Jack Plotnick has spent the last decade as a working actor in Los Angeles. In film, he has appeared opposite Ben Stiller in MEET THE FOCKERS, Ian McKellen in GODS AND MONSTERS, Renee Zelwegger in DOWN WITH LOVE, and Sally Field in SAY IT ISN’T SO. Jack was a series regular and supervising producer on the Lifetime Television comedy LOVESPRING INTERNATIONAL (12 episodes on the air), which he also occasionally directed. He was also a regular on the Comedy Central cartoon series DRAWN TOGETHER and the FOX TV show ACTION. Other television includes recurring roles on RENO 911, JOAN OF ARCADIA, ELLEN and RUDE AWAKENINGS and has guest-stars on HOUSE, EASTWICK, THE MENTALIST, among others. Jack executive produced and starred in the feature film GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS, released theatrically by IFC Films, and now on video by MGM. Along with his two co-stars, he won 2003’s BEST ACTOR AWARDS from LA’s OUTFEST Film Festival and the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.

The following is a chapter from his free ebook New Thoughts for Actors. He teaches regular workshops in Los Angeles (and periodically in New York) and coaches privately. Email info@jackplotnick.com to get on the mailing list for his weekly $20 drop-in cold reading workshops and monthly $5 Lecture for Charity.

MOVEMENT IN AUDITIONS

Actors will often ask me whether or not they should enact a bit of stage business which is mentioned (or implied) in the script.

They anxiously wonder if they should-

Get up,

sit down,

cross to the door,

kiss the bride,

show the badge,

throw the vase,

hold the gun…

etc. etc….

If you’ve ever wondered how much miming and/or movement you should do in an audition, the answer is simple:

Just ask yourself-

“Am I doing it for them or for me?”

In other words, if you are doing the movement in order to help yourself to more deeply experience the scene, then do it!

However, if you are doing the movement in order to show the casting director what the scene “should” look like, then don’t bother with it.

You must understand that your job at an audition is not to show them the scene, but instead, to selfishly enjoy your own experience in the world of those circumstances.

Therefore, you should feel free to do as much as movement as you want to do, as long as you are doing it in order more fully experience the scene.

In other words, make sure you are doing it FOR YOURSELF.

Here’s an example I like to use:

If you are playing a character who is making a wedding toast, it would be helpful to mime the glass in your hand and raise your arm as you excitedly announce, “To the bride and groom!”

However, there is no need to repeatedly mime taking sips of your drink throughout the rest of the scene!

Miming the toast will help you to experience what the character is experiencing at that moment.  (The movement will affect how you say the line.  …Try saying a toast without lifting your arm.  It’s just isn’t the same!)

On the other hand, miming the sipping does little to affect your inner experience of what the character is going through and/or feeling.

… And you would look pretty silly.

Often, a stage direction will ask you to do something that involves another person; like shaking hands, hugging, kissing, or punching.

Do not ever touch the reader! Not even a handshake.

But you can mime a handshake in the air in front of you if you would like.

Some actors might say, “I would feel so silly doing that.”

But that statement is coming from fear.  What they are actually thinking is – “I’m afraid of looking silly.”

Ignore fear.  It is an illusion.  Anything fear-based is.

The casting director doesn’t think it looks silly.  He knows that an audition is a different animal from the actual filmed performance.  They don’t expect it to look just the same.

They expect you to make do with the circumstances at hand.

So, if a scene calls for you to angrily push someone as you shout-

“Get OUT, Jason!”

-then I would suggest that you do the movement.

The movement will affect how you say the line and it will demonstrate to them that you understand the circumstances and are an actor who desires to have a full, rich experience.

Don’t worry what it looks like.  Just forcefully push your arms out in the air in front of you, and have faith that you are actually pushing someone.

The movement will also be beneficial to your emotional life.  It will affect your physical being by making your heart beat faster.

I believe that much of what makes up emotions is physical.

For instance, “rage” is an acceleration of your heartbeat mixed with thoughts/feelings that cause anger.

Do yourself the favor of helping yourself with the movement.  Don’t worry or be concerned with what it looks like.  It is for you, not them.

Many actors feel embarrassment at the notion of miming an action.

They will say, “I don’t want to mime.  I’m an actor, not a mime!”

You’re right!  You are not there to be a mime.

No one expects you to lean on invisible counters or walk on invisible tightropes (but if you do, use an invisible umbrella, it helps with balance!)

No one is judging you on your miming skills, therefore you don’t need to do things “full out”.

You can mime an action “just enough” so that you can reap the benefit of the action without looking like you’re trying to be the next Marcel Marceau.  (He was a famous French mime, for you youngsters!)

