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Acting

text reads: how to die onstage

How to die onstage, stay active and make bold physical choices

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What happens when you have to do something extreme onstage that you’ve never done before—like die?  Can you learn how to die onstage? And can you simply explore that physical death or should you also include the external world?  Can you do both?

A student brought this up in class recently and it was so great to talk it through, because extreme moments of physicality can be intimidating for a lot of actors.  But they’re also exciting – from the actions you play – to the ways you experiment with getting grounded and deeply in your body – playing intense physical scenes asks you to use your imagination to take something you do understand to a whole other level. 

Do you know what it feels like to touch a hot pan by accident?  What might it feel like to leave your hand on the pan?  Maybe that’s the pain you go to if your character gets their hand cut off. Is your character having an allergic reaction and their throat is closing? What do you remember about a time you choked on food and felt a brief flare of panic?  How can you use the memory of your senses as the kernel you prepare with and let it expand from there?

Make sure you check out the conversation from class for this one, because there’s so much more than how to die onstage, and it’s juicy!

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Student: I think what’s interesting, and maybe I’m just getting actor-y about it…like you’re dying, right, so like so much of your body is just trying to stay alive that I feel like you’re kind of going in and out of lucidity and in and out of being able to receive that information and clock that, you know.  There’s so much happening that is physical because you’re bleeding out and you know you’re dying. Like that time is coming. I think that creates a really interesting obstacle when it comes to intention because so much of it is…it’s all inside, and like yes, you’re begging and you’re seeing something come from them, but I feel like if that was really happening to you, your priority is different. You know what I mean?

Sarah: Yes. And you might find ways to shift who you’re trying to affect. And it might be that you’re trying to affect your own self in a moment. There’s an example that I use sometimes. I think it was Ralph Fiennes when he was doing Hamlet. And he was doing to be or not to be, and he knew, he was like, how do I make this active? In Shakespeare they’re doing soliloquies, and often you can talk to the audience, and he really felt like he was working something out for himself in that moment. So what he did was he imagined he was talking to his own Hamlet brain, out there in the ethers, and trying to affect his brain, in order to make it active, which I thought was so genius. So there may be ways in which you’re creative…it may be that you’re playing actions sometimes, more than you normally would, to yourself. Of like, to come up for air, to…you might even talk to God sometimes, you know. To cling. To cling to life.

Student: That’s beautiful.

Sarah: But I would really use as many sensory things as you can here. Trying to imagine things that you could, you know…there’s another death moment and I can’t remember the actor who said it but it was talking about this death scene that was getting all these rave reviews onstage, on Broadway. And people were like, “How did you do it!?” And he finally revealed, that he literally, it was like this incredible death, and everybody was like, “Woah, how did he die like that?” And he said, “I imagined this drop of ice water going down my spine.” And it was this beautiful slow thing that was just really specific to him. So you can go and find some things that for you, like what would it be like in this moment if I imagined choking on a Bocce ball?

Student: yeah…

Sarah: You know, what would it be like if I had a bowling ball rammed down my throat? I don’t know, you know, you’ll find things. What would it be like if someone, you know, ripped duct tape off of my skin? Right, things that you can imagine like, ahhh! Having my hands, you know, pressed against a hot stove. Or even like the smell of like shit and vomit.

Student: Damn. Yeah, it’s so visceral. It literally, like, those combinations of words cause a reaction, you know, just hearing it.

Sarah: Yes! And it’s the same thing with actions, so when you start…and there’s also this new science around the brain and emotion and how, really emotions is produced by some of these…so we know now, just thinking these active words, starts a physiological response in the body, whether or not you can even see it. Like you might start, your thumb might start to twitch or you might start to sweat a little bit or your heart might speed up, you know?

cards reads "what you can learn from watching bad acting"

The secret power of watching bad acting—how much can you learn?

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The best actors are always learning and training – and I promise I’m not being a hater when I encourage you to watch “bad” acting.

