How We Role: A Podcast for Actors by Casting Networks
How We Role: A Podcast for Actors by Casting Networks, breaks down an actor's journey, one topic at a time. Join award-winning actor, writer and host Robert Peterpaul alongside industry talent and experts as they discuss how to build a successful career as a performer and beyond in the entertainment industry. From inspirational casting stories to practical advice on the craft of acting, tune in to expand your skill set and book that role.
Get cast today at castingnetworks.com.
How We Role: A Podcast for Actors by Casting Networks
How to Craft Authentic Performances FAST with Famed Acting Coach Warner Loughlin
How do I craft an authentic performance under time constraints? Celebrated acting coach Warner Loughlin joins How We Role to share her revolutionary techniques for preparing roles under tight time constraints, including:
- Quick script analysis & scene arcs
- The patterns of behavior we shouldn't ignore
- Treating auditions as "collaborative meetings" & more
For nearly 3 decades Warner Loughlin has empowered actors. She has coached Emmy, Golden Globe, Tony and Grammy winners, including talents like Oscar-nominee Amy Adams, Glen Powell, Ryan Reynolds, Matt Bomer and White Lotus star Michelle Monaghan to name a few. Known for her warmth and intuitive approach, Warner’s technique shatters the myth that an actor's past emotional traumas must be the fuel or foundation for their work.
Spelled out in her beautiful book The Warner Loughlin Technique: An Acting Revolution, Warner’s method is imaginative, practical and psychologically deep, giving actors a safe and effective way to access emotion and create extremely nuanced and unique performances. Warner studied Contemporary Literature and Shakespeare at Oxford University and received her BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can find out more about her and her sensational acting studio at www.warnerloughlin.com.
This is - How We Role. Get cast today at castingnetworks.com.
Follow Host, Actor and Producer Robert Peterpaul (Amazon's Sitting in Bars with Cake, The Art of Kindness podcast) on Instagram @robpeterpaul and learn more at robertpeterpaul.com.
Follow Casting Networks on social media for casting news, interviews and more:
Instagram
Threads
Facebook
LinkedIn
YouTube
Hi, I'm Warner Loughlin, I'm 5'3" and I'm an acting coach, and this is how we Roll.
Speaker 2:When it comes to working in entertainment, there's a lot of hows, and they all boil down to how we navigate this wild industry. While how we follow our dreams is uncertain, how we roll along the way is in our hands. Welcome to how we Roll, a podcast for actors by Casting Networks. Hello actors, it's your friend, robert Peterpaul. Thank you for tuning back in Quick cue what actors have inspired you lately.
Speaker 2:I've really admired the cast of the White Lotus. I know I'm not alone here. They chewed up some really intense monologues, including the veteran actor Sam Rockwell. I recently heard him discuss that he almost didn't take his supporting role because he was on another project and he felt like he didn't have enough time to properly prepare for this one. This got my gears turning. I mean, what even is the ideal prep time To me? Sometimes it feels like I could never have enough, and other times I love not having the time to overthink. Anyway, time is not often on our side in this industry, so it's handy to know how to bring a person to life under tight time constraints.
Speaker 2:A lovely creative who helps actors do this professionally is today's guest, famed acting coach, warner Laughlin. For nearly three decades, warner Laughlin has empowered actors. She has coached Emmy, golden Globe, tony and Grammy winners, including folks like Amy Adams, glenn Powell, matt Bomer and even White Lotus star, michelle Monaghan. Known for her warmth and intuitive approach, warner's technique shatters the myth that an actor's past emotional trauma must be the fuel or foundation of their work. Spelled out in her beautiful book, which I highly recommend, the Warner Laughlin Technique. Warner's method is imaginative, practical and psychologically deep, giving actors safe and effective ways to access emotion and create extremely nuanced, unique performances. Warner studied contemporary literature and Shakespeare at Oxford University and received her BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can find out more about her and her sensational acting studio at warnerloughlincom. Warner is a true champion for artists and I hope this conversation makes you feel empowered. This is how we roll with role preparation under tight time constraints, featuring Warner Laughlin and I. Warner, I'm so glad to share a space with you today. Hello.
Speaker 1:Robert, I'm so glad to see you. You do so much for actors. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Oh, right, back at you. I admire you immensely, as I've already told you before we started recording here, and, like many other actors, I have just been transformed by your revolution, your book, the Warner Laughlin Technique. If you don't have this book, get up. Well, pause this drive safely and go buy it. We're just on Amazon, right? I guess we don't have to go to bookstores anymore, but I love bookstores. I'm really rambling, but thank you, warner, I'm so excited to connect with you today.
Speaker 1:Me too you.
Speaker 2:That's so sweet. I like that was much more succinct than me. I'm like well, we're going to focus on something today that's in your treasure trove of a book. It's a bit of a smaller chapter. There's so much in there, but it's done brilliantly and I think it's something a lot of actors will find useful. So we're going to talk all about prepping for roles under tight circumstances, tight time constraints, which essentially is an audition, I guess, or, if we're lucky, a last minute booking. So we're going to really kind of fast track, breathing life into a role. How does that sound?
Speaker 1:Sounds amazing and like such a fun, good and very needed topic, I think.
Speaker 2:I think so too. It's a question I get a lot is how do I prepare for an audition very quickly? And one of the things I really love about your work just to get some context here is that you're one of us. You started out as an actor, once an actor, always an actor, I think. And so, before we kind of dive in, I would love if you could tell listeners this fantastic story of how you kind of organically took a little U-turn from your actor path into the coaching lane.
