How to Stop Acting by Harold Guskin

Author:Harold Guskin [Guskin, Harold]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2011-09-15T17:00:00+00:00

Give Them Many Choices

The key to auditioning is to separate yourself from the crowd—to give the observers many choices, instead of trying to please the director by guessing which one he wants. Remember, the actor who only concerns himself with being free and available to his responses is the actor who will be watched.

Directors like to direct. They are more than ready to offer direction if you are interesting, even if you’re making a different choice from what they want. But you won’t be interesting if you’re not free. If the director suggests something, give it a try. But also keep exploring the places that are fresh for you. You have to go lots of places in order to find the best one. But even if only one of the choices you make works, the director will see it, and that’s what he’ll remember.

What do you do if the direction you’re getting doesn’t make sense to you? Just go somewhere other than where you went before. What you just did didn’t work for the director, or he wouldn’t be offering direction. So whatever you did before, don’t do again. Do something else, even the opposite of what you did. But do it consciously only for the first line or so. After that, take a breath and go wherever you want—explore. An actor can do almost anything well for a line or two. After that, you’ve got to be totally free in order to be good. Directors will recognize and appreciate your freedom. They may even think the difference in your work was triggered by their suggestions. And in a way it is.

Just remember: exploration equals freedom. So don’t try to please them.

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