Acting class started last night. Delayed by one week to allow for additional registrations. The class consists of 8 people: Kelly Howell and I, (sister and brother), Matt and Jeff McGahren (brothers), Jayne Jacobs and Ryan Bauer (mother and son) and two others unrelated to anybody else in the class. A real family affair mostly.
It’s good being back in class again. A refresher is never a bad idea. Questions I had forgotten that I need to remember during auditions when doing a cold reading or a monologue:
Who
What
Where
When
Why
Followed up by the second question: How does that make me feel?
Some are unknowns. Items not provided in the context of the script but that could help in understanding the character, in providing a “back life” for the character. The questions more specifically:
Who am I? How does that make me feel?
Who am I talking to? How does that make me feel?
Who/What am I talking about? How does that make me feel?
What is/was the event? How does that make me feel?
Where am I now? How does that make me feel?
Where was the event I am talking about? How does that make me feel?
When was the event I am talking about? How does that make me feel?
Why am I talking about it? How does that make me feel?
And any other Who, What, Where, When, Why that can be asked. You can and probably will provide the incorrect answers to these questions, but that?s ok. Make a decision and play the character with those answers.
Pay Attention! Listen to what the other character is saying. Act and React to the situation. A lot of what acting is is reacting to your fellow actor. To do that you need to pay attention. It’s not good enough to just spit out the next line when there is a pause.
I do know this, but it’s funny because Tammy and I were watching Inside the Actors Studio and Robert Redford was the guest. Mr. Redford was talking about his first acting class and having to do a scene with another student. The other student refused to listen and just spat out his line whenever Redford paused. When they went to perform the scene for the class, Redford finally had enough, grabbed the other student, shook him and then sent him sliding across the stage. That is a reaction, but I am sure it is not the one the other student was looking for. Well the other student was not looking (listening) at all.