I knew as a teen that I could not act and would never act - my only audition was an unqualified failure and I was so mortified at how badly I did that I never went back to check the casting list. I sucked, plain and simple.
So, I don’t have any experience saying lines over and over again, making them sound like the first time they are uttered every single time. That’s my question - how do you do that?
I can imagine it’s difficult enough for a TV show or movie where you practice and maybe have multiple takes to get it just so. But I think about stage actors - doing the same thing over and over many nights a week, many weeks in a row.
Do acting classes teach you tricks, or is it merely what acting is? What’s the secret? I need to know why I’ll never be a star!!
First, I’m not an actor currently, and I don’t think I was a very good one when I did act (required) in school.
I think your observation is why a decent percentage of actors are method actors. If you immerse yourself into the character and the moment, then for a lot of people, it feels more realistic to say those words and do those actions in the moment, and the job of acting becomes easier because it’s more natural to you.
On the other hand, as many very good actors will admit, it doesn’t really matter how you *feel *about your job, as long as the physical actions and spoken words convince the audience, you’ve acted just fine.
As for the repetition, think about a favorite song - not a current pop tune, but something that you’ve ALWAYS liked, something that you would sing along with in the car (if you do that sort of thing) or that you’d wake up in the morning and sing in the shower. Now imagine having that level of familiarity with a song that lasted for an hour or so, and being able to sing and emote to that song for the whole hour.
That familiarity with the lines and the feel of the performance makes the repetition much more enjoyable for the acting ensemble. You’re giving and taking energy and cues from each other for a whole night, and when it works, it really really feels amazing - not repetitive or dreary at all. On the other hand, when it doesn’t spark, or it’s not a play or a part you’re passionate about, then yeah, it can drag on. But that’s the job part.
In a totally unrelated note, there is a range of opinion on how actors say lines in repeated takes; whether they are supposed to say the lines the same way each time (preferably under the specific instruction of the director or vocal coach), or to vary their delivery each time to suggest different nuances and interpretations of the phrasing. This is more for movies or tv shows than in staged productions, but even some stage actors will vary their delivery night to night if their castmates and the director are ok with it.
I was an actor, and a pretty good one. So much that I considered making it my career (and still get the pangs once in a while).
It’s hard to explain the answer - much the same way as it’s hard for my husband to understand why I don’t automatically “get” math. If you are in the character, then you speak and respond as the character would in that situation. There is a dynamic exchnage of energy between characters and (if it’s live and done right) the audience too.
I’m just a community-theater summer-Shakespeare type hack, so I have no insight at all into how good stage actors handle the repetition of their parts.
But my own experience, such as it is, brings two aspects to the fore:
Every audience and every performance is different, just as every pitch or shot in a sports game is different. Athletes don’t get bored shooting baskets or swinging bats over and over again, because different things happen every time even if you try to get exactly the same result.
If the audience wasn’t there it would indeed get boring fast to simply go through the motions of saying a part. Just as athletes would probably get bored very fast if they were just miming the actions of throwing or kicking or hitting without actually having a ball to throw or kick or hit and see what happens this time.
Even after many performances, new things can develop in an actor’s understanding of a part or its interactions with another part. And of course, a good director will always be thinking of possible suggestions to improve an interpretation or get something across better. When I listen night after night to some of my fellow actors who actually have serious talent, I’m always impressed at how they subtly mix it up from one night to the next.
Oh, and another thing: Sometimes you get so familiar with your part that you can just coast through a performance or part of one without really thinking about it. That’s not painful for the actor, although it’s usually less than thrilling for the audience. It’s also hazardous, because if you get suddenly jolted out of your trance in the middle of a scene you can lose the thread to some extent!
I’m not an actor but my daughter was - in New York.
Before all the other stuff you mention, there is presence and charisma. Know how some speakers put you to sleep and some rivet you? Being riveting is the first thing you need.
The audition for her manage - at an open call - was saying “I love Cheerios.” That was enough for the initial screening. Once we were around enough kids on sets we could pretty much tell also. There was only one kid we thought was good enough to recommend - and he got signed right away and worked in some big movies.
I really don’t know. How is it that people can sound so monotone and affect such a weird cadence when they read, completely different from how people talk? I don’t get it. That’s actually really difficult for me, and I can’t do it for very long before my concentration slips and my voice takes on a more conversational tone with varied tones and inflections.
