God I love Facebook. So, I just joined two months ago and already it’s led me to two paid speaking engagements, two casting director panels, two casting gigs, and now a POV contributor! Yup. An actor who is a fan on my Facebook page sent me a message about a great casting director in Detroit: Carrie Ray. Introductions were made, a friendship began, and here’s your latest POV. Enjoy!
What Would Happen if Actors Stopped Acting?
I recently worked on casting a Lifetime movie entitled America starring and produced by Rosie O’Donnell. The boy who was cast as the co-star of the movie, the role of America, was a 17-year-old boy from a high school in Detroit who had never acted a day in his life.
I’d like to say I’m the hero who found him, but Rosie gets all the credit. She was having lunch in a restaurant in Detroit and saw this kid who just looked liked the America she envisioned. She also saw through his exterior and found a kid who was vulnerable and real. She just approached him and asked if he wanted to audition for her movie. Two days later he went directly into a screen test filled with the director, producers, and Rosie herself. I had the opportunity to work with him for a few minutes before his audition and the best advice I could give him was, “don’t act.” He was worried that he had no experience and I thought how perfect that actually was. “Don’t act. Just be yourself if you were in this situation. You’ve got no other choice,” I thought.
Thankfully, his dad let him take that day off school to work on his lines. Smart move because he had his scenes memorized (important tip for every actor whenever possible) which allowed an amazing thing to happen in that screen test. Two feet away from Rosie with the director over his shoulder, lights in his eyes, and a large camera in front of him, this kid with no acting experience was able to relax, be himself, and — with his lines memorized — just listen and respond. The reality was beautiful. The irony is that this is what every actor hopes to achieve.
This experience was especially inspiring and reinforcing to me as an acting teacher. I am a Meisner snob and I’m not afraid to admit it. In my 12+ years working in casting and my 6+ years as a teacher and director, I’ve found that Sanford Meisner’s brilliant definition of acting is just as true today as it ever was: “Acting is living truthfully in imaginary circumstances.”
A few years ago, I actually had a teenage acting student write a college entrance essay on this quote connecting it to life outside of the theatre. It is not only an actor’s key to achieving honesty and simplicity in front of the camera or on stage, but I believe it can also bring the same to our own lives. And isn’t that what acting is really about — modeling real life and showing a glimpse of reality (even if that “reality” is futuristic or seemingly impossible)? If we “fake” it or try to act it, no one will believe it and no one will be affected… and worst of all, you won’t get the part. Same is true with real life, right?
With the surge of film work that has come to Michigan, I have found that not all, but many Michigan actors were not entirely prepared for this medium. Auditioning for a film is completely different from auditioning for a commercial or an industrial or even for the stage. It is often very much about achieving a simplicity and an honest believability, even if it is a comedy. Time and time again I have found myself asking, “Why do actors make this so much harder than it needs to be? Why don’t they trust themselves?”
And finally I found that the best and most effective direction that I have been able to give the Michigan actors new to this medium is, “stop acting.” When that clicks, I get a simple, believable read rooted in the very best “character” of all — the actor. See, all you have is yourself and your uniqueness; what you bring into that audition room is what is going to get you that job — your personality, your quirks, your style (or lack of). Instead of trying so hard to “act” like somebody else, instead of trying to hide, expose yourself and embrace the simplicity of being an actor who doesn’t have to “act” (some refer to this as over-acting).
Now of course, I know there are challenges to this because in order to “live truthfully” we need to have a mind that can focus and commit fully to our choices and to the circumstances of the script. Not easy when we’re entering an audition room, I know. It isn’t even easy in our real life these days. Practice at the grocery store the next time you’re at the checkout. Instead of texting while you catch the latest story about Britney Spears in People Magazine and rifle through your purse for your credit card, stop and focus on the cashier. Really listen and really respond. Train that muscle to live truthfully six days a week and it might be easier to live truthfully when you walk into that audition room on day seven.
Once we can focus on living truthfully, there’s the difficult task of “in imaginary circumstances.” Remember when you were about six years old and you were just naturally the best actor? You were a pirate or a princess or a Barbie and your imagination allowed you to believe it with everything in you. You weren’t thinking about your to-do list or worrying if you just made Barbie say something stupid. Find a kid to play with this week and brush off your imagination muscle because acting is really the ultimate way for big kids to play. Viola Spolin — legendary grandmother of improv — said it best when she said, “Are they acting? Get them to stop acting and start playing.” I’ll add to that and say, “Are they acting? Get them to stop acting and start living truthfully.”
I love how more and more casting directors are really getting their hands “in the dough” of the mixing process lately. When I was pursuing acting, I don’t recall too much of the hands-on, instructional interaction with casting directors, so it’s really great to see more and more of that happening now. (And I have to say that I think technology is helping us have more high-quality time with auditioning actors when they do get into the room.) Of course, I’m a big fan of authentic living and being. It really does bring the best acting to the room, and isn’t that your goal after all?
About Carrie Ray
Carrie Ray has a BA in acting from Purdue University and a Masters in teaching from Wayne State University in Detroit. In Chicago, she was a talent agent with Harrisse Davidson and an associate casting director at O’Connor Casting Company. When she moved back to her home state of Michigan in 2001, she continued to work for O’Connor Casting as a freelance session director. She has been a guest speaker at auditioning workshops in Chicago and at Purdue University. She has her certification in secondary education and has worked for the Grosse Pointe and Farmington Public School System teaching acting and directing musicals and plays. She is a director of dramas at Kensington Community Church (over 2,000 people in attendance each week). In June 2008, she opened Carrie Ray Casting in Detroit, where she casts films, television, and commercials and teaches actors’ training classes. Since opening Carrie Ray Casting, she has had the pleasure of working on films in conjunction with notable casting directors around the country, such as Barden/Schnee Casting (LA/NY), Julie Tucker (NY), Claire Simon Casting, and TPR Casting (Chicago).
This contribution originally ran at Bonnie Gillespie’s online column on November 15, 2008.