Have you ever watched a movie or a show and saw a character being played by someone you kept forgetting was in the project?
It happens all the time and that is a horrible thing for an actor! Why?
It should go without saying, but over the years I've found that most actors don't really connect the dots on this.
Booking a role isn't just about getting a credit and getting on screen. It's also about being seen,. and more importantly, being remembered by the right people.
Otherwise, what did the project actually do for you?
That's kind of a touchy and uncomfortable subject for most actors and it's because that's where they usually find themselves.
I can't tell you how many times I've heard from actors who booked a scene on a primetime series, blasted their friends with text messages, DMs, and posted relentlessly asking everyone to tune in and support the show...
Only to have almost everyone ask "where was your scene, did they edit you out?"
See, if your performance doesn't leap off the screen and force the audience to pay attention they won't, even if you blatantly asked them to.
Doing that is something professional actors have mastered, and if you want to be a professional actor you have to get really good at forcing the audience to notice you too.
It's all about creating an emotional connection with your audience, which is simple to do, even if you only have a few lines and a few seconds of screen time.
Here's how...
You just have to tap into the emotions that are building throughout the rest of the project and give the audience a chance to experience them.
Here's what I mean...
Most actors try to force things on the audience, but great actors know that they need to give the audience only what they are ready for at that particular moment in the story line.
In other words, they pace their character choices and that's a big part of what makes for a memorable performance.
Audiences are temperamental. If you push their emotions too far they'll tune out. If you don't push them far enough, they'll tune out.
Proper character pacing is how you connect with your audience on an emotional level and hook them.
Once you hook the audience, you have to get them to take the journey with your character. That's where your emotional range comes in...
This is possible to do, even if you only have a single scene and not a lot of screen time.
Think of your audience's emotions like a rubber band. Throughout the movie or show, their emotions are being pulled in either direction and they snap back to their original place from time to time.
At least that's how it goes when a project is done correctly.
That's why every comedic project has some kind of dramatic moment or subplot that shows up from time to time and it's why every dramatic project has some comedic relief from time to time too.
If the audience doesn't have a break, they'll mentally tune out because it's all "too much." They'll pull out their phone and start scrolling social media looking to get a mental break there.
Your character should take them through the range of emotions instead. That's actually a pretty simple thing to do.
Regardless of whether your character has 1 line or 100 lines, the process is the same. Look through your script and identify places where you can shift the level of intensity your character is in.
Most actors leave decisions like this up to the director, but great actors take this upon themselves. Your director can help you polish your performance but you shouldn't depend on them for what is really one of the foundational parts of your character.
Great actors have been building their careers like this since the dawn of the industry.
If you watch an old Charlie Chaplin film, you’ll find saying “aww” almost as much as you find yourself laughing.
Being able to pace your performance and take the audience on through a range of emotions is what great actors are really good at. It’s what makes them so relatable, and it’s why casting directors and decision makers seek them out to work with over and over again.
They do it because putting great talent on screen is important, but they also do it because audiences can’t get enough of those actors.
I can't tell you how many times I paused something and logged into IMDb to look up the actor that delivered a magnificent line in whatever I was watching. You've probably done the same, more times than you can count.
Actors sometimes forget that CDs are people. They do this too so even a single line can be a gamechanger, when you are visible to decision makers in the place where they are already looking for talent.
Getting booked is only the first step. Really, it’s more like step 3 but we’ll get into that another time.
What I mean is that getting booked won’t do much for your acting career, if you don’t deliver a memorable performance on set.
Even when you do deliver a great performance, you shouldn’t just wait around hoping that something comes from it. You have to do what you can to make sure that casting directors and industry decision makers see what you are working on. Here’s how I can help with that.
That’s how you turn one acting job into 2, 3, 4, or more.
Great actors are good at both pacing, and moving an audience through an emotional range. Most actors are good at one but not the other.
Identify which one is your strong point and then put a plan together to work on the other one.
This can be challenging but it could end up being one of the most rewarding things you do for your acting career.
It will also have you flexing your creative muscle over and over again, as you dial in your performances.
As an actor, there’s so much that has to get done and focusing on the creative side is always a lot of fun. I built this to help with the other things that go into building your acting career, so you focus on the creative side.
So which one is your stronger point, pacing or range? How do you plan on making the other one stronger? Let me know in the comments below or shoot me an email. I'll always respond and I'm happy to help however I can because I truly want to...
See you the top,
Scott