Speaker 1:Which if you had asked me, you know years ago. If you had said years ago you're going to be an acting coach, I would have gone. What it was? Completely by accident, a friend of mine who's a manager asked me to lunch. We were just good buddies. He wasn't my manager.
Speaker 1:So I went to his office, we had lunch and he goes oh, warner Warner, I've got this actor. He cannot book. He's so talented but he can't book a job. Would you please work with him? And I said I'm not a coach, I can't. I'm an actor, I'm not a coach, I don't know. I said, plus, I do something really odd. I've got this well, it's not odd, but it's a little bit different acting technique. And he goes just do it for me.
Speaker 1:So I relented, I said yes, okay, I'll work with him. I worked with him and I had forgotten something in his office. And so three days after that I ran back up to his office to retrieve it and he's on the phone and he he said he gives me this finger up and he puts the phone on speakerphone and he goes. Can you say that again? And he was on the phone to casting. I'm like please don't say it was me, because the casting director said who coached him? I'm like, don't say it was me, it was me. Because I'm like, did he tank casting is like we're gonna freaking give him the job anyway. That casting director ended up sending people to me and I would just tell them I'm an actor, I'm not a coach, but come on over.
Speaker 1:I'll help you out, which is exactly how the whole studio started.
Speaker 2:I love that, and I know you weren't even charging people at first, which I just think speaks to how passionate you are about it think speaks to how passionate you are about it.
Speaker 1:I just love to see people fly.
Speaker 2:It floats my boat a lot more than when I booked a job. Yeah, I feel the same. I love that, and over the years you kind of fleshed out this technique. I guess that you had in your head. I'm sure that was a process of actually taking it out of your head and then translating it to everybody else. I know it's hard for a lot of actors to kind of conjure up and think about what they're even doing, and I sort of feel like most of us try the big standard methods you know, and then we kind of cobble together our own thing. Yours is so beautiful because, again, it's so tangible, so accessible, it makes it so easy and fun and it kind of boils it down to my favorite thing, which is imagination, playing with our imaginations. We're all just kids in the playground, so can you please just give listeners like a Reader's Digest version of this beautiful technique that we're going to touch on today?
Speaker 1:Thank you, Robert, so much. We all start with what's on the page. What does the writer give us? And we are like little detectives trying to find out who is this person and what makes this person tick.
Speaker 2:Yes, I have a magnified glass right here. I wish I did.
Speaker 1:Right. So we start with the givens. Just what are the facts? What are the facts? Where does this take place? What genre is it? Who is this person I'm about to play? Uh, where does he or she fit into the scope of everything? Then we go to the howls of behavior. How is the character behaving? Is he or she behaving dismissively in the face of relationships or, um, is this character guarded or is this character very aggressive? I mean any number of things. But we take the dialogue and we look at the howls of behavior, and then we start, our imaginations start to fly and we go hmm, I wonder, perhaps because why, what are this character's? Maybe issues back in their younger lives? And then we this is such the nutshell version but in the younger life, what might have happened to this character to make them the adult that they are today? What were the circumstances behind it? What events, life events did they lead that brought them to be the person they are today?
Speaker 1:Which helps us kind of get out of ourselves and into somebody else's skin and their hearts and thoughts.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you're all about that. I think the book opens with a quote about seeing through someone else's eyes instead of sort of like making it about you. That's trickled throughout the book and you know it's been such a hit, this technique. Again, I love the book. I know so many people do. You've had such success with your studio as it organically developed.
Speaker 2:I do need to touch on the fact that you've also had success in regards to the people you're coaching, like Amy Adams and Ryan Reynolds, to the students at your studio. Again, I know, like an Amy and a Ryan, they're probably not auditioning anymore. I think they've earned that, but they might still have to prep for a role really quickly. And so, before we get into like the granular details of that I can never say that word, I don't know why I always choose it Granular, that could be like a warm up Irish wristwatch, granular you know what common habits or mindsets have you seen that set people that we all sort of maybe worship and give Oscars to apart while preparing for roles? Have you seen like a common thread with those folks?
Speaker 1:It is the same with the Oscar winners that I coach, as it is with any other actor. There is no huge difference between. I mean, we're all actors, so every actor, even the ones that we think, oh, they know it all. There's no difference. Everybody still gets a little nervous on day one of shooting. Everybody still feels like have I prepped enough? Have I done enough? Do I know this character? It's the same feeling. I don't think we ever get rid of that feeling in our whole lives.
Speaker 2:You know you're reminding me too of something in the book that I won't spoil, but there's this wonderful metaphor with a vase where someone puts marbles in and they say is it full? And then they pour sand over that and they say now is it full? And it's sort of what we're going to touch on today. I think putting just the marbles into a jar, let alone all the other stuff, can be enough. It's like it'll never be enough if you keep pushing yourself. So let's kind of roll into this quick role preparation process, starting at level one. Okay Ding, I just got a little Casting Networks notification that I have an audition due in a day. Warner, I got a lot to do today already. I have to break this down. So I have the sides, I have the email from casting. What would you recommend I do first, before anything else?
Speaker 1:Okay, this is all, depending on how much time do you have.
Speaker 2:Let's say I have just a day or two. It's like a TV film situation.
Speaker 1:Okay, plenty of time for an audition.
Speaker 2:Okay, I love that.
Speaker 1:Plenty of time. Yeah, first of all, let's don't panic.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay, unclench my arms, shake all, let's don't panic.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, unclench my arms shake it out. If you've gotten script, read it, because sometimes when you just look at sides, there's such a standalone thing that the script will give us so much more in terms of tone, where the character fits in with all the other players and all of that. So it's super important, if you can and if you have time, to read that script.