You don’t need to do an action full out in order to experience it.  Therefore you can strike a balance.

For instance, if the stage directions call for you to enthusiastically hug someone, miming a “just enough” version of that can help you feel that experience and will therefore affect how the lines come out.

But the movement needn’t look exactly like a hug.

You needn’t reach your arms waaaay out in front of you, and carefully close them upon some invisible person.

You need only raise your shoulders, bend your arms, and tighten your body to experience what that hug would feel like.  And that movement will positively affect how you say a line like, “Oh!  It’s so good to see you!”

Try this acting experiment:

With feeling (but NO movement), say the line-

“It’s so good to see you!”

Now try it again, but this time do the “just enough” version where you tighten your body-

“It’s so good to see you!”

I’ll bet the second time was a lot easier and felt more deeply.

To further illustrate this “balance” I’m talking about:

If the script has you running down a hall to catch up with someone, or crossing the room to open a door, you need only take a couple of steps to get the feeling of it.

That’s the balance we’re striving for; somewhere between “full out” and “not at all”.

Some stage directions are just too awkward to try to mime.

If, for instance, a script calls for a kiss, never mime it.  Just look into the eyes of the reader and have faith that you are kissing the person.  Experience it internally.  Let the rest of your body react to the kiss.

The same is true for an elongated physical fight.  No need to punch and kick the air for five minutes.  Just have faith that you are involved in a fight.  It’s enough to just experience the physical repercussions (or “results”) of the fight; i.e. heavy breathing and trying to catch your breath.

When an actor is too shy and cautious to make interesting physical choices, I will tell them, “Some actress is going to come in and sit on the windowsill for her audition or jump up onto the table.”

And when she does, the casting director will think-

“What a wonderfully audacious performer!  What a free spirit!”

I’m certainly not suggesting that you do either.  You can just as easily book a role sitting in a chair the whole time.

But I am trying to make you see that the space is yours to do with what you like.  I want you to feel free to do what you want to do, and what will excite you.

One of the first TV jobs I booked was to play a mall security guard in a sitcom pilot.

In the scene, my character was involved in a gun fight.  So, I crouched behind a chair, fired my “gun”, then jumped into the air, did a somersault and rolled behind a couch across the room.

I took a risk, and it paid off with getting the job.

So, if I can do that, certainly you can stand up at some point!

Many actors feel overwhelmed at auditions.  They have so much they are worrying about (the lines, their performance, etc.) that they would rather play it safe and just sit in a chair, even while the stage directions describe movement.

They figure, “I have enough to worry about without adding movement!”

That is not thinking from a place of abundance.

That kind of thinking is coming from a place of scarcity and is not attractive to the universe.

I say do more than you think you can because –

The universe always pays off to a joyful risk!

Actors worry that they don’t know the scene or the lines well enough to get involved in some movement, but I guarantee that you will find that you know the lines and the scene BETTER when you are daring and taking a risk.

The reason being that when you take a risk, your heart rate goes up, which causes you to be more connected to your higher power.  That kind of excitement makes your consciousness expand; your mind becomes sharper.  You become MORE than you think you are!

So don’t play small.

Believe in yourself.  You are capable of great things!

No discussion on “movement” would be complete without a warning about “props”.

Why a “warning”?

Because, for the most part, they are a bad idea.

I believe that actors most often want to have props in their audition when they fear that they aren’t enough.

That certainly was my experience.

I remember that I once brought cookies into my audition to eat during the scene.  I just didn’t feel that I was interesting enough on my own.  Boy, did it backfire.  The casting director didn’t care for the “choice” and I ended up feeling pretty foolish.

There’s a line between being playful and “trying too hard”.

Being playful is selfish and courageous.

Trying too hard is needy and unattractive.

You will have to find out for yourself where that line is.  It may be in very different places for different actors.

Recently I was at an audition where the script mentioned that my character was eating cereal at the breakfast table with his wife and son.

Well, one of the actors auditioning showed up with a bowl of cereal to eat during the scene.

Maybe that could have worked if he had some very funny bit of business planned, but the problem was the cereal had no bearing on the scene.

The thrust of the scene was about a father trying to help his son to be happy.  I can’t imagine that the cereal did anything but distract everyone, including the actor.

Mind you, I am not totally against props, but I think they are best when they are something that isn’t too out of place in the audition room.

For instance, if an actress would like to use her purse, cell phone or pen for a bit of “business”; terrific!

So next time you are trying to decide whether or not you are going to do a movement that is suggested by the text, just ask yourself-

“Am I doing it for them or for me?”

As long as it’s for your selfish enjoyment, GO FOR IT!