Cold Reading Tips

by Susan Dansby

Overview

Most actors hate cold readings. But they're unavoidable. Practically every audition for movies, prime time television shows, soap operas and commercials requires a cold reading.

Why do they call it cold? Because you have little-to-no time to prepare. You could receive your "sides" (scenes sometimes taken directly from the film or TV project for which you are auditioning) a few days before, the night before or moments (!) before you audition.

If you have any hope of landing a part from this type of audition, you must be able to absorb the material quickly, and you must perform it as though you've rehearsed it for weeks. It's like going from first reading to final take in less than 60 seconds.

Interestingly enough, although this method of auditioning is commonplace throughout the industry, most actors are pretty bad at it. Not because they're bad actors, but because actors are used to rehearsing.

In the theatre, you get to rehearse for weeks. In acting class, you're encouraged to rehearse a scene until you've mined everything you can from it. That could take months. So why do producers insist on auditioning you with this kind of "guerilla" acting? Because that's precisely what is going to be demanded of of you in film and television acting jobs.

In sitcoms, scenes are sometimes rewritten on the fly to punch them up. And right there, in front of an audience, is where you have to assimilate the changes.

And if you think you're guaranteed more time in film, think again.

Sure, actors spend lots of hours on film sets just hanging out. But what happens when they decide to shoot out of order because the sunset is perfect, and you've got to nail your most challenging scene in one take before they lose the light?

No doubt, mastering cold readings will help you throughout your career, no matter what acting job you get. But first you've got to get the job. So here are some tips on how to wow them at that cold reading audition.

Specific Tips

Warm Up
An athlete would never think of competing for an Olympic event without warming her muscles. When you're auditioning, you are doing a performance. It is opening night. Warm up your body, warm up your voice, and DEFINITELY warm up your acting skills by practicing with a few cold reading scenes. And you do that by following the same process you'll follow when you get to your audition:

Read It Out Loud
Read the scene aloud at least once. Get used to these particular words going past your lips and tongue.

Analyze It
With each scene, determine the following:

MOMENT BEFORE - What happened the instant before this scene started?
GOAL - What does my character want?
MOTIVATION - Why does my character want that particular goal?
TACTICS - What does my character do to get what he/she wants?
CRISIS - Where in this scene does it look like my character WILL NOT get what she/he wants?
BASIC ACTION - What journey does my character take through the scene?

Rehearse It
Do the scene once using the analysis you've just done.

Explore Options
Analyze the scene again, making the character broader and taking them in a completely different direction. If they were sad the first time, make them happy. If they were sober, make them drunk. What you're doing is preparing yourself for any possible notes the folks auditioning you might give. You never want to "lock in" your performance of a cold reading scene. Instead, your goal is to be ready, willing and able to do this character with any adjustment you're given.