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Aaron Marcus breaks down a common audition mistake: showing too much emotion when the scene is actually about other characters. Ask yourself "is the scene about you?" and focus on supporting the stars instead of making it about yourself.
Aaron Marcus breaks down a common audition mistake: showing too much emotion when the scene is actually about other characters. Ask yourself "is the scene about you?" and focus on supporting the stars instead of making it about yourself.
Hi, my name is Aaron Marcus, and here is your weekly acting and modeling video blog. Last week I auditioned for a great television show, and because I signed— it's called an NDA, a non-disclosure agreement— I can't tell you about the show, can't tell you the name of the show, can't tell you what the audition was about, and I certainly honor that agreement. However, what I can tell you about is a lesson that I learned from the audition That I know will be very helpful to you. So without giving away any kind of information about the show, there was a scene that I auditioned for and it's a trap. Uh, it's a trap for, for actors. And what's happening is I am talking to 2 of the stars in this particular show. And it seems like it should be a very emotional scene. I feel really bad for these people. My heart breaks for them. And so in the lines that I have— and once again, I can't talk about the specific lines— but basically I'm letting these people know how sorry I am for them. So my initial instinct is to get very emotional, is to, you know, I could feel as I'm reading, I'm beginning to well up a little bit. I'm nervous for them. I feel bad for them. They're having a tough time in their life. But that's the trap. Because one of the things that I always do, and I, and I teach this in, in both either my private coaching sessions or at workshops, is when you are reading the sides, when you're reading the section of the script that you are auditioning for, one of the questions that you always need to ask is, who is the scene about? And it's very clear. This scene is not about me. This scene is about the stars. of the show. And what I'm doing is I'm helping support them. So as I'm talking to them and feeling, you know, this emotion, feeling empathy and feeling concern, I had to really make sure that in the back of my mind I was always thinking, it's not about me, it's not my show, it's about them. So when I'm doing my lines, I did not get caught up in the trap Of showing a lot of emotion. I'm not saying I was laughing while I'm doing my lines, but I made sure that it really was all about them. And I'm saying the words in a way so that I— and I could envision how this was going to work. As the cameras come in closely on the stars, it's going to show them welling up. It's going to show them showing the pain. That, that, that they're going through. So even though instinctually I wanted to get emotional there, I understood it's not about me. So whenever you are auditioning for something, one of the key questions you want to ask is, is the scene about you? And if it's not, don't make it about you. Anyhow, I hope you found this helpful, and if you have any questions, any comments, please post it on my website, howtomodel.com, and I look forward to talking with you. Thank you. you really soon. I'm Aaron Marcus.