When acting, I say the words like I’d say the words if I was that person in that situation. The fact that I already know what I’m going to say doesn’t change how I say them. For me, it’s just about being comfortable pretending and having a decent ability to empathize with others (even if they’re fictional) and imagine myself in their shoes and know how they would move and speak in that situation. (I never studied Method in depth, and find some of the required exercises exceedingly tedious, but I guess it’s kind of what I do. Or did. It’s been a long time. Miss it.)
I speak on this from some - not a lot, but some - experience. The key to getting a really good, really nuanced, natural (or not, if that’s the choice you and the director happen to make) line reading is memorizing your lines over and over and over and over til they are so ingrained that you can say them flawlessly without having to try to remember them. Then you don’t have to worry about forgetting the words you’re supposed to say, so you can focus 100% of your attention, like a laser, on nailing the emotional honesty of the scene, being as present in the actual moment as you possibly can. Honestly, shitty, half-assed memorization of lines and not being alive in the moment is why so much community theatre (and other theatre) outright sucks.
Of course, there are notable exceptions to this memorization maxim. Marlon Brando - one of the finest actors to ever prowl the stage, theatre or sound-, famously abhorred memorizing his lines, and would have cue cards placed within his line of sight but off camera during many a film production (The Godfather included).
Sorry for the hijack but I’ll make it quick. So, Eddie… were you ever going to go back to your thread on eating in Indy and tell us what you thought of our suggestions?
A friend made a student movie, a WWII serial spoof. “Captain Ted of the Army Air Corps.” I had the peach role of “Hans, the Nazi.” In one scene, I smoked a cigarette. First cigarette I’d ever smoked. (I dolled up a pack of “Reichstag Lights.”)
I botched my first couple of scenes. But very quickly, I got into the deal. Memorize the lines and the physical action, and, once you’re comfortable with rehearsal, go for it. Burn some film. I probably was using “method acting,” because I was letting my “inner Nazi” shine. It was fun!
Previous experience with role-playing-gaming may have helped. Also, I was comfortable with everyone; we were all a bunch of friends having a good time.
In the big fight scene, I slipped, and actually clipped Captain Ted on the lip with a sweet left cross. Damn, it looked good on film!
I’ve mentioned before that I think I could have been an actor. Speaking in front of large groups is not a problem, and I absolutely know I could memorize the lines and just get in character.
I had some great experiences acting in plays in elementary school, but didn’t follow through on anything later. I should have.
It’s never too late! Community theater troupes provide great experience and often put on very enjoyable productions (and in my experience, at least, they seldom have enough male actors auditioning).
Your chance at Broadway stardom may have passed you by, but that’s no reason you shouldn’t get to enjoy acting in some form. At the very minimum, there are always play-reading parties where you invite a group of similarly ham-inclined friends over and just read through a script.
Hot dog, that sounds like mighty good fun! It’d help those of us with really poor memories for lines!
A co-worker of mine was part of a small troupe; they’d rent a hotel meeting room and put on a play. The usual “box office” was about twelve people in the audience. But they were having a damn good time, and honing their craft.
Role-playing gaming is wonderful fun; I’ve done both table-top gaming and live-action stuff. This is much akin to acting.
If you listen to the actor’s words as a real sentence, and not as a line from the script that you’ve already heard many times before, then your response is more easily spoken like it’s genuine. It becomes second nature.
I’ve only ever acted on stage at a pokey little community theatre, but the principle is universal. It’s not that you know what the lines are and how the conversation plays out, it’s that you understand what the point of the scene is and you make sure your behaviour is appropriate to convey that point accurately. It takes practice, but then after a while it just comes naturally.
Great analogy! I never thought of it like this, but it makes sense. It also explains why I can’t act since I’m not a jock either.
The responses here have given me some real insight - things that had never occurred to me - especially the idea of listening. I expect that makes a huge difference, too, if another actor doesn’t deliver a line exactly as written in the script. Working from pure memorization, that could easily pull one out of the moment.
Speaking of directors, if I may deflect my own thread a tad - I’m guessing the difference between a great director and one who’s mostly *meh *is how much attention he/she pays to the performance as a whole. For example, a couple of years ago, we went to a community production of The Lion in Winter. The actor playing Richard spent the entire play displaying rage - at least I’m assuming that’s what he was going for. His expression never changed from a scowl, and his fists never unclenched. I ended up watching his fists more than the play, which was mediocre, even by community theater standards.
Even longer ago, I saw a show where, for whatever reason, one actor’s entire catalog of body language consisted of holding his hand in front of him, palms up, and moving them up and down to express… well… everything. My brother and I joked about that for months afterwards, it was so bad and so wrong!
Which makes me wonder how closely some directors actually watch how their direction affects the show.
