Acting : What's the one piece of advice you received that made all the difference? by Richard "RB" Botto

Show, don't tell...

"how should I say this line?" is the wrong question.

Make it happen!!!

Tomorrow isn't promised.

Think about a sentence before you write it down. Don't just take the "volunteers" that pop into your head.

No question is a silly question!

Very early days advice which stayed with me was "Acting is reacting". I had to train myself to bounce off the other actors and think of everything as cause and effect. Of course this can only be put into practice if you have already "done the work", learned your lines, made technical choices etc in preparation for when the performance begins. It's all linked to developing a listening instinct, which has greatly informed my ability to write decent dialogue and I'm pleased to say has made me a much more considerate human being. I don't just wait for everyone else to shut up so that I can talk!!!

When you audition, stay in character and even improvise after your lines until the person casting says to stop. The magic happens when you are really in the character.

"Acting is doing and there's always more to do."

"You can give up if you want to. I never do." line delivered in an AOL chat box by a retired ltd colonel who wrote spy novels. The gist of the lesson was find a way of doing what you want to do then do it.

In Cambria: Matter don't matter.

"Tension, release, tension, release...remember it's all about tension and release"

Yuppers :)

This emotion is not yours, nor are these tears, this feeling of being abandoned nor is this victory - it is the character's so let it play through you and when the scene is done let it go - the safe way - to be a conduit to but not a carrier of anything that does not belong to me - from the brilliant Shea Hampton xo

What the audience doesn't expect is what they will remember...

When I discovered the 'role' included three characters I was blessed to discover Chapeaugraphy, an acting technique from the 1600's where hats are used to indicate various characters with only one actor. That concept got me through.

Really like that one, Stephen.

I agree... excellent advice Stephen: What the audience doesn't expect is what they will remember. Another piece of advice that has helped came from a senior scientist I worked with in LA who said, The only truly happy people I know are those who are creative on a daily basis. So true...

Make the world more interesting for your being here. Make good art. Make it your art, your story, music, vision... that only you can do. The moment that you you feel that just possibly you're walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and mind and what exists on the inside, that's the moment you may be starting to get it right. The best things are often those that you are most uncertain about - where's the fun in making something you know 100% is going to work? Make up your own rules. Enjoy the ride. It will take you to remarkable and unexpected places. (Based on Neil Gaiman).

Great post, Peter.

Thanks Peter sharing :)

"Don't think...Be." Thanks Richard sharing this :)

Food for thought: "Give them the ash of your rehearsal." We actors are not storytellers. The story is crafted and differently within the minds of each audience member. The key to successful performance is thorough rehearsal in a hundred different ways: objective, obstacle (typically the words of the script), strategy and amongst these in the end of rehearsal there will be only objective. Come Action! time, throw it all away, choose a strategy(s) then be fully with your scene partner. If you have rehearsed adequately the camera will find it in you and the audience will be viscerally, unconsciously riveted to the performance. We are not the storytellers, we bring ourselves and our Soul to the fray!

We are all actors in everyday life, seeking to MOVE people with our tears, our rage, our flirting or flexing. -I just made that up.

“Don’t go to New York and study. Don’t act.  OK?  Just, you know– do it.  Don’t act it, don’t show it– just do it.” James Dean to Dennis Hopper

I truly understand the definition of an "oldie but goodie"...I live it everyday. lol

From my university professor who taught my film scoring, music in world cultures, and recording studio techniques classes -- years later, when consulting with him about some of my recent work: he told me how it is not always the most talented composers who get the gigs. You just have to get out there and do it. That prompted me to stop spending ALL of my time trying to perfect my work, and to get out there and get going with contacts and opportunities, large and small. Best advice for me.

I think your professor must be wise. I believe the marketing is a crucial piece.

"Always be yourself even when you are portraying someone else."My HS acting teacher Mrs.Levesque

Best advise I ever got was " get a real job" this pissed me off enough to never work any where but on set.

Completely agree, June. It may have been well intended, but for a driven creative, it's misguided.

"Think less, write more." Had a big impact on me this time last year.

"The only thing standing between you and your goals in Hollywood is fear. And you look like a big enough fella to kick fear's ass so what's stopping you?" I gave that piece of advise to myself while on the plane to Los Angeles in August to meet with an agent.

"Believe in yourself"

"All there is is you and what you want." Master Rose Longhill In acting and life it all distills down to objective and what you're absolutely willing to do to get it (strategy). The lines, once memorized and completely rehearsed, are just a nuisance obstacle to conquering what I want... everything else including the character is superfluous. [to writers and directors out there: understand I LOVE your words and vision but I'm bringing me to the table and I want blood!!!]