Speaker 2:Because you could read the script and just kind of look at your sides like we all want to rush to our scenes and not realize in the other scenes maybe there's characters calling the I mean characters an interesting word, but there's other characters calling your character, you know, like an a-hole or something, and so you go like, oh, maybe he's not a nice person, right? So that's a smart idea to try and gather all that information.
Speaker 1:You get so many more little jewels when you do that. Yeah. And sometimes I read scripts just for fun. Yeah, I know that's nerdy, but yeah. But yeah, you get so much more um information when you do that, so first of all, do that now. Sometimes we don't have the script right. We got to go to that character breakdown that casting gives us. I sometimes take those breakdowns with a little tiny grain of salt because you're not quite sure who might have written those.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and sometimes they don't have the full script either. The person writing those?
Speaker 1:Right right, but it does give us a little flavor and a flair. I also read all the other characters, because sometimes in a breakdown they'll have all the other characters listed so you can kind of get an idea of things. They'll have a logline storyline. Usually that gives us more clues. I always look at who's producing, who's directing and who's casting, because well, first of all, casting directors are your best buds. I know we tend to see them as they can keep us from getting a job. Maybe we should look at them like they can help us get a job right, yeah.
Speaker 1:But different casting directors tend to like different things. Things like I know some casting directors like really kind of low-key performances, some, uh, like a little more enthusiastic, whatever. But no, no, casting directors and what they cast um directors know what they've done before, so all of those things can give us little clues as to what we're about to do right.
Speaker 2:I love that Okay.
Speaker 1:Now we've read the script. Okay, we've looked at the breakdown.
Speaker 2:Wait, let's stop at this first script to read, if you don't mind, Because, Warner, you touch on something that I know to be true. And yet every time I read a script for the first time, I have to fight myself not to start sort of reading the lines as if I think I'm already the character.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Thank you for saying that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, talk to me about that please.
Speaker 1:We need to read the script at arm's length and the signs at arm's length, meaning read it as if you were going to tell a friend of yours about it. Be a detective, remove yourself a little bit, because you can be far more objective when we remove ourselves a bit right. Otherwise, we tend to fall into things like oh, I know how that should sound, or how did I say this? Or oh, I felt like that, I just felt like that last week, things like that. We want to kind of avoid that. So we want to be as objective as possible in the beginning, because, again, you'll get far more clues. Yeah, yeah, we don't want to make ready decisions at that point. We want to see the overall picture of things.
Speaker 2:And that goes to, I think, for being a co star on a show, a guest star or any last minute booking. You don't know what the director has in mind. So if you go there with your idea, you know I did a film once where the whole scene was based around the sun setting and then we got there and production had been running way behind and there was no sun setting. So they're like just improvise kind of, throw it all out there, and if you're so married to your ideas, it makes it really hard to kind of be flexible. So, married to your ideas, it makes it really hard to kind of be flexible. So I like that. The first approach, the first read, is very big picture. Just we're storytelling, we're learning the story, not the person.
Speaker 1:You are so smart.
Speaker 2:Oh, I read your book Warner. Okay, that's what makes me have any sort of knowledge, any brain cells. What's your advice, kind of? Also, there's another pesky urge in the beginning that I have to fight. Maybe it's just me, maybe not, but I always have that thought of what does casting want? I'm an actor, I can give them anything. I can give them what they want. So what's your advice on sort of I know it's better to fight that and sort of let yourself shine through and show them your unique you versus trying to pigeonhole yourself.
Speaker 1:Right At this point in the stage of the game, when we say what does casting want, we start to go towards a result-oriented outcome. We haven't dug in the character enough. Even though we're going to go put this down on tape tomorrow or walk in the audition room tomorrow, we haven't dug down deep enough. Don't worry about what they want. They want you.
Speaker 2:That's so sweet. Everybody rewind that replay, that, write it on your walls, so okay. So once we've we've read the scene a couple of times, you say in your book read it as if you have all the time in the world, kind of take the pressure off. You're really wonderful at reminding actors to do that. I know you recommend determining one of the first things the what. What type of scene is this? Is it a breakup? Are we exchanging money? Am I buying something? Is there a different undertone? Are there certain things actors can do to really hone in on that what? And the point of the scene, Because sometimes our imaginations can run a little too far and we're like no's really about this, because of the other backstory I created, what's your, what's your suggestion there?
Speaker 1:exactly. Well, first of all, let's start with genre right, yes, we'll start with the genre, like is this a? It's a horror movie, is it a um, is it comedy? Is it a dramedy? What is? What's the genre here and that will tell us the tone, how deep psychologically is. Is it a heavy drama or is it a little bit on the lighter side, that sort of thing? Let me see if I can back into that question. Robert, ask me again Now. My mind just went no, that was.
Speaker 2:That's a. That's a great way to kind of get into it there. You know the, the genre, that's a good place. I was thinking. It's like I always go back to that thing. We learned in school early on the five w's, the who, what, where, when and why, and you talk about especially when you don't have a lot of time, even though we're pretending we do mentally the what is so important, because if you can get have a lot of time, even though we're pretending we do mentally the what is so important, because if you can get that, what sort of the relationships and everything else stems from there. So do you have any, I guess, tips on really just like finding the what, like where is the what in a scene when we're looking at it?
Speaker 1:Where is the what? Yes, well, you can kind of tell. Is it a breakup scene? Does my character want to stay with this character? What is my character trying to get from this other person, or what is that other person trying to get from me? It's really important to see the arc of the scene. We never walk in a scene the way we leave it, and it's really so much easier to tell how we're leaving the scene. Am I yelling at this person? Is he yelling at me? Yeah.