If you’re in an acting class and a peer is struggling, you have two choices:  

  1. Give your friend the “help me” eyes and slump down in your chair, bracing yourself for the assault on your (superior) talent and look at it like a waste of time…
  2. OR.  Learn from it.  What exactly isn’t working?  Is it vocal?  Are they listening?  Are they nervous?  What’s happening in their body?  If you were in their shoes, what adjustments would you make?  If they start to improve, what do you think got them there?  As an actor, it can be hard to turn an objective eye on yourself so observing others is a powerful tool.

I mention this in the clip and it’s 100% true.  I always always always learned more in Larry Moss’ class watching green actors because Larry got to get into technique more.  I learned more about the script analysis of the plays, I learned the difference between being off rhythm and on it, I learned exercises I could take myself through (and eventually my students) to help me ground myself, get out of my head, free my voice, connect with a scene partner, be active….

Work from a beginner’s mindset and never stop growing.  

Check out this clip to see another way you can learn from bad acting. (No haters, please.) 🙂

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: I know it’s not fun to be a hater, but it is valuable. I really believe that, you know, I really, really believe it. I have learned more sitting in acting classes with actors who were just having a really really hard time and struggling, watching what works and what doesn’t work, and figuring out how to make that adjustment to what does work.

Student: Yeah, definitely.

Sarah: And, every once in a while, I know we’re slightly off-topic but not really – There are actors on shows where it’s kind of fascinating to watch what the really good ones do on bad shows.

Student: Yes, it’s very interesting.

Sarah: Cuz there are those actors, and they will stand out so much, and to watch what they do to make it work and to make it better is also an interesting experience.

card reads "how to make your acting look real"

How to make acting look real without pushing

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If you’ve ever had a dream where a friend or a partner did something hurtful, and then you woke up and you really felt mad at them (even though they did nothing wrong!) then you’ve experienced the incredible superpower of your brain to turn imagination into something that feels like a memory.

What would happen if you harnessed that superpower in your acting?

In this clip, we chat about building memories for the roles you play. Doing so can produce real emotions and help you with powerful physical embodiment – which ultimately makes it a heck of a lot easier not to push in your work, and to make acting look real.

Check out the clip below and shoot me an email to let me know what you think.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: Yeah, so sometimes as you describe the relationships, as you build the relationships with the people you have in the scene with you, finding juicy language, right. Like, my lover, love of my life, now right, the love of my life…he’s…you find him sexy, but he’s also a fucking asshole. You know, like to find those…because you know, our relationships are also complicated, always. Finding some of those opposing descriptors are very helpful.

Student: Mmhmm.

Sarah: Maybe you can just build one or two memories. Memories that are so vivid. A couple is all you need. I was just reading a science article about how the parts in our brain, in the hippocampus, which is the center in charge of memory, they’re learning that our imagination and our memory are very closely linked and use the same parts of the brain. Right, isn’t that fascinating, Zach? Yeah, what were you gonna say?

Student: I read about this, and parts of your brain that…when you go through an imaginary scenario, your brain stores it like memories of things that actually happened to you.

Sarah: Right!

Student: That’s crazy.

Sarah: How useful is that as an actor. To know that if you build something with your imagination in a powerful way, just in the way that we all know how powerful our brains are when we let them. Right, like when we have a dream that’s vivid and we wake up sweating. So if you build these memories so that they’re real for you, using your imagination, they become your own.

card title "are you affecting your scene partner?"

Are you REALLY affecting your scene partner?

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Have you ever held a really good burrito in your hand, just the perfect amount of all your favorite ingredients?  You can smell the yumminess inside…it’s still warm and you can’t wait to take a bite but just as you lift it off your plate, the tortilla falls apart and the contents go everywhere? *6^(*&^$*^%#!!

If acting is like a burrito (bear with me here), then affecting your scene partner is the tortilla that delivers the goods to its destination. You can have all the perfect ingredients—you’ve got the lines down, you understand the circumstances deeply, you’ve built specific juicy relationships to the POPE, you know exactly what you want and it puts a fire in your belly, you’re present —but if you aren’t actively working to affect your scene partner throughout the scene, the whole thing falls apart. 

Check out the clip below to see a student working through the difference of playing an action with the other character and doing something to them – and discovering the power of really landing that action on their scene parter.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah:   Reasoning with…is different. It’s something that you do…it’s something that you do with someone, you work with them, right. Working with them is different than changing them somehow. You’re doing something to them to affect them and change them.

