Acting is a craft that requires hard work and commitment. However, an acting career can also be expensive when you consider an acting coach or acting classes. There are so many ways you can improve your acting without breaking the bank or having to travel far. I’m here to share them with you so you can hone in on your acting ability and take control of your career. Whether you’re a complete beginner or a seasoned professional, here is how to get better at acting at home.
1. Read Acting Books
A great way to learn how to get better at acting at home is to read. Reading plays can be really helpful for getting used to various styles. Doing this, you will be able to form your own opinions on different plays, as well as help you to understand the theatre industry. Try reading classics like Ibsen and Chekhov and popular contemporary plays.
Another helpful thing you can do is read popular books by acting practitioners such as Konstantin Stanislavski, Sandford Meisner and Uta Hagen. There are many acting techniques you can use to help you connect with the character, your inner self and emotions. Having this knowledge will help you approach a scene from a more holistic approach and improve your acting skills.
Cold reading is another great skill to help you practice acting at home. In auditions, you may be given a piece of text you’ve never seen before and be asked to perform it. Practising reading text aloud the first time you’ve seen it can prepare you for this. Here is how to practice this skill:
1. Find something to read such as a monologue, book, or newspaper article.
2. Look at the first line.
3. Lift your head so you are no longer looking at the page and then deliver the line.
4. Look back at the text to quickly grab your next line before once again lifting your head and delivering the line.
5. Continue this until you have made your way through the entire text.
Top tip: Practice acting in front of a mirror so you can see your facial expressions and body language.
2. Work on monologues and scripts
This is one of the best ways to understand how to practice acting at home. Find a monologue, ideally, one you like and haven’t seen performed before. Prepare it as you would for a performance. Work on the character, your motivations and your relationship with other actors. This can be great practice for professional auditions in future; you will be able to confidently walk into a room with casting directors and know how to nail a monologue. Spend the time learning how to memorize Shakespeare lines and really understanding the poetic language. You can even film it and watch it back to see what you like and what you’d like to improve.
If you want to invest a bit more time into your acting exercises then you can work on preparing an entire role. Choose a character from a play or film, read that entire script, and then prepare that role as if you had been cast in it. Work on your character and the script in detail to practice for when you’re cast in production in future. This will help you to work on your preparation skills, as well as allow you to explore a character’s narrative arc over an entire story.
Top tip: Scripts will use parentheticals to give small, brief instructions on emotions, body language or gestures. Paying attention to these will help you understand the character on a deeper level. You can also note down your own parentheticals when you analyse the script; which is a key acting technique to make you a better actor.
3. Watch films
Watching films is a very useful and enjoyable way to learn how to get better at acting at home. Onscreen stories bring joy and comfort to many people, and studying them is one of the benefits of being an actor.
Try to watch a variety of different films from various genres, countries and even different periods. Watch a variety of actors, as well as the same actors in various roles. Consider their acting technique and think about what you liked and what you didn’t like. Ask yourself if you found them believable and why – or why not. Think about how you might do it differently. Developing a critical eye can be an extremely useful skill to improve your acting ability.
4. Strengthen your body and voice
Another way to learn how to get better at acting at home is to start a movement practice. Actors need to be able to use their body language and facial expressions to express their characters more fully. The wider range of motion we have, the more character types we can play. Yoga is one of the best things an actor can do, as it improves flexibility and dexterity. You could also take up dance to improve your sense of rhythm or pilates to improve your core strength. There are plenty of Youtube videos that can help you to practice these at home; including a yoga practice specifically designed for actors!
Being able to be heard and understood on stage and screen is also very important. This is one acting skill you would gain from acting classes but there are lots of acting exercises you can do to strengthen your voice. You can do breathing exercises to help with projection, tongue twisters for your diction, and scales to help you expand your vocal range. There are also many vocal warmup regimes on Youtube to help you out, such as this one on Vocal Exercises For Actors:
5. Strengthen your mind and imagination
Strengthening your mind and imagination can help you to focus and bring extra creativity into your work. Your imagination is one of the most important tools in your acting craft, and can easily get rusty without use. A great actor needs to use imagination exercises regularly so it is always ready to go. A fun way to do this is to read novels, write your own short stories, or even set some time aside to daydream.
You can also give mindfulness a go. Mindfulness can seem like a slightly confusing or mysterious practice (it was for me at first) but it can be really beneficial for the actor’s craft. It’s often used to help with anxiety and stress but, for actors, it can be used to keep us in the present moment during a performance. When keeping present in the scene to listen, sense and react authentically, mindfulness is a great acting exercise most actors forget about. It is simple but effective and can help you stay grounded throughout your acting career.
6. Take an online class
Nowadays, there are lots of online classes available for actors to take in lots of different areas. Some function as online drama schools, with classes on various aspects of acting knowledge. Some hold workshops with different practitioners or industry experts. Others focus on certain acting techniques such as The Method or Meisner Technique. Taking classes online is a great option if you want to connect with other actors, explore something new, or if you find yourself struggling with some acting exercises in particular. With so many options, there is sure to be something for everyone to practice acting online.
So, when will you practice acting at home?
Acting may present challenges and demands hard work, but with consistent effort and a willingness to learn, it can also be a deeply rewarding and fulfilling profession. Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned performer, the journey of improvement in acting is a continuous one, and practising at home is a valuable and empowering way to enhance your acting abilities and shape a successful acting career. Remember, success in acting is not just about natural talent but also the result of honing a skill through dedication, perseverance, and passion for the craft. So embrace the process, challenge yourself, and enjoy the transformative power of acting in your life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do actors act every day?
Many professional actors will do something every day in order to keep themselves in shape as actors. The way dancers and musicians must practice their craft every day, many actors feel the same way about their craft too.
Is acting very hard?
Acting can be a difficult profession to be part of, and actors work very hard at their job to excel at it. There can also often be long hours and lots of rejection. However, acting can also be a rewarding profession too. You can find out more about some of the struggles actors face by checking out Blooper’s article on Bad Things About Being An Actor.
Is acting a skill or talent?
There is a misconception that acting is something that either comes naturally to someone or doesn’t. Many actors train extensively to give great performances. Some people believe that certain personality traits such as courage or the ability to focus can help you when you’re starting to learn how to act. However, most see acting as a skill to be trained.