Speaker 1:No, have we made up in this scene, you know? So I mean it tells us a lot what happens at the end of the scene.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you always want somewhere to go right.
Speaker 1:Want somewhere to go. So, however, we walk out of that scene is not how we're going to enter the scene. However we walk out of that scene is not how we're going to enter the scene. So if it's, for example, if we end up breaking up at the end of the scene, we have it broken up at the top of the scene. Does my character want to stay in this relationship? Does my character want to let him down gently, or do I love him or her desperately? I mean, what is it you know? So we never enter the way you leave. So look at the emotion, at the end of the scene first.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's smart for the really sort of quick co-star roles as well, right, I think that sometimes sets you apart when you actually enter a scene differently. Let's say you have one line, you're delivering flowers and you're saying, can you sign for this? It's like are're delivering flowers and you're saying, can I, can you sign for this? It's like are you entering rushed and then maybe leaving a little bit peeved because they took your pen or whatever it is. It's like making those choices I think is helpful in these quick roles as well.
Speaker 1:Yes, there is an actual arc, even in, like a one line co-star. Look for it, find it, you'll find it Right. One thing thing about co-stars we don't want to be. Oh, what's the word somebody used with me once? Oh, like a ham or stealing the focus of the scene yeah, stealing the scene right, stealing the scene you, you are there to to help progress the scene, and so keeping that in mind kind of is helpful. With those one line, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, one of the most helpful things for me, one of my favorite things to do, that I've learned from you which sometimes we hear them called other things in other methods, but the way you kind of lay it out there again is so accessible and I've just latched onto it are the givens. So that's something I always start with, no matter what the scene is. I write down all the givens and that's so fun to kind of go through and sort of have again or you can correct me here if I'm wrong but that like step back look of just writing down the facts. So instead of writing like they're angry at that point, you would just write whatever the fact is and leave emotion out of it. For now Can you speak to that process at all, because I think it's such a fun, easy thing for us to do.
Speaker 1:Yes, and it helps us be a little objective too. Like the givens might be, upscale Manhattan restaurant Gives us a clue. Right, it might be he's dressed, or she's dressed in a cocktail attire, for instance. It might be. These are just the facts. So when we write down the facts and the reason I like to write them down is because we'll often just forget them when we're building character, because you'll be building a character, then you'll go oh wait, my character was in an upscale Manhattan restaurant. How did she get there? I mean, so writing those facts down, like she smokes or she carries a gucci purse little, just little. Things that you don't think about, things that you know. Just the facts, ma'am, that you can prove in a court of law. Those would be the givens right.
Speaker 1:Yes. Before we get to any kind of behavior. Behaviors would be something like oh, she was rude to the waiter. I gotcha, yeah. When asked if she would like a cocktail, she was rude to the waiter. She seems rude to the waiter. That would be a behavior as opposed to a given, which is a fact, because we're just assuming she was being rude to the waiter, right.
Speaker 2:Yes, and the other scene partners, to mention, I guess, the waiter. If they're the scene partner, they're helpful for these clues as well because they're also teaching us things. So writing down all the facts from you know the quick sometimes I'll go back. I read a side so quick that I did miss that like intro line where it says even just saying what time of day or where you know is it, oh, it's cold, it's outside. You know that affects you as well as a person. So everything you're sort of talking about, not just your character.
Speaker 1:Not just your character, everything, and sometimes your sides will start halfway down the page. Everything, and sometimes your sides will start halfway down the page.
Speaker 3:I always read even if it doesn't have anything to do with the character.
Speaker 1:I always read what's above that before the scene starts. It may or may not have anything to do with my scene at hand or my character at hand, but always read that, because you never know what clues you'll get from that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm going to say just another thing thing, yeah, usually casting will give us two, three scenes right after we've looked at them all and kind of built character a little bit. Um, look back at the scenes and note sometimes they'll have the scene numbers from the actual script, so they'll have maybe scene 22,. And then your next set of size may be scene 94, and your next set of size may be scene 123. So you know where it hits in the screenplay. So you know that my character has changed over time right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's smart time Right and also if it's a smaller role.
Speaker 1:when you say what is casting looking for, you can kind of discern oh, this is the happy light scene, scene number one. Scene number two is a little heavier, a little more dramatic, so they want to see something different from scene one or scene two.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You got to paint with multiple colors, otherwise it's just a white wall. You know, that's a great reminder. So while we're sort of in the script we've been talking about it a bit already but what do you think is the most effective way to really do script analysis during a time crunch? I mean, I love that nerdy stuff you get into the givens but your method is very specific.
Speaker 1:So what would you say to listeners that are in this situation right now? Let's just say that it's a drama. Um, I'm going to look at my relationship to the other characters in the scene. I do Does. Do I feel like I've known these other characters a long time? If not, um, when did I meet them? How important are they to me? Um, I might do a little bit of what we call flashes, which is just a little bitty memories and making up stories about how I know this person. Where did we meet? What's our relationship been like? If it's a long relationship, I might go to different flashes of him asking me out for the first time, our first dinner date, or him meeting my parents, or us going on a vacation Just little tiny memories that you build in there. Yeah, we call those flashes, but if you haven't read the book, you don't necessarily have to read the book to do those.
Speaker 2:No, and it's similar to. I mean, the way you break it down is different, but I would say it's akin to maybe a backstory, except instead of writing it down, you actually sit there and kind of go through it.
Speaker 1:You're imagining it. I mean, some people love to write things down. I think it's much more valuable, especially when you don't have time, to imagine scenario in your mind and make it vivid with, incorporate in your imagination smells and maybe touch and taste and that sort of thing that can help you really feel like it's a memory of this person no-transcript life.
