Is Your Scene Study Class Holding You Back?

Actors who are serious about launching a film, TV, or theatre career are inevitably in search of a top tier scene study class—hopefully one that will get you results. Unfortunately, far too many so-called ‘scene study’ classes offer nothing more than an opportunity to do in depth scene work in the bubble of that acting class—rather than preparing you for the realities of performing that scene in the real world.

Inherently lazy actors expect a scene study class to be one in which you just show up and the teacher drops a stale 10-15 page theater scene on your lap and assigns you a scene partner. This may have been the M.O. in the seventies, but it is so far removed from anything relating to the demands of what it takes to launch a successful acting career today.

Your teacher should point you in the right direction and even show you where to find a treasure trove of thrilling scene choices to suit your unique singularity. However, they should never choose it for you, as it strips you of your power to choose material that’s inspiring to you.

The first day an actor becomes a member of our studio, we show them where to find all currently casting major film and TV auditions, and encourage them to work on something they’ve always imagined themselves playing.

1. Always keep your work in context.

It's vital that you work on a scene within a specific framework and context so you’re never acting within the bubble of an acting class and trying to please a teacher or your classmates.

Don’t expect a great ‘acting class performance’ to translate to a booked role or an award winning performance unless you're empowered by the teacher to practice how you play—hence, always keep your work in context!

Simply putting up scenes with a partner in a class without being challenged to define the context is a colossal waste of effort and energy as you’re doing all this work without maximizing your efforts. It’s like most of the math you learned in high school—you’ll never use it.

When choosing a scene to work on in class ask yourself how I would like to work on it and then tell your teacher, “Here’s the context in which I’m going to do this scene.” Here are some options: an audition piece for film or TV, a booked role, a scene for a piece of theater, a showcase or competition scene, etc.

Back when I first started teaching in Los Angeles, Amy Adams always worked on class material with a clear and specific intention for every working session. It was inspiring to see such focus, dedication, and work ethic.

2. Audition technique work should never be one size fits all.

When working on scene study for auditions it's very common for acting classes to have a one-size-fits-all approach to audition technique training.

This is extremely irresponsible as there are 15+ different styles and methods of auditioning: pre-read on tape for casting, chemistry read, callback, taped audition, Skype audition, callback for producers, etc.!

What you work on in class should be directly related in style and approach to how you're going to work on it in the real world, outside of an acting class. Period.

3. Never be forced to work with a scene partner.

When you’re forced to work with a scene partner and your partner doesn’t care enough about actually putting in the work, or they flake and don’t show up, you are then shit out of luck. And, you’ve just wasted your hard earned money and time.

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, your words and thoughts create your reality. So force yourself to think bigger—as big as you want your career to be.

Your desire to join a high-caliber scene study acting class should be an informed decision—one in which you must be crystal clear about the results you expect.

Your acting class should be a reflection of the level and quality of the career you’ve always wanted. Our clients practice how they play—every class. This ensures that their work gets hard results in the real world: booked roles and launched careers.

This article was originally posted on Backstage

4 Ways to Launch Your Commercial Career

Your choices and the quality of your preparation will always give you an edge on your competition at any audition.

Not your look, not your outfit, and not your voice—your preparation.

When it comes to commercial auditions, however, most actors consider themselves prepared if they’ve just read the copy over a few times until it’s more or less memorized.

This is shoddy preparation and exactly what perpetuates low-to-no commercial booking rates.

It’s a very small industry. It’s quite easy to visit most major commercial casting offices in one season. If you walk in unprepared, you risk closing more doors than you open.

In all fairness to actors, they’ve generally been fed a great deal of fluff about commercial auditions and how they work.

The playing field becomes murkier with more commercials casting for “real people” and more commercial agents taking on actors who are fresh off the bus to LA/NY.

These conditions can make it feel like commercial auditions don’t require the serious preparation that theatrical auditions warrant.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Adopt the following four tips to stick out from the crowd and win the role:

1. Join a high-level, craft-centered acting class.

Audit. Do your research. Talk to more seasoned actors about what got them results.

And no, you don’t need to join a class specifically for commercial acting if you want to book commercials.

At my studio, I help actors launch their commercial careers by teaching them how to deploy a winning choice within seconds. This is an essential technique to employ for commercial auditions where frankly, you don’t have much time with the sides or to rehearse with your partner.

The technique you use to analyze a scene in class, be it for Netflix or Neil LaBute, is exactly the same technique you must use to analyze commercial copy for being a Helpful Honda Guy.

Treat the commercial copy like a short scene.

Every scripted piece you work on is real life with all the boring bits cut out—it’s life on fire! This will give you a competitive edge, as it is exactly how the production and casting team treats it.

 2. Don’t worry about your look.

Too many actors go into commercial auditions with the assumption that they don’t look enough like what’s described in the breakdown and therefore feel they don’t have a real shot at booking it.

The breakdown is not gospel; it’s just a guideline most of the time.

Furthermore, the lore of commercial auditions aggravates this mythology as actors tell one another, “Well, booking commercials is really just dependent on your look.”

