Detailed acting
When I'm coaching actors, I'm often asked how to make a performance stand out without being "over-the-top." Many things go into making a good performance great – but details are the key to taking your work to the next level.
What is a detail?
For actors, character details can come from the script, a physical description, a backstory, and anything pertaining to the character, their environment, their relationships with others, and more.
I underlined come from because many people get confused and think they need to make up details to make a character interesting. Yes, many times we need our imagination to fill in details, but the best details come from the script.
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Does it matter?
It may be tempting to pick random details that make the role more interesting to you personally, but the details that matter move the story forward or develop characters – yours or others in the story.
I auditioned for 3 small parts in For Love of the Game and was cast as the masseuse to Kevin Costner's character, Billy Chapel. Despite the role originally calling for a tan, buxom Florida blonde, I got the part with my choices. Based on the 2 scenes I'd read for her part, I decided she and Billy Chapel had been having a longtime casual relationship whenever he was in town. I decided it meant more to my character than she'd admitted – even to herself – until this moment.
Though they may be hidden, there will be details in the script – no matter how small your part is.
The short scenes were written to show Billy Chapel womanizing and getting caught. There was nothing to imply that he and the masseuse were anything other than a momentary hook-up. But, when I asked myself why this character might say it was "great" that Billy had found someone, I had to wonder if she was lying. What if she thought it was great because it meant he might finally be ready to settle down? Nothing in the script disagreed with that idea so I went with it.
As a result of my choices, my character ended up getting more screen time and Kevin added a line about his character "liking" mine to the climactic fight scene after ours.
The script said Billy Chapel slept with his masseuse and got caught. We took it from a typical womanizer-cheating scene, to a guy on the road hooking up with an old friend after feeling dumped. He still hopped in bed with someone, but he's been deepened from "typical womanizer" because of what we chose.
Finding details
With For Love of the Game, I worked backward from the end of the 2 scenes. My character wakes up at Billy's house and his girlfriend shows up. It made me wonder how many times my character had woken up at Billy's. Had she ever wished he would stay in town forever? His character is retiring soon. Had she hoped her wish was finally coming true?
You can read more about the process of working backward to find character details and arcs in this post designed for writers:
Laura Cayouette
Ask the experts
If you watch the For Love of the Game clip again, you may notice that I put a glob of lotion on my arm in the opening. After that, I only use the lotion from my arm, never returning to the lotion tub.
This detail came from an actual masseuse. After I got the part, I got a professional massage and asked the woman questions about her job and the life it created for her. I paid attention to the details - the WAY she did things. When I saw her putting a glob of lotion on her arm to use as she went, I asked about it – WHY she did it that way. Was it a hack?
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Over the years, several masseuses have asked if I was a professional after seeing For Love of the Game. That's a great feeling. As a side-note, this detail made lighting, and framing easier for the crew. It made continuity easier for the editor. These are all things a director appreciates.
Find the hack
This is one of my best tips for finding a detail that reveals character.
For the introduction of my character in True Detective, the camera would be establishing me as a worn-down woman sorting crawfish. We were shooting on an operational crawfish boil location so I asked the people who worked there:
- What are your hacks? (How do you make your job go faster? Easier?)
- How can you tell when someone's a pro, or been at this a long time?
- How can you tell when someone's new, or green?
Like with the lotion glob, you only really need one detail to sell an entire idea.
The more questions you ask, the more detailed your portrayal could become. Detailed acting is what separates the pros from the rest.
Thanks for reading! I hope this inspired you to dare to live your calling.
Paid subscribers, please enjoy this video where I go more in depth using an example of working backward in my role as Lara Lee in Django Unchained to create story arcs and character details.
