There is no question that the majority of people wish to avoid a state of conflict and drama. It can lead to fear, anxiety, as well as chaos. However, during an acting audition, conflict is essential to delivering an impressive reading. Every story and character has an inner conflict that an actor must find in order to have a successful audition and performance.
The majority of persons and characters have internal conflicts between desires and feelings. There are also external conflicts that a person takes on with the environment, fate, God, and the world. Relational conflicts can also plague a person’s life. When an actor reads for an audition, he or she is only given the bare framework such as a story overview and the lines. Some form of conflict always exists in a story and personality. The actor has the responsibility of finding the conflict and demonstrating it’s effects in their audition reading.
There is no doubt that conflict is interesting. Instability in a character or story adds depth and movement. Once the desires and needs of a character have been discovered by the actor, obstacles are inevitable. Life is always this way. All obstacles in our lives must be manipulated or overcome until they cease being hurdles and become collaborators. “Midnight Run” is a perfect movie to consider. Charles Grodin plays a white collar criminal who is being sought by the bounty hunter played by Robert De Niro. Jack (De Niro) is required to track down Mardukas (Grodin) in order to collect his bounty. He experiences many conflicts in his quest including other bounty hunters, FBI agents, his insecurities, as well as Mardukas himself.
All of the answers may not be provided to you in the material provided to you at the audition. Improve your acting audition by using the dialogue and the clues therein to create a character full of depth and truth. Doing so will hold the attention of the auditor and make you more likely to obtain the role. Far worse than creating the “wrong” conflict is delivering a performance without any emotion and depth. With these skills, your auditioning skills are sure to improve.
Keep in mind that conflict typically has more than one dimension. Most people are constantly struggling with numerous inner demons. If you are looking to make a good impression on the auditor, ensure that you portray this in your reading. Despite what many actors believe, the most important thing is creating a character not merely the lines in the script.
Despite the fact that you may be the only person in the scene, there is no doubt that invisible forces or persons are affecting both the personality and story of your character. To have a successful reading, you as an actor must know how to draw these emotions and circumstances out of the text and take the character to the next level. There is another thing to remember about conflict. Comedy should always play a role in any conflict. Even the largest conflict will contain some levity. It is essential or the audition will be far too dark for the auditors to watch. In short, conflict and comedy are both an integral part of a successful and impressive reading.
Kirk Baltz has been a acting coach los angeles for more than 15 years. Kirk helps actors of all levels get the roles that they desire. You can read more about acting instruction at the actor’s intensive website.