MAKE A CHARACTER YOUR OWN
Wondering why you’ve been called in for an audition and doubting whether you’re right for the role? Let others be the judge of that, writes actor and acting coach Julian Curtis.
“I’m wrong for this role… I’m just not this guy!” You have been requested, so move past these thoughts and remember that we are all capable of the same stuff. We all have the capacity to be the scariest, kindest, sexiest, cruelest person alive. What stops us from being our worst, or even our best, is our environment, personal experiences, morals, values and desires. As an actor, our job is to access these on command. If you are slim and five foot two auditioning for an ‘intimidating physical presence’, your job is to find a way for this character to live within you and serve the story. You may even find your unobvious version a more watchable one.
Character is action
You have 24 hours to read a script, learn lines, film, edit and upload your audition. To add, on top of that, a credible transformation into a new human from the ground up is an impossible order. Plus, at every audition, your competition will include ‘go-to’ actors for that role type. So, if embodying a character far removed from yourself takes time and rehearsal, what do you do? The only option is to start with yourself. Use your personal point of view, emotional triggers, life experiences and eccentricities to stand out. Let the writing do the character work. You don’t need to play a killer but you do need to justify why you would kill, and coming from your lived experiences will give it a unique edge.
Authentic casting
The industry has moved towards authentic casting. Do I think this disregards an actor’s ability to understand life experiences beyond their own — yep! But adapt or die, so let’s focus on the upside. Substitution and drawing on your personal struggles is actually an easier job, when you think about it. This doesn’t suddenly make acting therapy. The job has always demanded deep personal connection, whether that is drawn from your own life or from imaginary circumstances.
Be messy
There is a school of thought that less is more. And yes, there is a time in your education where you need to learn not to push. However, when working professionally, to strip away what makes you different is death. We all scratch our heads when we watch working actors deliver still and boring performances and think, Why them? Here’s the thing: in the digital age, we shoot across multiple cameras and there has never been more editing. The shift away from longer, unedited shots has emphasised a ‘look’ over performance. However, looks fade and change. Maintaining yourself as a dynamic and charismatic being will serve you longer term − if you feed it.
Take note of punctuation
A well-written script will teach you how a character speaks. This is not a backpedal on the previous point − still hold onto yourself and your way of expression, but let the punctuation disrupt the flow. This is simply another case of allowing the script to do the work.
About accents
When you learn an accent, you often lean into archetypes, and this is helpful as a learning tool. Ultimately, your accent needs to live in your natural tone; the dialect is a filter. Yes, you are more in danger of falling in and out of your accent because it’s not — and should never be — at the forefront of your performance thinking. However, some major A-listers are guilty of faltering, and we accept it because who they are, as a person, is so watchable.
Lived experience
We have shared experiences but no one else has made your journey to this moment in time. That is the secret sauce. In the script, a fight might be punctuated with exclamation marks. What if you are more stoic and internal in your normal life? Let’s see that version. The uneasiness of your natural self being dragged into a screaming match may be the electric reading of a scene that the director has been waiting for.
On the stage
Theatre is a language medium. There is rhythm and musicality to the writing that needs to be in the delivery for a work to sing. As a result, there is less room to move when a play demands a certain emotional response. If your character has an emotional outburst and you are not that kind of human, what would it take for you to have such an outburst? How can you imbue these imaginary circumstances with the necessary gunpowder to set you off? This is what a rehearsal period is for.
You are enough
Being you at your most free makes you the actor who will command attention and book.
Julian Curtis is an actor and acting coach. As a coach, he has been staffed by NIDA, QUT, Toni Higginbotham Casting and AAFTA. With Julian’s mentorship, his private clients have booked work for Netflix, ABC, CBS, Lionsgate, Screen Australia and Sydney Theatre Company. Contact him at bigscaryanimal.net
