Any writers on this board done any acting?

[echomusic]

In kind of keeping in line with Scott’s topic last week -- I acted for a few years (still do from time to time) and I always hated it when I was presented with a script with little to no room to contribute something.

Having said that. I find that now when I write, I’m writing for the actors. I make a specific point not to fill in every space and paint every color in. I want to give the actor room to explore and bring things to the game. I make sure that there’s a guideline, areas not to go in to, but all in all I want to lay down the foundation and let them create the rest of the architecture.

Was curious is any other writers on here have acted.

[echenry]

Echomusic,

No, I've never done any acting. Interesting to read that you hated scripts which had little to no room to contribute anything. Isn't that more a reflection of the director than the script?

I've written a lot of scripts and would like to query some actors and TRY to get them to read with the intent of getting them interested as elements.

Being an actor yourself, do you have any tips as how to "woe" an actor with a role in spec. script?

Thanks,

E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

[violet]

I've done some acting, and my acting classes have done more for my writing than any screenwriting class I've taken. They helped me understand the difference between the action (what the character is doing) and the objective/need of the character (what s/he is trying to get).
@e.C Henry As an actor, I think I'm most attracted to roles where I feel like my character is a real person- someone struggling with something that matters to them, someone conflicted, someone who wants something. The most attractive thing you can do as a writer is make the character honest, I think. What attracts me to characters is recognition- recognizing myself, my best friend, my mom, my teacher, in this character. Recognizing that they do not just exist for the purpose of propelling the plot, but that they have a life of their own.
And how does this come across? I have no idea. In the details, maybe. I don't know how, but it's always recognizable. I can always tell which characters exist because the writer needs a certain archetype or if they are actually vivid and have a life of their own.

[echenry]

@ Violet

Thanks for taking the time and giving me your advice.

[echomusic]

Mar 10, 2010 7:53:28 GMT -5 @echenry said:

Being an actor yourself, do you have any tips as how to "woe" an actor with a role in spec. script?

Love scenes with a chance for the actor to see some boobies?
That always worked for me.

But for real now, get your mind out of the gutter -- I think the key is to write a role that has several layers the actor can play. Actors (we’ll say males, since that’s what I am) don’t want to play A LEADING MAN, they want to play a Leading Man with subtext and inner dialogue, things they can work with and explore.

So to write a character that is 100% defined kind of kills that deal.
Write someone that has grey areas so you and the actor can discuss what to bring out from it. Fill in those gray areas with colors.

As we all know, film is a collaborative process. No need to kill that with a script that can’t be changed along the way of exploration.

Having said that, that doesn’t always work. But when it does, we get great moments like John McClane in the bathroom delivering his final message for his wife. We get Christopher Walken’s emotional moment at the dinner table with his son in ‘Catch Me If You Can’. And we get (my favorite) the great line ‘It’s not the years, honey…it’s the mileage.’ Which was not in the original script, but brought to set by Harrison Ford himself.

And if all of that fails…love scene with boobies.