WhatAbout Script Analyis?

Here are some questions and answers about script analysis that I recently had with a correspondent. My comments are in bold.

In your e-book,("The Tao of Acting") you say you're not in favour of script analysis. Exactly so. I also find this very difficult for me to do. I've been taking acting classes for almost a year now, and I feel I haven't improved much since I started.That is probably due to your doing too much writing and not enough acting in those classes.

How should an actor prepare for a scene, like getting into character, if he should not create an imaginary biography of the character, or imagine what happened before the scene starts? If you have read the play, you have all the character info and back story you need. If the playwright thought you needed more, he would have given you more. (historical characters excepted as the playwright may think the actor already knows the character and his circumstances when the actor may be unaware of them. Then a bit of historical research may be in order, but otherwise analysis is not needed.) The actor reads the scene or the play, whichever he is given, understands what is going on and what the character is about, then the actor assumes the physical character, and reacts to the stimuli of the scene moment by moment.

Isn't sub-text beneficial to the actor because it helps the actor be, or get in touch with the character? I think sub text is a crock. The lines ARE the emotional response to the stimuli, they don't need sub text, they need to be spoken to communicate their meaning. Sub text is "acting" and therefore artificial and we want our performances more real. Also sub text is dangerous because the actor may speak the sub text rather than the lines and confuse his scene partner. I saw a famous actress do a scene at The Actors Studio, years ago, and she felt the scene was not working so she ad libbed a sub text line not in the script. Then she blamed her scene partner for the weakness of the scene. I thought all of that was BS. And now I know that Method acting is BS. As one of my students, now a professional actor, said about script analysis, "Just do the scene." I agree, if you want to be a student of what is in a script, analyze it. If you want to be an actor, "Just do it."

Why people fail to become successful actors

I probably have addressed this somewhere before, but it is a question much on people's minds at present. Many want to know if they have a chance to succeed as actors, and many would become actors, but.... There are many reasons why people fail. In my book, The Tao of Acting, I list personality traits that actors must have for success. These are taken from True and False by David Mamet. And then my book contains a list of professional habits based on Miriam Franklin's book, Rehearsal. Failure to live up to any of these personality traits or professional habits can cause an actor to fail. I recently saw an interview with a Los Angeles acting teacher, who said "The only people who succeed as actors are those who have to be actors." This is something I have been telling people for years. If you can be happy doing anything else in life, you probably will not succeed as an actor.

If you wonder if you have a chance to succeed or wonder if acting is what you should try to do, you will fail. Those who have to be actors do not wonder or even care much about those things. They just go out an be actors because they must do that. If you have any reason why you may fail-- lack of money, where you live, race, religion, or anything else -- or if you give reasons why you failed in the past and have not accepted them as your shortcomings and corrected those reasons, you will fail. Many actors illustrate the definition of insanity: they keep doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.

Acting is not just a career choice, it is a life style choice. It involves a great deal of self motivation, sacrifice and continued effort. If you are not a good self starter, if you cannot live without the common comforts and conveniences and/or if you cannot doggedly stay with your desire to be an actor in spite of everything, then you will most likely fail. For an actor, success is not fame and fortune, success is having been able to be an actor as much as possible during his lifetime.

Lastly, Tony Smith, on his Acting Career Start Up web site, today posted an article and videos, revealing what he calls the secret of achieving success as an actor. That secret is another thing that I have been telling people for years: have a mentor. If you blindly try to become an actor on your own without guidance from someone who knows the ropes, who has been there and done that and who is really willing to help, your chances for success are diminished. I should not have to point out that finding someone willing to help you and then ignoring their advice not only is rude,but also is a way to fail.

To be a success, you must be positive, and be willing to do what is needed to be done. You must listen to experience and learn from and correct your mistakes. You must be a successful personality and not associate with losers. And you must have a mentor willing to help. I not only am willing to help, I am probably the only mentor who does not charge anything for his help and/or who is not trying to sell you anything. Above all, however, you must have to be an actor.

