Have you ever known someone who seems to just play through life? Their attitude is always light; they’re frequently laughing and smiling. They’re nonchalant, easy to be around, and external events rarely knock them off balance.
It can be baffling to be around people like this who appear to not take much seriously, especially when you see them booking more acting gigs or VO jobs than you! But as I have learned, this free-wheeling way of navigating through life may be precisely why they are finding success in our field!
Recently, a gentleman came to me for extra coaching because he felt perhaps he wasn’t booking enough work. (As it turns out, in his first year as a voice-actor, he’s already been shortlisted over ten times and has booked four spots on a major pay-to-play site.) I was immediately struck by his fun, easy-going personality.
Yet, in our script workouts together, he was easily distracted by funny memories and would sometimes go off on
tangents. I wondered if, even though he’s had some early success, maybe, he wasn’t “serious enough” about the acting business.
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However, he always managed to circle back to the copy, and after a few takes he was on target with the character of the script. In addition, in-between our coaching sessions he auditioned diligently; not because he felt any pressure, but because as he puts it, “I’m having so much fun!”
Within weeks, he booked an awesome commercial which required lots of emotional transitions and had some rhyming, which can be very hard to pull off in a believable way. But he nailed it, and his distinctly fun personality shone through.
I learned a great lesson from this student. As an audition coach and actor, I can sometimes get caught up in the perfection trap and not emphasize the importance of fun. Don’t get me wrong; utilizing acting principles in script analysis, and dutifully finding ways to connect to the script in a personal and specific way is imperative.
But equally important to utilizing all of these methods is to make sure we possess that casual confidence which leaves a lasting impression with casting directors. It’s called authenticity, and it’s the secret sauce my student possesses.
Do a bit of research on authenticity and you will find a plethora of articles and information on the subject written by top casting directors and acting coaches. Some folks call it charisma, charm, or believability. Acting coach Joe Pearlman takes it even further, saying, “Personality is your secret weapon,” and that 90% of a performance is based on it!
Bringing our genuine selves to our scripts can be deceptively challenging, because commercial scripts are rarely written in a natural tone of voice.. That’s why it’s so important to break the script down through script analysis to fully understand the message, and find a way to relate and identify with the copy. If you don’t find a way to connect to the words, your performance will lack authenticity.
One simple way for you to make the words your own is to ask yourself, what am I saying, and why am I saying it? When you do this, you ignite the process of relating to the script. Acting coach Sanford Meisner said, “‘Why’ is the most important word in an actor’s vocabulary.”
Another acting coach, Melissa Bruder, stated, “The person you are is 100% more interesting than the greatest actor you could ever hope to be.”
If you ever feel that you are not interesting, or are “not enough” know that just the opposite is true. Your audience is searching out ways to relate to you. And when they find that one quality in you that they also see in themselves, they know they are not alone. And that is more than enough.
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