If you have ever been part of an auditioning workshop, then you know that most of the time is spent working on the big picture skills.
A lot of effort goes into using the right inflection points when you read, making sure your facial expression is on point, and learning how to quickly block a scene so that your performance stands out from the crowd, without being awkward or overbearing.
That is the problem!
See, everybody spends a lot of time doing this, so Casting Directors don’t use the big picture skills as a primary casting factor.
They have to look past it and focus on the more granular skills and the finer points of acting and auditioning.
What you think is helping your auditions, may actually be what’s holding back and what is keeping you from booking more often.
Keep reading to find out how to conquer the secret audition killer and book more jobs, more often, so you can finally make real career progress...
It’s been said that the eyes are the window to the soul.
If you want to breathe life into your characters, then this is something you have to pay particular attention to.
The eyes are a huge part of nonverbal communication. Think about it, we all know “that look.” It could be from your parents growing up, or from a spouse or significant other.
Getting “that look” put us on high alert, without a word being spoken.
It’s because language is a relatively modern construct, if you consider the life time of our species, so our brains are hardwired to read nonverbal clues in every interaction.
So how does this translate to bringing a character to life?
First, let me be clear, it’s not that one way is better than another. After all, acting is an art form and art is subjective.
However, acting or reacting one way can be more natural than another and that is what acting aims to do. We want our audience to feel like they are watching something real unfolding before them.
For example, let’s say you are playing a character that is a cubicle dwelling office drone. You are just one face of 5000 others in the company and don’t have any real responsibility.
Suddenly, the CEO of the company marches straight to your cubicle and calls you by name. Reacting with a jaw drop would be appropriate, having your breath slightly taken away as your jaw drops would be better.
What would bring your character to life is having your eyes glaze over and pop open as your breath is taken away.
Here’s another example. Your character is on a jog through the city and stops for a cup of coffee before heading back to her apartment. Covered in sweat and still panting from her workout, she notices her ex with his new girlfriend across the room. She doesn’t want to see them in her disheveled state, so what does she do?
The director and the script will give you the big picture guidance. She would of course shrink into her stance to try and avoid being seen, and maybe try to hide behind someone else in line, before sneaking out of the door.
What her eyes do in this situation could make or break the scene.
Your character is looking for a way out and her eyes should reflect that. They would be scanning the room, looking for places to “hide” on her way to the door, so she can make a quiet exit.
Rapid eye movements are also a sign of nervous energy or anxiety.
She wouldn’t just be looking around the room without purpose, so contracting the yes with an ever so slight squint would communicate a sense of focus or concentration.
When you factor in things like this, you are layering your performance with subtleties that bring your character to life.
There are a few great resources for you to dive deeper into this work.
The show “Lie to Me” does a fantastic job of breaking down body language and is incredibly accurate. Watching just a few episodes while taking diligent notes will be far more beneficial to you than just about any acting class.
Additionally, Matt Bomer is phenomenal in the use of his eyes, so anything he does is great to watch and study. Pay particular attention to the way he blinks.
Blinking is part of “eye acting” and he is a phenomenal actor to study in that regard. He often blinks to emphasize certain words or important phrases.
He tends to play characters that often have ulterior motives, so he may follow a coy statement and cunning smile with a series of 2 to 4 rapid eye blinks.
Think of it kind of as a poker tell. A series of rapid eye blinks often happen subconsciously when you don’t want to miss someone else’s reaction.
You would typically think it would be the opposite, so a conscious character choice might be to not blink.
However, blinking rapidly super-hydrates the eyes so they are able to stay open longer, allowing you to take in more details.
Casting Directors are trained to look for the finer points in your audition.
Working on the big picture skills tends to be more exciting, but when you focus on the details, CDs notice and it counts. It’s what makes the difference between an actor and a professional actor.
It makes the difference between a great performance and an Oscar worthy performance.
Pick a scene and workshop it yourself. Don’t do it in front of the mirror, because you want to be able to see your eyes.
Record yourself performing the scene as you originally would have.
Then redo the scene, but layer in what we talked about in this report. When you watch it back, you will notice that your vocal inflection points will be slightly different. Your facial expressions will be incredible and multidimensional, and you may even speak the lines a bit differently than before.
Pick a couple of your friends and have them review your scene. Don’t tell them about what you did differently.
They may not know why the second version of your scene is more to their liking, they will just know it’s“better.” That’s because your performance will be speaking directly to their subconscious mind and it will be that much more believable.
Use the same technique to prepare for your next audition. Record yourself and then redo the scene by layering your performance, watch it back and reiterate until you are satisfied.
If you don’t have an audition coming up soon, then you may want to check this out.
Having a great audition is half the battle. The other half is just getting in the room to read.
Oftentimes, we focus so much on what to do when we audition, that we neglect everything it takes to get enough auditions to book jobs and showcase our talent.
That’s why I created this. It is a tool to make you highly visible to the industry, on autopilot, so you can focus on doing what you do best.
Even if you have an agent that is working to get you in the room, your agent can only be so effective. If all that you are giving them to work with is a reel and a headshot, then you are just another actor on their roster, being submitted to the dailies.
Give them a solid industry reputation to work with and you will be amazed by the doors and opportunities that suddenly open up for you.
Don’t take my word for it. Try it out and see for yourself. Before long, I just may...
See you at the top,
Scott