#acting exercise

Sound on !

"Ffs! Pissing is normal!"

It’s insanity!

Anonymous said: She can cradle her bump all she wants but people still ain’t buying it. Comments are hysterical. Either no one believes in the miraculous bump that grows so fast, or they see it as her lifetime guarantee of luxury. Harry is going to have a lot to explain at some point in this mess. He will have to crawl on broken glass and beg for forgiveness. ————————————————————- I hear you…

I am currently working on a musical, and my job is to help a bunch of tween and teens pretend to be other people on stage.

Here is one of my favorite character development exercises: Find a Similar Character

The task is simple- I ask a bunch of people who don’t know the story I am working on (in this case you) to list any characters that are similar to the description I give you. Once I have the list, I go to the kids and we compare and contrast to the character they are actually playing. They learn a lot, and often end up stealing bits for their acting on stage.

Are you ready?

Please reply with any characters you know that fit the description by number next to the description.

1) Loner, angry, intimidating, puts up emotional wall, has snarky sense of humor that comes out when he is enjoying himself. Enjoys a good fight and how easy it is to scare his enemies. Bonus points- when in really good mood, is childish with gross little boy humor.

2) Talks way too much for others comfort, full of pop culture references. Is strangely insightful about people. Loyal friend, is absolutely willing to call you on your shit. Feels like a city boy. Mostly Comedic until suddenly real deep. Bonus points- is sometimes so busy talking, he walks into the middle of a situation without realizing for a minute or two.

3) Trained to be a perfectly poised young lady, not that deep down is just rough and tumble. Survivor, but wants finer things. Is reaching for a happily ever after love story. Thinks if she just fixes this one thing everything will fall into place for her. Authority- in charge of any room she walks into. Will absolutely, without hesitation, call you on your assumptions of her or her life. Is about “how the world really works.” Bonus points- enjoys dancing, singing, and other girly things as fun hobbies.

4) Has one big insecurity and takes it out on everyone else. Control freak. Wants everything their way all the time. Attention slut. Has freaky little sense of fashion that they insist is the only way to dress. Enjoys being evil/cruel. Bonus points- actual villain/Dictator. 4th wall breaking jokes.

5) (group) Goons. Mooks. Comedic henchmen. Will do anything for boss, also terrified of him. Comedically cruel and in turns terrified of impressive hero. Bonus points- is really trying to be a supportive friend to the Boss.

6) That one character in an uprising/revolution movie who is in the fight from the beginning and has to convince the main character to join. Will probably end up in a torture scene for their convictions. Bonus points- sharply dressed and/or small and adorable.

7) Character in uprising/revolution movie that is just trying to keep their head down and fit in with the group in power, only to get swept up with the rest of the marginalized group. In deep denial, keeps lying to themselves and others. If does acknowledge similarity, is to bemoan that if they could just do away with it, everything would go right for them. Bonus points- always has a crazy story about “that one time”, was clearly written by a Jewish writer.

** If you don’t know what “clearly written by Jewish writer” means- would the character sing original “Hallelujah” sincerely, or not get it, and try to sing a Christianized basterdization of the song? Also, on a more obvious, less deep level, randomly throws out Jewish phrases and words that people sometimes just associate with New York.

8) Big strong burly powerful woman. Just wants someone to love her who she can be devoted to in return. Can and will kill you if you annoy her. Warrior Clan type. Prison Guard type. AUTHORITY through ability to do violence. Aggressive in her affection. Bonus Points- at smallest amount of affection will fold like house of cards.

9) (group) followers. Believers. Comedic cult like obsession. Will do anything, including be perfect, for their beloved leader. Described in script as having “Stepford” vibes. Bonus points- undercurrent of fear for their life if leader is displeased.

10) (group) give me good “mob trying to burn character at stake” scenes. Bonus points- comedic scene.

11) Jewish Auntie/grandma/Mother telling you how it is. Everyone is a little afraid to be in a conversation with her.

