Why Most Actors Fail in Audtions, and Films | Solutions

Famous Director Mira Nair points on actor's performance 

1. Why average actors fail in auditions and enacting a scene 

They just memorize lines and just “act”. In their efforts to play a character they struggle and the moment they try hard, it looks fake. 90 auditioning actors out of 100 in the line do this and fail.
The moment a casting director says “Do it in a different way” or” kuch aur tarike se kar ke dhikaye”, they just speak with a different volume or speed and fail. They cannot create a different character or play different emotions or attitudes. Their voice, gestures and movements remain the same.
The result is that a casting director in an audition or a director in a scene gets irritated and fed up seeing the same lackluster performance again and again in majority of actors.

 2. Why this happens?

As an individual you have your own unique personality-your voice, gestures, physical movement style, looks, expressions and a fixed attitude (shy, aggressive, positive, negative, suspicious etc).
Do you know who you are? Your personality and habits? If a page or a slate is full, how can you write anything new on it? The same is when you portray a character, a new life.

3. Solutions

Your biggest enemy is your own self. Your fixed personality. Unless you free yourself with your “self” and make yourself “Blank”, you cannot bring a new life, a character in you. This requires you to be AWARE of yourself, for example, how you stand, your walk, any hand gesture, the way you nod, your head while talking, your  looking habits, an peculiar walk of yourself, your voice (speed, diction, quality), mental makeup (nervous, confident, shy?) etc. Once you become a blank personality, it will be easy to be in a new created character and be ready with options. Your own profile will not come in the way to portray a new life.


Who creates a character for you?

• A casting director or a director in a film has no time in helping you to create a character. They expect you to do this. Perhaps you may be told briefly by your coordinator or a guy from direction dept. Therefore, you have to create.
• Do you know this? How can you create a character unless you have analyzed the script (or your lines) like objective and how your character helps in achieving the objective of the story? What are the options of physical, mental and social profile of a character?
• Once you have decided options, learn and practice and practice. Then decide the best option. Apart from the fact that you are ready now, this will bring in A GREAT CONFIDENCE in you 

4. What really can help an actor to develop a character?

Imagination

-There are certain things that all great actors share: talent, dedication, and courage, to name a few. Another thing I have found that many great actors who I’ve known over the years is the passion of a rich and vibrant imagination.
Using your imagination is a wonderful, creative exercise. It is essential for you as an artist to recognize and cultivate the part of the brain that sees beyond what you see and is able to create a different world around you. Like any other muscle, you need to work it out so it stays alive and strong.
The easiest way to do so is to combine imagination with observation. Unfortunately,  our powers of observation can get a little rusty given the pace at which we live and the amount of things we have to distract us. In Mumbai, we run the risk of being further distracted and isolated by the time we spend in running around meeting coordinators, casting directors, going for auditions and other social activities. So, it’s a good idea to set aside time to be out in public. Take yourself out to a museum, garden, local railway platforms, bus stops, and the zoo or on beaches, be still, and look around. Pick a person. Let your imagination run wild and create some new worlds. It is essential that you dream and create back and future story of the person, animal or anything. Don’t bother whether it’s true or not
For example, you could pick a person and watch them closely. Notice all of the details of what they’re wearing: their hair, the pitch of their voice, their laugh, etc. Now, imagine where they would live. House or apartment? How is it furnished? Are there a picture of people in the living room? If so, who are they? What job does this person have? Do they like it? What kind of money do they make? Are they comfortable or do they need more? Are they lonely or do they want more time alone? What do they dream of at night? What do they long for? And on and on – as many questions you can think of asking until that person comes alive for you in a specific, real, and heartfelt way. Now, do it again and again until your eyes and ears are razor sharp from observing and your brain aches a bit from the exertion of all of your imagining.
What a wonderful way to spend a morning, afternoon, or evening, and what good you have done your creative soul and brain! When you take the time to wonder what life is like for others in this detailed way, you are expanding the parameters of your own imagination, and there are so many ways that an active and well-oiled imagination can help your work. Your concentration is improved, your focus is laser sharp, and all of your decisions are more specific.
Next time you get a scene or character that you’re having trouble portraying,  you can remember how great fun it was to imagine someone else’s life and you do the same for the character and  when you speak the dialogue you’ll feel energized and excited, ready to show stunning possibilities of the role to thrill a casting director or a director instead of being frustrated by your limitations.
Imagine that!