Arts & Entertainment
Choosing Roles
Lesson time 19:14 min
Helen offers you advice for auditions and shares her unique way of assessing a role.
Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars
Topics include: Show Respect and Thoughtfulness in Auditions • Look for Your Character's Exit • Do Something Different From Your Last Role • Take Stereotypical Roles and Get Creative • Discuss Nudity Before Taking a Role • Transcending Traditional Casting Choices
Teaches Acting
In 28 lessons, the Oscar, Golden Globe, Tony, and Emmy winner teaches her process for acting on the stage and screen.
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I want to talk a little bit about auditions because, obviously, many of you will have been to many, many auditions in your life, and you probably will go to many more. And I don't have a lot of words to say about that because you guys know more about that, really, than I do at this point. I know that you know you're often given sides, so you don't really know the whole story, and that's a big challenge for an actor. But I know that you understand you have a sense of who the character is. And I know that you will often go-- in a sense-- in a form of the costume that you think this character would wear. And that's a good thing because I think the people auditioning you have to make very quick decisions. I just give two pieces of advice. One is, if the people auditioning you give you a note in your performance-- you've done it once, or maybe twice, and then they give you a note. Why don't you try this. Even if you feel it's completely wrong, immediately try to incorporate that note into your performance because that will tell the director, the producers, that A, you're capable of doing that. And B, you are amenable, and you know how to listen. You can incorporate it in, and at the end of it, you can say, I tried to do what you were saying. I'm not too sure that that work, but you know. But you listen to the note, and absolutely respond to it, and try to incorporate it into your next go through, the performance. And I think the other thing to do is if you're just being given sides and you don't really know, where does this character sit, I think, one or two very judicious and very pointed questions-- intelligent questions-- I think show that you're thinking. That you can see beyond. You understand that beyond this one scene, that there is a whole piece of work around it. If you can ask, what sort of background do you think this character comes from? Or do you think an accent is appropriate? Or I'd just like to know where this character goes afterwards. Or I have a sense of the direction the scene should be going in. Just if there's a really thought out, accurate question to ask, ask it because again, that means that you're thinking. You're intelligent. You're responsive. And I think that's what people want to see. They don't just want to see, is this person right for the role? Of course, they want to see that, but they also want to see, can I work with this person? Is this going to be a living relationship on set? I'm going to share something with you, which I really shouldn't, because it reveals actually how venal I am, and what a terrible person I am. And you can only really do this if you're being offered nice roles, but when I get a script, I do this. It's awful. They always tell you-- not always-- but they often tell you, oh, it's a great role. It's not on the page, but it needs an actress like you to do it, and it will...
About the Instructor
In her first-ever online acting class, Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren shares the techniques she has learned through the course of her international career that has spanned stage, screen, and television. Her powerful and versatile performances have earned her numerous awards, including the Academy Award in 2007 for her performance in The Queen, a Tony Award in 2015 for her performance in The Audience, and four Emmy Awards.
Featured MasterClass Instructor
Helen Mirren
In 28 lessons, the Oscar, Golden Globe, Tony, and Emmy winner teaches her process for acting on the stage and screen.
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