One of the challenges of a cold reading is that you don’t have much time to prepare. So you need to prioritize what you are going to do to make the reading work. If the preparation time is limited, first work the language to make it your own. Second, define an active objective so that your character is really pursuing some goal. Finally, you work on defining the character and his or her attitude toward something in the scene.
Once you are in the audition it is essential that you respond to what your acting partner is giving you. Acting is reacting and if you are only acting on your words, then you are not doing your job. Don’t rush to the words. Let your responses to what is being said to you move across your face and then speak. Don’t mug but make your responses visible.
For your responses to be visible, we have to see your face. If your face is buried in your side, your audition will be about the words and not about you. So get your face up by holding the text at arms length away from you, parallel to your body, and at about chin level. That way you can keep your face up and read your lines by simply dropping your eyes down.
You should practice reading aloud a few minutes each day. In time your voice and the way you handle text will become more interesting. If you don’t practice, then every cold reading will be as terrifying as the one before because you will always be starting from the same place.
Finally, if the director gives you some direction, do something with it. If you don’t understand the direction, play the scene faster or play it slower. The director doesn’t exactly know how his or her direction will manifest itself so as long as you do something different, you will demonstrate that you can take direction.
Doing these things doesn’t guarantee that you will get the role but they will give you confidence and they will make your readings more interesting and effective.
Eric Barr. All rights reserved
