Marrie L. Punctuation is important
When I first started acting school, I was very confident. I thought I knew a lot about the craft. Because I had done professional work, I felt I was ahead of everyone else. Punctuation is very important in the immortal and distorted words of Ygritte (“wildling”). Punctuation is a way for the writer to communicate with the actor (spooky, right?) ).
You can also sing punctuation with inflexion. If you use a question marker, your inflexion will be used to ask the question. A comma, a dash, a semicolon or a colon can indicate a slight upward inflexion. A complete stop signifies a downward inflexion. An ellipse is a holding on the vocal tone. Text suddenly becomes music. Words become tonal shifts. You, as an actor, can find an emotional life you didn’t know existed by paying attention to punctuation. It’s not the only way to act. But it was an important lesson that helped me be a better actor.
If you don’t believe them, no one will believe you.
In an episode of Seinfeld, George Costanza told Jerry, “Jerry, just keep your head,” This is the basis of our acting work. It doesn’t matter whether you don’t believe it or not. It won’t work at the moment.
I am funny and orange, so I frequently go in for commercials. Patrick, every commercial I have ever done was booked because I believed what I was saying. One ad I did for a telecom company featured an actor who was extremely annoyed at his coworkers and made fun of them. Casting people were chaotic and ran behind schedule. It was easy for me to believe my statements and book the gig. Because I couldn’t believe my insert product, this audition was unlike all others.
To be fascinating, you must be curious.
Andrew Lloyd, the former head of acting at Actors Centre Australia, has this exact quote. These were just some of the many comments Lloydie made about her exceptional acting training. This one is simple, and it stuck with me.
It is important to be curious about the world around you and your actors’ performances. If you want to be fascinating, you must be interested in the things that interest you. Understanding your characters’ past and environment is key. What does the location signify to them? What are the other characters in this scene, and what do they have in common? What is it that drives them to be curious about the world?
An actor obsessed with himself or, worse; the world onstage is better suited to being an Instagram influencer than an actor.
The most embarrassing moment of my life, or at the very least the top 10, was when it dawned on me that I hadn’t been listening to what I said on stage. One of my friends noticed me muttering the dialogue as he spoke. I knew enough of the text to be confident in it. I was also so worried about missing his next line that I didn’t listen. That young, confident actor from the first scene turned his whole world upside down.
What did I do to fix it? The acting teacher told me it was a good idea for my partner to look at their faces while speaking and ask questions like, “Did they shave today?” How are his eyebrows looking? “What does he say that will make you feel?” This helped me be more attentive to my partner, which transformed how I listened to actors.
Breathe
Breath is the key to everything. It is vital for stage work. It is essential to hit the back of an 800-seat theatre. To do this, you must breathe deeply into your diaphragm while using all your vocal power. Simply by breathing, you can manipulate your emotions. Three deep, slow breaths in. Then exhale. You will feel almost like you are about to weep. It is possible to reverse this process, and it can almost feel like laughter.
This is an acting trick that I highly recommend. Larry Moss, the great actor, author and director, stated that you have no limitations if your feet touch the floor and your emotions guide you.
Marrie L.