STOP JUDGING YOURSELF ON CAMERA

I want you to imagine something.

You've just recorded a self-tape.

And it felt pretty good.

You were connected.

You listened.

You made some discoveries.

Maybe there was even one of those wonderful moments when you stopped thinking about acting...

and just acted.

Great.

Then you watch it.

And suddenly...

“What am I doing with my mouth?”

“Why is my head tilted like that?”

“Do I always blink that much?”

“Why does my voice sound like that?”

“And what's happening with my hair?”

Congratulations.

You have stopped being an actor...

and become a critic.

A very mean critic.

With unlimited access to the replay button.

But here's the problem.

Actors need to watch themselves.

Especially now.

Self-tapes make reviewing your own work part of the job.

And sometimes on set, playback can give you valuable information before another take.

So the answer isn't:

“Don't watch yourself.”

It's:

Learn how to watch yourself without judging yourself.

Because those are two completely different things.

LEAN INTO THEME / COMMERCIAL

[THEME MUSIC / COMMERCIAL]

RETURN — APPROX. :30

Here's the distinction we're going to explore today.

When you're acting...

you cannot be your audience.

But after you're acting...

you need to learn how to become one.

That's a skill.

And like almost everything else in acting, it's something you can practice.

So let's talk about how to watch yourself without allowing that little critic sitting on your shoulder to become the director.

WELCOME / SHOW INFORMATION

Welcome to Casting Actors Cast.

I'm Jeffrey Dreisbach.

Casting director, teacher, author, former actor—and somebody who has watched a lot of actors on camera.

Including myself.

Sometimes voluntarily.

If you're new to the podcast, welcome.

And if you've been with me for a while, I'm delighted you're back.

You can find everything we're doing at CastingActorsCast.com.

That's where you'll find the podcast, information about my book, Booked It! The Actors Playbook for Getting Cast, and my online course, Next-Level Auditions — Prepare Smarter. Perform Better. Book More.

And while you're there, fill out the form and Jump Into the Talent Pool.

That opens up some free materials I've created for actors, including the VO book and video, along with Casting Directors: What They Don't Tell You.

Okay.

Let's get back to that self-tape.

Because your eyebrow is probably fine.

YOU CANNOT WATCH YOURSELF WHILE YOU ACT

I've talked about this before.

One of the most destructive things an actor can do while performing is simultaneously evaluate the performance.

“Was that good?”

“Did that moment work?”

“Was I emotional enough?”

“Did I look natural?”

“Was that too much?”

The moment you're asking those questions...

part of you has left the scene.

You're no longer completely involved with the other character.

You've become an observer of yourself.

And acting requires something very different.

It requires participation.

Listening.

Responding.

Thinking.

Wanting.

Needing.

Behavior.

You have to live through what's happening rather than provide commentary about what's happening.

You can't stand outside the swimming pool evaluating your stroke...

while you're swimming.

Well, technically you can.

But you're going to have a very confusing afternoon.

“HOW DID THAT FEEL?”

This is why I've always been cautious about the question:

“How did that feel?”

Particularly when it's used as a way of determining whether a take was good.

Because actors can begin associating a particular internal feeling with a successful performance.

“That felt wonderful.”

Maybe.

But did it communicate?

Or:

“That felt terrible.”

Maybe.

But perhaps it was terrific.

Your internal experience and the audience's experience are not necessarily the same thing.

Now, there are perfectly legitimate reasons a director might ask how something felt.

Was the adjustment playable?

Was the physical action comfortable?

Did something interfere with your concentration?

That's useful communication.

The problem begins when the actor starts using feeling as a monitor for quality.

Because then, during the next take, you're trying to reproduce the feeling.

And now you're watching yourself again.

EXPERIENCE FIRST. OBSERVE LATER.

So here's the separation I want you to make.

During the take: experience.

After the take: observe.

Those are two different jobs.

And actors need both skills.

This is where watching yourself becomes incredibly valuable.

Because camera work gives you something stage actors don't always get.

Evidence.

There it is.

You can actually see what happened.

Not what you thought happened.

Not what you intended to happen.

What happened.

And that can be enormously useful...

provided you know what you're looking for.

WHY ACTORS HATE WATCHING THEMSELVES

Most actors don't naturally watch themselves objectively.

They watch personally.

There's a difference.

You don't see:

“The character seems disconnected from the other person.”

You see:

“I look awful.”

You don't see:

“My eyeline seems slightly too far away from the reader.”

You see:

“My nose looks enormous.”

You don't see:

“The pace could use more variation.”

