In the world of film and television, moments are compressed and smaller. As actors we are expected to sustain moments for brief and purposeful minutes. But at times when we transfer from stage to screen we have to make the adjustment. No one needs a complete bio for a one-liner or a brief scene but it does need to have something. And it should not take a million takes to figure it out.
This is where homework comes in. Once I was doing a scene for a class and my character was a waitress reading a lists of fish being sold to a customer. She opened up the following question to the class: "What do you think Tamara's character wants in the scene?" The answers began to fly around the room, "She wants to get it done because she is exhausted from work, She is tired of being abused." Blah Blah Blah. Then the question came to me. "I think she simply wants to sell fish." Yep! Because sometimes the role of pizza delivery guy simply wants to deliver pizza.
And if you can do that. Then you understand half of the mystery that surrounds casting and auditions. Find the most organic and simplest answer, and that is where you start.
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