Acting Tips

#1 Start acting. Today. If you are in middle school or high school, find the drama club. Look for acting instructors and acting classes you can take in the evening or weekends. Visit theaters in your town that are performing plays or improv shows, either audition there or offer to work in some way for that theater.

Any of these actions will lead you toward acting, and the more you act the more experienced you'll become. Plus, you'll interact with other actors. You'll share a love of acting with them. You'll be able to share information about auditions, agents and other acting related items.

Learn more about emotional memory, concentration, scene analysis and acting exercises at ActingScenes.com. Plus, you'll find over one hundred scenes to perform for practice, classwork or competition.

#2. Improvisation is an important part of acting. Practice it. Many auditions these days are Improv auditions,

#3. Demonstrate you are a professional and an actor that takes acting seriously. Be on time or early for auditions. Dress for the role. Do your home work on the character, have your choices made and be ready to audition.

#4. Stanislavski taught concentration and focus as a method of overcoming stage fright. An actor that can be so involved in the scene that he forgets the audience will not suffer from stage fright. In addition, the mental skills required to concentrate on imaginary objects will be useful when trying to act in imaginary situations.

#5 Some auditions may require you to perform a monologue. Commit one dramatic and one comedic monologue to memory. They should be 60 seconds long, and no longer than 120 seconds. These will showcase your skills, so choose material you will excel with.

#6 Cold read auditions require you to analyze scripts in ten or fifteen minutes. Practice doing cold read auditions, scene analysis and making strong character choices in a cold read.

#7 Always have your headshot with you. It is your business card as an actor.

#8 Emotional memory requires an actor to recall his personal experiences to summon the proper emotional state of mind for a role. Make notes of the personal experiences you've had and what emotions you felt so that you can draw on the memories when needed

#9 During an audition, stick with the dialogue word for word (or as close as possible). The writer may well be in the room and may not like someone altering his dialogue.

#10 Work with your fellow actor in a duet scene, even when they have the better part. Some auditions may be to determine what pair of actors work well with each other and have good chemistry. Carrie Fisher credits her landing of the Princess Leia role to Harrison Ford, because they both worked well together in the screen tests. Two actors trying to upstage each other doesn't make for a good scene.

Learn more about emotional memory, concentration, scene analysis and acting exercises at ActingScenes.com. Plus, you'll find over one hundred scenes to perform for practice, classwork or competition.

Disney Actress
Acting Tips