It’s far more important to bring your empowered self into the room, and to the performance. That kind of confidence creates memorability: the more memorable you are, the more likely you are to book the job. 

3. Don’t imitate what you’ve seen on commercials.

We’ve all been inundated by commercials that we can’t help but want to imitate the performances we’ve all seen over and over again, because heck, those actors booked it.

Don’t be the super-dufus that annoys his long-suffering wife.

Don’t be the overly-saccharine mom who lives and dies by the cleanliness of her carpet.

You are only you. You can only be you. So be you.

If you can address the commercial copy with the help of a class or coach that assists you in bringing yourself to the role while you channel your inner super-dufus or overly-saccharine mom, or summer-salad-eating-coworker—you have a much stronger chance of booking the role because you’ll be instilling it with more authenticity.

It’s a tough pill to swallow, but your winning performance will truly feel as easy and effortless as if you were playing yourself.

4. Improvise even if you aren’t asked to.

So many actors feel like they have to be given an invitation to improvise. Commercial auditions are opportunities begging you to improvise.

Often the client feels tepid about the copy that the writers have come up with.

Bring your ingenuity and wit to the sides and at the very least, add a final line at the end that’s not already there.

This is a ravishing opportunity for you to let your personality shine, while showing everyone in the room that not only can you solve their casting problem, but you can also add value.

The only time you wouldn’t do this is if you are given strict instructions to stick to the script.

Overcoming the labyrinth of commercials gives you another stepping stone on your path, and they can truly help you become a more seasoned and mighty theatrical actor. Many of the legends of cinema and TV have done them, and many continue to do them.

At my studio, we help actors launch their commercial careers and make the bravest choices that book the job—the dangerous ones that other actors are too afraid to make.

So be ready to work, open yourself up to more financial abundance, and get ready to gush about how you can’t wait to save 15% or more on car insurance with Geico.

The #1 Way To Crush Anxiety in Seconds

“No amount of anxiety makes any difference to anything that is going to happen.” —Alan Watts

I don’t know about you, but I find it slightly insulting when I’m feeling anxious or stressed and some self-appointed guru looks at me with an all-knowing glance and says, “There’s no reason to be nervous. Just relax.”

This falls into the same bin of uselessness and cliché as simply picturing an audience in their underwear. Wishful thinking, but it never really helps—mostly because it just doesn’t work.

The solution isn’t running from anxiety or pretending it doesn’t exist, especially when you damn well know it’s standing next to you in the room.

I help my clients crush their nerves by owning them, reshaping them, and then redirecting them into unshakeable confidence to create a winning performance. Here’s a ridiculously effective exercise I prescribe to instantly melt away nerves:

Visualize already doing it—see it happen moment by moment unfolding in exactly the way that you want. Take a breath, and say to yourself, “I already did it, and now I get to go back and do it again.”

As I’ve mentioned before, your words shape your reality. What you say and visualize—what you consciously put out there in the world—is directly related to who and what you become.

This exercise is endlessly modular and applies to any life event where nerves are present: going out for a major TV audition, asking a crush out on a date, prepping for a big time job interview, standing up to a bully, etc.

This article was originally published on Backstage

The #1 Thing All Successful Commercial Actors Do

Preparation for commercial auditions for most actors consists of reading the copy a few times, trying to get it mostly memorized, and then going in the room and hoping for the best. I’m willing to wager that around 60% of all actors do this. This is about as effective as watching an episode of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” in order to prep for an agent or manager meeting. Yet, so many actors do this, and not surprisingly, get little to no results from their commercial auditions, and quickly become frustrated and cynical.

To be fair, it’s not completely the actors’ fault. There’s so much hype and mythology surrounding commercial auditions that actors feel like a mere good delivery, mostly off-book should be adequate for gainful employment. Actors are told over and over again that booking a commercial is “just about your look” so why should they approach such auditions with the same strategic fervor that they would a theatrical audition?

Sure, your look matters, but only to an extent. All major commercial production teams and casting directors treat the commercial like a short scene. And so should you. You should view commercials as perhaps a more authentic snapshot of human life than episodics or film, because they feature real products that most of us already know and use in our daily lives. And while the people featured in commercials have cleaner kitchens and clearer skin than we do, they are still trying to incorporate peace, safety, and happiness into their lives just like the rest of us.

The best thing you can do to launch a commercial career is to join a high level craft-based acting class (many are not—do your research) and learn how to properly break down a scene: line-by-line work, character development, learning how to make winning choices, advanced third reality work, style, etc. The method that you use to break down a scene in class, whether it’s HBO or David Mamet, must be the same technique that you use to break down commercial copy about how American Express has no late fees.

You need to fight the urge to imitate the guy that you’ve seen on these commercials, and focus on bringing yourself to the part. Don’t try and channel the sophisticated guy that drinks espresso and is a sports car connoisseur. Don’t try and imitate the busy mom who loves her kids but is exasperated by her incorrigible husband. You can only be you. Work on commercial copy with the support of a class that helps you bring yourself to the role—while being a busy mom, an espresso-drinker, a frustrated credit card user, a laundry doer chasing whiter-whites. It’s must always be your version of it.

