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For years I told actors something that

may surprise you.

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I used to say being completely

memorized isn't the most important thing.

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And for a long time I believed that.

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Today

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my thinking has changed,

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not because memorization

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is the performance,

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but because memorization

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may be the thing standing between you

and the

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performance.

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Let's talk about it.

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This is casting actor's castle.

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Well, hello everybody, and welcome to

casting actors.

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Cast.

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I'm Jeff dry's back.

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I'm a casting director with mcorkal

casting in New York.

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How are you?

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Thank you for joining me today.

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Hey, this is part three of our actor

reset series.

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And episode one, we stopped grading

ourselves.

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In episode two, we stopped making

acting our entire identity.

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And today we're talking about

preparation,

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specifically memorization.

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Now before we begin, let me make

something really, really clear.

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This is not an episode about becoming a

robot.

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It's not an episode about

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reciting lines.

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It's not an episode about perfect word,

accuracy of truth.

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This is about freedom.

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Because after years of watching

auditions for film and television, I've

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come to believe something quite

important.

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Actors who know the material deeply

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have a significant

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advantage.

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Not because they're showing off,

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because they can stop thinking about

the words

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and start living inside the scene.

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We're going to dig into it.

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But first, this is that moment of the

podcast where I get to say thank you

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for tuning in to the podcast.

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It's a pleasure bringing these to you.

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Thank you so much to the Broadway

podcast network for hosting me and for

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all of the sponsors that continue to

support the podcast.

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Hey, listen.

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I'd love your support as well.

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If you could please go to the website.

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Casting actor's cast, all one word dot

com, casting actors cast dot com.

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There you're going to find information

about my new book.

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That's available, I teach.

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I have a course that's available,

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and that's all on the website.

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But I'm not just trying to sell you

stuff.

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This is not just a funnel attempt.

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There's all sorts of free stuff.

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If you go to that form that says, dive

into the talent pool, you're going to

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find that there's a couple of freebies

for you.

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One is a book that I wrote on doing

voice over work.

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It's a 100 page pdf on voiceover work.

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I think you're going to really love it,

because it really does seem to help a

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lot of actors who are interested in

moving into that particular arena also

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there's a videocasting

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secrets what they don't tell you.

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And finally, there's also a blog on the

website called jeff's jots.

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It really is show notes corresponding

to each of the episode.

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So listen, if you like taking notes, or

you hear a podcast, and you think,

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gosh, I'd really love to kind of have

that in writing.

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These are the show notes that I use to

produce the podcast.

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And they're available to you absolutely

free of charge, just by kind of

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checking out the website and going to

jeff's jots, the blog.

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So I'm just making as much information

and resources available to you as

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possible.

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Having been an actor for over twenty

years and now casting for the past

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sixteen years, I'm trying to give back

those things that weren't given to me

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when I was an actor.

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And really I'm interested, more than

anything else into helping those actors

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with information that's going to make

them feel more confident and more

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comfortable.

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This is why this is the first time in

several years of doing the podcast,

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that I've actually put this series

together.

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So I hope that you can follow along the

entire series, something I'm pretty

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proud of.

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All right.

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Finally, my good friends at actor's

connection, are there?

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I would love for you to check them out.

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Actor's connectiondot com, slash New

York

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with

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agents and managers and casting people

and professionals in the business.

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You can sign up for classes and

workshops, mostly online.

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But there's a lot of really good

information, and I, I endorse them completely.

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All right, let's move on now, shall we?

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So let's just talk a minute about my

old thinking.

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And for years

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I taught a different approach.

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When actors would ask me the question,

don't worry.

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I would say, don't be completely off

book.

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That's not the most important thing.

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After all, an audition isn't the

finished performance.

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You're not filming the final product.

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You're presenting possibilities.

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And honestly, there is some truth in

that.

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The problem is that, over time,

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I started noticing a pattern.

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Actors who weren't fully prepared

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often spent enormous amounts of time

and mental energy,

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managing the script,

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looking down, finding their place,

searching for the next line,

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checking, wording,

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recovering from uncertainty.

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Meanwhile,

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actors who truly knew the material

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seem to operate differently.

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Their attention wasn't on the page,

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it was on the other person.

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And guess what?

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That changes everything.

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And this is what casting actually sees.

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Let's move into the casting room,

because this is where the lesson becomes

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really obvious.

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Imagine two actors.