Student: And that’s working with them.

Sarah: It’s more direct, to the other person, to get a result. Does that make sense?

Student: Working with them, you mean.

Sarah: No, I’m saying—when you have that “with,” like “work with,” “reason with,” it’s a different thing that when you’re doing something to them to change them to get something.

Student: Oh yes, totally, yes, yes, I get that. Yeah, yeah I get that.

Sarah: And it was so direct, what you were doing. It was so, you know, it felt so, there was a clear, a clear action being played as you replayed that. So that’s what that playback can really help you discover, you can keep doing it. What does it feel like? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?

Student: Right. Right. It’s so funny you said that because in the scene, in the last page in the scene, as I was really, cause there’s a lot that he’s doing there, and as we covered last week, with his ultimate objective, I was like, what is he doing? What is he doing? What is he doing to this guy? What is he doing to Casey? It’s funny that you said it because I just remember a couple days ago, I was just working on it, and I was like, no, I’m not getting it. I’m just not getting it. And I was just like, I really sat down and literally did exactly what you were doing. And I was like, yo what am I doing? I looked at my verb sheet, I was like, what am I doing? I went down through all three columns, I was like, no, no. And I just started using, I was like boom, boom. But I know I can get way better at that because you just showed me like three different words that I could’ve applied instead of what I used with my boy, reason with. And it’s’ like no. I’m not reasoning with him at all. This is a serious issue, he’s dealing with family and dealing with family outside of, especially, you know, in this time, you don’t, it’s not reason with. It’s not with, it’s like to. I’m trying to affect you.

Sarah: Yeah!

Student: I still need help with that, but I like where I’m going with it.

Sarah: I feel like I could tell that there was a little lightbulb that went off just there as you saw that. As you were replaying that moment.

Student: Right.

Sarah: I could see it. And what you were playing was a clear action that didn’t look like a “reason with.”

card reads "no more boring acting!"

How to never be boring

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I often encourage actors to “leave it alone” in moments.  Especially when you’re working on camera – if you push, we’ll know.  But on the flip side, it can feel scary not to push when you are not yet accustomed to the feeling of letting go.  Aren’t I doing too little? Isn’t this boring?

The key is all the work you do beforehand. Yes, it’s true that if you don’t prep and then leave yourself completely alone the performance might feel flat.  There won’t be anything going on underneath.  So how do you make sure you’re cooking with gas under the surface even as you surrender and let go?  Check out this class clip to hear a few ideas. (And if you’re needing more, check out this previous post about not being boring!)

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: Some actors get confused like you’re trying to then substitute the person, your real life person, for the person in the scene, and I don’t think that’s helpful. I think it’s good to prepare with your understanding of it, so you can get that essence of like, okay that stuff is stirring, I remember what that felt like, you know.

Student: Yeah.

Sarah: There was, like, certain songs that I used to use when I had to do scenes like that, songs that were really good for me. I had like, I literally had, this is very like share-y, but I had an old cologne bottle of my ex-boyfriend’s cologne that he had left when we broke up, and I saved it. It had like four sprays left, but I could just smell the cap of it and it was so like…it was all I needed sometimes, just to be like, got it. You know? Those little things that you kind of collect. Songs, images, memories, photographs, smells. You know, those things that just, boom, we’re right there. And it’s not even like a picture, it’s just a gut feeling.

And then you go into the scene and you can put all your attention, and then you can let go. If you leave yourself alone but there’s nothing underneath it, it looks flat. And that’s the thing that actors don’t get is that, like sometimes they’re afraid of being boring, being boring and uninteresting and like no choices, like they’re making no choices. But really, the work is releasing so that the stuff you built can actually come through. When you tense it, you’re literally shutting off, you’re shutting yourself off from being the channel of communicating all that stuff.

Right, again, it’s like the fireside Timothée Chalamet, you know, it always comes back to that. The three takes of Timothée Chalament in front of the fire. There’s no pushed-ness there, but there’s so much happening, there’s so much life inside, because it’s so specific to him.

card text "do you get sooo nervous before acting?"

