and choose what is good for you. An artist makes decisions with the tools he has learned everywhere.
2. In the moment
a. KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS AND STERNGHTS.
If you are 35, no matter how young your friends say you look, NEVER audition for thirteen-year-old-Juliette (and this is for guys too). Know who you are and where you can fit. Should I say more?
b. MAKE THE DISADVANTAGE AN ADVANTAGE.
Overweight? Too short? Acne? Ok, ok. Take yourself to the top. Build the best you. But at the end, if the zit or the extra pound didn’t go away, accept yourself the way you are and let it flow. Think... Danny DeVito, Ron Perlman, Christopher Walken… trust me: their features helped them BIG TIME!
c. TAKE THE AUDITION SERIOUSLY. LOOK YOUR AUDITIONER AT THE EYE.
Don’t be texting, chatting or using ANY electronic devices before your audition; and don’t be wandering around and socializing. Take at least five minutes to concentrate. Take deep breaths and always be ready to propose …and if it didn’t work, dismiss and propose again. ALWAYS look at your auditioner’s eyes... (But not during the monologue).
d. READ YOUR SCRIPT BEFOREHAND (if given the chance)
Know what you are saying, where you are and what you are doing because improvisation is not speaking aimlessly, and who knows when you might need to improvise… right?
e. BE AS NEUTRAL AS POSSIBLE
30 face tattoos? 30 inch beard? 30 inch high fro? Well… 90 less opportunities to get the role. It’s better to be told: we need to add "blank characteristic" Rather than: you need to remove "blank characteristic"!
By,
Carlos Ramirez Bernal
Acting Coach
