Your Heart in Your Work

As the number of auditions we go to builds and builds, we may start to be influenced by our 'audition acting' habits. In auditions, we start like a runner on the starting line, we get ready and we go. Rolling, act!  We try to 'nail it' from the start to the finish. When we're done, we have to submit the tape asap, or if we auditioned at a CD office, we say goodbye and drive away. Did you do our best work? Did it feel better when you rehearsed it? Did you bring your creative potential to the taping?

In class we can redirect our focus, our concentration and our energy so that we fill in the work and continue to explore the creative process for the every setting, including auditions. We explore what the scene needs, and how we work and how best to serve it. We can take our time to breathe, to stay connected. 

We like to have a class that is "practical." A class that tightens our auditioning tools. And we do need to attend to that. We do. But there is more... more to you, more to the work. It is inaccurate to think that work done in class that is not directly addressing auditioning itself is in any way a waste of time, and not "practical."  

My wish is this: In our scene work, we explore and define the 
W-O-R-L-D of the piece first. Who/What/Where/When/Why.  I believe that we should explore the life of our character in that moment in that world, (and I do believe this will payoff in auditions.) We practice the "longhand" version of our work in class and we can bring the "shorthand" version with our creativity and depth into the audition.

The moment before the text starts is a moment of living life, life in that circumstance, in that place, with that need, with a relationship to everything around you. This isn't a test. It's not about getting this right, instead it is about the creative process that YOU have as an actor or actress and working at the process of bringing the WORLD of the piece TO LIFE, so you best serve it.

The very first line of the scene is not the beginning of the scene. We can get away with that only in auditions and indies. 
The line is coming out of the moment before. By developing our approach the the moment before, we are increasingly able to apply that tool to our auditions as well. 

PLACE! Creating place by bringing in objects and materials of any kind will serve you. Create the place for yourself. Your belief is integral to taking the time and making the effort to create place. 
Any of us can walk into a class and do a scene with no props and no world. We can just start a scene with a chair or whatever. Since we know we can do that, why not make the effort to go farther?  Even if we don't really want to do it. 

Especially if we don't want to. 

Inner resistance to the work is not always righteous. In other words, not making effort because we "don't work that way" is something to investigate before it ossifies. Have you ever seen an older actor who grumbles through rehearsals because they don't "work that way"? Personally, I want to avoid that, although I know for sure it lies within. When I am not sure about my motive, I ask myself "does this best serve the work?" "Does it bring me closer to my creative potential?"

BOUNDARIES: You have the right as an actor to have your boundaries in class (and with everyone). If something causes harm or feels wrong or pushes a button that you don't want pushed, please COMMUNICATE and you will be honored 100%. I have been harmed enough times in my work as an actor to be very clear that your care in paramount. 

There is a difference between not wanting to bring up an old wound or rejecting the work because you simply don't want to feel. As you know, I am very patient and supportive of you when you breathe and try to determine if a choice serves you or a choice needs to be let go of for personal reasons. That is healthy decision to make. As I say in class, I was trained in NYC with immense intensity and no boundaries. I learned as an actor and as a teacher that the boundaries of an actor are necessary, they are an actor's right. 

But the fact is that we are telling stories of human beings and we are telling these stories with our own instruments. Sometimes, we are going to feel. If we decide we categorically do not want to feel as we act, then to me that is something to journal about. Does that choice truly serve the work? the play? the scene? Does it let us be seen at our potential- in auditions and in the work we book?

I believe that this process is not about the indulgence of feelings. That was Strasberg's flaw. I am not interested in feelings any more than simply How Do We Serve This Scene? What is the scene about? What aspect of human beings are we telling? Do we know anything about this aspect of being human? Are we willing to share it, to give that to the character? Not just to feel, but in our way of getting what we want, what we are in pursuit of. 

The WORLD of the scene is...our playground. The relationships to everything in our world GIVE us something to play and play with. Our Objective/ Goal/ Desire/ Wish/Want/whatever you want to call it created the human momentum in pursuit. When we commit to the character's pursuit, it will drive the action of the scene forward organically.

Hence- the text (which we always serve) is not the full life of the scene. By exploring and developing our ability to play with choices in creating that World will also serve our other work, including auditions.

PLEASE try to rehearse 2 hours before putting up a scene the first time. I know everyone is busy. I always think of it this way: If I told you that the 2 hours minimum was actually for an audition for a top director, I think you would bust your ass to make it happen. I always think of class this way- if I have a problem with time, would I overcome it for a top director/ producer audition?

What does the character wear every day...? (!)

Ultimately, follow your heart and be true to you. Sometimes our obstacles are people around us, but sometimes they are within us. Beating ourselves up, doubting ourselves, making excuses, laziness, self righteousness around limiting thinking--staying in comfort zones. 


Feel free to talk to me about any of this. 

Respectfully,

Corey