What to do when you get nervous onstage

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Acting can be so nerve wracking for some actors, whether it’s before you perform, or even when you’re onstage. You are not alone!  And hey, of course you’re nervous, your work means so much to you and it should.

Over and over again in the industry I hear the advice “try not to be nervous” or “don’t let your nerves affect you.” But how helpful is that when you’re waiting to go on stage for your Broadway opening and your heart is pounding and your hands are sweating?

Instead, what will happen if you acknowledge what’s going on in your body vs banishing it? Last week I posted about why it’s important to allow yourself to feel your emotions to the fullest. Check out that post as it relates very closely to this one – and watch this conversation from class below to hear what you CAN do. And if you’re really struggling with nerves, I’ve written about them previously as well if you’re wanting more support.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: Sometimes where your nervous system starts to go, urghhhh, right, I’m like, ohhh, I’m nervous. The tendency is, okay, I’m gonna do this routine now so that I don’t have to feel like that. But instead of thinking of it like that, I also want it to be okay…this actually is fascinating, because this is coming up, similarly to what we were talking about last week after the funeral. Which is allowing whatever you’re feeling to be there.

Student: Holy shit. Okay.

Sarah: So when you feel nervous, when you feel—and sometimes you’re not gonna feel nervous, sometimes you’ll be like, okay, I’m feeling pretty released and relaxed and grounded. Great! But sometimes, especially if it’s an audition or it feels like a big opportunity, maybe the nerves kick in. So the actor’s, just human’s, instinct is, well I don’t want to feel like that, so let me do this other thing so I can not feel like that.

And then what we do is we end up trying to act on top of this other thing, and we’re telling ourselves it’s not okay to feel like that, so stop it, and then you can’t act. So when you allow yourself to feel what you’re feeling, and just acknowledge it, and say, it’s okay. I’m gonna actually say, sometimes out loud, sometimes in your head, depending on where you are, right now, my stomach is fluttering. My hands are sweating. My neck is tight. And I’m not gonna go into oh I gotta do all this stuff. I’m gonna first take stock. And if you can, not name it as bad or good, but just is. It is happening. This is happening, it’s not bad. My nerves, I may even name them as…there’s atoms moving around in my body. The atoms are moving! Okay. Great. The atoms are moving. My toes are wiggling. My breath is shallow. I hear a sound outside. I’m hot. I’m sweating. I wish I wasn’t sweating. Okay, fine. But I am. I am sweating. That’s a fact, right, whatever that is.

And then you can take a breath and when you’re…undoubtedly there’s gonna be a series of events with negative self-talk, with “you can’t do this, what are you doing here?” Right, the negative self-talk of, I don’t deserve to do this. All these other people, they got, this guy, he has, why did—you know, all the stuff. Catch it. Say internally to yourself, I’m back. That’s all, that’s made up shit. You’re making stuff up, right? Take a breath, say I’m back. You can say I’m back to yourself inside seventeen times in a row if you have to. I’m back I’m back I’m back I’m back I’m back. And keep feeling whatever it is you’re feeling that’s real, that’s actually happening.

card title reads "get on your feet!"

Your rehearsal might be missing this crucial step

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Rehearsal is a crucial part of the acting process. But more important than just rehearsing, is rehearsing right. Whatever your rehearsal looks like right now, here’s my suggestion:

Get. In. Your. Body.

Sitting at your desk, scribbling in your notebook, doing the tablework — it’s all useful, don’t get me wrong — but beware the trap of staying in academic-mode at the table during rehearsal.

Desk work doesn’t get in your body.  

Check out this conversation in class to hear more about why getting on your feet during rehearsal is so crucial. And check out this blog post or this Instagram post to learn even more about how to rehearse.

 

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Student: Yeah, it felt good. I’ve just realized that, yeah, I’ve done a lot more paper work than I have actually…stood up and worked.

Sarah: Yeah, when you stand up you’re like, oh, it didn’t all make its way in, yeah.

Student: Yes.

Sarah: So as you’re trying to do some of that work, see if as early as possible, even if as you’re coming up with the idea for the actions from moment to moment, you’re even working off of your impulse, right?