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Actor number one knows the scene

reasonably well, mostly memorized,

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pretty solid.

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Only glances down occasionally.

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Actor number two

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knows the scene completely,

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not mechanically, not robotically

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effortlessly

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natural.

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The difference is remarkable.

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Actor one is juggling.

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Actor two is living.

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Actor one is managing information.

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Actor two is pursuing behavior.

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Actor one is remembering lines.

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Actor two is having thoughts.

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And casting directors notice this.

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We may not consciously say they were

more memorized, although I can tell you

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sometimes we do say that.

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What we often say, though, is they felt

more real.

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That's the result.

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The audience doesn't care about

memorization.

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The audience cares about belief.

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And deep memorization often creates

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belief.

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Let's talk about the actor, who says, I

know it.

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Do you

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let's investigate,

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you know, page one, mostly,

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page two is strong, except for the

middle page that gets a little adventurous.

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Page four becomes

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interpretative.

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Suddenly the audience has become

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a scavenger hunt.

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You're searching for words like you're

looking for your car keys.

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And we've all been there.

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I certainly have been there.

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But there's a difference between

familiarity

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and mastery.

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Many actors mistake one for the other.

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So the real purpose of memorization,

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I think this is the most important idea

in this entire episode.

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Memorization is not the performance

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hear.

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That, again, memorization

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is not the performance.

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removes

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the obstacle

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to performance.

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Now you gotta write that down.

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Now that's the distinction.

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Think about learning to drive.

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For example,

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when you're first learning to drive,

everything

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requires conscious effort,

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mirrors,

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breaks, signals,

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steering

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speed.

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And the truth is you're thinking

constantly.

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Years later,

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you simply drive

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the mechanics disappear.

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The same thing happens with scripts.

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When the words become automatic, your

attention can shift elsewhere to behavior

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need connection, listening.

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Humanity

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that's where acting lives.

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Not in the memorization

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beyond it.

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Casting wants to see you in the role.

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That's the next part, that's the next

section.

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Let's take this idea simply one step

further.

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One of the most common things I hear

actors say is,

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I don't want to get locked into a

performance

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well that's a fair concern, I

understand it.

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That was pretty much the reason why I

said, don't worry about memorizing.

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Because

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nobody wants to sound rehearsed.

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No one wants to become mechanical.

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Nobody wants to lose spontaneity.

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But here's what I've discovered.

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Actors often confuse memorization

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with rigidity.

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And they're not the same thing.

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In fact, the actors who know the

material best are often the most spontaneous.

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Why?

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Because they're not thinking about the

words.

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Think about a conversation with a close

friend.

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You don't know exactly what you're

going to say, but you know what you mean.

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You know what you're after.

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You know your thoughts.

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You know your intention.

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The words emerge naturally.

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Great audition.

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Preparation works exactly the same way.

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When you know the script deeply enough,

the scene begins to belong to you.

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The lines stop feeling like somebody

else's writing.

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The thoughts become your thoughts.

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The behaviour becomes your behaviour.

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The circumstances

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become your circumstances.

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I can tell you, that's when casting

stopped seeing an actor reading lines

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and starts seeing a person living

through an experience.

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And that's what we're looking for.

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We're going to talk about the three

levels of memorization.

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Right after this.

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Welcome back.

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Let's talk about the three levels of

memorization.

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And I'm going to give you a simple

framework.

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Three levels

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that's all.

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Level one,

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knowing the words.

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This is where most actors stop.

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You can repeat the lines, you can get

through the scene.

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You probably won't get lost.

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Well, that's good, necessary,

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but not enough.

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Level two,

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knowing the thoughts.

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This is where things get interesting.

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Now you no longer memorize words.

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You're memorizing ideas

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intentions, needs,

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the reason you're speaking.

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You understand what every thought is

trying to accomplish.

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This is where behavior

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starts appearing.

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Level three,

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owning the experience.

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This is the goal.

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The words become invisible, the

thoughts become automatic.

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The scene

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belongs to you.

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You're no longer performing information.

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You're pursuing something.

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You're affecting another person,

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your living.

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And when that happens,

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I promise you, magic starts showing up.

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Not every time,

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but

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far more often.

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Let me share a common experience.

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I've seen actors arrive beautifully

prepared,

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completely off book, fully engaged, and

something unexpected happens.

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Like, for example, the reader misses a

line,

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a noise interrupts

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the camera malfunctions of phone rings,

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something goes wrong.

