STAYING in CHARACTER!!!

IN MY OPINION;                                                                                                                           WILLIAM REYNOLDS

BREAKING YOUR CHARACTER:

Breaking character when something goes wrong, wrong.                                                          Acting requires focus and concentration. Lose your focus and you can lose your place in the scene, lose your lines, and cause a silence hole big enough to drive a truck through. When experienced actors have these moments, they know it’s their job to get back on track. When beginning actors have these moments, the first thing that usually happens is they break out of character and say sorry to the director or to no one in particular.. This is a huge acting no-no. They are totally out of character!!!!

How do you solve this?                                                                                                                      Practice line exercises that purposefully try to throw you off your lines. Rehearse your lines out of sequence. Get in the habit of finding your way back on track, while staying in character. many times whomever you are reading with will have no idea you’ve forgotten your lines until you break character and this will certainly tell them. The way to get out of a sticky line situation is to stay in character and start talking. Never stand there in silence thinking someone else will solve your problem. Take it upon yourself. The more you practice this the easier it will become if something goes awry on stage. AND DON'T FORGET, ONLY THE DIRECTOR, GETS TO SAY 'CUT'.......NOT YOU OR ANYONE ELSE.....AND THE SCENE IS 'NOT' OVER UNTIL THE DIRECTOR SAYS IT IS.  STAY IN YOUR FRIGGING CHARACTER***IF YOU CANNOT, TRUTHFULLY YOU WERE NEVER IN IT IN THE FIRST PLACE.