Get your gear on
Actors put a lot of energy into learning acting technique, taking audition preparation, and acting on-camera classes, but not enough energy into getting good at script analysis. Often, this vital practice takes a back seat to more glossy and glittery techniques. Script analysis for actors is like protective gear for stuntmen. You better have it.
Stella Adler wrote, “The term ‘script interpretation’ is a profession: it is your profession. From now on, instead of saying ‘I’m an actor’, it would be a better idea for you to say ‘My profession is to interpret a script.”
And it’s true. If you can’t interpret a script, suss out character, and identify conflict and objective— you can’t convincingly act within the world the writer has created. Why? Because you don’t know what’s happening. Without solid script analysis, you are likely to make obvious choices. Generic choices. Choices every other actor makes when they walk into the audition and those actors are forgotten about as soon they walk out.
So how do you stand out?
Get good at interpreting. Get good at breaking down a script. Understand the genre, style, internal tempo, pace, and the general world these characters exist in. Get good at this and you’ll get better at making nuanced choices. Remember, on average, an actor will walk into an audition and give the same character read and interpretation as the previous twenty actors gave. A well-interpreted audition, a thought-out character read — is like cold water in a vast, never-ending dry desert to a casting director. It doesn’t matter if it’s a commercial script with two lines, a poorly written pilot, or The Iceman Cometh, you need to be able to get to grips with what the writer is trying to communicate.
A good actor can make a bad script better
If the character is one dimensional and the script below average — you have to work twice as hard bringing life to a part. A bad script is really just an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to be inventive, intuitive, imaginative. A good actor can make a bad script come alive by bringing a partially realized character to life. Actors get parts for helping casting directors and writers figure out who a character is every day.
Remember — the script is the blueprint…
The actor serves the script. The script serves the actor. Two art forms collide. Breaking down a script and in-depth script analysis is the actor’s first responsibility. It’s a call of duty. Anthony Hopkins reads a script 100-200 times. How many times do you read a script? If you have one nearby — grab it now and get to work.
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