You see:

“I hate my voice.”

That's not evaluation.

That's self-judgment.

And self-judgment doesn't give you anything actionable.

What exactly are you supposed to do with:

“I hate my face”?

That's the face we're working with!

We're going to have to find another solution.

Useful evaluation gives you information you can actually apply.

THE CAMERA ISN'T ASKING YOU TO BE PERFECT

Actors sometimes forget this.

The camera isn't demanding perfection.

It's recording behavior.

Little imperfections can actually make someone fascinating to watch.

A hesitation.

An unexpected breath.

A moment when the eyes change.

A thought that arrives before the words.

The camera loves behavior.

What it doesn't particularly love is an actor trying to look like they're behaving.

That's different.

And when actors become overly self-conscious, they often begin correcting the very things that make them interesting.

They become careful.

Controlled.

Presentational.

They start editing themselves while they're acting.

And suddenly the performance becomes tidy...

and dead.

WHAT CASTING IS ACTUALLY WATCHING

Here's something from the casting side that I hope you'll remember.

When you're watching your audition...

you're probably watching you.

We're watching the scene.

That's a significant difference.

You may be thinking:

“My hair looks strange.”

I'm thinking:

“Do I believe this relationship?”

You may be thinking:

“I don't like my voice.”

I'm thinking:

“Is this person listening?”

You may notice some tiny facial movement that bothers you.

I'm wondering:

“Do I want to know what happens next?”

We're watching behavior.

We're watching connection.

We're watching whether you belong in the world of the project.

We're watching whether the scene lives.

That doesn't mean presentation doesn't matter.

Of course it does.

Your framing matters.

Your sound matters.

Your lighting matters.

Your eyeline matters.

But once those things are professionally acceptable...

we're not conducting a forensic investigation of your left eyebrow.

So maybe you shouldn't either.

SELF-TAPES HAVE CHANGED THE JOB

This becomes especially important because self-tapes have given actors tremendous control over what gets submitted.

That's good.

But control has a dangerous cousin.

Perfectionism.

You record Take One.

Pretty good.

Take Two.

Better.

Take Three.

Interesting.

Take Four.

Maybe.

Take Five.

Something feels wrong.

Take Six.

Now you're trying to recreate Take Two.

Take Seven.

You no longer remember what the scene is about.

Take Eight.

Your reader is reconsidering the friendship.

At some point, reviewing stops being useful.

You're no longer improving the work.

You're trying to eliminate every imperfection.

And acting isn't about eliminating imperfections.

It's about creating believable behavior.

THE THREE-PASS SYSTEM

So I want to give you a very specific way to watch yourself.

Three passes.

That's it.

And each viewing has a different job.

PASS ONE: STORY

The first time you watch...

don't watch yourself.

Watch the scene.

No stopping.

No rewinding.

No examining individual moments.

Just watch.

Then ask:

Did I understand what was happening?

Was something at stake?

Did the scene go somewhere?

Was there behavior rather than simply dialogue?

Did something change?

Most importantly:

Did I believe it?

That's your first pass.

Story.

PASS TWO: CONNECTION

Now watch it again.

This time, pay attention to the relationship.

Are you actually receiving information from the other character?

Do their words affect you?

Does your behavior change because of what you're hearing?

Are you listening?

Or are you waiting for your next line?

This is huge.

Because sometimes an actor gives a perfectly polished reading...

that has absolutely nothing to do with the other person.

The lines are correct.

The choices are clear.

The emotion is appropriate.

And nobody's home.

Connection is what makes the scene breathe.

So on Pass Two, stop asking:

“How am I doing?”

Ask:

“What's happening between us?”

PASS THREE: TECHNIQUE

Now—and only now—you get to look at the machinery.

Eyeline.

Framing.

Vocal clarity.

Pacing.

Unnecessary movement.

Physical tension.

Repeated gestures.

Continuity.

Maybe you're dropping the ends of sentences.

Maybe your eyeline keeps shifting.

Maybe every time you make an important point you nod your head.

Actors love nodding.

Apparently we don't trust words.

“This is extremely important.”

Nod.

“I've never loved anyone but you.”

Nod.

“The building is on fire.”

Nod.

You may discover a physical habit you weren't aware of.

Great.

That's useful information.

Because now you can do something about it.

And after Pass Three...

stop.

DON'T WATCH IT TO DEATH

This may be the hardest part.

Stop watching.

Because there's a point of diminishing returns.

After enough viewings, you will find something wrong.

I promise.

You could watch Meryl Streep fourteen times and eventually think:

“I don't know. That thing she does at 1:37...”

