It's Always Acting 101

Reading my resume, she said, you got some good credits, kiddo." Then I did the mono and she said “I love your voice,” then proceeded to rip me several new ones for the beats missed and flat rhetoric (I wasn’t building.) She looked straight through every false moment. She said I took the notes but wanted more in my first take. At one moment, she flat out told me I had the wrong instinct. In other words, performing an audition monologue for, and getting notes from, Kathleen Turner–an actor I regard highly for her intelligence and invention–was awesome.

This audition was for Ms. Turner's 12-hour Acting Workshop at One on One, in NYC, and her notes reminded me how far the work can go astray when one feels under pressure to get, or sometimes just do, a job. "It's always Acting 101," and it's by revisiting the basics that we can be reminded of why we act. 

Btw, Ms. Turner likes actors to use her as a scene partner, so the biggest distraction I had was the thought worm, “I’m acting with Kathleen Turner!"

Update: I just heard that I've been accepted into the workshop. Can't wait!

Leave a Reply