My ridiculously cool intern led me to this week’s topic by doing something as simple as asking a clarifying question while entering headshot and resumé information into the Cricket Feet Casting wiki. (I’ve talked about the casting wiki before, for those who are interested in those geeky details.)

My notes on two actors’ resumés — notes from auditions that had taken place in October — were similar, but meant something totally different, for me. Those notes?

“Takes his time.”

and

“Slow on the uptake.”

McGiggles (the superhero name for my intern) wanted to know what — exactly — those things meant, to me, or would mean to me as I went back, years from now, and reviewed the notes in the casting wiki.

Ah, great distinction! And the answer is: It’s all about intention. Just like those intentional physical choices I talked about last month, when an actor makes a deliberate choice to slow down delivery of a particular line, to really feel something before landing a beat, or otherwise adjusts pacing, he KNOWS how to “take his time” with the material.

Whereas an actor who is “slow on the uptake” isn’t choosing his pacing. He’s not choosing to slow down. He’s either missing the beats or dropping into the sides to grab his lines. He’s not INTENDING to change the pacing; he’s a victim of his habits or his lack of preparation or his nervousness. Or perhaps he isn’t even aware that he’s doing it.

And that last one is the real problem.

The fix? Your webcam. Your smartphone’s built-in camera. Your still camera’s vid function. Your friend’s camera. You have ways to work this out, even if you’re not in a fantastic class where the coach stops you in your tracks and forces you to fix your bad habits (that you didn’t even know existed).

I’m not kidding. Make a date with yourself to check your pacing habits before you’re in the room, not getting that callback and wondering why. I mean, if you’re already the right type, you’ve gotten invited into the room beyond all the actors who DON’T get that amazing invitation, and then there’s something you control that you could fix with a little awareness? Yup. Get on that.

At your own pace, of course.

Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!

Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001437.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.