Show them you can improvise. This is one of the biggest nuggets of gold (platinum really) that you can use today to win more roles. So often, I would say 90% of the time, the commercial copy that you are given at an audition, the client just feels so-so about. They really want to see what ingenuity and wit you can bring to it. And if they don’t, they will tell you. This occurs when the session runner tells all the actors in the waiting room, “stick to the script.” Sometimes it’s your job to take the swill that the writers came up with, and make it look awesome—to show them what they didn’t know they wanted.

Getting this vigorous weekly workout is the prerequisite to any successful commercial career, as its aim is to keep you sharp, proactive and at competition level to succeed in this Olympic-like environment. At our studio, we help actors to launch commercial careers and make the impossibly brave choices that win the role. Conquering the commercial beast is another skill in your actor canon of weaponry, and despite so many objections I hear from actors, it can help you become a more powerful, sharper theatrical actor. So many great actors that have come before you have done them, and many great actors continue to do them (often overseas). So be prepared to work, open your arms to welcoming more financial success in your life, and get ready to be excited about KFC’s new grilled chicken sandwich.

This article was originally posted on Backstage

How Actors Can Get Started in Commercials

All major commercial production teams and casting directors treat the commercial like a short scene. And so should you.

The best thing you can do to launch a commercial career is to join a high level craft-based acting class (many are not—do your research) and learn how to properly break down a scene: line-by-line work, character development, learning how to make winning choices, advanced third reality work, style, etc.

Getting this vigorous weekly workout is the prerequisite to any successful commercial career, as its aim is to keep you sharp, proactive and at competition level to succeed this olympic-like environment. At our studio, we help actors to launch commercial careers and make the impossibly brave choices that win the role.

5 Audition Myths To Smash Before Your Next Big One

In my work, I find that actors often cling to common misconceptions about the auditioning process—or myths as I like to call them. Believing these myths is potentially very damaging because they can poison an actor’s mindset and ultimately their performance.

Disavowing the following audition fables is helping our clients win more roles:

Myth #1. Casting Directors Make all Final Casting Decisions

Bear in mind that the production team has hired the casting director to help them find the best actors. This is similar to how the production team will hire location scouters to find the best filming locations. In this case, the casting director is just another person who is trying to complete their job as best as they can so they will be hired again. Yes, casting directors do push certain actors forward, and weigh in behind closed doors about who they think is right for the role, but the writers, directors and producers always have the final say in casting.

Myth #2. You Must Obey all Character Descriptions and Stage Directions

Character descriptions and stage directions are meant to be used as a guideline, not a gospel. When too many actors treat these things as absolutes that they must incorporate, then you get too many auditions that look identical over and over again. Furthermore, actors forget that some of the descriptions writers put into their work are solely to help the producers better visualize the story. These descriptions are not meant for you to be a slave to them. Allow the character descriptions and stage directions to help guide and inspire you, but don’t feel shackled by them. You must still add your own paint colors to the canvas.  

Myth #3. The Audition Starts After You Slate

The audition never starts the moment you start acting or start uttering the words from your sides. The audition begins the moment you enter the building—the moment you put your car in park. Once you set foot on the property where the audition occurs, you are “on.” I’m not saying that you have to already be in character, but you have to start being the person who is the solution to the casting puzzle of filling the role. You need to step foot on the property completely prepared, focused and ready to begin at a moment’s notice.

Myth #4 Don’t Get too Big

Being big is often not a bad thing! The fear of being “too big” is perhaps one of the biggest fear and source of anxiety I hear from actors before their big auditions. “Are you sure they won’t think I’m too big?” “Shouldn’t I throw it away more?” and so on.  Bottom-line: If you’re afraid to look like an asshole or a freak, you will. Moreover, a note I continually hear from production and casting is that, actors can always be pulled back, but it’s impossible to pull something out of them they never demonstrated at the start. 

Myth #5. When Auditioning for Co-Stars Don’t Make a Meal out of a Snack

I hear this all the time from actors—when auditioning for these smaller roles, they’re supposed to know their place, say the line and not attract too much attention. The myth behind this mindset is that the powers that be want small parts to be a bit utilitarian and thrown away. The only truth in this is that you’re not supposed to belt out your lines Broadway style on bended knee, projecting to the back of the imaginary theatre. For co-stars and other supporting roles, where you just have one or two lines, you still have to come in emotionally loaded and alive in the reality of the character as possible. If the series regular comes in, orders a pint of beer from you, and your one line is “What kind?” (i.e., what kind of beer?) you still need to make a brave and visually obvious choice. You need to know what hour of your shift this is, how many days you have worked in a row, your emotional relationship to your job and to the patron, etc. In this manner, you can deliver your line, “what kind?” with the authenticity of a real, working bartender. And yes, while you might not be memorable to the person watching their favorite show, you will stand out to the producers during the audition process from all the other actors who think they just need to be blank slates delivering utilitarian dialogue.

I would never tell actors there are no rules when it comes to auditioning, as there are some: make a choice, be memorized, bring a headshot, be prepared and emotionally full, etc. But these myths outlined here are potentially damaging to the success and originality of the actor in the audition room.

This article was originally posted on Backstage