 it’s none of your business. Because even if it isn’t what you’d like – and it never is – there is nothing you could ever do about it with your magic wand or your magical charm.
If the world admires us it’s because of what’s cranking between our ears, the quality of our work, the examples we set, and the company we keep. If there is nothing admirable in these things, then they will not admire us. They will merely pretend to. And that will be something else we already know.
Besides, if you’re not the star, they’re not looking at you anyway. That’s just vanity. They’re watching to see if you are interfering with the story being told; and if you are not interfering with the story being told – and your nose isn’t dripping – you’re good to go. And then one day, you may be a star.
Andrew Vogel had a very good evaluation of the previous blog post regarding the sides I chose to discuss your audition sides for the archetypal role of the ‘Security Guard’.
“I think realistically the security wouldn’t communicate that “If you don’t listen to me, the three of us will destroy you” because he wouldn’t want to threaten a gang and put his life or other people’s lives in danger. But rather, he would communicate something like “There’s no reason for you to be here right now other than to cause trouble, and you don’t want to start trouble at a public event like this. So just turn around and handle your business elsewhere so we can all move on.”
And at the same time. The posture of the security guard could communicate “I am prepared to use my weapons as a last resort” (That is, if the security guard is armed which normally would be the case I think)
Another option, that might work even if the security guard isn’t armed, is to be calling for backup on a walkie as the gang approaches. Assuming the gang would see this, the security guard could have confidence in communicating “Look, you shouldn’t be here. You know you shouldn’t be here. So leave now before 30 guards show up and make your day a lot worse.”
I’d say the trap some actors might fall into would be to try and start a conflict with the line as opposed to trying to end a conflict and get the gang out the stadium.”
I think Andrew has given a very cogent evaluation of the important elements of an actor auditioning for the role of ‘Security Guard.’ And the KEY to pulling off this important moment would be the PHYSICALITY of the guard as the gang members approach the gate. The body language of the guard, male or female, would be to at once caution the bad boys to stay back, without egging them on to do something really stupid. The guard’s free hand is palm out to them, the business hand is either on the gun or the radio. The voice is non-confrontational, but definitively ‘all business’.
The trap is for the actor auditioning for the role to play it like he’s won – or that he’s somehow unassailable – instead of like he/she is in the middle of an unexpected event of an uncertain nature, fraught with potential danger. The ARCHETYPE is: competent, capable, trained, and dangerous if need be. Then we, as audience, can accept the plausible conclusion that the gang members ‘get it’, that messing with the guards would, in all likelihood, be more trouble than it is worth to them.
Here is where casting – and the director – often make the mistake of casting an implausibly clumsy or ostentatious blowhard in the role. Were this the case, we – as audience – would not be able to accept the ‘code’ of a meaningful deterrent to the gang – by which we, as audience, accept the premise of the gang’s ‘moving on’ to the next location. If we, as audience, do not accept the premise of the gang moving on to the next location, then our subconscious minds will be stuck there, relegated to defending the plausibility of what we just saw – a conscious event – meanwhile having been pulled out of the subconscious dramatic event in which we had been previously engaged. You see how important the of casting archetypes is?!
With proper casting and performance, we can go on to the next beat in the story, having been coded with the proper dramatic stepping stone by the archetype of the guard. Fun, eh?
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I’ve just been looking at many dozens of fresh sides, preparing for my bi-annual Film Acting Workshop in Baton Rouge, in a bit over a week from now. This time I concentrated specifically on feature films, as that’s been where my head has been of late. I have a young, star client who is working on a very big film in South Africa, and we work via Skype on his upcoming roles – even while he is shooting the film we worked so hard to get. Certainly, it is elevating and educational to work with a star actor who truly is ‘up’ for every role he goes out on.
Well, first, he has had early-entry into the business, which while not always necessary, can be very helpful – if you don’t burn out. Then he hit on a good role, for his type, on a widely-watched television cable series. And he’s smart, dedicated, driven – and likes to act. You know how he found me? The Internet. God bless the Internet, because working with this actor has been another really satisfying professional relationship – as most of my client/colleague relationships have been over these many years.
I also love to work with late teens – and early-to-mid twenties actors, because they are so amazed and appreciative when they find out ‘the good stuff’ after having heard all the other stuff for so long.
And I wanted to next discuss (following up on our last post about how we should be looking at the material – philosophically) how to look at the kind of role you will probably play before you ever get to star in a film or television episodic.
And that kind of role is often the Archetype. Now we’ve talked about archetypes before, but let’s look at one example that caught my attention just today, and you can then extrapolate how this extends to your next audition. And this is not just for actors! This is also for Directors, Producers and Casting execs, as well!
The Role: Security Guard
One Line: “Game’s over fellas, keep moving!”
Circumstances: Our lead has been chased by gang dudes who think he stole their drugs. I don’t know if he did or not – but they think he did. So the whole film is about him running from a pack of nasty, drug-dealing gang members. He’d rather be chased by those huge, hand-sized Chinese hornets than these bad boys.
So now the chase has taken him to a sports arena, where a game has just ended. He struggles against an exiting CROWD, and into the turnstiles. An Attendant let’s our breathless lead re-enter the stadium, because “I forgot my jacket”.
The Security Guard sees the whole gang coming toward he and his two fellow Security Guards, against the crowd. They all, simultaneously, try to slip through the turnstiles, but they are TURNED AWAY by the guards. and then exit into another shot. One of the gang members watches our lead go down the concourse, determined to continue the chase.
IN THE SCRIPT, the Security Guard says his – or perhaps ‘her’ line, and the whole gang is turned away.
IN THE SCRIPT, the next shot has our lead slipping into a janitor’s closet. We know that one of the gang members still has a bead on him, but cannot enter past the guards.
IN THE SCRIPT, the Security Guards are not blindfolded, and therefore obviously can SEE that whatever was going on – there are GANG MEMBERS involved.
You have the line “Game’s over fellas, keep movin’.”
Your questions as actor are:
* What would have to be the psychological and physical posture of the Security detail, in order to persuade a likely knife-and-gun-carrying gang not to over-whelm them at the turnstiles?
What would Security Guard need to communicate to the gang for them to desist.
What would Security Guard need to ‘show’ for the gang to desist.
What would be the proper volume of the Security Guard’s line – based upon the circumstances?
Would the volume require the Security Guards’s intentional modulation? And why?
Ask these questions, and then visualize how this usually goes WRONG… for example, production frequently casts a big, tough guy for the one line role – often a stunt man or woman. And that’s fine