How is 2015 shaping out for you so far?
I hope you’re still feeling motivated to achieve everything you’ve set out to do this year.
Those that take their acting training with me know how I work – I encourage mistakes – you’re not reading that wrong, my actors are very good and very disciplined and yet I encourage them to mess up and they do. From the children training in Shooting Stars Studio right through to the adults in The Adult Studio they all do it and today’s blog covers just that – MISTAKES! There’s nothing quite like a big ol’ mistake to stop you in your tracks.
I’m back in the office brewing up all sorts of exciting potions for StandBy this year and I’ve already made a gazillion mistakes and I’m really happy about it.
You see when I trained at drama school I felt I had to be the best; the best actress, the best singer, the best at Alexander technique, the best at auditions, the best at accents, the best in dance classes – you get the picture. If I made a mistake my acting life was literally in tatters. “I’ll never get hired, everyone will say I’m awful, my reputation is in the gutter”. I tried so bloody hard not to make a mistake that I put myself under a huge amount of pressure and then when I did – I couldn’t handle it and went into melt down. Crazy I know.
I’ve got over all that, these days I kind of look forward to making mistakes.
TOP 10 COMMON MISTAKES ACTORS MAKE
I look forward to mistakes. WHY? Because I LEARN from them. I RECOVER WELL. Making a mistake is fine but it all boils down to the recovery.
I’ll share with you one of my BIGGEST mistakes. Stephen Graham asked me to be in a short film with him. If you don’t know who he is he played Baby face Nelson in Boardwalk Empire and Combo in This is England. He rubs shoulders with the cream of the crop in Hollywood (and supports StandBy – great stuff). So when he asked me to be in a film with him of course I said YES. I had a great time on set and even enjoyed seeing myself on the big screen at official screening in Manchester. I thought I’d hit the big time so I stopped looking for work and where did it land me? Well it didn’t really land me anywhere. The work dried up. I stopped being pro-active and that is one of the biggest mistakes actors make. (I quickly learnt and recovered from that one). Let’s see where it fairs in my top 10.
#1 BEING UN (DER) PREPARED
Whether that be for a production, an audition or even a class. Being unprepared is the BIGGEST mistake all actors make and one they quickly learn from if they have anything about them. If you’re going to be unprepared make damn sure you learn from this because if not you’ll soon see your acting nose-diving and THAT can be difficult to recover from. Don;t let your self-esteem suffer.
#2 NOT KNOWING LINES
This comes under being unprepared but deserves a section of it’s own because it is the one thing I see time and time again. I remember when I ran a theatre company and I was auditioning actors for a role in a play. One actor came in and forgot her lines half way through her piece. She froze for what seemed like an eternity then said “Can I start again?” then forgot her lines again. It was very clear she just hadn’t learnt them. Learn from this and make sure you learn your lines, don’t show yourself up like this actress did.
#3 MAKING EXCUSES
In my career I have seen this sooo many times you wouldn’t believe and it more often than not starts with “I didn’t have time to…”
Being honest will serve you far better than lying. Going to an audition and saying “I didn’t have time to…” will NOT serve you well. I remember at drama school we had George Costigan (Rita, Sue & Bob too) and ITV casting director June West do mock castings with us. One of the auditions was a Shakespeare piece. It was my turn and I wasn’t confident at all. Rather than lie I just told them “I find Shakespeare difficult” They accepted that and gave me a re-call because they found my honesty refreshing. I made sure to get confident on Shakespeare.
#4 BEING LAZY
What I mean by this is not being pro-active. You’ve read my story and you’ll quickly learn that Stephen Spielberg isn’t gonna call you up for a lead role in his next movie. Get out there and look, even if you have an agent.
#5 BEING LATE
This industry does not abide late actors. It shows a lack of dis-respect for yourself and other people. When I was at drama school a very good actress was late for that days acting class, she didn’t get in. The same thing happens at auditions. If you’re late you’ve missed your chance. If you know your punctuality is a problem find a way to change it. It’s never too late (excuse the pun!).
#6 DISHONESTY
In class this will not serve you well as you’ll be found out. At auditions this will ruin your chances. Whatever you do don’t lie about your training, who you’ve worked with, how long you’ve been acting. It’s a no-brainer. If you have lied about something be sure you don’t do it again.
#7 NOT TAKING DIRECTION
Nobody likes to work with a difficult actor. At StandBy I teach my actors to be self-sufficient, but if a director suggests something even if you think it won’t work. You can always say I’m not sure if it fits with my character journey but I’ll try it. If you’ve found yourself not taking direction learn from it and learn to be open to suggestions.
#8 BEING RUDE
You wouldn’t believe how often this happens. I was working on a film not long after graduating from drama school and the lead actress was as rude as they get. I was gob-smacked. She got fired. The same can happen in your training, you come across rude actors. It doesn’t bode well. If you find yourself wanting to be rude, count to 10.
#9 BEING A KNOW IT ALL
No one wants to work with a know it all. Your acting class, audition or film/theatre show should have a good atmosphere. What will help you get far is being friendly. It’s great you know so much but let it show through in your work.
#10 PLAYING IT SAFE
What I mean by this is you’t take a JUSTIFIED risk with your acting. You play it the vanilla way, the way any actor could, you “ACT” it. We’ve all done it, myself included. Try not to get into a habit of this. Whether in class or at an audition find the person you’re playing but don’t play it safe. You’ll be respected more for putting your own unique stamp on the character.
Remember, no-one is perfect and if you’re going to make a mistake it’s not the end of the world but you MUST recover from it and not do it again.
If you don’t want to make these mistakes at auditions book yourself a FREE taster class with me to learn an outstanding acting technique and fully prepare yourself for the industry https://standbymethod.com/contacts/