Speaker 2:because of this, I feel like it's a really helpful life skill. So thank you. As humans, we're all either repeating patterns from our childhood or trying to mend them perhaps. So I guess let's break down my patterns right now. No, I'm just kidding. So I love how you kind of apply these patterns to your technique. Can you speak to that? I know, in a quick preparation process you may not have as much time to focus on that, but you might as much time to focus on that, but you might, but you might, you just might.
Speaker 1:We seek to repeat that that we've known since childhood, or we seek to repair. So it's either repeat or repair. So if you're doing a character, and this character is harsh towards a child, for example, and this character is harsh towards a child, for example, you can pretty much assume that in your quick backstory you're going to make because we only have until tomorrow- In the quick backstory, you might go back into your character's childhood and go oh, how did my mom treat me?
Speaker 1:Because this character now is repeating that pattern. We seek to repeat that that we've known since childhood. Or there are times when, as an adult, we will realize the patterns that we experienced in childhood and we'll go oh, I'm not going to do that anymore which will cause a very different adult behavior right.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So someone who might've been abused as a child may you know, physically abused as a child may now go. Oh, I'm going to make sure to treat everyone with kindness. They may end up being a people pleaser. They may end up you know a hundred different things, but it does give us an insight into the lives that we've led in the past, because everything that happened to us in our childhood and in our formative years shapes who we are today, how we treat people, how we view the world, how we look at the world. That's why creating that little backstory for your character can help you solidly be another person, rather than just going from our own life experiences, because that character may have similarities to you, but that character isn't you, with your, with the life that you've led. Yeah, the two lives may cross, which is, which is nice, but it's not exactly the same. Right, it'll be much more powerful, and it helps with too, because when we have to be ourselves, we can. It's like we want to put up this little shield and go no, you're right.
Speaker 1:But when we're a character, it's much easier to be a character. You're much freer being a character.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I come to that clip. I think it honestly was an advertisement for that masterclass online platform with Helen Mirren, where she walks into the room and sits down and she says what I did is one of the hardest things to do walk into a room as yourself. Again, there's heaps and heaps. It's pretty much every page. But I loved reading about how Amy Adams took her Catch Me, if you Can character Brenda out for a little spin to prepare for the role she put on prosthetics I think dental braces. She changed her hair, she used an accent, like a little Southern accent, went to a department store, and so I feel like doing that can really up the stakes. I remember after I read it, I did it for the next thing I was preparing for and it was. It was fun because you're like you know you have to really commit to the bit. Do you recommend those sorts of exercises to people, even if they don't have much time? Is that? Is that something you would recommend everybody trying out there?
Speaker 1:Sure, why not? I mean, you can. You can wash dishes as the character. You don't even have to go out of your place, you can vacuum. That sounds awful, doesn't?
Speaker 2:it. Hey, mrs Doubtfire, that's one of the most iconic scenes. Is Robin Williams vacuuming? Look at that.
Speaker 1:Good job, I hadn't even thought of that. You can brush your teeth with the character thoughts. What that is is just getting the character thoughts into your body. Character thoughts are huge. Character thoughts can save us from so much Speaking of auditions before the scene happens. We want to always be sure we have a character thought in our mind.
Speaker 1:And I love to call that the hard inner monologue, the prior instant thought, meaning what is my character thinking exactly and the words that my character is thinking it before the scene starts. We can't think a personal thought and a character thought at the same time, right? You can't think a Robert thought and a character thought at the same time.
Speaker 2:My brain will try Warner. Okay, you can.
Speaker 1:Our brains try, because our brains before an audition, whether that be in person or we're putting ourselves down on tape, is oh, I'm having such a bad hair day. Or why did I wear this? Oh, should I have one, should I have? Oh, my makeup looks oh, whatever.
Speaker 2:Triggered. Yes, yeah, triggered right.
Speaker 1:We think all these thoughts. So to keep us from doing that and to keep us centered on the character, this is this is good for shooting as well, huge for shooting you have to. Well, it will help you to have that character thought. It might be something as simple and I love to keep them simple like should I go in that room now, or whatever your character's thinking, it depends on what's going on in the beginning of the scene obviously no-transcript, so on the day and then they may choose a different one on the day when they're shooting. If a director wants to go in a different direction in the scene, it helps if you change your prior instant thought, your character's exact thought before, because whatever your character is thinking in the beginning of the scene, that's what's going to get you out of the gate into the scene.
Speaker 1:And it will take you out of the gate and into the scene in a whole different direction if you change that prior instant thought.
Speaker 2:I love that. I think that's so tangible and fun. Would you say that's something you derive again from the text, or is it something you just try different options of? Because obviously we're going to enter a scene very differently if we just got a ticket because we sped here and we're running late, versus you know whatever else we were thinking about, and then we're coming in thinking, oh, that police officer got me, you know. So where would you say the best place?
Speaker 1:to find these is. It depends on what's going on in the beginning of the scene. Is my character nervous about walking into this room? Then the prior instant thought might be something along the lines of why did I wear this Right? Yeah, is the character give me another, for instance, and I'll give you a prior instance?
Speaker 2:Oh, I love this. This is fun. Okay, everybody also think of one at home. And if we get the same one, you win a free Casting Networks membership. No, I'm just kidding, I can't promise that. I'm so sorry. Okay, so let's say I'm in the scene is hungry.
Speaker 1:And is not allowed to eat in the scene.
Speaker 2:Yes, they're going to be signing their mortgage for an hour and they're not to be able to leave the room Signing their new home lawyer things. Okay, Ooh, is that from? Is that from her? Is that because I just had to do? That Warner baby.
