Aaron Marcus breaks down when to memorize audition lines and when to keep the script in hand. Memorizing shows professionalism and frees you up, but it can make you rigid and cause you to hunt for the next line. Stay very familiar with the material, use the script as reference, and trust that memorization will be expected by filming.
Here's another acting and modeling quick tip with me, Aaron Marcus. So you get an opportunity to audition for a project and that is wonderful. The question is, do you have to memorize your lines? Well, there is no one correct answer for that. And I'm going to share with you a couple of different ideas that I think will be really helpful to you. So there are times where the casting director will tell your agent or tell you everything has to be memorized for the audition, in which case that makes it pretty simple. You've got to memorize it. If you're not given that information, then some people will tell you always memorize it anyway because that way you can be freer. You're showing that you're a professional. They're going to see what you can do on the set. And I get that. The only thing is, and one of the only drawbacks, is that then they believe that's the best it's going to be. You're already prepared. It's memorized. That's right. This is how it's going to be. If you don't memorize it and, you know, you have the copy in your hands and, you know, you, you, you're very familiar with it and periodically you might have to look over and then come back up and look over and come back up, then hopefully they're going to love the audition and think, wow, this was really good. Imagine what it's going to be like after the person had even more time to play with this and once they're off book. So that is another way That's a fair way, you know, to view it. The key thing is, if— let's say if you do memorize it and it's a fairly quick-paced kind of audition and banter is going back and forth, and you might have it memorized, but it might not be fluid enough in order for you to keep up with that kind of pace. And there's always like a little drag going on in there because you're thinking, you're trying to get your next lines. Then honestly, I wouldn't memorize it. I would be very familiar with it. I would have it and be able to go back and forth, look at it and go back and forth because showing that you can memorize something, it doesn't get you the booking. I mean, people know you will have it memorized by the time you show up on the set. So anyhow, I wanted to share that information with you. I'd love to hear your thoughts as well. If, by the way, if you're watching this on, on YouTube, please give it a thumbs up. If you're watching this on Facebook, like it. And leave your thoughts on my Facebook page, facebook.com/howtomodel. I'd love to hear any tips that you have about memorization for auditions. And if you have any additional questions for me, you can always reach me at howtoactandmodel.com. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I look forward to talking with you again soon. Thank you.
