Actor Growth

Today we did another round of cold reads. It was kind of surprising for most as people thought we would be doing scenes where we would get one night to prepare it in an effort to pretend that this is an audition for a role that you are seriously being considered for.

I read a scene from the show Fringe. There was about three pages worth of dialogue too which was a lot considering this was a last minute kind of thing. So, I did my thing based on my interpretation of it. It was kind of funny as I messed up the lines a lot but still I kept going pretending that I didn’t make an error.

Now the interesting thing for me came in the comments. The main point the coach wanted me to take away from this session was that he couldn’t understand why I was moving my head around during some of my conversations. He mentioned how when I was sitting there listening to his comments that I am perfectly still which he loves. He then made a comment that my movement was based on nervousness as he had his own quirks too.

Technically I can see that point and how it can be distracting and there is nothing to really debate about there. However, what I personally didn’t agree with 100% was that it was due to a performer’s nervousness as oppose to my direction and interpretation of the scene. Cause I can tell you that I didn’t feel nervous at all.

I was doing a self evaluation on my way home thinking of the times when I naturally move my head specifically like that. The bottom line, it comes to down to if I don’t fully trust the person then I am always second guessing on what their true intentions are or if I am trying to find the subtext behind the words they are saying. Hence, the eye movements, head tilts, etc.

To me that was a light bulb moment too as I guess I self realized the direction that I need to think of to avoid that. Example, in that scene my interpretation was that I was this individual who was a bit confused and suspicious about these two colleagues as I thought they actually had something to do with the incident and why they were here. However, after the feedback it sounded like the person was more about relaying a message and that they fully trusted each other. Therefore, I figured this was more about direction and making the right choices.

Someone in the class disagreed with that point though by saying how in the first scene I did for that Reaper script he noticed the same thing and therefore he agreed with the coach that it was more about something along the lines of nervousness. After thinking about it though, again I thought it was the same thing where for that scene there was a lot of distrust between the characters and those are the type of gestures I naturally make as choices in those incidents. It’s not due to nervousness though I’d say for that particular gesture as oppose to direction.

So with my personal theory and solution, since I know myself best, is that since I was requested to do this scene again I will change the direction where the character is more trusting about the environment and the people he is talking to. If I still get that comment then I know it is due to an external factor such as the nervousness that was mentioned. However, if it is not there after then it is indeed more likely to be a result of my personal choices.

I know that was one of the comments a past coach made to me too where when I get to read and fully understand the entire script I seem to do so well. However, when I get just small portions of it like some sides for an audition I tend to over think the situation and make more out of it than it really is. Example, like this whole trust issue in the scene. That was actually one of the reasons I chose an audition based workshop too this time around.

As well, again a past advice I have received from different coach mentions that I should feel free to move myself more and not be rigid. However, this coach is saying stay still mostly as it is better. So, that is what I will do. I’m starting to think that in a real setting it is more about knowing who you are auditioning for too to determine which style to go with. Let’s see how this goes.