“Cuz I know where you live!” What does that feel like I’m doing? I’m challenging, I’m exposing, I’m…right, what clues is my body giving me when I try to do that? Oh, it feels like I’m…that was it’s never like, that disconnect happening. You know, you’re always gonna have the muscle memory of working through that.

Student: Yeah.

Sarah: You’re trying to get to that experiential body voicework, right.

Student: Yeah. I do think I sometimes get caught too much in the getting everything down.

Sarah: Totally. And I did the same thing. Because I’m kind of a headier person, you know, and so it was really important for me to do it as early as possible. And I’m seeing that now more, like working with my students, how helpful it is the earlier people start working on their feet. You know?

Help! I can't relate to this weird character

Making the want real

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How can you connect to a role who seems totally different from you on the page?  One powerful way in is through their wants, needs and dreams.

If this particular character has desires that seem insane or silly to you, ask yourself what their want boils down to.  If they want to launch a spaceship and steal the moon, ask yourself why?  Study the script for clues.  Is it really about the moon?  Odds are it has more to do with wanting love and respect from someone, needing power to gain a sense of self, to find a safe place…What is it really about?  

And then ask yourself what you understand about that.

Find something specific to you that you feel in your gut—something that stirs you up–if it makes you feel a fire of desire (ooh, that rhymes and I like it) that’s something you can use in your rehearsal.  

What you use to connect to a role is part of what makes acting so exciting and so varied from actor to actor.  It’s why we never get tired of the next great Hamlet. Keep exploring until you find something that hooks you in.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: Right before you do your scene, in that moment you’re connecting to the circumstances and the deep need of the role you’re working on. This came up in my class this morning. I have an objective, and I don’t know…I know what it is but I don’t feel anything when I think about it. Right, I know in my mind what my character’s want is, but it’s not showing up in my work. It’s not showing up.

Student: Right.

Sarah: So, how do I get it to show up? And if it’s not showing up, it means you haven’t figured out your own way to hook into that want yet. What do I understand about what this person wants? What do I know about this? What do I deeply deeply understand about this need? And it may not be the exact same thing that they understand, that this character understands, but there’s a kernel of truth in there that is a jumping off point.

Student: Mmhm.

Sarah: So there may be something about, even when you’re playing a comedic role, you can easily…I think it’s not necessarily helpful at some point, as you start to work on a comedy like this role, to think of him as a buffoon. Because for you, his need is life and death. I need to be understood, I need to be recognized, I need to be acknowledged. I need to be seen as somebody who knows something. I need to be important. I just want to show up on their doors with a duffle bag full of cash and blow their doors off. God, I want that so bad. What do I understand about that? What do I, the actor, the human, know about wanting to be taken seriously, about wanting to prove myself, and that’s where you begin.

And so every role you work on is gonna be different, because you’re gonna need to understand something different about every role you play, and sometimes there’ll be some similarities, but the circumstances, the rules of the world, the relationships those characters have, their own obstacles and inhibitions, everything shapes how this is gonna play out.

Getting into the scene from "action"

How do I make sure I’m in my scene from the first moment?

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What can you focus on right before you begin a scene?  Sometimes there’s so much going through your head or in the room it can be hard to know where to guide your attention. Or, other times, you feel blank right before the camera starts rolling, and you’re not sure how to ground yourself into the role.

Try these questions and see if you can feel them in your body:

  • Where am I?
  • Where did I just come from?  Where am I going?
  • Who am I talking to?
  • What do I need to accomplish?

There’s no one-size-fits-all process, but these questions are a great place to start. Check out this conversation we had in class to dig deeper.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: When you prepare to begin a scene, what can you do?

Student:  Like me personally?

Sarah:  Yeah, or anyone.  What do you think you could do to, you know, if I say like, take your time to begin, what could you do in that moment to get ready to begin a scene?

Student:  I kind of just try to think of myself there. Or like build the relationships that I did build when I was going through it and try to imagine myself there. That’s what I’ve been doing.

