How Acting Scripts can be used to Improve Your Acting

By Adrian Lloyd Schroeder


Want to become an actor? A common format for acting auditions is the cold read.

When an actor gets a side, has a few minutes to prepare and then must deliver the read it is called a cold read. You can rehearse the skills necessary for cold reading with acting scripts. Learn what to do in a cold audition. Find out how you can perform a cold read.

Creating a role that will stand out is the task of any audition. In order to that in a cold read you start by analyzing the scene. Where are the characters physically located? Deciding if the scene is in a public office or private residence will influence your characters behavior.

Define the relationship between the characters in the scene. Are they coworkers, friends, family or lovers? What was happening the moment before the scene began? What were the characters doing prior to the opening dialogue? These are the basic questions you need to ask yourself about a scene. The answers should be apparent from the scene.

As an actor you must define what the goal of your character is. All the roles in the scene interact with each other according to their own wants. A character without a goal is not going to interact with the others. Each person behaves the way they do in order to achieve their want.

Many times the characters will have opposing goals. This creates the conflict in the script. Sometimes the conflict may be with something other than a person. Tom Hanks struggled against nature while marooned on an island in Castaway.

It is up to the actor to define the wants and conflict. Different actors may see the script from varying perspectives. In an audition scenario you want to make a bold choice that you impress the director. Acting a role as melancholy or reserved will not impress the director. However playing a strong character choice will make the scene interesting.

The writer may hint at certain wants or conflict. The characters speech may imply wants, emotions and mood. Your character decisions must agree with those of the author. You must fill in the missing pieces to complete the role. You must decide why a character behaves a particular way. You should stick to the general flow of the script and simultaneously make bold choices.

An actor decides what emotional states the character goes through. How does the mood of the character change throughout the scene? Does your character have a change of heart or shift his thinking? Is it possible your character feels differently at various parts of the scene? You should experiment with multiple contexts as you read the scene.




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