“I am out with lanterns looking for myself.” – Emily Dickinson
This week I had another one of those breakthrough moments with a demo student that was so exciting, I literally had to jump up and down because his vocal performance felt so true and authentic.
Without mentioning any names let me just say the commercial was a men’s aftershave and the student was “trying” to sound manly because that’s what the script called for. As we all know, the manlier one tries to sound, the sillier it becomes – and that’s what was happening.
To bring more authenticity to his delivery, I decided to help guide the student into bringing a real guy with deep confidence to the scene. Since this student happens to be a real guy, the next step was to get him to honestly feel confident, which wasn’t quite happening at the moment. That’s where the true work began, and after some digging and layer-peeling he totally nailed the piece!
In order for authenticity to come through in our voice acting, we pretty much have to do the opposite of what our mind tells us to do. Usually, the first thing we do when we get a script is to ask ourselves, “What tone am I supposed to use?” Or, even worse, “I wonder how they want me to do this?”
Notice how when we ask those two things, we are removing ourselves from the equation. We ought to reach inside and ask: what am I saying, why am I saying this, and how do I feel about what I am about to say? If you find that you would never say these things in real life, then you must ask: what kind of person would say something like this? Then the quest is on to make this character yours.
In order to deliver an authentic, compelling and entertaining performance, we must find a way to make the story in the script ours – to insert ourselves and unique point of view into the character!
One thing I like to do is to ask my demo students to name their favorite actor. The student I mentioned earlier said his favorite actor is Robert Downey, Jr.
When I asked him why, he replied, “His [Downey’s] work is always on the edge.” How does his work always feel “unconfined” no matter the role? According to Downey, “I have zero regard for what’s printed on a script.”
We love Downey because he’s authentic and unapologetic, which is what everyone yearns to be! Of course, the kind of authenticity that Downey brings to his work is not something that happens overnight, but it’s something to ponder and strive for, even when we are just starting out.
Entertain the idea of not being held captive by the words or punctuation. Yes, we absolutely need to use script analysis to “serve the text” and honor the writer’s intention. Yet, just like in that aftershave commercial, where the storyline was obviously about a “manly man,” there are many creative ways to interpret this character. In fact, by sometimes bringing the opposite feel to what’s expected, we can have winning results.
Experiment with your copy. Try the expected and the unexpected with your characters and see which moves you more.
As voice actors we need to do more than simply get the words right and sound good doing it. When we book a job, we become a contributor to a creative team; so be directable – yes – but never be afraid to act on your impulse, and risk doing something unexpected!
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