21 Apr It’s Never a Performance
When going out for an audition, many actors feel they have to go big or go home, so to speak. While taking risks and being different (or even being yourself) is valuable in an audition, especially when booking the room, even if you don’t book the role, there are many interpretations of “go big or go home.” Many actors think they have to perform in the room to impress, but that is not the case. In fact, it’s never a performance.
What attracts viewers to television, movies, new media, live theatre, and other performances? The believability and the reality of the characters, that they are honest and truthful. We have to suspend our disbelief as viewers to enjoy whatever it is we’re watching, and most of the time, unless it’s an extreme style choice (parody, farce, etc.), all we want is to empathize with a character and find elements of a character that we relate too—and it all comes back to the believability of a character.
Think about it this way: It’s never a performance to the character. The character is in a world as a member of society—s/he is not an actor playing a role. The character lives in that world. There’s no need to enhance the qualities of a character or pretend like the character knows he is in a television show, performance, whatever it is. The character lives and breathes in this world.
In this case, in your audition or when you book the role, it’s never a performance. Always do your research, and always prepare as you normally would, but all in all, have fun. If you are performing, you might not have as much fun as if you just go in and just have fun, forgetting about the outcome, forgetting about trying to impress, and just going in to book the room.