In acting, you simply say the lines in the script like the character would say them.
That’s a deceptively simple – but entirely accurate – description of acting. So here’s an example from the prep I did for a recent audition.
Meet Tina. In the script, she is not named “Tina.” In fact, in the script she is not named anything at all; I named her Tina. On the Tobolowsky Character Naming Spectrum (based upon Stephen Tobolowsky’s stories on the linked podcast), she ranks pretty low in impact on the plot. In the script, she is named [ANOTHER CHARACTER]’S WIFE – and that other character is simply named [PROFESSION]. (i.e. DOCTOR’S WIFE).*
This means is that I had a smattering of lines that had to be made real – as though a living, breathing human being would say them. This means that I have to make [ANOTHER CHARACTER]’S WIFE a living, breathing human being in my imagination. I do that, first, by giving her a name. Based upon the time period of the project and the age range of the character, I considered what a woman, in the decade she would have been born, might have been named. (Here’s my favorite tool for that.)
From there, what kinds of historic events would have impacted her life? In what kind of world would she have come of age? When would she have met her husband? Does she work? If so, what work does she do? What kind of education does that require?
Based upon the husband’s profession, which is blue collar, I decided that Tina grew up lower class and could not afford college. She did get an associate’s degree, however, and has a good job as a Phlebotomist at a local doctor’s office, which allows her to be home at reliable times – something important for raising her two kids with a husband who is often out of town. This means that Tina works full time and is usually single parenting. Based upon the character’s given age, I decided the children – a boy, Billy (aka Junior, his Daddy goes by Bill), and a girl, Michelle (Shelly) – are pre-teen/teenagers.
The scene happens at night in a parking lot, so why are Tina and her family there? Maybe it is after a long day at the ballfield, where Shelly was pitching in a girls’ fast-pitch softball double-header, while Billy at least got through his game without picking flowers in right field. (Billy’s still trying to figure out what makes him tick, but baseball is what he gets signed up for, so he plays – poorly.) They all feel gross from being sweaty and then having it dry as the sun sets, as well as from a day’s diet of hot dogs and sno-cones.
I could go on – Tina has a full history I dreamed up – but the point is that to simply speak the lines requires a lot of work in imagining the world where the scene happens. In an audition, I might be in my home studio putting myself on tape, or in my agent’s office; there is nothing of the world of the scene in the room. There is not even another actor, the reader doesn’t act the scene with you so much as feed you the other characters’ lines. So to pretend to be [ANOTHER CHARACTER]’S WIFE, I needed to imagine her into existence, and then I could figure out my moment before and moment after.
Sometimes you get a full script, but often in this market you get only your sides, which means there can be a lot of holes to fill to make your scene make enough sense to simply say the lines.
*Okay, here’s the deal. When auditioning for projects, especially with big studios, there’s all this cloak-and-dagger, NDA (non-disclosure agreement) stuff, so I can’t be specific. Please pardon the lack of detail; I’d like to be asked to audition for this office again in the future.