Acting advice
Constantin Stanislavski: All action in theatre must have inner justification, be logical, coherent, and real.

Marlon Brando: Acting in general, is something most people think they're incapable of but they do it from morning to night. The subtlest acting I've ever seen is by ordinary people trying to show they feel something they don't or trying to hide something. It's something everyone learns at an early age.
[Newsweek, 13 March 1972]

Gerard Depardieu: Concentration does not mean inhibition. One can and should be attentive yet appear nonchalant.
[Cyrano de Bergerac, publicity release, 1990]

Gene Hackman: Honesty isn't enough for me. That becomes very boring. If you can convince people what you're doing is real and it's also bigger than life-that's exciting.
[Show, 1972]

Jeremy Irons: You think, you don't just speak. The lines come off the thoughts.
[American Film magazine]

John Gielgud: One mustn't allow acting to be like stockbroker -- you must not take it just as a means of earning a living, to go down every day to do a job of work. The big thing is to combine punctuality, efficiency, good nature, obedience, intelligence, and concentration with an unawareness of what is going to happen next, thus keeping yourself available for excitement.

Talent
Anthony Quinn: Having talent is like having blue eyes. You don't admire a man for the color of his eyes. I admire a man for what he does with his talent.
[Sunday Express, 1960]

Michael Caine: I'm a skilled professional actor. Whether or not I've any talent is beside the point.
[Film yearbook, 1985]

Stella Adler: It's not enough to have talent, you have to have a talent for your talent.

Uta Hagen: Talent is an amalgam of high sensitivity; easy vulnerability; high sensory equipment (seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting intensely); a vivid imagination as well as a grip on reality; the desire to communicate one's own experience and sensations, to make one's self heard and seen.

Role analysis in 7 steps
Read the play for the first time.
Do some basic reading and research on the playwright and on the era in which the play was originally written and produced.
Read the play for the second time and focus on your role.
Analyze the structure and the content of the play.
The 3 W. Ask yourself and answer these questions about your role:
Who am I?
Where am I?
What do I want?
Visualize your character's physical appearance.
Fill in all character activity not provided in the text. (Where does he go when he exits? What he was doing before entering the stage?)

What is acting?
Humphrey Bogart:
Acting is experience with something sweet behind it.
Sir Charles Chaplin:
Timing! My mother gave me that. I was born with it. I don't think you can give a person timing.
[Radio Times, March 1979]
Glenda Jackson: You'd think is something one would grow out of. But you grow into it. The more you do, the more you realize how painfully easy it is to be lousy and how very difficult to be good.
[People, March 1985]
Vanessa Redgrave: I give myself to my parts as a lover. It's the only way.
[Time, 17 March 1967]
Robert De Niro: One of the things about acting is it allows you to live other people's lives without having to pay the price. I've never been one of those actors who has touted myself as a fascinating human being. I had to decide early on whether I was to be an actor or a personality.
Lawrence Barrett, 19th Century American Actor: Acting is... forever carving a statue of snow.
Robert Redford: A lot of what acting is paying attention.
Jeff Goldblum: Acting is nothing more or less than playing. The idea is to humanize life.
Glenda Jackson: Acting is not about dressing up. Acting is about stripping bare. The whole essence of learning lines is to forget them so you can make them sound like you thought of them that instant.

Audition Tips (for Stage)

· Learn - lines and not thoughts;

- words and not inflections

· Understand the impulses that drive your character

· Respond to the impulses and then…

· Do the thinking

· Understand the impulses of the character to whom you are playing (even in a monologue)

· If the characters to whom you are playing are imaginary you must still allow them to confirm or surprise your expectations

· Understand the nature of the space your character is in

· Be aware that your audience is always listening and watching from the auditorium

· Relax – it’s only an audition

· Remember that (because of the adrenalin in your system) what seems a long time to you will be a short time for your audience

· Slow down

· Allow time to think

· Experience and enjoy

Remember, even if you are brilliant and perfect for the part there are many many factors determining the final choice. Don’t despair. Auditioning is part of the actor’s world. Work at enjoying the experience.