Enough.

The purpose of reviewing your work is not to achieve complete satisfaction with yourself.

You probably won't.

The purpose is to determine whether the work communicates.

If it does...

submit it.

PLAYBACK ON SET

Now let's move from self-tapes to the set.

Sometimes a director may show you playback.

Not always.

Different directors work differently.

But when it happens, the same principle applies.

Don't suddenly become the film critic.

You don't need to decide whether you liked yourself.

You need to ask:

What information does this give me for the next take?

Maybe the director asked for more stillness.

And you thought you were completely still.

Then you watch playback and realize you're moving like you're standing on a subway platform.

Useful.

Maybe you thought a moment was enormous.

On camera, it's barely registering.

Useful.

Or maybe you thought you were doing nothing...

and the camera caught everything.

Also useful.

Playback isn't a grade.

It's information.

MORE TO COME — APPROX. 15:00

We're going to take a quick break.

But when we come back, I want to show you how to turn what you see on camera into an adjustment—without carrying the observation back into the scene and becoming self-conscious all over again.

More on stopping the judgment...

right after this.

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

PERFORM. OBSERVE. ADJUST. FORGET.

Okay.

Here's the cycle I want you to remember.

Perform.

Observe.

Adjust.

Forget.

You perform the scene without monitoring yourself.

Then you observe what actually happened.

You identify something specific.

Then you make an adjustment.

And finally...

you forget the observation.

That's critical.

Because if the adjustment was:

“Be more still,”

you don't want the next take to become:

“I'm being still. I'm being still. Look how still I am.”

Now we're watching ourselves again.

Instead, translate the technical note into something playable.

Maybe instead of:

“Don't move so much,”

you give yourself:

“Don't let them know how much this affects you.”

Suddenly the stillness has a reason.

That's acting.

The technical observation becomes behavior.

DON'T FIX EVERYTHING

Here's another important rule.

One adjustment at a time.

You watch the tape and discover:

My eyeline is off.

I'm rushing.

I'm moving too much.

I'm not listening.

My voice is tight.

My shirt is weird.

The lighting is bad.

My hair—

Stop.

What is the most important thing affecting the scene?

Address that.

Actors sometimes destroy perfectly good work by trying to fix seven things simultaneously.

The goal isn't to correct yourself.

The goal is to free the scene.

TRY WATCHING WITHOUT SOUND

Here's an exercise I particularly like.

Watch your self-tape once with the sound turned off.

Don't listen to the dialogue.

Just watch the behavior.

Can you see thinking?

Can you see listening?

Does the relationship seem alive?

Do your eyes receive information?

Or do you look like you're waiting for your mouth to start talking again?

It's fascinating.

Because without the words, you begin seeing behavior differently.

And here's another variation.

Listen once without watching.

Just hear it.

Does everything have the same rhythm?

Are you rushing?

Are you actually responding?

Does your voice change as your thinking changes?

These aren't judgments.

They're observations.

That's the distinction we're after.

CHANGE THE LANGUAGE

And here's one final psychological trick.

Change the language you use when reviewing yourself.

Instead of:

“That was terrible.”

Try:

“That moment wasn't clear.”

Instead of:

“I look uncomfortable.”

Try:

“There's physical tension I'm noticing.”

Instead of:

“I'm boring.”

Try:

“The stakes aren't showing up yet.”

Instead of:

“I can't act.”

How about:

“I don't believe this take yet.”

Do you hear the difference?

One language attacks the actor.

The other evaluates the work.

You are not the problem.

You're examining the work.

And work can be adjusted.

HERE'S YOUR RESET

So here's your Reset.

When you're acting...

don't watch yourself.

Act.

Experience.

Listen.

Respond.

Let the other person affect you.

Then, when the work is finished...

become the observer.

Not the critic.

The observer.

Look for story.

Look for connection.

Look at technique.

Find the useful information.

Make the adjustment.

And then let it go.

Perform. Observe. Adjust. Forget.

Because watching yourself isn't the problem.

Judging yourself is.

And maybe the goal isn't learning to love everything you see on camera.

That's asking quite a lot.

Maybe the goal is something much simpler.

Learn to see what's actually there.

Not your insecurity.

Not your expectation.

Not the performance you hoped you gave.

The work.

Because once you can see the work objectively...

you can change it.

And once you've changed it...

you can stop thinking about it...

and go back to acting.

I'm Jeffrey Dreisbach.

Thank you for spending this time with me.

This is Casting Actors Cast.

And I'll see you next time.