Ruth Kulerman

So what is the art of acting? Let's hit the basics, I mean down in the sub-sub-sub basics. Having performed in probably over 300 projects in my 20 years in the profession, I declare that the first requirement of acting is
YOU HAVE TO BE UNDERSTOOD--and that requirement comes down to the "mumble and scratch" school of acting or the "I am sitting on your shoulder and need only whisper in your ear to have you hear me" school of acting. There are indeed a few TV shows that demand the "whisper" approach but to me the first requirement is to be heard. In my very first NY play, the director gave me a brilliant piece of advice. I was sitting playing cards in the opening scene. Me, a brand new, middle-aged, albeit trained, actress playing cards on stage with three actresses whose combined years of theatre experience were well over a hundred years. I sat and played
cards, looked at the cards, cast down, shuffled. Then I noticed my fellow actors tapping fingers, rubbing chins or noses, scratching, patting hair, pushing glasses up noses, stretching arms--'DOING THINGS.' And I, anxious to learn, started to tap, rub, etc. After the rehearsal the director came bustling over. "What were you doing up there?" His tone was not pleased. I told him. HIS BRILLIANT RULE WHICH I HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN "Get on stage, let them see you, let them hear you. Get off." LET THEM HEAR YOU. RULE ONE IN THE ART OF ACTING. RULE ONE AND A HALF: ONCE THEY HEAR YOU THEY HAVE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE SAYING (No mumbling, please)
RULE TWO in the ART OF ACTING?
YOU HAVE TO SOUND REAL.
That is where a coach comes in -- an honest coach. Someone has to tell us because most of the time we do not hear when a word is slithering into the hole of "not believable---not sounding real." Many actors have come to think that saying something as boringly and as dully as possible equates sounding real. NOT SO.
Recently I saw Maggie Smith, one of our greatest actresses--always quirky, however, but fascinating --in one of the
"Harry Potter" late night reruns. Odd, exaggerated, excessive, funny--yes. But somehow simultaneously bull's eye center "real." Young Harry sounds real. So does everyone else in the film. And yet most of the "characters"
were what some people might call "way over the top." Perhaps. But nevertheless, REAL.
As an "ear training" exercise, start listening to actors. Who sounds real most of the time, all of the time, has a
one word lapse?
To recap -- the very basis of the Art of Acting is to be
understood (Do not whisper, do not mumble) and to sound real.
By "understood" I do not mean sounding like a Shakespearean 19th century declamatory actor. A simple thing
like keeping the energy going to the end of the word will often cure mumbling. Mostly mumbling is the result of a careless or lazy tongue or an attitude that says to the listener "You fill in the missing sounds."
But Rule One: You have to be understood.
How to fix not sounding real? Several chapters later, all full of sound and fury, and mostly sounding real boils down to what you do with the end of a sentence. AND THAT requires a listener. If there is no listener you trust, then learn to listen to actors on film and TV and then tape yourself. It's not as good as having someone reliable to work with, but maybe just becoming aware of what good actors do at the ends of sentences will help you with learning to sound real.
Yes, yes, I know that theoretically if you are "truthful" you will sound real. Unfortunately, that is not always the touchstone. I have had students tell me they really felt a scene or monologue or whatever and the feeling has not translated into sounding real. Sound is what an audience hears, not your emotions. The sound carries the emotions.
Think about it.
Acting is indeed an art--and one we seldom achieve. It is the never-ending fight to create the art, that wondrous challenge, that makes it worth all the effort.
BE HEARD AND UNDERSTOOD, BE REAL AND SOUND REAL. Basics.