PS. One of my advisees in LA just sent this regarding the topic of why people fail to become actors: "Most people want instantaneous gratification - as most society and acting does not yield itself to instant gratification. Many don't have the personality - it is sales, it is marketing, it is communicating, it is networking, it is planning. You have to be very smart and savvy. You have to spend the money to make money - a good head shot is priceless- yet many get photos from amateurs and it shows. If someone wants to have no vacations (how can you vacation if you are trying to make it?), no love life, no family life (or minimum at least), no partying (if you get an audition the next day you can't be indulging and that can happen in an instance). (I truly believe you should not date or be in a relationship if you want to be an actor- too much energy) It is almost like living like a monk. To stay focused and not get discouraged - wow! Only for the thick skinned and those who are tenacious. It takes total dedication - and perseverance - and a long shot. It is like gambling - yet if you get that role you hit the jack pot. Yet - if you do it right and make the right connections and are likable - I believe it can happen. It really depends on the person and how much they believe and want it. They need to never give up - I guess you need to be insane! You have to love it - whether it gives results or not. Even if you are not an "a" list or "b" list actor = you just have to be happy that you are trying and living the dream so many are afraid to go for. The ride to get there - to being a working actor - is more fun that when you get to the top of the mountain. Then you have to say - what next?! It is not meant for the majority - that is why so many leave. They don't understand that it is a lifestyle and one that many won't accept and understand. You need to say "good-bye" to those who don't believe in you - as you can't have any negativity. It is self centered and the person has to be extremely egocentric. I guess I am not painting a very nice picture - yet I would not give it up for the world. This is the happiest I have been in years."

Cost, Warnings and Preparations for Being an Actor

What has become more and more apparent to me over the last year is that going into the business of acting requires many kinds of investments that I write about on my newest web site sub page, Your Investment in Acting. Acting is not an art that you just start doing and people give you money. Acting is a hard-nosed business that takes a sizable monetary investment for you even to compete and to make progress. Then the investments in time, effort and preparation are in addition to that. Acting is not something to be entered into unadvisedly and without proper preparation, which includes lots of acting experience as well as some formal training.

Almost all of the kids on Yahoo Answers are looking for a quick and easy way to become the people they see on the TV and movie screen. They don't have the foggiest notion that what they see on those screens is not at all what acting is all about. Thus the scammers take over, selling them the promise of quick stardom, even if they have no talent. And there is practically no one out there that will tell them if they have no talent. A large number of the population do not even believe that it takes talent to be an actor. Every aspiring actor should question every organization they are thinking of doing business with and try to be assured that the business is not a scam.

When I first began advising on Yahoo Answers and All Experts, and I wrote my book, The Tao of Acting. I always listed for those who asked for them the steps in becoming an actor. One important step was that the aspirant needed to get a mentor. As I have moved away from belief that there are a set series of steps in becoming an actor, I have kept the belief that the aspiring actor needs a mentor as described in my book. The actor needs to do many things all at once: build a resume, network, earn a living, and on and on. And of course success comes to each actor in a little different way. Some are thought to have a lucky break, but luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Networking is making opportunities for yourself. If you want to be an actor you cannot ever stop working on it. It is a life style and there is no vacation from that.

You Must Act

The title of this post comes from a web site of the same name from which the aspiring actor can get much good information. But I have been thinking a lot lately about the people I advise and what they are currently doing. It seems to me that only a very few are actually doing any acting and that is troubling. You see, if you are an actor, you must act. That means that you must be acting in something.

I can hear the excuses from many: "I've been cast in something, but it doesn't start until next Spring," or "I'm waiting for may agent to call," or "I have an audition next month or next week," or "I'm not ready yet," or "I can't find any auditions," or a million other reasons why they are not acting. They need money and cannot take off work. And on and on and on, until, frankly, they just give up on ever being a professional acting. And the reason they have given up, no matter what it is they tell you, is that they did not try.

An actor, acts. That's what he does. He doesn't wait for a role to drop from heaven, he goes out and finds one. Oh, it may not be a professional role. It may be an amateur one, community theatre, student film, a volunteer spot on local TV. But it is a role. It is acting.. It is not sitting around making excuses why he is not acting.

Where ever you are located, there is an amateur community theatre, there may be student or indie films, there may be a college theatre program whose productions are open to anyone interested in participating. And, as I say in my book, "The Tao of Acting," if there is no other, make your own acting opportunity. "Oh, I don't have the ability to organize that," you may say. My only answer is then you may not have the ability to succeed professionally. To succeed you need to be outgoing and able to meet and talk to people, and that is what you need to organize your own theatrical production.

The bare truth is that if you are not acting, you are not an actor. If you are not an actor,then why keep pretending you are? The field is over crowded, get out and make room for those who must act.

Confidence, Acting, and Talent

"I need to build my confidence" or "I am shy" are two things I read that many aspiring actors and actresses confess. Of course, being in plays is the best way to build confidence. Speech classes are good as well. Professional actors need confidence in many ways. Of course they need confidence in their acting. If they are not confident that they can compete with the very best other actors, then they are not ready to be actors.

To become and to continue to be successful as an actors, aspirants must have confidence in their ability to introduce themselves to strangers. I know of an actor who worked many years as a professional, but when it came to introducing himself to strangers, he was shy. To advance professionally, an actor cannot be shy in this way. An actor has to network, and an important way of doing this is to introduce himself to people in the business--other actors, directors, producers, agents, and so on. If he lacks the confidence to do this, his chances of success are very limited. The actor I mentioned never progressed beyond playing minor roles.

