#acting Advice

[tina-armani]

Walton made his career on "humanazing" bad guys. He has said it before that whenever he's playing a "villain", he always tries to find why that person is like that, what made him this way, what is inside his heart. And more often than not he finds that pain and that struggle and it shines through during his performance. This is a lesson about how you make people root for the bad guys on screen 😄😄 👍

[victusinveritas]

Reminder: if you're an actor, and you think your performance is bad, remember it will be hard to be worse than John Wayne as Genghis Khan in The Conqueror. The movie sucked so much it gave like 70% of the people who worked on it cancer.

Nuclear testing nearby might have had something to do with it, but I'm convinced it was largely the Duke just being ass at acting.

Also, if you are raising issues about someone being played by an actor of 'the wrong ethnicity' in any movie, but especially one where there are goddamn dragons, get bent.

[coffeefromvoid]

Late night rambling/Acting/Mercutio specific hot? Lukewarm? Take, i dunno I’ve only been acting for like three years

Basically a few weeks ago I came to the realisation that when you are acting it’s useful to know a character’s greatest fear. Of course you need to know more than that to make a character come alive on stage- who they are, their motivations, their personality or the bits of it that shine through in the script and their narrative purpose.

But I also find a characters greatest fear to be important too, especially for heightened emotional moments.

For example my three biggest roles so far,

1. Franz von Moor (in a summarised version of Shiller’s “die Räuber”)

2. Paolo (in a stage adaptation of Michael Ende’s novel “Momo”)

And last and certainly not least,

3. Mercutio (shortend and modified version of the german translation of Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare)

These three roles are very different from each other and all have different fears, which play into their portrayal on stage. None of the fears are out right stated, it’s just my interpretation, to better play the character.

But why is a characters fear important if you aren’t playing a scene where the character is specifically afraid?

Well, to me, my fears personally do affect how i carry myself. Some days more some days less, so having a characters fear in the back of your mind can be useful for when they are doing a monologue for example, or doing an important action, or just making them appear more human

For example, when i was playing Franz, his greatest fear to me, was being alone and having nothing left as he wasn’t the main hair, leading him to doing all of those horrible actions that result in him killing himself after asking god for forgiveness. Not an excuse for his shit behaviour but a helpful guide for his characterisation.

Or Paolo who was just a kid and wanted his parents to spend time with him and who was afraid of change and everything the gray men represent. After the time skip and the kids omission into the new strict school, he becomes hopeless, robotic and depressed. Because his greatest fear came true.

And finally Mercutio who’s, in my opinion, greatest fear is death. This only shines through in the text in two places, the infamous Queen Mab speech and his final monologue before he dies.

The Queen Mab speech starts of whimsical and fun as Mercutio describes Mab and her carriage and so on and so forth, but after a while it turns darker, when he starts talking about the dark dreams that are about war and subsequent, death, that she puts in soldiers heads. This is, to me, the point where the Queen Mab speech turns cynical and basically opposite of what it was at the beginning.

And the second moment where his primal fear of death shows is obviously his death-monologue. Mercutio has, not a facade but a heightened, more dramatic version of his personality he puts on as a mask, to hide this ‘silly’ fear of death. Why would a great man like him fear such a thing? Right? This mask starts to falter when he realises he’s fucking dying, for real. But in never truly drops, as he is still making jokes until his last breath, to try and distract himself of his fate or perhaps convince himself it isn’t happening at all, while clinging on to the person he made himself to be.

I’m not saying that Mercutio making a pun in his death-monologue is out of character, no, it just shows me, that he did not digest what had happened to him before it was too late. If that makes sense.

And of course you cannot forget his very memorable and dramatic anger at both houses in this speech. He doesn’t just blame one person or house for his unexpected demise but he blames both Tybalt and Romeo. This is him expressing this anger he had in him, not just at his death but at everything around him making him feel like he had to put up this heightened image of himself. He is basically speed running the five stages of grief for himself but died before he could get to acceptance.

Mercutio’s fear of death also explains his recklessness to me, he sneaks Romeo and Benvolio into the Capulet ball without even thinking of the consequences, insults the nurse with no after thought and challenges Tybalt to the dual without considering that Romeo might come between them because of his previous yapping about loving the Capulet name like his own, even though no one knew about his marriage to Juliet.

Mercutio basically lives every day like it would be his last but isn’t actually ready to die tomorrow.

Hope this long ass post was worth the read, i’ve been thinking ab Mercutio non stop and its one am rn and i should sleep but i can’t so boom character analysis plus minor acting advice, Also sorry if the grammar is garbage, its as stated one am, and english isn’t my first language.

[thefirsthogokage]

Some helpful writing/acting advice:

[Image IDs: two tweets from Avishai (@/avishaiw) from June 18th, 2023 that read:

Years ago, I was at a one man show whose second half was a seminar on how to do physical comedy. The guy made a point I never forgot:

How do you play a drunk character? By acting like you’re desperate to convince everyone you’re sober.

