Speaker 1: So you're trying to enjoy your Thursday evening, and then bam, audition. You have 24 hours or less to turn this into a fully three-dimensional character. Well, this is how to do it. One, instantly print out your audition script. Most actors see that they have an audition and then they put it off until the last minute. But you're gonna print it out straight away. A physical copy is so, so helpful. It means that you can take it to work, to dinner, or on the bus, and just begin working on it. Next, you're gonna do an initial read and what I call an instinct map. You're gonna write down any ideas, questions, and insights. Before you turn to any other tools, turn inward and see what ideas just come naturally from the script. Don't just jump straight to methodologies and tools. This is a big mistake. You'll be amazed what you'll find when you trust your own instincts. To read or not to read. If they have sent you a script or any kind of brief, read, read, read. You are gonna do your best to read as much of the source material as possible. But here's the thing. You're only gonna read as much as you can without it impacting on your script preparation. The reality is sometimes you just can't read the script. However, the more you know about the context, the better. If you are really pushed for time, what I would recommend is prioritizing the scenes that lead up to your scene, or at least the scenes that your character is featured in. So you've printed out your scene, laid out some initial thoughts, and read as much of the source material as you possibly can. You should now have a pretty good sense of the piece, but what we need to do is some tone analysis. We need to understand the tone of the piece and really find the world. Is it a comedy, dark comedy, mystery, drama, pilot? Investigate the writer, the creative team, look up the director, see if you can really figure out where to pitch the audition. Next, we wanna look up unfamiliar words and references. There is always at least one thing I am confused about in a script. Not only do we need to look these up, but we have to find meaning and connection for all the images and references in the script. So what we're gonna do is circle people, places, objects, and events in your script, and find a personal and specific connection with every single one. I hope you're loving the video. If you are, we love making these videos, and it really helps us if you like the video and subscribe to the channel, that would be awesome. Number six, you are the character. Especially when time is of the essence, this is not gonna be a transformational character journey. Stop overthinking the character side of the audition and make choices based on you. You may have to consider accent and movement and some of the physical sides of the character, but what we really wanna see is you coming through the character, and we wanna see how personal you can make it. One tool I recommend using, even if you have limited time, is beats. Carve the script into units of action, whenever there is a change of energy or a change of tactic, you change beats. We do this because we want variety. We want to see a character working towards something, and the main thing that we wanna avoid is our performances getting stuck in a similar mood or energy throughout. Why? Other than beats, when we're in a rush, we aren't gonna throw every single acting tool at the text. Instead, we're gonna focus on one, why. Why is this scene taking place? Why is the character here? You need to find the function of the scene and that will unlock everything. Is your character looking for love? Are they trying to impress the other character? What is it that they're fighting for? Figure out the core of the scene and what your character is striving for, and this is gonna give your audition energy, focus, and connection. Humor and lightness. When it comes to screen acting, we love to see warmth and lightness, but it is so often missed in a last-minute audition. Actors determined to get it right become too earnest, so seek out humor, lightness, flirtation, all of those gorgeous emotions in your script. This idea is covered beautifully in this wonderful book, and it's such great advice. Even the most villainous, evil characters benefit from a good handful of charm and charisma. Finally, take a swing and make some choices. You book a job because you put your stamp on the work. They wanna see what you do with the role. Have fun and be playful, and see this as a chance to take the character where you wanna take it. I had this exact experience recently. I actually booked a role, and I think the reason I booked it was because I just had fun. I was a bit irreverent with the script, and that's what the director really, really loved. But what about learning lines? Isn't that the main stress? Well, sort of. My belief is that if you do all of this work and you really understand the script, you are gonna learn those lines so quickly. And remember, it's not a memory test. They wanna see your interpretation of the character, not that you get the lines word perfect. But if you want an awesome video on how to learn lines really, really quickly, we have a link below, so go and check that out. Now, this is the important bit. Put some of these ideas into practice. Grab a script and give yourself a time limit and put yourself to the test. Remember, even if you've only been given an hour, the casting director doesn't care. They wanna see the best, most detailed, connected work possible. Make choices, lean into your own authenticity, and have fun. I really hope you loved this video. If you did, like the video, subscribe. That would be awesome. And we'll see you next time.