Preparing for an Acting Career

by Ruth Kulerman

The truth about preparing for a career in acting isn't exotic or mysterious--two three-word sentences.(1) Learn to read. (2) Learn to hear. ("Hear," not "listen." Hear is what you do to learn how to act realistically. Listen is what you do in a scene.)

TIP #1 The Most Important Preparation for an Actor: Learn to Read

Learn to read. Chances are the text has all the information you need to do a role. I believe an undergrad major heavy in English Lit is the best way to learn how to act. Acting depends on what you do with the words. Vast and varied reading--that is, learning how to read is the way to learn what words are doing. Embrace courses in poetry, even if they are merely survey courses in, for instance, 19th Century British poets or 20th Century American poets. Read 19th Century British and 20th Century American novels. And read and study carefully an essay (now on the Internet) called "Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell. That essay will open a door to language. Its thrust is not so much politics as it is the use of language. In my philosophy, Horatio, the invention of language far outstrips the wheel.

Language, words, are the tools of an actor. Learn how to read them for meaning, both obvious and subtle.

TIP #2 Learn to Hear

Train your ears. If you are going to learn how to hear, you might as well hear the best. To
learn how to listen, so that you will know how to deliver a line, study British acting, even if your only source of British acting is a video of the great British TV comic series (Fawlty Towers, Yes, Prime Minister, As Time Goes By, Are You Being Served?). Study them carefully. Listen to the vocal nuances--even in the broadest comedy.

I recommend three or four films to watch over and over and over. Listen carefully to the delivery. Watch their faces, eyes, stillness. Start with anything with Margaret Rutherford in it. The best may be "The Best Days of Your Life." Also study "Careful, He Might Hear You." There are a few French films that can teach you almost everything you want to know about acting. However, a British film, "A Year in Provence," combines the best English and French acting. The French actors in that film are so good you are positive they are not actors. Listen and learn. Your ears will teach you the difference between monotone and variety, between fake and real.

Ruth Kulerman is an actress and acting coach in New York.