A recent movie with a depressed main character who’s played as consistently gloomy, without any false front, has me thinking about this

/End ID]

[Image ID: tweet from Jessica Ellis (@/baddestmamajama) from June 18th, 2023 that reads:

Yup, this is an early acting lesson. Never play bored by acting bored, play it like you’re trying to find something to do and being thwarted

/End ID]

As much as I now hate Whedon and Nathan Fillion (for being willing to work with Whedon in a heartbeat, even after EVERYTHING, just because he never saw it), Whedon aslo gave Fillion some helpful advice about playing bad guys: Bad guys can't think they're bad guys. They have to think they are doing the right thing.

Oh wait more:

[Image ID: the first tweet is quoted by Anosognosiogenesis (@/pookleblinky> from June 18th, 2023 that reads:

Similarly: how do you play a mindbogglingly stupid character? Act like you're the world's smartest man

/End ID]

I would argue that some characters know that they lack more intellect and that those characters would need to be written and played differently.

Oh look, here's another helpful take on playing dumb from the quote tweets:

[Image ID: a Quote tweet from Matt McIver (@/mamikgibar) from June 18tu, 2023 that reads:

You don’t play cold, you play trying like hell to get warm. Evergreen advice.

Also people make a mistake playing “dumb” characters. You have to play either a) the constant fight to figure out what’s going on or 2) the utter (incorrect) confidence you know everything.

/End ID]

And back to a quote tweet about acting drunk:

[Image ID: A Quote Tweet from @/LouisatheLast from the same day as everything else that reads:

This is great acting advice, and so is the direction I got once on acting convincingly very drunk in a scene: “your goal is to get horizontal.” Not just stumble around aimlessly, but be actively trying to lie down on the nearest surface

/End ID]

[gameo-archive]

for anyone wondering

"How did you get into acting? How did you know you that you wanted to be an actor? I've been thinking about it a lot recently and I know it can be hard but I thought I'd ask."

Another amazing one. :)

[altosys]

to all my aspiring actors that have not been on stage yet. i have some tales of times when i was on stage.

romeo and juliet (may 2024): -messed up like, a bunch of lines and stuttered a bit (as long as you play it off no one will notice anything wrong) -blocking was shit on one of the nights (made up for it via actions/dialogue clarity) -was kinda quiet (just be louder next time, that's all that matters) -couldn't find the vial for like half a minute and i was worried they didn't put it there (pretended to play it off as hesitating to give the vial) -had a paralyzing ptsd episode on one of the nights right before the doors opened (and i will not stress this enough: always rely on your fellow cast and production members. they are there for you.) -had a really upset stomach (just don't eat dairy or whatever you're intolerant to prior to performance night/day. or if you do make sure to take a pill or something to help with it, like a lactese/lactaid)

[will update]

[lithuanianking]

Hey does my acting resume look ok? I've never made one before

[theomenmedia]

Nicolas Cage Urges Young Actors To Protect Themselves From AI

Nicolas Cage to Actors: "Protect Your Craft from AI!" The legend warns of Hollywood's AI takeover.

Read the full story here: https://www.theomenmedia.com/post/nicolas-cage-s-ai-warning-protect-your-instrument-or-risk-losing-your-voice-in-hollywood

[ineffably-graham]

actors and idk various nice people of tumblr!!!! i need your help!!!!

auditions for my school's production of peter and the starcatcher are this tuesday and wednesday (haven't decided which day i'm going). i'm a senior, and have been in every single production i can at my school aside from one musical because i thought i couldn't sing (i then proceeded to do three musicals, two in programs outside of my school).

skip to the ******* if you don't want all this context and want to get to the main idea of this post!!!!

i want the role of blackstache really bad. i genuinely think i'm a good fit for the role! while i'm not too confident in my singing, i've gotten good roles in the 2/3 musicals i was in, so maybe i'm selling myself short.

a few days ago, i was talking to a friend in the grade below me, and when i mentioned blackstache was a singing role, he said something along the lines of “oh, i’ll get it then” or “yes!!!” or “easy” (i don't actually remember what it was). so crazy rude. (if u think im overreacting, just know i have expressed to this person multiple times that i get major anxiety around auditions and am self conscious about my singing. also they have never heard me sing alone/not in ensamble before). but this person is an incredibly talented singer, so it's relatively realistic that they get the role (even if i'm a senior).

because i am a petty bitch, i now need the role. so bad. i want karma to come in and give me the role so i can prove that guy wrong, and he gets humbled. he's a friend of mine, i love them, but that was an incredibly rude thing to do. so as much as i care about this guy as my friend, i do want to see him be incredibly wrong after saying such a rude thing. i've worked really hard to get to where i am in terms of performing on stage, and i just don't like when people are upfront and open about thinking they're better than you.

i'd be happy with any role, and i am preparing myself to not get blackstache, but that said i will do everything in my power to get the role, so when i don't get it, i can at least say i did all i could!

*******

tldr: i need the role because i'm petty and want karma/revenge. any tips for my audition? specific to the role or otherwise.