12) Is their own person with zero fucks to give or apologies. Is so unfazed by the toilet thier life is swirling around that they might just have depression. Deadpan humor. Bonus- killer dress sense.

13) Helpful friendly Immigrant Neighbor trope. Is surprised and bewildered everytime some jerk treats them like shit. Bonus points- cousins or siblings set.

14) Super friendly/helpful German

15) gangly, clumsy and akward, zero self confidence, will clearly be beautiful after the glow up.

16) devoted their lives to helping others, but more and more keeps getting dumped on them, and now they just tired. When in a good place, is so good at what they do, are considered “magical.” Bonus points- used to being privileged, and “has never been so insulted in my life!” to be treated this way.

17) Meticulous, detail oriented, very organized. None of that helped them get out of the horrible situation they are in.

18) Family trying to help each other through extreme life or death peril situation. Were once comfortable middle class, now homeless. Refugee vibes. Tiny kid still being kid like and piping up in awkward moments.

19) annoyingly cheerful and naive in a terrible situation.

20) I was doing my own thing, pursuing my own interests, and now I am here. In the mud with everyone else. How did I get here? I don’t even know these people.

21) (group) Long suffering, hard put upon marginalized group, pitching in together with grim humor and snipes. It is giving often relocated European Jewish community without being explicitly Jewish. It is giving Refugees who know the drill, only its worse this time. Dark comedy part of show. Bonus points- everyone is clearly individualized while obviously belonging to this group. This is also characters 6, 7, and 11-20.

Creating intimacy for a scene. 

Is there a scene of intimacy in the script? An important kiss? A sex scene? Start talking about it from day 1. Do the following excercise: Bring the actors together, face to face.  They answer your questions together at the same time. No stopping. It’s about establishing the journey leading up to the moment of intimacy, and make them want to do the scene (instead of wanting to avoid it and go home):

Tell me about the first time you met. The first time you spoke. Whose idea was it to go to.... What attracted you to them? The first time you touched. Whose idea was it to go to...(second location)

As characters. How are you feeling right now?  As actors. How are you feeling right now?  As characters. What do you need from each other? As actors. What do you need from each other?  As characters. What are you willing to do for each other?  As actors. What are you willing to do for each other? . As actors. How are you going to support each other? As characters. What are you afraid to tell each other? As actors. What are you afraid to tell each other? As characters. Whisper to each other what you’re going to do to each other as you make love. Can be as graphic as you like. Only you can hear each other. No one else, myself (director) included. As characters. What do you want from each other now? You’re trying to create trust between the actors, and that’s created from them arriving at this moment together as equals. Repeat this process during rehearsals as you get closer to shooting. Overdo it. Have more physical block-throughs too, just you and the actors. Later, use your phone to get a few angles. Show it to the actors so they have an idea what part of them will be seen. The more involved they are, the more confident they can be about it. Repeat the exercise. Do it to the point where the actors feel like they’ve already had sex, that way when the crew and the technical aspect comes in, it won’t throw them completely off. They just need to do their usual thing. 

My sister got me the book New York Diaries for Christmas -- It's a compilation of diary entries edited by Teresa Carpenter from New York City residents and visitors, dating from 1609 to 2009. Each day is laid out with several entries from varying years. Some are from the wealthy and well-known, some are from pharmacists and lawyers. Every single one immerses the reader in time and place.

From an acting perspective, I am completely inspired by the idea of using journals as a form of character study. Obviously this makes a ton of sense if you're working on a real person, but I find that it's valuable even as a kind of workout for flexing those character study muscles. How often do we get a direct filter into someone's mind the way we do with journal entries? Each entry prompts so many exciting questions about the person's life: What is their relationship to their journal? Do they expect it to ever be read? (Some seem to write as though they most certainly do.) What is this person's highest hope? Greatest failure? What room are they writing this entry in? What do the curtains look like? What's their view out the window? What kind of pen are they writing with?