We spend a lot of time talking about–and let’s be honest, stressing about–monologue auditions. It makes sense that our focus would be there of course; after all, generally speaking the monologue audition is the first step. It’s the initial test ...
As actors we have a relatively fun job. We get to dress up, play pretend, use our imaginations, and generally speaking, we get to hang out with fun, engaging, outgoing and artistic people. That’s the good part of the challenge. ...
“And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover, To entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain, And hate the idle pleasures of these days.” –William Shakespeare, “Richard III” For a certain breed of actor, one ...
If you go out to see theater on a regular basis–and you really should, not only to support theater in general as well as your friends’ shows, but also to contribute to your ongoing education as an actor–you’ve probably seen ...
The term body language is one that gets thrown around a lot in the context of acting. And while we all probably have a pretty good general idea of what the phrase means, perhaps it’s a good idea to take ...
When it comes to acting there are few buzzwords more overused yet more vaguely understood than “presence.” You could call it star power, or “the x-factor.” You could say that presence applies to an actor who has “it,” an indefinable ...
A lot of times when we talk about acting we can easily get caught up in discussing the challenges and stress of the business end of it: auditions, agents, headshots, etc. And granted, it isn’t an easy career path for ...
Acting is hard. Not to sound whiny, but it really can’t be said enough: no matter what normal humans may think about the supposedly cushy life of the actor, the vast majority of us are not passing our days hanging ...
As fallible human beings, it’s easy for actors to fall into the trap of the green-eyed monster of envy. You’ll see an actor you know who has comparable skills and a comparable look to your own, yet who nonetheless seems ...
When an actor comes to study with me for an audition the first thing we do is “kill the plan.” Somewhere in their preparation they’ve had what I call, the “performance fantasy.” Instead of imagining the world of the character, ...
So for those of you with some experience: do you remember your first time? No, not that, you perverts. I’m talking about the first time you walked into an audition room for a professional audition. High school and university auditions ...
Heh. I’m dryly laughing at myself because I have never been at a loss for words…until now. I mean really, when have you ever seen me not be able to write a proper intro? AARON GINSBURG, the Supervising Producer and ...
Victoria Cartagena made such an impact during the interview that I was totally thrown off guard. – ILANA Let’s talk about Victoria Cartagena, aka Vicki, who plays Detective Renee Montoya on FOX’s Gotham. When an actor takes a huge chunk ...
As an actor, I’ve found creating a character to be an incredibly vital and, on occasion, challenging process. There is always that overwhelming desire to make your performance both believable and dynamic, while remaining true to the story. This seems ...
All kinds of people — scary, grieving, naive, curious people — have once again invaded New York City for The Tribeca Film Festival. Which means it is the ideal time to chat about characters; the art of building real and ...
Palms clammy. Heart teetering between full throttle and panic stopping. Brain cells firing off conflicting thought patterns of “Will I be good enough?” and “I’ve totally got this!” In other words – auditions. They can be terrifying and exhilarating! As ...