The aspiring actor or actress has to have enough confidence to strike out into the wilderness of new places where they may know no one. It is often necessary to move to a new city to move your career forward. Having the confidence to do that is needed as well.

Actors have to have confidence in their ability to be interviewed. When they make an achievement, they will be interviewed perhaps locally by the media, perhaps on a national talk show. They must be engaging and charming and interview well.

Finally, the actor or actress needs confidence in their ability to be a self starter and self motivator. Acting is the kind of career that demands the aspirant to keep working on his or her career every day. You can't just sit around and wait for the career to come to you. You have to go out and make it happen. Every day. It is exactly the same as a home based business that requires you to make contacts and try to sell your product every day in order to make money. That is what an actor must do to be successful.

I often think that confidence is part of what we call "talent." Just being able to do the work well is a very small part of being talented. Talent must also makes itself known. And that takes confidence.

Acting is Not Free

I have discussed elsewhere in this blog about the fact that professional acting is a business and that it takes monetary investment like all businesses do. Recently, I have been helping some people with their dealings with their agents, and it occurs to me that often aspiring actors are given the wrong idea about agents and the cost of being represented.

Aspiring actors are always being told that legitimate agents do not cost you anything and all you have to do is pay them a small percentage of what money you earn as an actor being represented by them. While that is literally true, in a sense; in actual practice it will cost an aspiring actor a lot of money to have an agent. Here is why: First, the agent will want the actor to get new photos from a professional photographer--several hundred dollars. Second, the agent will want the actor to subscribe to one or more casting web sites as they recommend--up to a hundred dollars per year per site. Third, the agent will want you to pay for your comp cards or other duplicated material that they send to casting directors to try to secure you auditions--couple of hundred more dollars of expense. Fourth, you will want to have business cards and personalized post cards for your networking--up to a couple of hundred buck again. Of course you should have had these before you got the agent, but now that you have new head shots, you will want to update them. Fifth, some legit agents even have other charges for promoting you and putting you in their database. And, Sixth, you will need to get new head shots, business cards and post cards every couple of years so you always look like your photos.r

So the only difference between the legit and scammer agents is that the legit ones do not insist on your purchasing their classes or their photos to be represented, and in a few cases some legit agents want you to use their photographers for your new head shots.

Additional expenses for the aspiring and the successful actor include acting classes and workshops, private teaching, books, gym dues to stay fit and trim, union initiation fees and dues and additional casting web sites such as Actors Access or Casting Workbook.

No, acting is not free. It is a business and an expensive one that you must keep investing in to be competitive.

How to get discovered

I recently read an article by the same title as this blog post and it inspired me to consider the topic. This is what I encourage you to do:

The first thing an actor needs to do to be "discovered" is to stay active as an actor. Keep doing community theatre plays, student and indie films and extra work. Be an actor. If you are not an actor you cannot be discovered as one.

Next the aspiring actor needs to be in a professional acting class as often as possible. This is where you network and become known as part of the professional world. Take audition, cold reading, and film acting classes and workshops. You can be in a class and be in plays and films at the same time.

Of course while doing these things, you are practicing "Networking for Success" as I describe it on my web site and in my book. Along with this you need to study how the business works, reading all you can about it in books and articles that you can find and in those that I suggest. Learn who the more effective agents are in your area. Learn who the casting directors are who are working in your area. Stay up on what is happening in the business, where films are being made and why.

Make sure you are working in places where there is a lot of opportunity for work. When you apply for an audition, make sure it is for a role you are suited for. If they want twenty-something middle eastern types, and you are a 19 year old blonde or thirty year old red head, forget it.

This is a direct steal from the article I read but it is an absolutely brilliant strategy: Surround yourself with people who are successful as actors, who are making it professionally and avoid hanging out with those aspirants who never do anything to get ahead. Learning who the winners are and what they are doing can help you, hanging with the losers will make you one of them. Keep moving forward in your career.

Frequently review what I say about developing the proper behavior and the lists of such that I have from Mamet and Franklin in my book, The Tao of Acting. Make sure you are emulating them.

Everyday renew your resolve to succeed and plan two or three things you are going to do that day to move your career forward. Stay acting and positive. keep your networking tools up to date and more impressive, build your demo reel, and remember to send out post cards., do charity work, and get your name and photo in the newspaper or on TV for it.

Finally save up to attend Regional Unified Auditions where you will be seen by lots of directors casting semi professional and professional theaters. There is no better place to be discovered than on stage in a professional theater. Do your research and find out where and when these will be held and budget your time and money so you can attend. There are several of these use them as stepping stones to your career. If you are getting nowhere in your career where you are-- moving to another area might make more sense than keeping repeating what is not working for you.