Perhaps the best Audition Tip ever….

The best audition tip ever?

Go perform!  Somewhere, anywhere.

Find out what you are made of and if you can hold an audiences’ attention with your character needs and wants.  Do it in an audition room or a workshop, by shooting a web series or short,  sitting down with colleagues reading a screenplay, or in front of an audience in a play reading or play.  Big venue or small. Or just read a play in your house with a bunch of actors.

Warm up  your real acting muscles, create a fully embodied character and let ‘er rip. Those are the times the best actor in you can grow, thrive and be challenged to new creative expression.

It is truly the very best confidence booster. You will find that auditioning while your are in a run of a show, or shooting something else or after a good night reading a screenplay with friends, you have more to bring into an audition room.

With every audition, the “test” nature  of “proving”  or “selling” something is both very tempting and corrupting to the work. We push, we doubt, we criticize ourselves a lot.

Once you are working or shooting,  we tend to relax and focus on that which is truly important ( the story’s given circumstances, the stake in the story and the character POV and need)

Performing anywhere, the week or day before an audition, reminds us what is the true headset of the creative actor, and that is where you are kept honest about your character and performance.

The audience informs you: you can feel their energy. If you truly have their attention, you can feel their stillness and focus. If you are inauthentic or not in action, they fidget and cough and you can sense and hear it.

Caryn West is an veteran acting teacher, director and coach who auditions and acts. She has taught many gifted and well known actors both in LA and NYC and is the only teacher cited on both coasts by Backstage polls and one of the “BEST AUDITION COACHES”. She has run Caryn’s Space for Actors since 1999. Classses and coaching info can be found at: www.TheAuditionCoach.com  carynwest@mac.com   Facebook   @CarynWestSFA   West Hollywood / NY

 

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Posted in Acting Technique, Actor Advice, Auditions, Uncategorized

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