My perspective has changed dramatically since I first wrote this back in 2017. Tried to do a quick, 5 min update.
My current hypothesis is that people who master the competency skills are capable and qualified to get a job and do the job. People who develop excellence, I think, stand a much greater chance of actually getting a job.
Skills for baseline auditioning competency
- Performing accurately. This means getting your lines and your blocking and any other technical stuff right.
- Anthony Hopkins apparently reads a script 200 times BEFORE he begins to ‘work’ on it. Memorization and familiarity with the script is pre-work.
- Performing believably. Do people who watch you believe that you’re actually experiencing the scene?
- Perform consistently. Every take should be just as good as the last.
- Listen to / connect with your scene partner. In contrast to, ‘wait for their lips to stop moving so you can say your line.’ The best way I know to rephrase ‘listen to your partner’ is to say, ‘let your partner’s words and actions affect you and produce a response.’
- Be present / focus / live in the moment. The opposite of presence would be to think about the lines that are coming up, to anticipate future actions, or to think about something outside the world of the play.
Have sufficiently high stakes. This relates to the frequently used term ‘stakes’ and Ivana Chubbuck’s will to win. I have to actually care about my objective, and care enough that the audience will care, too. And I need to believe I stand a chance so the audience will root for me, want to watch me pursue my objective, and leave feeling challenged, even if I fail.- Bring the right energy to the role. And regardless of the role, the energy is always positive, always inspiring. Never play a victim.
- Commit. You are your character. Lose the self-consciousness and the half-way performance. That’s kid stuff. For goodness sake, believe in what you’re doing. People should say, “Oh my gosh! He’s actually a sea lion. Like he actually believes he’s a sea lion!” Assuming you’re playing a sea lion. Margot Robbie and Jlaw are incredible examples of this, I think.
- Make bold choices. Develop your character in ways that are unforgettable. The director may have a mental image of what she wants before she auditions you. You have to prepare something that will make her say, “Holy crap! That was so much more amazing / powerful / meaningful than what I had in mind!”
- Be easy to work with, encouraging, enthusiastic, and fun on and off the set. Basic professionalism. Don’t be a diva. Embrace your eccentricities but don’t let them get in the way of selflessness or collaboration.
- Bring your A game every time all the time. Step on set already warmed up and primed for the best performance of your life. Prepare for and discuss your role before the cameras roll, not after ‘money time’ starts.
- Know your genre and your author. Are you single-cam procedural or multi-cam comedy? Is this a Sorkin script, or a Rogan / Goldberg script? That affects how you approach the scene.
- Find the arc in the scene, and know where the scene lies in the script. In a good scene, the character enters with an expectation, then crap hits the fan. The character faces a challenge and has to grow through it. Similarly, the location of the scene in the script tells you how big a deal the given conflict may be.
Skills for excellence
- Fill the room. That undefinable aura. That sense of leadership.
- Treat each person you interact with like they’re the most important person you’ll meet today.
- Bring relaxed, focused, joy. That attitude that inspires others, and makes them feel welcome and at home. The combination of those three items might be a good synonym for confidence. Thanks Jim Nieb of Playhouse West for that one.
- Be giving rather than desperate. Do you make people’s days better? Do the CD and director feel like you’ve solved your problem? Or do you bring a black hole of neediness for approval into the room with you?
What would you add? Remove?
- Connie Sechrist — a working actor!!! — adds the following: “free yourself from all insecurities. In order to truly be present in your role, the story and to connect with others and yourself you need to drop everything and be vulnerable. This is the hardest thing to do, but the most important. Second, be a team player. Accept constructive criticism with open arms. Work together instead of competing against each other. Give not take. Expect nothing in return and appreciate everything. Look for the good in the bad and never stop growing and learning.”
- Martin Burke, a writer and actor, says, “100% yourself. Meisner said that acting is being truthful in imaginary circumstances. If you are not totally being yourself, you will not be being truthful.”