Facebook Twitter Instagram
    • Services
    • Aircheck for Actors
    • Demo Reels
    • Audition Prep/Self-Tape Reader
    • Website Design
    • Mailing Labels
    • Contribute
    • Industry Links
    • Advertise
    Daily Actor
    • Acting Tips
      • Actors on Acting
      • Advice Columns
      • Acting Quotes
      • Audition Tapes
      • How To Become An Actor
      • How to Memorize Lines
    • Monologues
      • Monologues from Plays
      • Monologues from Movies
      • Monologues from Musicals
      • Comedic Monologues
      • Dramatic Monologues
      • One Minute Monologues
      • Monologues for Women
      • Monologues for Men
      • Monologues for Teens
      • Monologues for Kids
      • All Monologues
    • Acting Resources
      • Acting Resume
        • Acting Resume Template
      • Acting Classes
        • Los Angeles Acting Classes
        • Las Vegas Acting Classes
        • San Diego Acting Classes
      • Acting Schools and Colleges
        • Los Angeles
        • New York
        • BFA Acting Schools
      • Casting Websites
      • Headshot Photographers
        • Los Angeles
        • New York City
        • Headshot Printing
      • Acting Techniques
        • What is Method Acting?
      • Stage Directions
      • Demo Reels: Everything You Need to Know
    • Interviews
      Featured

      Interview: Jeremy Davis on Playing Olaf in ‘Frozen’, Costume Mishaps and Making the Role His Own

      January 19, 2023
      Recent

      Interview: Jeremy Davis on Playing Olaf in ‘Frozen’, Costume Mishaps and Making the Role His Own

      January 19, 2023

      Interview: Casting Director Kim Coleman on ‘Five Days at Memorial’, Self-Tape Tips and Portraying Real People

      January 11, 2023

      Interview: David Christopher Wells on His Role in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, Being an Understudy and Getting His MFA

      December 27, 2022
    • Actor Blogs
    • Reviews
      • Movies
      • Theater
      • Books
      • Products
    • Actor Services
      • Airchecks
      • Demo Reels
      • Website Design
      • Mailing Labels
    Daily Actor
    Home » Acting Advice Columns » 5 Points Every Actor Should Embrace Before Their Audition
    Acting Advice Columns

    5 Points Every Actor Should Embrace Before Their Audition

    Guest PostBy Guest PostNovember 13, 2015Updated:January 13, 2020No Comments4 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Share
    Tweet
    Pin

    Scotty Watson Audition Tips

    January is the month when most acting schools will begin their auditions for enrollment.

    Historically, most schools will require students to perform three types of performances as part of their try-outs: the classical monologue, contemporary monologue and improvisational performance.

    We recently caught up with the head of faculty for Artistic New Directions, Scotty Watson, and asked him what advice he has for students who will be auditioning for the first time in January.

    Watson is an alumnus of The Second City Canadian National Touring Company, a founding member of Comedy on Wry and the in-house Director at Improvisation News. He has also been an actor for 25 years on the other side of the table, so he understands what is going through the minds of actors and directors.

    Here are 5 practical points that Watson says every actor should embrace before any audition:

    1) Find the right monologue. Every student must have three monologues ready at all times; A contemporary dramatic, a contemporary comedic and a classical monologue. Find a monologue that you find interesting with a character who is similar to you, rather than with a character you want to be. And not everyone needs to be Shakespeare; you might blow the judges away with a good translation of a comedic monologue by Molière.

    2) Read the monologue leading into the scene you will perform. In order to deliver, you must know your character and its past. It’s important to be able to answer questions like “Who am I?” “Where have I just come from?” and “What do I want in this scene?”. Writers don’t create scenes that don’t have a purpose. Every scene that leads up to your monologue is important for the character, so make sure you really understand the entire play and your monologue.

    3) Improvise like you are at the psychiatrist’s office. It helps to imagine yourself with the psychiatrist when you are improvising. The psychiatrist is asking, “What do you really want?” and you must improvise a completely new monologue for your character based on what you think your character wants. This approach will help you get deeper into the character, and help you better understand the relationship between improvisation and the monologue.

    4) Talk about what you are and not about what you aren’t. When you’re improvising, you have to talk to talk about what you are and not what you are not. You can’t play something who you are not. When in rehearsal, look for positive things you can focus on. Positive things can be played and performed on stage, negative things can’t. Think about what you can do and develop it from there.

    5) Act the monologue like it was your last scene on stage. When the director asks you to start your monologue, take a few moments to make sure you are breathing and living inside the character. If it helps, improvise what happens just before your monologue (in your head, not on stage). This will help you get deeper into the character. Your monologue must be as “intimate as the rustle of sheets” if I may quote Dorothy Parker. Now is the moment to inhabit the character, be uninhibited and go for it.

    And always remember, there is no winner with acting. Great acting is an expression of the depth of your intention and feeling. It’s about how hard you tried during the audition. If you tried as hard as you could, no one can take that away from you.

    All actors, both aspiring and experienced, have a chance to learn more improvisational techniques from Scotty Watson every Wednesday at their free Improvisational Workshops. The nonprofit Artistic New Directions is also organizing an intensive multi-day workshop for actors who want to rehearse with internationally renowned directors. You can learn more at artisticnewdirections.org

    Written by Frida Johannes

    Related

    Share
    Tweet
    Pin
    Previous ArticleRon Perlman on ‘Sons of Anarchy’, How Makeup Helps His Acting and His Father’s Influence on His Career
    Next Article How Brie Larson Prepared for Her Role in ‘Room’

    Related Posts

    The 6 Keys To Getting Headshots That Work For You, Not Against You

    January 5, 2023

    How to Keep a Casting Director’s Attention

    March 18, 2022

    How Highly Sensitive People Can Achieve WILD Success Without Sacrifice

    February 10, 2022
    Add A Comment

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Popular Pages
    Become An Actor | Acting Tips | Acting Quotes
    Acting Resume | Resume Template
    Headshot Photographers
    Los Angeles | New York
    Print Your Headshots
    Acting Schools & Colleges
    Los Angeles | New York
    Monologues
    Movies | Plays | Comedic | Dramatic
    Men | Women | Teens | Kids
    • Contact
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Resource Listings
    • Write A Column
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy

    Disclaimer: Daily Actor at times uses affiliate links to sites like Amazon.com, Masterclass, streaming services, and others. Affiliate links provides compensation to Daily Actor which helps us remain online, giving you the resources and information actors like you are looking for.

    Daily Actor Facebook Daily Actor Twitter Daily Actor Instagram Daily Actor Pinterest Daily Actor YouTube Page
    © 2023 Daily Actor

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.