By: Jess Canty
I want to leave you with some thoughts from
that I have been working my way through watching.
There is an entire section on the casting process which he calls "80-90% of the film's success." So he talks a lot about what he and his longtime Casting Director, Ellen Lewis, look for (and how she chooses who she brings to him for any given role).
And the gist of what he said was that it is the person who best INHABITS the character.
And he talked a lot about the people he works with regularly - and those that have been successful in his films, that they just have this ability from minute one to INHABIT whoever is on the page. That they "agree" on the movie they are making and who the character is. They are interpreting it the same way.
He also talked about the fact that actors approach this differently. That for Ben Kingsley on Hugo it was the posture and the voice first. That for Deniro in Scorsese's early films it was because they had grown up blocks from each other and knew the world they were portraying. Knew these characters like the back of their hands.
But in both cases it all came down to a FEELING he has about the actor.
And it makes sense because your trade as an actor is human emotion. So... the next time you are in an audition remember that you are there to evoke a feeling.
To get the CD to FEEL that you are the part. That you ARE the role. Every gesture, every line, every choice of what you are wearing. The way you walk. The pitch of your voice. All have been carefully chosen - either through technique or instinct - to become the person from the page.
And YES... even in a one-line co-star.
I'd argue more-so in a one-line co-star. Because you have ONE line to convince them that you are a security guard, or an ex-ballet dancer or a single mom at her wits end, or a building manager.
Think about the parts you've come close on.
Have you really been INHABITING that role? Would a CD believe you as this person? They selected you - so they see something that could be there - what kept you from showing them that you were it? Did you miss on the outfit? The hair? Did you not spend enough time with the language so you missed the context of the scene?
And think about the parts you HAVE booked.
Was that the difference? That you just WERE the guy/gal that was on the page. That you connected to it so strongly and brought it in the room that they had to cast you?
BE. Don't act.
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