How to Act on Stage and Screen

For anyone familiar with the Hollywood scene, it is not necessary to tell you that there are thousands of actors in Los Angeles and only a precious few with any talent. This might sound harsh to any outsider, but by Hollywood standards it is actually pretty mild. Here are some tips that will make you knock a casting director off his feet.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Script, or "sides" in Hollywood lingo

1. Find out what kind of character you’re reading for and if the piece is a comedy or drama.
2. Memorize the lines with no particular inflections in your voice. The inflections come later. But don’t memorize to the point where you will sound like a robot.
3. Feel the character. It is not necessary to do “acting exercises” beforehand like most actors do. If the character is happy, feel happy. If the character is sad, feel sad. If you are having trouble feeling what the character is feeling, use a subtext (a personal story), to get you to that place, but be careful not to intellectualize. Intellectualizing will only block you.
4. Do the lines in private or with a scene partner a couple of times until you get an approximate idea of how you’re going to do it.
5. Break a leg.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep in mind that the only difference between stage and film acting is that on stage, you have to talk louder than normal and make your physical gestures more pronounced.