Speaker 1:I love that so much. It's like well, if I don't eat now, I don't have time to go to the deli down the street. Oh God, okay, don't let me faint. Yeah, that's a good priori, simple.
Speaker 2:That's fine. Okay, that's a really great exercise. I hope everybody tries that out at home before their next audition and I think it can shake the nerves, like we were saying. You know, speaking of nerves, obviously it can kind of make or break how a situation goes. Even if you're in your apartment with your partner recording, you know it's the same. That brings a different energy. Even if you go into a room and you're with a casting director, it can always change the audition. So do you have any other go-to strategies for actors to kind of help them stay grounded and maybe walk in a bit more confident?
Speaker 1:Let's if we could talk about mindset for just a minute.
Speaker 2:Oh, please, that's what I'm dancing around. Let's do it.
Speaker 1:Yay, we want to think just the word audition is like make or break. This is going to depend on if I can pay my rent or pay my mortgage, or this is going to make the difference in my career. No one audition is going to. We don't that out of our systems. Yes, it's an audition, but let's call it a collaborative meeting. Let's think of the audition as the gig and let's think of it not as we're going to go in that room to get something or I'm going to go on tape to get something. Let's think of it as I'm going to do this to give something. So it's giving, it's not expecting anything back from it, and I think that's huge.
Speaker 1:I was just talking with a girl yesterday. As a matter of fact, she's like gosh, auditions are so hard now because they're few and far between for me right now. And she said when I was a little younger I might have 10 a week and it was like nothing. I just go do it, I do the next one, I do the next one. And I think sometimes we place too much importance on any one thing, any one audition, so it becomes so vitally important that, oh, he just sees up Like I have to be good, I have to be good, I have to be good. Rather than getting back to the basics of let me get this character down as much as I have time to do, and then I'm going to go either on tape probably on tape these days. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm going to remember my prior instant thoughts because that's hugely important. The first little bit that casting sees you leaves a psychological impression. So that prior instant thought I think is huge. But I'm going to play and I'm going to enjoy this character and I'm going to have fun. This is the gig. It's the gig. Another thing about nerves. I mean sometimes you know our hands will sweat, so I've got an errant hair that will just not leave me alone. Me too.
Speaker 1:Sometimes we get cotton mouth, we'll get sweaty palms and you'll go God, don't be nervous, don't be nervous, don't be nervous. The only thing our brain hears is nervous. So if we just breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth, if we just breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth, plant your feet, ground yourself and then go oh look, how excited I am, because the body doesn't know the difference between nerves and excitement. Sometimes yeah.
Speaker 1:So, the more we try to deny, don't be nervous. Don't be nervous, you're going to be. Yeah, you're fighting.
Speaker 2:I love that little switcheroo flipping the script. You know, I always find it amazing Speaking of scripts. It's like you can have the same script, the same side, in your hand and you could have it for an audition, or you could have it after someone says you got the part and it's the same script. You're doing maybe the same thing, but it's just that. Yes, that changes maybe how it's delivered and it's all. This stuff is like a psychological experiment. You can be in the same room, but the person behind the table is completely confident eating lunch just themselves, and you're, you know, like a basket case. So all this stuff is so helpful because it's again, we need those like little I guess I call them not not life vests, but like little floaties that we can jump onto in the sea. I don't know why. I needed a metaphor. Yeah, we need floaties.
Speaker 1:I like your metaphor, though I like your metaphor, so treat the audition as if it's the job.
Speaker 2:I'm writing that down. You know all this said. I think if we could distill maybe this into like a short and sweet three-step, even preparation checklist for actors, like what would you say? Their top three must do things to hit to kind of make sure you're bringing a character to life in a very short amount of time. It can be the things we've covered, but are there three that you that stick out to you?
Speaker 1:know the genre. Create a quick backstory. Never enter the scene the way you leave it. Have some fun.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love the last one. That's why I play Dolly Parton before auditions sometimes, because she gets me going. I love it. Yeah Well, now we're going to go two doors down to play a little game called Casting Keywords, so this will be fun. I'm going to throw out some kind of statements or topics surrounding actors and role preparation, and you please say the first piece of advice that pops into your head.
Speaker 1:It's kind of like a Rorschach test, right.
Speaker 2:A little bit. Yes, we are going to have a lot of information about you after this is done, no, so okay, all right. So they're going to be a lot of information about you after this is done now. So, okay, all right. So they're going to be random, but, again, like, the whole goal is to give actors tangible advice, which you're really good at, so I think you'll be great.
Speaker 1:Okay, dialects don't feel as if you have to use the dialect in an audition, if you feel that it holds you back from the character.
Speaker 2:That's good, okay, warmups.
Speaker 1:It depends on if it's an in-person audition or a self-tape. I think breathing is hugely important for warmups. Sometimes we need a vocal warmup, but I think definitely breathing, centering, thinking, character thoughts are a very good warmup for auditions.
Speaker 2:Yeah, breathing's always smart because it means you're not in the ground. Okay, cold reads.
Speaker 1:Cold reads used to be a thing a whole lot of years ago. We don't see them so often anymore. But read it over very quickly Again, discern very quickly who is this girl, who is this guy. Quick personality assessment and do your best. Because it's cold, because you're doing it right here, right now, right, yeah, I remember back in my day you'd be in an audition and casting would go oh, would you mind just looking at this role instead? Your answer should be absolutely right and then ask could I take 10 minutes, then go in the restroom, close the stall, sit down and read it and make some quick judgments on that. But that doesn't happen so often these days.
