# I'm starting to do a little acting. Help me pick some audition monologues.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-starting-to-do-a-little-acting-help-me-pick-some-audition-monologues/830613>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 6, 2019, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-starting-to-do-a-little-acting-help-me-pick-some-audition-monologues/830613 "2019-03-06T03:49:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-starting-to-do-a-little-acting-help-me-pick-some-audition-monologues/830613/21 "2019-03-07T18:03:51Z")

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I have always thought that chapter 37 of _Moby Dick_ would make a good monologue for an actor.

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**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-starting-to-do-a-little-acting-help-me-pick-some-audition-monologues/830613/22 "2019-03-07T18:06:02Z")

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There’s a lot of advice to be garnered also for cold script readings, whether open (Everyone sees everyone audition) or closed.

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**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-starting-to-do-a-little-acting-help-me-pick-some-audition-monologues/830613/23 "2019-03-07T19:00:37Z")

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> [@cormac262](#):
>
> “46 year old white guy”, “short temper” For intense, how about Col. Jessup’s courtroom “speech” from “A Few Good Men” (“we live in a world that has walls…”)

If you’re looking for middle-aged white guy rants, pretty much anything from Micheal Douglas’s character in _[Falling Down](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falling_Down)_. Basically a textbook example of middle-90s, middle-aged, middle-classed white guy rage at discovering that “following all the rules” no longer meant automatically winning at life.

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**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-starting-to-do-a-little-acting-help-me-pick-some-audition-monologues/830613/24 "2019-03-07T20:08:11Z")

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How about some Quentin Tarantino?

[Dennis Hopper to Christopher Walken in _True Romance_](https://youtu.be/PcZCGMCDzbU)

[Christopher Walken – the Gold Watch from _Pulp Fiction_](https://youtu.be/YFtHjV4c4uw)

[Christoph Waltz from _Inglorious Basterds_](https://youtu.be/QfSjs_6MZOQ)

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**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-starting-to-do-a-little-acting-help-me-pick-some-audition-monologues/830613/25 "2019-03-07T20:14:23Z")

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Thanks for all the suggestions. I always found the Jessup courtroom speech a bit over the top for me. I’ll look into _Falling Down_. I’ve never actually seen that movie.

I’m still pondering maybe a romance movie. Maybe John Mahoney’s bit in _Moonstruck_ about why he chases younger women: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz6UbMruN7k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz6UbMruN7k)

ETA:

> [@Knowed\_Out](#):
>
> How about some Quentin Tarantino?
> 
> [Dennis Hopper to Christopher Walken in _True Romance_](https://youtu.be/PcZCGMCDzbU)
> 
> [Christopher Walken – the Gold Watch from _Pulp Fiction_](https://youtu.be/YFtHjV4c4uw)
> 
> [Christoph Waltz from _Inglorious Basterds_](https://youtu.be/QfSjs_6MZOQ)

Man, just when I think I’ve settled on my “intense” one, you guys keep making me rethink my selection.

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