Top British thespians use their wealth of experience to conjure
some invaluable tips for all you budding actors
Roger Allam
Roger Allam is an English
actor, known primarily for his stage career. He most famously played Inspector
Javert in the original London production of the stage musical Les Misérables.
1. Learn your lines so
well that you never have to worry about them.
2. Keep a notebook about the
play, the character, the period, your moves. It’ll help you remember what you
have done so far – especially if you’re having to rehearse in your spare time
rather than all day, every day.
3. Never go dead for a
second on stage. Even if you are doing nothing, do it actively. Listen.
4. If something goes
wrong – say someone drops something – don’t ignore it. Try to deal with it in
character.
5. Warm up your voice and
body. Get used to the size of the auditorium; if you don’t know it already, go
to the worst seats in the house and have conversations with people on the stage
so you get to know what kind of energy is needed to be heard.
6. Try not to worry
about embarrassing yourself. That’s a lifetime’s task.
Niamh
Cusack has worked at the RSC, the National and the Old Vic. TV and film include Heartbeat and Hereafter.
1.
2. Read the play at least
three times out loud before standing it on its feet. A lot of the blocking (the
positioning of the actors on stage) will come out of understanding what your
characters want, and from whom.
3. Listen to the person
who’s talking – unless your character isn’t listening to them.
4. Don’t be afraid to
make an eejit of yourself.
5. Change the look in
the other person’s eye.
6. Keep it simple.
7. Remember that most
characters use words to affect, connect with or change the other person.
8. As [the actor] Ralph Richardson said, before you
leave the dressing room, look in the mirror and ask yourself: “Is it
human?”
9. It’s only a play!
Miriam
Margolyes has worked at the RSC and in the West End; she has been touring her
one-woman show about Charles Dickens and his female characters since 1989.
Films include The Age of Innocence and Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets.
1. Listen before anything
else.
2. Read the text over and
over again, and make sure you know the lines.
3. Go and see other
performances, and be critical about them: work out whether you’d have smiled in
that place, or turned your head at that moment.
4. Never show off. You can
sometimes come to a particular point in a show and think, “I’m really good in
this bit.” Never, ever think that.
5. Never read reviews. I
haven’t read mine since I was in rep.
6. Never know more than your
character knows. I’m not talking about research; I mean that when you are
performing, you must stay inside the truth of your character. Don’t signpost to
an audience what they should be thinking.
7. The most important thing
is to breathe. If you stop breathing properly, you get a sore throat. And if
you stop breathing, you die.
Julie
Graham has appeared in Doc Martin, Bonekickers, Survivors, At Home With the
Braithwaites and The Sarah Jane Adventures.
1. Read as many plays as
possible, especially by classical writers such as Ibsen, Chekhov and
Shakespeare.
2. Watch performances on
YouTube. There are so many amazing theatrical snippets on there now. It’s just
as useful to watch bad performances as it is to watch good ones. You need to be
able to differentiate.
3. Go to the theatre as often
as you can.
4. Turn up on time. If you’re
going to commit to something, you should see it through with good grace.
5. Don’t be a twat. There’s
always one: make sure it’s not you.
6. People-watch: it’s the
best way to develop a character. When you’re walking down the street, or
sitting on a bus, in a cafe or doctor’s surgery – don’t close yourself off.
