Audition Coach Blog - Finding Audition Material with Conflict / Playing a Real Person

I did a coaching recently where the actor had an audition to play a real person. He had not received the sides yet, so we worked on a bit of an interview that this real person did. Conflict is essential to any play or screenplay, so of course it follows that an audition piece should have conflict in it. Not every interview has conflict in it. Many times, the interviewer has respect for their subject and wants to get the best out of them. Occasionally, there is friction. (Get your hands on some interviews with Edward Albee. It’s like he’s two different people depending on who is interviewing him. If he likes the interviewer his answers are professional and clear and easily relatable and even applicable as advice. If he doesn’t like the interviewer his answers are absolutely mystical. He suggests that his characters speak through him and he’s just the messenger, which means he can avoid answering the questions altogether, and I believe Albee got a kick out making the interviewer squirm.) An interview without a conflict, however will not make for a good audition piece. Don’t get too caught up in mimicking the real person. I’m sure at the end of the day the casting directors do want to see what you’ve got there, but an imitation will only get you so far if you can’t show them that you have acting chops too. So, if you’ve got an hour of interview footage, look for where the interviewer is playing devil’s advocate, or bringing up someone’s criticism of the person. There should be something in there that can be used. Then work backward from that point a minute or two. That should give you something to use. In other words, fashion a monologue out of the interview that leads to a conflict, so that we see the character going through something, needing to defend himself, or using any number of tactics to deflect or combat what’s coming his way.