Should I Memorize Lines for an Audition
Someone recently asked me, “should I memorize lines for an audition?” As someone who once owned an audition taping service, I’ve seen literally hundereds of auditions. I would guess that during nearly half of those auditions, an actor would stop and break character because they messed up a line. Bam! They’re right back in their own head.
I was guilty of always trying to memorize lines, but thanks to Crystal Carson’s Auditioning by Heart classes, I learned that memorizing lines is the least important task you have when preparing for an audition. So, yes, knowing your lines is important, but I think it’s wise to spend far less time working on knowing your lines and more time on knowing yourself (and by that, I mean knowing your character). What has happened in your life to put you in that moment in time? What is your relationship to the other characters in the scene? What are your objectives and obstacles to achieving them in the scene? What are the consequences to not meeting those objectives? What does the environment look and smell like? Once you have answers to all of those questions and have read the scene five or six times, the dialog will flow organically, because you are listening and responding to what the others in the scene are saying and doing!
I recently had a fairly substantial audition for one of the top five television shows on the air right now… my agent called and asked if I could have it back within a couple of hours. There was no way I was going to memorize that, so I spent fifteen minutes working out the details… my relationships, where I came from, who I was married to, my objectives and obstacles. Hell, I even knew I nicknamed my dad “Crabtree” because he once fell into the crab well on the boat I worked with him on as a kid and when he pulled himself out, he had crabs hanging all over him. That’s not directly tied to the story, but my relationship with my father is part of the reason I am who I am (and by “I” I’m referring to my character). I read the script a few times, put it on tape in one take and sent it in… my choices were solid because I KNEW who I was and the dialog was there because I knew how I should respond to what the people in my scene were saying. I never thought about memorizing those lines. That afternoon, my agent called and let me know I booked the role from tape.
Sure, when you walk into the room, you are going to be nervous. I know I am. But, if you’ve done your homework, you can easily step into the character after your slate and live in that life! Once I learned how to do that and to stop memorizing lines, I book more and I have more FUN in auditions.
It is also important to realize YOU CAN USE A SCRIPT in an audition! If you need a line, you can look at the script without breaking character, get the line, look up and re-connect and keep going! It’s okay. Think about the normal conversations you have. You are not always making eye contact. Sometimes, you look away or look down. You can do that in an audition as long as you don’t break character.
Lines matter, but truth matters more!
Think about it this way… if the Casting Director has seen 35 people auditioning for the same part before you walk into the room, chances are they’ve seen 35 people who have memorized those lines and all gave the same line perfect read. But… what if you don’t think about the lines and you actually live the life? When you’re not thinking about the lines, you are spontaneous and interesting and ALIVE! Yes… the lines are important, but giving a true and interesting performance is more important. You won’t lose a role because you mess up a few words here or there, but you will lose a role if there is not truth and life in your performance. THAT’S what Casting Directors are looking for! That said, don’t paraphrase the whole scene and remember to be flexible with your choices should the CD give you a re-direct, but know YOU first!
Now, go break some legs….
