Audition

1. Audition as Your Authentic, Imaginative Self

The first change to undertake from your performing method in learning how to audition is to give up character and use yourself.

Use your unique self. Stop trying to be someone else or what you think they want. Your greatest asset is your unique self – your emotional life, your imagination, your dreams. Auditors want to see you reacting to extraordinary situations in a remarkable way. Don't limit yourself by trying to fit a preconceived "character" mold, especially with limited time.

Trust who you are. Actors often try to be someone else, but there is no one else like you. Learn to trust your own singularity. Your own emotional life is your primary source material. Don't let instant characterizations imprison you; allow anything to be possible and make choices that maximize your involvement.

Beyond everyday reality. While you use yourself, don't confuse it with your everyday self. Plays are about unusual predicaments. Your reactions should be out of the ordinary, fueled by your fantasy life and dreams, not just literal reality. This imaginative use of self is what makes acting interesting.

2. Relationship is the Heart of Acting

Creating relationship is the heart of acting. It is basic. It is essential.

Explore emotional connection. Go beyond the factual relationship (e.g., mother/daughter, husband/wife). Ask feeling questions: Do you love them? Hate them? Resent them? What do you want from them? How do you feel now? Emotional attitude is what allows you to function in the scene.

Every scene is a love scene. Always ask, "Where is the love?" This doesn't mean romantic love, but the presence, absence, or deprivation of love. Choosing love (in its myriad forms) as a core feeling provides a richer emotional involvement than choosing indifference or pure rejection.

Commitment creates belief. Full emotional commitment to the relationship, even if it's complex or contradictory (like loving and resenting someone simultaneously), is what creates good acting and makes the audience believe. Don't settle for superficial connections.

3. Know What You're Fighting For

The actor must find a positive motivation, since it will serve him in a more forceful, stronger, more emotional way than a negative choice will.

Find your positive drive. Instead of focusing on what you want to avoid or get away from, identify what you are actively fighting for. This provides a potent, forward-moving energy. Even if the character seems passive, find their underlying fight (like the sisters fighting to get to Moscow in Chekhov).

Make active choices. Always choose the most active motivation possible. There are no truly passive scenes; every character is striving for something. Your fight, combined with the other character's fight, creates the necessary conflict for drama.

Fight for your dream. Often, what you're fighting for is not just a practical goal, but a dream or fantasy of what could be. People are motivated by dreams (love, fulfillment, success), not just reality. Put that longing for the dream into the scene.

4. Embrace Opposites and Inconsistency

Whatever you decide is your motivation in the scene, the opposite of that is also true and should be in it.

Consistency is dull. What makes human beings and great actors fascinating is their inconsistency and use of opposites. Love and hate, desire and resentment, strength and vulnerability can coexist and should be present in a scene.

Create conflict. Opposites generate conflict, which is the essence of drama. Don't iron out the conflict; heighten it. The more extreme the opposites you choose (e.g., "I love you" vs. "I could kill you"), the wider the emotional range you can explore.

Subtextual opposites. Often, the opposite isn't explicitly written in the dialogue but exists in the subtext. It's the actor's job to find and inject these hidden feelings. For example, a character saying "Go away" might secretly desperately want the other person to stay.

5. Enter with a Powerful "Moment Before"

Every scene you will ever act begins in the middle, and it is up to you, the actor, to provide what comes before.

Prime the emotional pump. Before you even step on stage, create a specific, emotionally charged "moment before." What just happened? How are you feeling right now? This isn't just intellectual; you must immerse yourself in the feeling.

Avoid starting cold. In auditions, you have limited time to warm up. A strong moment before propels you into the scene with immediate emotional investment, capturing the auditors' attention from the start.

Specificity is key. Don't rely on generalizations about the character's life. Connect the broader context (like a long marriage or a difficult past) to the specific feelings and fight of the immediate moment before the scene begins.

