As someone who "acted" when I was younger and then discovered what real acting was when I started directing, a simple hint is to not try to hard.

Even after directing some of the best actors in the city in theatre for a few years, when I had to perform in a show a couple of years ago that was my biggest fault. I was still trying to hard.

Honesty and naturalism cannot be forced. The more simple and understated your delivery the more real you will come across.

And start with simple narrative scenes too (ie not complex emotional material). It helps to get a firm grasp of the basics before exploring complex material.

Thanks, I'll try that.

I know this will be frustratingly obscure advice, but the key is to stop "imaginging yourself in the actual setting of the scene" and just BE in the actual setting of the scene...when that makes 100% sense to you, you'll have it...

Makes perfect sense. Becoming the character in the given situation and maintaining that facade isn't easy, though. Then, again, whoever said acting was easy?

I think that good acting is the result of an unstable mind. Creative people are often unstable and are able to channel that into different things such as acting. I think that if you have to 'try' then you are not a natural actor. Also, have you ever seen a 'behind the scenes' look at a Hollywood movie scene being shot. From the documentary camera pov the acting looks less believable than it does from the camera that is being used to shoot the film.. Camera angles, lighting and editing are big pieces to the puzzle that makes an actor's performance really sell..

I would agree with everyone

my 2 cents though:

I'm a firm believer in "be the character" and as a note according to the Starwars behind the scenes "stuff" one of the first things Harrison Ford said when he got into the cockpit of the millineum falcon was "how do I fly it?"

This can demand a lot of attention to detail but you don't want goofy things occuring like in "Wind Talkers" where it seems like there's 4 shots and 5 dead bad guys. or as in the case of aircraft cockpit scenes where the actor flips the switch that would in reality turn off the engines...or never bother lowering the landing gear upon landing.

I would recommend Audition by Michael Shurtleff.

It's an easy read and you'll learn a lot from it.

Acting - If you believe what you are doing, so will the audience.
If you don't believe, then neither will they.

For everything I've acted in I've been in control my lines were. If I didn't write the script myself, I would ask if I could vary the lines. I try my lines closer to something I would say in real life. I also try and act the same way I would in real life. Of course, this isn't going to work too well if I play some more diffucult characters.

Ha! Hate to tell ya, but you have to leave the house. One of the most important things about acting is observation and listening!

In other words, people watch. Notice how one homeless woman shuffles along with her cart, gripping the handles firm as if she thinks someone's going to take off with her "prized possessions." Watch the overtly misplaced confidence of the strange jogger who is in an all black leotard that is way too tight, but still he/she carries their frame like they're the most importnant celebrity on the red carpet...

How some folks mumble, or wear their emotions on their sleeve, or looked incredibly pissed off in traffic... Stuff like that is cheap, but you DO have to get out to see it.

and no, watching reality TV is NOT the same thing:laugh:

-Tom

While we all bring ourselves into each character we play, you should keep in mind to respect the lines that were written more and that dialogue should be changed to be more appropriate to the CHARACTER, not the ACTOR...

-Tom

200 + dollars for a reasonable fabrication wonderlic exam of a dead body versus Liza Trainer's method... I think I'd go with Liza's method anyday.