Ask any casting director, and they’ll tell you one-line roles are among the hardest to cast, because there are so many ways to screw them up. The cruel irony is that those itty-bitty roles are often your best bet for beefing up your credits, building a reel, and getting your foot in the door.
Here’s the good news – with these simple techniques, you’ll be well on your way to mastering the art of the one-liner:
- Understand your job. This is true for all guest actors, but especially one-liners; It’s not about you. You’re there to serve the story, and to make the series regular(s) look good. If it’s comedy, odds are you’re setting up a laugh for a series regular; if it’s drama, you’re serving the series regulars’ story in some way, so keep that in mind when making your choices.
- Tell a story. The scene isn’t about you, but the audition is. So even if the script says you enter, say ‘here’s your coffee,’ and exit, you need a beginning, middle, and end. What are you doing leading up to your line? What do you do afterwards? How does your character feel about the main action of the scene? Think about a ‘button,’ or closing moment, to make the audition feel complete. You may not use any of it when you shoot, but the decision-makers want someone who can be a living, breathing character within that one line.
- Keep it simple. One of the most common complaints decision makers have about one-line auditions is that actors try to ‘make a meal’ out of them. We try to pack all of our talent and range into that short audition, hoping it’ll lead to bigger things down the road. But what we’re actually doing is demonstrating that we don’t understand our job (see #1.) The best way to turn a one-line audition into something bigger later is to do serve the script you've got. If it’s a one-liner, let it be what it is. Get in, play your choices, and get out. Prove that you can do that well, and soon you’ll get a chance to do more.
Those tips might feel a little contradictory; It’s not about you, but tell your character’s story, but don’t do too much. That’s why these roles are so hard to do well! But believe me, once you find a balance, casting will love you for making their jobs easier, and soon you’ll be booking one-liners in your sleep.
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