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The actor Smiles, adjusts,

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continues.

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No problem.

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Why?

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Because they know the scene,

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not just the words.

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The scene.

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Now compare that to an actor who has

only partially memorized the material,

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one disruption,

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one unexpected moment,

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and the entire structure collapses.

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Why?

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Because they were holding on to the

words instead of understanding

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the experience?

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Preparation

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creates flexibility, not rigidity.

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That's a very important lesson.

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I think.

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Write that down.

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Let's talk about over memorization

versus over rehearsing.

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We have to address a concern here,

because some listeners are already

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thinking, Jeff.

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Are you telling me to rehearse my

audition fifty times?

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No,

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not at all.

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Over memorization

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is rarely the problem over rehearsing

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often is.

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There's a big difference

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over rehearsing means deciding exactly

how

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every line will sound, every pause,

every gesture, every reaction.

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You're essentially

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turning a living scene into a museum

exhibit.

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Everything is frozen.

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Nothing can change

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that's dangerous.

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Deep memorization doesn't do that.

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Deep memorization

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creates freedom.

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Think of musicians

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the greatest musicians know their

material inside and out.

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Then they play,

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then they improvise.

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Then they discover

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actors can do the same thing.

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Know it thoroughly,

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then let it breathe.

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Now I want to share a simple

memorization

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system with you.

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Pete, people ask me this, by the way,

all the time.

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What's the fastest way to memorize

321

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honestly.

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Consistency,

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not cramming, not panic,

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not midnight desperation,

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consistency.

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So here's a simple approach.

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Step one,

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read the scene for understanding.

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Just make it make sense.

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Don't memorize yet.

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Just understand what's taking place.

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Step two,

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identify which each thought

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is trying to accomplish.

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E, g,

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what do you need?

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What are you pursuing?

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Then step three,

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work small sections repeatedly.

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Step four,

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speak the thoughts

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aloud.

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Step five,

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put the script down sooner than you

think.

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Most actors keep the script in their

hands too long.

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Trust yourself,

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make mistakes recover

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that's how memorization becomes durable.

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And finally,

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sleep

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seriously.

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Sleep helps memory.

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A tired actor trying to memorize twelve

pages at two in the morning is rarely

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producing their best work.

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Although many continue trying.

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This is the actor reset challenge.

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Now here's your challenge for this week.

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Take a scene that you've worked on

before, maybe even one you've

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auditioned with, and ask yourself, do I

know the words, or do I know the thoughts?

360

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Then ask a harder question,

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does the scene belong to me yet, or am

I still borrowing it

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that's the difference.

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That's where growth happens, that's

where auditions become more compelling

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00:17:01,621 --> 00:17:02,655

and frankly more enjoyable.

365

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Because acting is much more fun when

you are not

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constantly worried about what's coming

next

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as we finish today's episode let's

revisit.

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The central idea,

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memorization is not the performance.

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Memorization is not talent.

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is not artistry.

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Memorization is not behavior.

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Memorization is not truth.

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Memorization

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simply removes obstacles.

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It clears the runway.

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It allows everything else to take

flight.

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The goal is not perfect.

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Recall the goal is freedom.

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And the actors who achieve that freedom

often become more watchable, more

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believable and more connected.

382

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Well, not because they're memorized,

383

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because they no longer need to think

about memorization.

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The words disappear, the life remains.

385

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And that's what casting wants to see

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00:18:04,818 --> 00:18:05,885

cool next time.

387

00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:11,191

In part four of the actor reset series,

the character lives in the body first.

388

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Yeah, we're going to explore something

many actors overlook completely,

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the physical life of character,

390

00:18:20,500 --> 00:18:25,605

how posture, movement, rhythm, energy,

gesture and physical behavior

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00:18:26,39 --> 00:18:27,941

can dramatically transform my

performance

392

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without becoming artificial

393

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or forced.

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And it's one of my favorite subjects,

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and I think it may surprise you

396

00:18:38,118 --> 00:18:39,52

until then.

397

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Learn the words, own the thoughts, live

the experience.

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00:18:44,657 --> 00:18:45,392

I'm Jeff driesback.

399

00:18:46,92 --> 00:18:46,826

Thank you for listening.

400

00:18:47,227 --> 00:18:48,962

This is casting

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00:18:49,396 --> 00:18:50,230

actor's castle