Sarah:  Yeah. The place is really important, you know, where you are. We behave, we are very different depending on where we are, right, if we’re in a park, if we’re in a library, if we’re in a hospital, if we’re in a restaurant. Who you’re with. And also, really where you’ve just come from and where you are headed. Sometimes like literally physical destination-wise, but also, like I’m leaving this destination and I’m heading to this one, but also emotionally where I’ve just come from — have I just come from breaking up with my girlfriend and now I’m walking into, like…so you know, where am I.  And oftentimes, even preparing for the opposite.  Preparing for the opposite is really helpful at the beginning of a scene because it helps us with the arc, it helps us have someplace to go.  Sometimes for actors, even who know better, you know there’s a certain emotional journey you go on, so it’s hard to let go of that, of wanting to hit that, you know, even subconsciously knowing, oh I’m gonna get really angry in this scene, or I’m gonna cry in this scene, so thinking ahead to that moment — instead of coming in as we do in life, having no idea where we’re headed and having an expectation of things going a certain way.  And sometimes, we come in with a super strong objective right from the top.  And (this character) does have an overall super-objective, but in this scene the objective becomes revealed to him as the scene kicks in, right?  

Student:  Yeah. Yes. It shifts a little bit.Sarah: So there’s a lot of ways to prepare.  Sometimes even for actors depending on what the role is, just using a certain costume piece, you know, a piece of wardrobe, shoes, something like that can be really helpful for preparing. A necklace that you’ve endowed with something. So, yeah. Finding the ways to ground you in the world of this person.

Playing Big vs Small

Should I play big for stage and small for camera in acting?

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When I was young and preparing for my first lead in a feature, actor Lori Petty gave me some advice she learned from Robin Williams when she first started out. It was helpful and I never forgot it:  

“Adjust it for camera or you’ll look like you’ve been shot.”

I’m sure by now you’ve heard a similar thing–the rather famous tip:  Big on stage, small for camera.  And while there’s truth in that statement, it’s also a bit misleading and got me kind of stuck for a while.

If you’ve always done a lot of theatre, you’ve likely learned how to use your body and voice, sometimes in “big” ways.  And if you work or audition on camera you may be used to thinking “small” when it comes to including voice and body.

But is that all it comes down to?

I often meet actors so afraid to move in their audition tapes they actually look frozen and stiff.  There’s no life or freedom or spontaneity.  I’ve also seen stage performances with gigantic, random arm movements that have nothing to do with the inner life of the actor or the story.  

I don’t think “big vs small” alone is very helpful for any of us– it isn’t as simple as big on stage and small on camera.   

So how should you think about adjusting for the medium in which you are playing?

We dive super deep into this work in class but let me give you some things to think about as you work.

  • Discover and play actions you can embody
  • Adjust the dial of embodiment for the style of the piece 
  • Find the POPE and create specific relationships so you are never general  
  • If you’re working on camera, study the text and/or former episodes of already existing shows for clues 
  • Perhaps most importantly for the camera, find a prep that helps you let the camera in so you aren’t delivering your work (I love this part of the process so much and it’s crucial! I debated adding this to the list as it’s really experiential work for class but perhaps you can begin by experimenting with the thought and see where it takes you.)

Adjusting for camera doesn’t necessarily mean your performance will be or feel “small” — watch actors like Forest Whitaker, Laura Dern, Giovanni Ribisi, Willem Dafoe, Viola Davis, Kevin Kline, Molly Shannon, Eddie Murphy, Benicio del Toro, Meryl Streep (duh), Joaquin Phoenix, Jason Alexander, Octavia Spencer and so many more for some wonderful examples of “big” performances on screen.

How do you adjust for camera?  How do you prepare for a role on stage?

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: Actors often feel like, you know, stage big, film and tv small, and it’s just not true. Not really. I mean, yes, for some stuff, everything’s here, it’s here, it’s throw it away, leave it alone, whatever. And that’ll be fine for some stuff, but it doesn’t, it doesn’t, it doesn’t always mean that you can’t use your full range of expression in your body. And using those big strong impulses, those big strong, like after you’ve expanded it, right, keeping that impulse really powerful and alive in your body is exciting to me. You know, thinking about being able to play things from that place.

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