How to Tackle those One-Liners.

Ask any actor and they will tell you the most difficult auditions they go on are for one line roles.  You see these on every TV show: the paramedics, nurses, waiters, receptionists with lines like, "Your table is right this way" or "The stab wound is in curtain two."

I went in for the role of "Assistant" on a TV show a few years back and the line was "Your dinner reservation is at 8."  At the audition, I walked into the room and said my line.  The casting director looked up at me and gave this direction: "Great.  Now say it like you're the assistant to a scientist."

What the hell does that mean?!  I mean, how would the assistant to a scientist say anything?

So, I turned around, took a breath, and just said the line again.  Did I say it like the assistant to a scientist?  I have no idea.

The problem with one-liners is that you don't have much to work with and how are you supposed to make yourself stand out with just one line?  A few weeks ago I went to a workshop with a casting associate who spent years casting a procedural drama that required a lot of your typical one-liner roles.  She had some great tips on tackling these roles.  Here are a few of them:

1. Don't over think it.  Generally, these roles are jobs and you do this job everyday.  It doesn't need to be dramatic.  Keep it simple.
2. Don't drag the line out with lots of unnecessary pauses.  I know it's a short line and you want to be seen for as long as possible, but it's more important to be truthful.
3. Give yourself a moment before you start the line.  You can turn or step into it.  This is a good moment for you to relax, but also practical because it gives the casting director time to find your name on her list so she can actually watch your audition.
4. Remember every part and line is important.  If it wasn't it wouldn't be in the script.  Put as much work into as you would any other audition.  And it's just one line, so please have it memorized.

Now that you've booked that one line role, what should you do?  Exactly what this guy did in his video, One Line on the Sopranos.  (I know I've posted this video before, but it's an awesome video and I'll take any excuse to watch it again.)

Have You Tried Asking?

A couple months ago I came across this video on YouTube: Please Give Me One Million Dollars.  This guy does these videos asking for, well, one million dollars.  Funny video, right?  About a month later I saw this: Please Give Me One Million Dollars - Success!  That's right, someone actually gave him one million dollars and all he did for it was ask.  My first response naturally was that is ridiculous!

My second response, why didn't I think of that?! 

Then I started to think about what I really want, even more than a million dollars, the chance to work in my chosen profession as an actor.  (Although, if anyone wants to give me a million dollars I will gladly accept it.)  That's when I went on YouTube and asked for a part in one of my favorite series, Battlestar Gallactica, in An Open Letter to Ronald D. Moore.

Has it worked yet?  Well no, but it took four years for Erik Weiner to get a role on "Boardwalk Empire" after his brilliant video One Line on the Sopranos.

While I wait to see if Ronald Moore ever contacts me, I might as well try for something else, like a role in the new Star Trek film:

 

So, what do you really want?  Why not just ask for it?