Speaker 2:Well, let's pull over there for one second, because I think it might've been a couple of years ago now, but I one time went in literally the line was hey, and it was a Netflix show and it was my first time there and I was, you know, I was really excited and trying not to get too excited. And then in the room I guess my you know, I was really excited and trying not to get too excited. And then in the room I guess my hey was interesting because then they said take a look at this. And of course it was like a three page monologue essentially. And so I was excited and I had the wherewithal I knew probably from reading your book to say can I just have a moment?
Speaker 2:And I stepped outside and I think in that moment it actually was a little detrimental to me because it gave me more time to psych myself out. So when you take the time to really like break everything down, like you're saying in this scenario or could be applied to other situations, how do you kind of keep from getting in your own way in those moments? Do you have any advice there? I know we're in the middle of a flash round, but this could be a big flash.
Speaker 1:Take the focus off yourself and put the focus on the character. Wow, that's perfect.
Speaker 1:Even on set, sometimes when we're shooting, things will trip you up right and we get in our heads and go, oh gosh, I shouldn't have said that line that way. That sounded so stupid. So what we're doing is watching ourselves right, Rather than being the character, and the best way to pop your focus back to the moment at hand is to focus on the other actor and think a character thought so while you're out of that room looking at that three-page monologue not about me, it's about this character.
Speaker 2:Yeah, is that what you tell folks when you're with them on set? Because I know a lot of people are lucky to have you on set with them. And there's a great story about pivoting with Ryan Reynolds that I won't spoil from. I actually really loved that movie where you know he's buried well, he's in a coffin. Okay, I won't spoil anything, but you talk about the pivot in that scenario. So are those, let's say, someone isn't blessed enough to have you on set with them? But is that the kind of thing you would say to somebody in that moment is look at the other person in the scene, you know, shake it out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely Focus on them, because when we focus on ourselves, we're watching ourselves and we want to take care not to watch ourselves, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, speaking of watching ourselves eye contact, what would you, what would you say about that? Because I think that can be a bit of a pitfall. It's like sometimes we lock onto the scene, partner, and we just are afraid to look anywhere else.
Speaker 1:Right, Like when we're talking out, like if I'm thinking I'm looking off right now. That's not distracting, right? So don't feel like we have to connect, Connect, connect, connect connect, I know Sunday in the Park with George.
Speaker 2:Connect George. That's something Meryl Streep I mean she could do no wrong in my book but does beautifully. If you watch any of her scenes. She's kind of always looking around. She rarely is like she's choosing when to make eye contact.
Speaker 1:She's kind of always looking around.
Speaker 1:She rarely is like she's choosing when to make eye contact. It's natural. It's because you're focused on the character. If you're focused on the character, you're not thinking about I've got to make eye contact, because one thing we don't want to think about is I've got to give to the actor. We just want to be the character, and when we're just being the character, we just naturally look where our eyes naturally look. Another thing that you want to avoid is doing this eye to eye to eye to eye to eye like this. We don't do that in real life, but we feel that that's very dramatic. It's not. We don't want to do that in a close-up.
Speaker 2:No, yes, and you do see that on TV pretty often and I think it's sort of like maybe pick one eye to look at.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, don't you know.
Speaker 2:we don't want to search, I know I'm like this is like an eye exercise, I can't even. I think I just went cross-eyed. Ok, memorization, just I guess. In general, yeah, what are some tips there?
Speaker 1:Get your character down first, because once you get your character down, even if you've only had 30 minutes to work on your character, do that before you put it into rote memory. Because if you learn your lines first, it's going to come out in a sing-song kind of rote fashion. Very difficult to get it out of our heads that way, especially if you're lucky enough to go in for an in-person audition and casting wants to give you a note. It's hard to get that read out of our minds. But lines are so much easier to memorize once you know more about your character because your character is going to feel like saying that Brilliant.
Speaker 2:Okay, and this might be more in an audition setting, but wardrobe slash props.
Speaker 1:I don't love props in an audition. I like to use space work Like. This is a phone. I'm talking on the phone right now. I mean it's perfectly, I mean it's fine right. Yeah.
Speaker 2:We don't want to do that, Not this right. Don't do that.
Speaker 1:The space, the space that that it would take in our hand for the phone, right, If your character needs to drink water, I think a glass of water is perfectly fine. If you're going to shoot a gun, let's don't do this, but you might be playing a cop and the space that your hand would encompass that firearm for instance you might need that in the scene. But if we can avoid props in an audition, I think that that's probably better. We don't want to wear things that are busy or distracting, like Grateful Dead t-shirt.
Speaker 1:Maybe, playing a rocker. Maybe a black plain t-shirt is better, something that's not distracting and busy for sure. Yeah, you don't want to dress like the character, like you don't want to wear a policeman's uniform, even if you're playing, you know, auditioning for a police or a nurse outfit or a doctor's lab coat. We just want to give the suggestion of the character, because we want them to see your face, not what you're wearing. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Not the prosthetics and the sexy nurse outfit from Halloween that's in your closet. Not speaking from experience or anything, no, I think that's wonderful advice. Okay, so we got a job. What are your thoughts on on-set etiquette?
Speaker 1:Ah, every set? That's such a good question, honey. Every set is different. Every set has a different set of politics, as it were. The number one on the show, the number one on the call sheet, usually sets the tone. The director set the tone. Lay back, see what the tone. The director set the tone. Lay back, see what the tone of the set is. You know, if you're number two on the call sheet, it's going to feel different than if you're number 16 on the call sheet. Right, but always be on time. Always listen to your ADs. You know they need you in makeup. Yes, sir, you know on to you in makeup. Yes, yes, sir, you know you're on to makeup. Just be kind.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love that you talk a lot about kindness, which I appreciate because I feel like that's what we need more of in this world, actually not just this industry and I think if we're approaching it from that aspect, you can't go wrong. I guess the tricky thing and it's brilliant what you just said is everybody experiences kindness in a different way, which is important for characters maybe as well, and you might think that, like finding the solution for somebody during a problematic moment is kind, but to them, they don't want the solution. That's actually unkind. They just want you to sit with them. So it's interesting and I think what you said about assessing a vibe is similar on a set. You know, if you're on like a Christopher Nolan set, he famously takes away all the cell phones. So if you whip out a cell phone, that's actually not great etiquette.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Like I would, yeah, leave your phone in your trailer.