6. Find and Use Humor in Every Scene

Humor is not jokes. It is that attitude toward being alive without which you would long ago have jumped off the Fifty-ninth Street Bridge.

Humor is a survival tool. Humor exists in every life situation, even the most serious, because humans use it to cope with heavy burdens. It's not just for comedies; it's crucial in drama to make characters lifelike and relatable.

It's an attitude. Humor isn't about telling jokes; it's an attitude, a way of seeing the absurdity of a situation or oneself. It reveals intelligence, perception, and a heightened awareness of others.

Adds dimension. Humor adds complexity and charm. Actors who omit humor, even in serious roles, often come across as one-dimensional or dull. Great actors, like Hepburn, Bogart, Pacino, and Olivier, all possess and use unique humor.

7. Make Discoveries and Events Matter

Every scene is filled with discoveries, things that happen for the first time.

Acting is a series of discoveries. Don't treat scenes as routine. Find what is new, different, or particularly at stake in this specific moment. Discoveries can be about the other character, yourself, or the situation.

Create the happenings. Events are what move a play forward. They can be changes, confrontations, or climaxes. Even in modern plays where events are subtle, the actor must actively create them and make them perceptible.

Invest with importance. Don't treat discoveries or events as minor. Make them emotionally important to you, a matter of life-and-death stakes in that moment. This elevates the scene from mundane reality to compelling drama.

8. Play the Game, Compete to Win

No games are any fun unless the participants compete.

Life is a game. We constantly play roles and games in life (teacher, student, lover, friend) as ways of dealing with reality. These roles and games are real and sincere, not artificial. Identify the game and your role in each scene.

Competition is healthy. We compete for everything in life – affection, jobs, recognition, even who has suffered the most. Competition is not inherently bad; it's a fundamental human drive and a source of stimulation.

Compete in every scene. Drama thrives on conflict, and conflict arises from competition – "I am right, and you are wrong," "You should change." Don't shy away from competing with your scene partner; play to win, even in friendship scenes.

9. Inject Mystery and Secret

After you've done all the eleven guideposts in your preparation for your audition, then add to it what you don't know.

Embrace the unknown. The most fascinating acting has a quality of mystery. Even when you know a lot about a character or relationship, there's always something unknown, something to ponder about the other person and yourself.

Add wonderment. Inject a sense of wonder about what is going on inside your partner and inside yourself. These mysterious feelings can't always be explained but can be felt and added to your performance.

Secrets drive action. Characters often keep secrets, either intentionally or even from themselves. Identifying what a character is hiding (like Mrs. Robinson's potential feelings for Benjamin) provides a powerful underlying motivation and adds layers to the performance.

10. Master the Practicalities

There are two important physical aspects of readings that actors tend to forget: being seen and being heard.

Be seen and heard. Ensure you are in the light and can be heard comfortably, especially on a large stage. Don't whisper; communicate with urgency. Ask if you're in the light and if you can have time to look over a cold script.

Handle the auditors. Don't ask who they are or what they want; focus on being interesting and talented. Don't show hostility or temperament. Be pleasant, open, and convey that you are easy to work with.

Preparation matters. Don't memorize the script for a reading; use it as an ally. Prepare your "What have you done?" response like a personal play. Dress appropriately and consistently for callbacks. If late, use the "another audition" white lie.

11. Cultivate Persistence and Take Risks

An actor cannot afford to [take no for an answer].

Persistence is essential. The acting profession is filled with rejection. You must be persistent, disciplined, and hardworking. Don't give up after one try; keep trying. Use mail campaigns, go to auditions, refuse to be ignored.

Take risks. Don't be afraid of making extravagant choices or being "melodramatic" (as long as there's relationship). Don't underact out of fear of overacting. Plunge in, be bold, be unpredictable. Risk-taking makes you memorable.

Luck favors the prepared. While luck plays a role, you must be ready when opportunity strikes. Hard work, discipline, and persistence increase your chances of being in the right place at the right time and being prepared to seize the moment.

Last updated: May 16, 2025