How to Practice for Acting Auditions

Practicing for acting auditions is a problem that actors have had to solve for themselves since they first took the stage.Knowing you have the dialogue down is as important as discovering what moves you in the scene, what you can bring to the scene to make it your own, and what the text on the page truly means! There are several ways to practice for acting auditions, and here are some of the most practical for getting the best possible audition from yourself.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• script
• friend or reader
• acting coach (optional)

How to Practice for Acting Auditions

1. If you have an acting coach, or a class that you trust, bringing your audition in front of your teacher and/or peers can be the most helpful thing that you do! As soon as you have landed the audition and have the script in hand, give them a call, and schedule yourself in for some serious work.

2. If you don't have an acting class or teacher, don't live near a school, or simply don't want to go that route, there are certainly other options available to you. You should have a friend, peer, or fellow actor to call on for support.

3. Make a couple of extra copies of your scene. One will be for your friend's use, and the other should be used for your own personal notes!

4. Break down the scene. Go through the scene, and decide what is happening between the lines, what is clearly stated on the script, and what freedom there is for interpretation. Use a character outline to determine the needs of your character in the scene, and look for where you can express that need and also where you can hold it just beneath the surface.

5. Once you break down the scene, try to remember the scene based on how you have broken it down. If you know the actions that the character is within, as well as what they are feeling and trying to accomplish in the scene, the dialogue and scene itself tends to stay in the brain. With that in mind, go over the script, pull it away, making sure you do know the dialogue. You have a responsibility to bring the writer's vision to reality, but you also have an obligation to your own art form. Acting is an art form, and you have to do all you can to be a success within it. Focus on what you have to bring to the plate.

6. Rehearse with a friend. Make sure you have it down, then let loose in the practice. Bring your all to it. Drop into the character. Be fearless in your interpretation. The actors who get the jobs are the ones that make a memorable, unique performance out of an ordinary scripted audition!

7. Take a few minutes just before an audition to re-connect. Bring all the work you've done on the scene and character to reality. Live in the moment as the character, and don't let chatty people in the waiting room break you out of your concentration. When auditioning, stay in the character as well as you can while maintaining professional pleasantness.

8. Give it your all in the audition, then let it go. That is what auditioning in the art of acting is all about.

Tips & Warnings

• Bring all of yourself to the role.
• Take chances in your preparation. The more you risk, the higher the potential of greatness.
• Try different methods to see what works for you. Every actors preparation is, and should be, different and tailored to what brings out the best in them as a performer.
• Don't limit yourself. Prepare in new ways.
• Never throw props or do unprofessional things, regardless of whether it is in the script. If you are a violent character, find a way to get that out creatively without scaring the professional casting associates. Frighten them, and you won't be working with them.

Who Can Help Sponsored

• Earn your degree from industry experts at University of Phoenix. Take the next step in your career.