Speaker 2:Oh, in general, that's a good note, probably Because you also want to experience it right, you want to enjoy your time yeah, or if you have to have it on set with you, make sure that it's not even on vibrate.
Speaker 1:You know, yeah, it's got to be on silent, but um, there's one thing that I thought was so lovely. I was on set and I wasn't coaching this actor, but I was coaching another actor on set. He would go and buy lottery tickets for the entirety of the crew Every single Friday. Wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and he would come and he would give every single crew member a lottery ticket, scratch off tickets, right. And I said oh, hugh, why do you do that? And he said that's how I get to know everyone on the crew. He said but the bad thing is is that they never give me a Friday off.
Speaker 2:I thought you were going to say they don't give them a cut if they win.
Speaker 1:But I mean, I'm not saying go buy lottery tickets for the crew. By any stretch of the imagination he's a big, huge celebrity.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, Can you share who that is? I don't know.
Speaker 1:It was Hugh Jackman.
Speaker 2:Oh, that checks out. What a gem.
Speaker 1:He was just the most delightful. Like I say, I was not working with him. I was working with someone else on that set, but he was just such a delightful, delightful human being. Yeah, just such a delightful, delightful human being.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's a kind soul. He literally, when I was an intern at NBC, I was just a little, you know, smurf, I mean I wasn't blue, I don't know why that word came to mind Behind a desk and he came in and he made a point to introduce himself and then, when he left, he turned around, shook my hand and said thank you, Robert, and remembered my name. And it's such a simple human thing.
Speaker 1:Kindness right, it's kindness. So when you're on set, you know kindness to the grips and the DP and the, you know craft services and you know the makeup people here. Just lead with kindness. See what you can observe, see what you can learn. I was coaching once on set and I got to be really good friends with his DP and he's like what do you see, warner? I said okay, let's trade.
Speaker 1:I will tell you what I see in the acting. You tell me what you see in the lighting. I learned so much about his job. It was fascinating.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, home, or whatever feelings are coming up for you. You can remember that there's maybe 20 people in a room figuring out something else that's important.
Speaker 1:Exactly right. And remember, as actors, when we leave that set crew is going to be there hours after we are, so maybe you know 2 am crew's going to be there to maybe first light. They're just such delightful, wonderful people, crew. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, so are you, and I wish I could keep you here until 2 am. I know I got to let you go, so if we could end our lovely time together by you just sharing. I'm calling it a got and a give, so, almost like the givens, I would like to end on an inspiring note for listeners. So if you could give us some of those Laughlinisms? Inspiring note for listeners, so if you could give us some of those Laughlinisms. First, what's the best piece of advice that you got from someone in this industry?
Speaker 1:I've been around a lot of years. I have a lot of. Let me think about that.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, take your time.
Speaker 1:Always remember who you are.
Speaker 2:I love that. I think knowing who we are can get lost sometimes right when you're trying to channel all these other people, and you kind of need that foundation and you've had that, I think, in your career. Just looking at it and researching you, it's like knowing that you are an acting coach and you're great at that. And you had that lovely casting director who said you know, make that decision. Who are you basically? Are you going to be an actor or an acting coach? And I think that's a great reminder for everybody out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and be happy and proud of who you are.
Speaker 2:Oh, that can be hard, right, yeah.
Speaker 1:No matter what you know, our past may have been or backgrounds may have been or any of that just happy and proud and grateful. I take time to be grateful every day, even if it's for the flowers blooming out there. I know that sounds really cheesy. No, I love it. Take a moment of gratitude for things that I have, would I love it a huge thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm grateful that you exist in this industry. Honestly, I'm grateful for you. Oh, thank you. Well, the second aspect is the give. So what advice and it might be similar, but what advice would you give to people everybody out there listening who's looking to consistently work in this industry?
Speaker 1:Ah, ego is the great killer of creativity ego is the great killer of creativity.
Speaker 2:Leave ego at the door. Create, right. I love that. And you see that with all sort of the buzzworthy performances, it's like, well, they're clearly they're. They're snot coming down their nose and they're crying. I don't think they care what they look like. Right, right, viola, davis. No, okay, I think that's. I think that's a great place to leave it. Thank you just so much for all the work you do. I honestly feel like and this might sound cheesy I'm a cheese ball, but I was thinking about just this beautiful legacy that you're building and I truly feel like you are a lighthouse for actors. You are like that guiding light that we need. I've had so many C metaphors today. I don't know why, but I'm just really, really grateful that you exist, that you wrote this book. Everybody, please run to your phone, I guess, and order the Warner Laughlin Technique on Amazon. The cover almost looks like the Big Little Lies. Is it Big Little Lies cover?
Speaker 1:It looks like you did it first, though I did it first.
Speaker 2:Leanne Moriarty did it second. Right, yeah, there we go. Okay, Leanne, you should get a copy too. But thank you so much, Lorna. I just think you're amazing.
Speaker 1:I think you're amazing, Robert, and all you do for actors. Thank you for being alive.
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you. Thank you for existing 2025's trying to take me down, but you know what we're going to power through Warner. We got this Right, Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
