As an actor it is important to keep honing ones craft so as to stay sharp and ready for when that next opportunity may occur. We do this through constant learning from books, classes, workshops and most importantly, through practice.
"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity" - Seneca (Roman Philosopher)
Therefor I am setting myself a Monologue Challenge, where I will learn and film myself performing one monologue per week in the format of a self tape (A self tape for those outside of the business, is a video that you film yourself and send to casting directors as a first step in the audition process).
For my first monologue I chose the classic film, Good Will Hunting (1997) and a piece from the character, Sean, originally played by the late Robin Williams.
My process for this challenge will be to choose a variety of contrasting scenes and monologues where I will stretch my acting ability. I will break down the beats of the scene and clearly define my characters wants and needs.
What I believe is also an important aspect of this exercise will be keeping things fresh and not over analysing each moment and allowing my emotions to flow freely and not let my character choices get in the way of being in the moment.
Another point I must be wary of is, when choosing monologues from famous film, played by some of the most prolific actors in the world, such as with Robin Williams iconic performance in Good Will Hunting, that I maintain my own individuality in my performance and don't allow myself to attempt what would inevitably be a poor imitation of the original.
Therefor I will, for now, be performing all monologues in my own voice, with no added dialects and will also rewrite certain words to fit my melody of speech where appropriate.
I am excited and nervous about this challenge that I have set for myself and look forward to stepping outside of my comfort zone by sharing my personal work and exercises.
I challenge all of my actor friends and anyone else who wishes to join me. You can post links to your monologues in the comments and perhaps we can give each other constructive feedback on how to improve and grow.
