It’s super easy to find yourself lost in a YouTube binge, pick up your phone and see that two and a half hours passed.
YouTube has teams of behavioral and computer scientists to figure out exactly how to keep you on the app as long as possible.
You’ll see this relates to your acting career in just a moment.
They have giant supercomputers tracking your every move and preference and over time the computer learns what you like...and it gives it to you, which in turn makes you happy.
That same concept is how you deliver a great comedic performance, or really any genre of performance.
It starts with something every great actor throughout time has done...
When you are training as an actor, you go through different levels of training and mastery. The surface level is the mechanics of how to be an actor.
That evolves into building a character and stepping into their shoes so to speak. This is where 99% of actors stop. They stop at trying to make character decisions.
The greatest actors, go way beyond that and study the behavioral psychology behind making those choices.
These are basically, reasons behind why people do what they do. Stick with me a for a sec.
When deciding how you are going to deliver a line, rather than thinking from the perspective of “what would my character do” you take it from perspective of what would someone who is in this person’s position do.
It sounds backwards but that’s how you really layer a performance and add the subtle nuances.
That’s what helps someone like Meryl Streep achieve such deep facial expressions and rich characters.
That’s where the behavioral psychology comes into play. Earlier, when I said “stick with me for a sec”that’s called opening a loop, because as humans we are wired to “close loops.”
You can then do the same with your character choices. An ever so slightly cunning smile, at an unexpected time for example.
You could pick a really heavy, dark monologue and throw in some laughter at different points and see what kind of a reaction you get. It will make the audience think it’s going in a strange direction and pull them right back into the story.
It’s a very subtle thing but it’s the same reason everyone rubbernecks when they see a car crash on the highway.
They have to get to the answer of what is happening next…
TV shows do this perfectly by opening a huge loop that makes you watch the next episode.
The question to ask yourself as an actor is: how do you insert as much of this into your scenes, so the audience is completely enthralled in the story.
That doesn’t mean you have to pull them from the emotion of the moment, simply add depth and layers to that emotion.
Watch your favorite movies and note what the actors are doing. You can do it with stand up comedy routines too.
For example, Joe Rogan has a terrific cadence. So, when I watch I notice a pattern of when he does it, noting when he slows down and when he speeds up as well as the tone of voice used.
Then, when you are stuck on the same subject matter, you will have data to help you make a character choice.
Make a list of bullet points for the ideas you gather during your research and keep it in your pocket.
When you’re on set, and reviewing the take you just completed, you will have your checklist of potential things you can try.
Watch your film with that perspective in mind.
As you do the next take, you will have a game plan of what to do. Over time this becomes muscle memory and you will realize what you want to try on your next take.
Have you ever watched back a project you worked on and cringe a little bit, thinking about everything you could have done differently.
We all have, but when you make these small adjustments in the moment, they add up and all those small improvements will layer your performance. It’s what makes your characters rich and dynamic, and pull at the viewer’s deepest psychological patterns and create an absolutely rich character and dynamite performance.
To illustrate just how powerful those little moments add up to be, do a google search for movie memes and you will see how 1 simple moment can be the icon of an entire production.
The next question is then, how do you get on to those next productions.
Really spend some time working on what’s in this report. Schedule time to do your research on behavioral psyche and watch movies with your favorite actors.
While you work on that, we can make you highly visible to the Industry. I built a tool that will do this for you on IMDb, which is the benchmark for measuring an actor’s industry reputation.
There are big plans for the future of how technology is used in casting decision. Because they are in the very early stages of implementing them and get an early start of what is going to be such a radical shift in the way it is used industry wide.
Some agents won’t even consider a client with a rating that is not up to their standards. In this industry you need every advantage you can get. Here’s how I can help with that.
See you at the top,
Scott