I have been lucky enough in my years of teaching to coach many talented stage and film actors. It’s such a joy to see a trained stage actor open up in front of a camera, just as it is to see a fine TV/film actor connect his gifts out to an audience of 500.
There are of course, differences in the delivery of a film/TV performance or audition and a stage performance or audition, but the differences are technical and not as hard as some people make them out to be.
Most actors, whether they realize it or not, are trained for the stage. All of the famous methods and techniques were designed for the stage, not the camera. These methods carry with them certain assumptions. For example, most methods presume a long rehearsal time that gives the actor a chance to explore the text and the character deeply with the help of a supportive director.
This, of course, falls completely apart if you’re working in TV/film, where there is sometimes no rehearsal and oftentimes the director doesn’t know your name.
Actors who recognize the difference are able to immediately adapt to the rigors of film by finding the most compelling intersection of themselves and the character, and are able to call up the
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