Perhaps you would have watched the movie, A League of Their Own. In this movie, Tom Hanks states, If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. His statement was in regard to being a successful baseball player. However, this sentence can be taken for the youth dreaming of becoming an actor. As the youth, you all make your efforts to fulfil your dream. And for this, you decide to attend acting classes in Ghaziabad or your local city across the globe. Having no admission in an acting school doesn’t mean you can’t become an actor. Here are some useful steps that can help you practise acting independently and become a successful actor:
Educate yourself
Before you start practising, you should be familiar with the basic things of acting. And in regard to this, you should read a lot of books describing acting basics and explaining the film, television, and entertainment industry. After having basic knowledge, you should read books explaining biographies of your favourite actors.
Practise a small sentence by different emotions
To become a successful actor, you need to be skilled enough to show off a complete array of human expressions. By playing a game of emotional stretching, you can practise expressing different emotions and become skilled in the same. For example, you can take a simple and universal line, I forgot all about that. You should practise this sentence in several different ways – loving, angry, happy, hopeful, hurt, shying, etc. Do it by standing in front of a mirror or record it to watch yourself. Here is more on what you can do:
- Note down all emotions and find out what emotion you need to practise more
- Compare the flow from one emotion to another to know you are doing well while expressing an emotion
Record your voice or make a video when you read short scenes and monologues
First, you should have a few books of short dramas or monologues. Purchase such books from online stores or book stalls in your local market. Take any one of what you’ve purchased and practise the lines inside it. Note down where you need to make improvements while listening to watching your recorded audio or videos. Repeat it again & again until you have satisfaction from your perfection. Here is more for your support:
- Select a wide range of monologues and avoid having only your favourite ones
- Stay away from popular of oftenly performed monologues if you are willing to use them for your audition tests
- Be experimental in reading and recording yourself on monologue reading
- Be slow on some lines and lay emphasis on different words
- Put longer pauses sometimes or do as per the lines
- Be in several different moods – uncertain, arrogant, sarcastic, and so on
Read a lot about your favourite actors
Since your childhood, you have been watching movies and television programs. Some actors from those movies or television serials will surely be your favourite one. You should watch the favourite scenes of a particular movie and rewatch the same several times. During your watch, try to comprehend an actor’s movements, emphasised in every sentence, their doings when not speaking anything, etc. Here is what you should do more in this regard:
- Study how your favourite actors become successful
- Keep in mind your favourite actors could be of any age, sex, region, or ethincity
- Look for videos on the actors who played the same roles – Shakespearean plays/movies can be great examples here
- Practise reading the same lines differently
Focus on your way of speaking or diction
Successful actors are confident and clear when they read or speak scripts. As aspiring actors, you need to develop such a thing. Here too, you can record your voice and listen to it to find out unclear phrases. You should practise to be skilled enough in speaking clearly at different speeds and volumes. Here are some suggestions for you:
- Stand straightly when you read or speak for your acting practice
- Read an article or monologue loudly
- Stay focused on your way or reading/speaking and pace
- Read or speak the monologue as you are making a lecture in a classroom of a college or university
Practise cold readings
A cold reading is a type of reading in which you have to perform on the given lines without any practice. It is similar to an audition test. Looking intimidating, cold reading can help you enhance your skills and have confidence while acting on the produced lines. Some more tips on cold reading:
- Be focused on what lines you have to perform, rehearse the same in your mind soon, make an eye-to-eye contact with the audience, and produce the line
- Have dramatic pauses while producing the lines. You scold be slower in comparison with being fast in delivering the lines
- Take a short story book, drama, or newspaper article and read it as a speech
Expose yourself to different roles, characters, and people
You would know that many successful actors change themselves as per the role and demand of the story. To do that, you need to have exposure to varied experiences. You should keep in mind that watching/reading or writing several different types of movies, plays will help you have different viewpoints. These viewpoints and voices can facilitate you improving your acting skills. Here is more on how you can have exposure to different roles, characters, and people:
- Read a book or script at day
- After reading, watch the movie or television serial on the same to know how an actor has portrayed a particular role
- Collect books or scripts of several different genres
Take away
Independent practice can help you a lot in learning the skills of acting and improving the same. From reading books to cold reading and recording, do whatever you can do to learn acting independently. Move ahead to practise in a group or perform on a stage or in a movie when you have enough confidence through independent practice.
