My mentor, the late Sam Christensen (Casting Director for MASH, Clash of the Titans, etc), cared so deeply about actors, but what plagued him was how few of us knew how to "relax", "do less", and "just be yourself" in the audition.
If you're an actor, you've heard phrases like that before. In class, in a live audition, or on set. Jack Lemmon famously told a story from early in his screen career where the director kept telling him to "do less" and he finally shouted “If I do any less, I won’t be doing anything at all!”
Exactly.
To be clear, you MUST have craft. You must have training. But that's the part of our careers that is more obvious. What makes us unique is something different. What makes our version of Hamlet or Ophelia so different from every other one is what Sam would call your SIGNATURE PERFORMANCE.
And as Jack Lemmon discovered that fateful day, you have to get out of your own way to let that signature performance shine through. It's a paradox for most of us. Because we want to DO something when we hear ACTION. We want to SHOW the director, the audience, how well we can put on that character. Oftentimes we want to show the work we've put into it, the years of training we've had...
The truth is that in the moment we hear ACTION, it's about letting go and letting the uniqueness of ourselves shine.
Sounds so simple, but it's so hard to embrace when the time comes. Quite honestly, we're bored with ourselves. That person you see in the mirror... with all those flaws and "boring" traits.... who wants to see THEM on screen, right?
I'd love to chat more about this very topic. If you're still reading, and you're curious, I'll be hosting a Zoom call this Wednesday, August 28, at 7pm EDT/4pm PDT to talk about Sam Christensen and the 4-day process he created as his life's work. We already have about 40 RSVPs, so you can keep your camera and mic off if you just want to be a fly on the wall. That said, we will have a Q&A at the end.
I'll leave you with a question: Can you, with specificity, identify what makes you unique? Not just the characters you play, but what part of humanity you bring to those characters. If you're struggling to find your place in this industry, we can help...
You can learn more and RSVP for the free Zoom call here: https://www.get-taped.com/sam-christensen
3 people like this
Great advice and topic, Matthew Cornwell! I've heard over and over that actors should "just be yourself" and not overdo it in auditions and on set.
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Thanks, Maurice Vaughan. Everyone says "be yourself", but no one tells you what that really means or how to actually do it. We have answers!
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You're welcome, Matthew Cornwell.