Workshopping it

Thursday night I did a workshop with casting director Michael Nicolo, who works for the agency that cast the Joss Whedon shows Buffy, Angel and Dollhouse, as well as the show Weeds and a few features. The way these workshops run is the casting person rocks up, has a quick chat about who s/he is, background and the shows the agency casts. There are usually about 20-odd actors present (or 20 odd actors, depending on your point of view) and we have the chance to ask questions. Most questions posed seem more aimed at getting the casting director’s attention than anything insightful. For example, someone asked “what do you expect of us when we audition?” The answer came; “to be prepared and professional”. Well, duh. Another question was along the lines of “is it better to be big and have to dial it back, or be small and have to bring it up?” Not a completely stupid question, but one that I think would prompt a different answer depending on who you’re talking to. It also depends on the character, the script and the type of show it is. Fundamentally, even in comedy, the key is finding the truth; the performance has to be grounded in something otherwise it’s superficial acting and you can pick it a mile off, be it subtle or larger than life.

After the Q&A, the casting person hands out scripts; they have generally been cast quickly, from the headshots we hand in when we arrive, and it is a lottery as to how good the script is (or how well you connect with it) and what kind of actor you are paired with. Lucky me, I scored a very funny script and a lovely young actor – Alberti - to play with. It was a scene between a TV writer (him) and his producer or agent (me), having to deliver the news that the network wants to make changes to his script. Several of the other scripts were odd and clearly sourced from some of the Joss Whedon shows with non-human characters; being landed with one of those scripts could be a blessing or a curse. How do you play a mind-reading non-human? I guess there’s no right or wrong way which could either freeze an actor with indecision or give them the freedom to let loose. Anyway, Michael seemed to like what Alberti and I presented. He asked if we had seen the movie it was taken from, which we hadn’t (it’s called The TV Set, and starred David Duchovny, Sigourney Weaver and Judy Greer), because we played it pretty much exactly the way it was in the film. Cool.

As a foreigner, I have to decide in these workshops whether or not to test out my American accent or just go with my natural accent. I tend to stick with my natural accent, as most casting directors say in a workshop situation they’d rather see someone use their normal accent than be focusing so much on being American that their acting suffers. Of course, 95% of real auditions would require a flawless American accent. There were a couple of Aussies in the room and a couple of Brits. The Brits attempted American accents, which weren’t bad, but Michael picked them as non-American and asked them to do the scene again in their natural accents. I went with my natural accent and he asked me if I can do a U.S. accent – sure can! – although we didn’t do the scene again. I’m tempted to trot out my U.S. accent at the next workshop. It may depend on the script, because at the end of the day I’m going to need to prove I can do it, and get really comfortable with it for most auditions.