Creating Demand for Your Acting

CREATING DEMAND FOR YOUR ACTING

Demand is defined as; insist on having; require, need.

Now I want you to imagine this being the case not only among industry collaborators but also among the public, the audience.

Before you can create demand you have to know what it is you are creating demand for. Your acting right? Is that really what is being looked for? Directors might even think that. And it’s true, to a degree. Acting skill is wanted. But what I have discovered as an actor and director is that it isn’t acting, per se, that a director is looking for when auditioning you. In fact, the public isn’t necessarily looking for that either. What they are looking for is something far more important to telling stories and entertaining audiences than “acting skill.” What it is, in truth, is character. Not acting. Are you able to be the character? That’s the most determining factor.

So let’s look at character. Character is what a person develops and makes them individual. It’s the quality of being individual, typically, in an interesting or unusual way.

What types of characters are typically hired for movies? I will be general here for the purpose of zeroing in on what is important. There is the hero or the protagonist. Usually someone people want to relate to and like. Audiences are willing to identify with this character’s type and live the adventure the character lives in the world of the story. Then there is the antagonist or bad person who is out to stop, defeat or kill our hero. These are the two obvious types of characters but there are many, many more.

Every actor is unique. Well, they should be. If you are playing the stereotypical bad character then you aren’t being very unique are you?

So what’s the trick? How do you find your uniqueness and, better yet once you do find it, how do you create demand for it?

Uniqueness is new and fresh. Everyone loves it as long as it’s not crazy. Uniqueness that is wanted doesn’t break all the rules. In fact, it uses the rules in a unique and fresh way.

Let’s look at it this way. Let’s say one of your favourite recording artists puts out a new song. When you listen to it all you hear is what you heard on the last one. It’s good but it’s not really unique therefore doesn’t seem new and refreshing. It might not be stale but it certainly is not “Wow!” And, in contrast, if it is too strange and weird and doesn’t sound anything like them at all, you might also reject it.

So uniqueness is a desired quality not only by directors but also by audiences. But uniqueness that uses the rules – at least some of them. If you break them all you will disconnect from your audience and it might take you a while to find a new one (audience).

What makes one person unique from another? There are many things – the way they look, their voice, how they walk, how they interact with others. But there’s much more. The very essence of one person is much different than the next person. But to truly be your unique self takes courage. Courage to stand out to not blend in and be “accepted.”

I have come to see what mediocrity is in acting – well character. After sitting through over 1500 auditions in the last two years, I spotted something that homogenises actors. And believe me there is nothing more boring than a homogenised actor or should I say, homogenised character. Why? They all seem the same. Nothing stands out. Nothing is interesting or exciting and therefore these characters are not even considered for any roles – not even the smallest of roles.

Most of you reading this want to be a good actor. That right there is the problem. Too many of you are aiming at some sort of ambiguous idea of a “good” actor. Let me explain before you start throwing tomatoes at me! I have come up with a theory about this. Most people are brought up to be “good girls and boys.” Please note, I am not saying here that good is bad. What I am saying is that we are kind of brought up to reach for the same characteristics – to develop certain characteristics that are the same. (When I say “we” I am referring to all actors collectively around the world.) I can clearly see it when I am auditioning an actor. I can see if this person in front of me has been faithfully trying to be good all their lives – trying to not rock the boat and keep everything safe. And so there they are in front of me trying to be good. This is the wrong target. This illusive, somewhat idealistic way of being, distorts your uniqueness and homogenises your work and worst of all, disguises your true character. Let me be very clear here, I am not saying being a good person is bad. I am saying that you have to discover your own unique “goodness” and be courageous enough to allow it to be seen rather than going for this ambiguous “good” that seems to permeate society. Being “good” is a way of not making waves – not disturbing the status quo. And that’s what the majority of people are doing. They are not making waves.

I am not suggesting that you have to be a bad person to be an actor. What I am saying is you have to really discover who you are and what you want in life and then you have to really figure out how that fits into the world of filmmaking. You are here in this business to help tell stories by way of a character and that character has to be interesting and entertaining.

In order to be interesting you have to be interested. If you try to be interesting, you just become a thing. How many of you have met people who are extremely busy trying to be interesting? You know what I mean. When someone tries so hard to be interesting they create the opposite effect – funny how that works. They become self-important. And as far as self-importance is concerned I can only put it this way – it’s about as popular as dead skunk under you kitchen.

What could you as an actor be interested in? Try these:
Those who might contract you to work in their movie.
Those who will consume your product (audience).
The character you are.
The character you can deliver.
The specific character you’ve been cast to play.
The story you are helping to tell.
The industry you are working for.
The world of the scene you are playing.
The character you are interacting with.
Etc.

What I am attempting to establish with you is; by being interested and not interesting you will start to create a demand for you acting because you are no longer being a “good” actor. You start to take all of you attention off of whether you are being good or not (this is merely an attempt at you trying to be interesting) and put it outward so you can service others and their needs. You wind up helping them. And that is what people who hire in this business are looking for. Actors who can help them. Not actors who want to be helped. What kind of help do actors usually want. I get daily messages like this; Could you help me with my career? Could you cast me in your next film? Could you show me what I need to do? Please make my career start. Can you give me a role? Can you give me my break? If you could just give me an opportunity, I will deliver. Etc., etc.

While these wants and desires are real, it is an incorrect and somewhat amateur approach to moving ahead in the industry. But what are these actors really doing? They are saying to me, “Help ME!” without any mention of what I will get or how they can help me tell my story. This is not how business works. Actors should be servicing directors and producers and providing them with what they need and want. If the questions were more like this, “I would like to help you tell your stories in the future. What do you need from me?” at least they are aiming in the right direction.

Like anyone who is selling a service or product, an actor should know what is needed and wanted by your customer or your client and if you don’t you quickly find out so you can provide it. Filmmakers need and want characters in their stories. Discover what character you can effectively deliver that the industry as a whole wants and market it.

Figure out what you have to sell that is unique. “Good” is too general. Be specific. Define your acting skills and what you have to offer and then get out there and SELL IT!

Neil Schell