[marccartwrightheadshots]

A great headshot is your first impression—make it count! 📸✨ It tells your story, showcases your personality, and opens doors to new opportunities.📸💫  Call today for the latest headshot rates and booking information! 

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[lla-letslearacting]

Fundamental skills to acquire and hone through learning and consistent practice.

[studyingsocialjustice]

can you give any theatre/acting related advice that you have learnt through your studies as a theatre major? thanks

Anon I am SO sorry - this ask is from a year ago and I literally JUST saw this and I have absolutely no idea how that happened. I hope that you are still following me and will see this!

EDIT from May 2023: Haha. Oops. This ask is now from maybe like two years ago? Possibly almost three? I genuinely don't know. But I am so sorry that it's taken so long. I remember exactly what I was doing while typing my original response to this: I was folding laundry and trying to get ready to move back in to school, and I was procrastinating doing the folding by typing my response to this, and then my parents came in and were like "why aren't you folding laundry" and I remember saying to myself that I would come back to this ask and then I never did. But you probably don't care about that much, so here we go:

My top three things I have learned, in order:

Number One: Script analysis is everything. It will help you connect to and understand your character, it will help you to connect to and understand the world of the play - it is the foundation for understanding everything. Look at the historical context of when the play was written and where it stands in the playwright's repertoire chronologically. Look at word choice. Look at how the characters interact with each other. My favorite books I recommend for this are A Practical Handbook for the Actor by Melissa Bruder, Lee Michael Cohn, etc. and Backwards and Forwards by David Ball. I read these books in my senior year of high school, so four years ago now, and I still use their methodology for all of my script analysis. Their methods are incredibly useful and I highly highly recommend reading them. B&F was also required reading for my Script Analysis course at my university this year, and it is still just as useful. The books are old enough that they aren't too expensive to buy, and you could probably also find copies online, though I'm not sure of that.

Two: One of the best, and in my opinion most accessible methods of script analysis (especially if you don't want to read a whole book) is the Question Words Method: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? This works for monologues as well as general script analysis, and is usually applied to one character at a time.

For monologues: Who is speaking? Who are they speaking to? What are they trying to achieve by speaking? Where are they while they're talking? When in the course of the story is this happening? Why are they talking about this now? Why not later, why not sooner? To quote one acting teacher I had, why are they opening their mouth? And finally, how are they going about getting what they want? What tactics are they using, what's their word choice? What actions are they taking as they speak?

For characters: Who are they? This includes, name, title, relationships, basic biographical information. What do they want? What is their goal throughout this story? Where does this story take place? When? For a particular scene, where and when does that scene take place (general setting) and when in the course of the story does it take place? Why do they want whatever it is that they want? And how are they working to achieve it?

The most essential part of this, in my opinion, is what does the character want, and how they are going about achieving that. It's the objective and the tactics.

Three: This comes from one of my professors from this past school year. There is this idea in the world of theatre that if there's anything else you can see yourself doing, you should go do that because acting is only for people who can see themselves doing nothing else and just really really want it. Which is stupid because just because you might be able to imagine yourself taking a different career path doesn't mean you would be happy doing it. So, from my professor: "If you could see yourself doing anything else, do this anyway, because it's better." Again: If you could see yourself doing anything else, do this anyway, because it's better. If this is what you love, who cares about what else you could be doing? Do the thing that is fulfilling and makes you happy. It doesn't matter if other people think that it isn't a good career or won't make you enough money. If this is what you love, do it, because it's better than anything else.

I sincerely hope that this advice was helpful to you! Again, I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to answer your ask; time unfortunately is not my friend and I've had a lot of - for lack of a better word - bullshit happen to me this year. Best of luck going forward, and please know that although it may sometimes take me a while to respond, my inbox is always open! I love giving advice, and am always happy to provide it!

[ittakesauniverse]

Interview with REESE GONZALES who plays Dante in:

Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is OUT NOW!

[shoemakerobstetrician]

I was a very close friend for 30 years of someone kinda famous. She said that I probably knew her better than anyone else. I’ve thought about writing a book for forever, but I’ve always worried that I wouldn’t be able to capture her, that I’m not a good enough writer. The advice above really helps.

this is such incredible advice for creating any kind of art i have to put it over here to remind myself

[filmcourage]

I Spent A Year Selling A TV Show.... Here's The Truth - Adam William Ward

Watch the video interview on YouTube here.

[themightydragonblog]

Bridgerton insights with Joe Barnes 

This week's guest is actor Joe Barnes, best known for his role as Lord Wilding in Bridgerton! It's truly an honour to feature this multitalented actor in The Mighty Dragon interview collection.

Joe Barnes  This week’s guest is actor Joe Barnes, best known for his role as Lord Wilding in Bridgerton! It’s truly an honour to feature this multitalented actor in The Mighty Dragon interview collection. Joe’s Instagram page showcases a diverse range of his work, from comedy to drama and I was eager to learn more about his approach to acting and his career. As you may know, I have a deep…