Good Influences on Performance

A clear understanding of the character's pre-history
A clear understanding of the story
A well chosen objective/intention/"need"
Real listening
Investing in the "need" of the moment and not anticipating the future
Being open to whatever happens next
Being relaxed
Trusting in yourself

Bad Influences on Performance

Just focusing on telling the story
Believing that a particular scene is a great vehicle for your acting
Striving to be good
Striving to exploit emotion
Failing to listen because it is already known what will be said next
Listening for cues not meaning
Acting (instead of inter-acting)

Actor Responsibilities
The actor in the view of The Rehearsal Room has two main tasks. The first one is to 'tell the story' - this is the reason the production is happening in the first place. The second task for the actor is 'to be believable'.

Telling The Story
If the story is clearly identified or labeled then generally the performance will unfold in a way that allows the story to be clearly told. The main elements to identify are …

the beginning,
a middle
and the end.
On some occasions a fourth element is present - the turning point. The story structure will then unfold as - beginning, middle, turning point and end. Remember when it comes to identifying the story of a scene that the real story is always … 'what transpires between the characters in the scene'. Sometimes, perhaps often, this has little to do with what is being said. The dialogue itself may not be what the story is about - rather the story of the scene is often what is happening to the characters while they are saying the dialogue.

It is also true that the story of the scene has little to do with what has happened to characters in the past, or what might happen to them in the future. It is mostly about what is happening to them now.

The story is the 'text'. An important part of The Rehearsal Room process is to identify the story.

Being Believable
The Rehearsal Room's view of process, in simplistic terms is … if the actor is actively listening and responding in a complex way to the impulses generated by the events of the moment, then the performance will be believable. The instrument which drives active listening and generates a significant proportion of intuitive impulses is the character's "need". This need replicates the unconscious elements of a real life character - it helps create the image that the character has both a conscious and unconscious motivation. It is the foundation element of 'realism' in performance. Other elements such as good levels of relaxation can help fake a performance outcome that may look quite realistic but these sorts of devices have all the attendant risks of any sort of cheating - i.e. a fairly high chance of being unmasked.

The "Need"
This labeling of the character's unconscious desire is The Rehearsal Room's way of simplifying an often-confusing task. "Need" is elsewhere labeled variously an "intention", an "action", an "objective" or the "sub-text". "Need" in The Rehearsal Room context is hidden psychological desire.

If the story provides the text for the scene the character's unconscious desire provides the sub-text.

Choosing an appropriate and functional method of labeling this need is also an important part of The Rehearsal Room process. The most functional labels are the ones that connect most directly to the actor's own unconscious perceptions. They are the ones that will produce the greatest unconscious responses in the actor.

Selecting a "Need"
When selecting a "need" for a character, using Constantine Stanislavski's phrase "I wish to ……… you" as a guide is a good way of making sure that the choice is active and simple. Simple choices are best as they are easy to implement. Easy implementation invites a higher likelihood of a successful outcome.

The "need" must be active - there is no point in picking one if it is inactive and doesn't do anything.

The essential concepts relating to "need" are …

1. A "need" is something the actor "knows" rather than "shows".
2. It is not important that the actor achieve fulfillment of the character's "need" but rather that the actor understands how much and why the character wants to have this desire fulfilled. i.e. It is about "wanting/needing" not achieving.
3. The actor must be comfortable about giving themselves "permission" to "own" the character's need.
4. "Need" should always be focused on a person and not an object.
5. It is many times more functional to have a "need" in place for a character who is in the scene than it is to have a "need" for someone who isn't in the scene.
6. If there is more than one other person in the scene then mostly it is best to only have a need in place for one of the people in the scene. This is obviously the most important person for your character at this time.
7. Never have a need that is about you. It must always be for someone else.

"Permission", "ownership" and "trust" are important concepts for an actor to understand.
Out of these ingredients a well-placed confidence can emerge. "Confidence" is also an important ingredient of performance. (A list of playable needs can be found by clicking here.

Surprises
The other foundation element of the performance process is the ability to play "moments of surprise". The Rehearsal Room definition of surprise (based on Stanislavski's concepts) is that "a surprise is something that interrupts the character's need". This means that no "need" is functioning while the surprise is in train. A new "need" may result from experiencing a major surprise.

Moments of surprise are connected in some instinctive way to our Centre of Gravity. Centre of Gravity should be an inherent part of every moment of surprise.

Finally - relax, believe, enjoy.

Understanding breeds confidence - confidence breeds trust - trust breeds ownership - ownership allows the intuitive impulses to work freely.

Source - © The Rehearsal Room. 2006