What Is This Thing They Are Calling "Power"?
Ruth Kulerman

Your letter has wandered around my head for several hours. It is one of the few times I have truly wanted to hear a writer in person. What I keep wondering is what your critics mean by "power." It may be a matter of misuse of language. There is so much vague jargon in our profession, so many words which we hope have similar definitions. And seldom do.

My first guess is that they use "power" to refer to that inner electricity, to that embracing of the audience, that joy of being in the act of acting. It is a kind of light inside that makes you miss the actor when s/he is not in the scene. Magnetism. The ability to mesmerize. Way way way past being merely competent or interesting.I wrote an entire article, "Embraceable You," describing what I think they may mean by "power." Here is a quote from that article. I describe here an actor entering the room for his first coaching session.

"...walked in owning the place. He spilled energy all over the room. He focused on me, not on himself or the impression he was making. His "Hello" accompanied an ear-to-ear smile that reached his eyes...He entered, greeted, smiled, and without saying anything else sent a message: "I am so glad to be here. Isn't this just GREAT! I am GREAT! You are GREAT! The world is GREAT!" What a role-winning message! What an A+ initial impression! What an embracing actor!...He embraced himself, me, the situation with a contagious pleasure. Too many actors embrace their self-doubts, their insecurity, their expectation of rejection, their “vulnerability.” What you are embracing is the first thing a casting director senses before you take three steps into the room..."

Is it possible that you are not letting your energy, your joy, your total love of self, of acting, of the audience, of life itself -- not allowing this light to reach out and embrace everyone who hears you. Although they may comment on your emotional connection with the material and your delivery, what may be missing is you, yourself. This may seem like heresy but that inner light is more important than looks, than clothes, than talent, than emotional connection, more important than delivery. Too often we allow our self-doubts cloud our joy. We give our power away
We fail to give of self. We cannot embrace.

So how do we overcome this possible barrier?

Examine what is going through your mind as you enter the audition room, step on stage or in front of the camera. Can you think of anything you would rather be doing at that moment? Auditioning is the greatest performance, the most challenging in your career. If acting (auditioning or performing) isn't the greatest "up" in your life at that moment, then I strongly suggest you discover what it is that makes you feel more alive than acting. It is urgent to give everything, hold back nothing. Even if the role requires the character to "hold back" or to be "withdrawn" the actor cannot hold back, cannot be withdrawn.

Having examined your willingness to give everything in a performance (audition), you might turn back to the words, the text and be sure your voice has all the variety each sentence demands. The sound of the voice simply has to be worked with in person or on the phone. It cannot be described in words. It is SOUND. But vocal variety is one great way to declare your power.

1.Give of self -- embrace the audience. 2. Sentence delivery with great variety. Next? Dare to "surprise" your listener. That is, do not always give the expected delivery. Give free rein to your imagination and intuition. Search for other "possibilities."

In conclusion, I truly would love to hear you. If you are ever in New York, please contact me (Google) and let me give you a half hour and see/hear in person what is missing. Let me hear in person what is being called "power."
I think it may instead be called "Self."
Ruth Kulerman, NYC

That's an interesting question.
Do you break down the scene at all before doing your audition? MOST scenes(definitely not ALL!!)normally have something in it that you HAVE TO HAVE from the other person. You NEED love. You NEED validation. You NEED respect. Find what that NEED is before doing the scene.

I always say to do the scene as if this is your last day on earth, so you HAVE to get your message across NOW. There's NO tomorrow. And if you think about it, life REALLY is that way. No one is guaranteed tomorrow. So prep your mind with that thought before walking in the room. "There is NO tomorrow."

If you practice prepping your mind with that thought and realizing that it is TRULY reality (are YOU guaranteed tomorrow?), then eventually you can do it without it feeling pushed or contrived.

Best wishes and welcome to LA!

Dana Hanna
www.MySpace.com/DeemovieStar