'All The World's A Stage'—And It Can Be Yours!

"Dying is easy. Comedy is hard."—Edmund Kean, 1787-1833 Today, there's a greater need to learn and study your acting skills for today's adult film productions. With the popularity of features and parodies growing with today's audiences, we're finding directors and production companies making more and better story-driven productions. Simple dialogue and plots are mostly seen in gonzo online now, but there's an audience out there that also appreciates bigger productions and better scripts—and acting. While many productions cast based on factors like popularity and looks—and sex performances, of course—many directors have auditions to cast a role to make sure that they are getting the best actors and actresses to convey that role on camera. So, that being said, it's important for an adult performer today to also have some good acting skills as well to be sure that they get cast. Some performers already have some acting background they acquired in school before they entered adult, and some don't. Either way, it's a good idea to take some training to learn the basics, and to touch up your skills to stay sharp, because you never know when that next role or audition may come along, and it's better to be prepared. I teach a workshop every month now for fellow performers. Some performers also make the leap into mainstream and trust me, coming from mainstream myself, it's a whole other ball game out there. You're expected to have your lines memorized and a solid character already developed in your mind. That way you don't look like a person just standing there reading lines of dialogue. Mainstream entertainment has already seen that adult performers can also make good mainstream actors, and many of us have made that transition into mainstream. Audition techniques are also important to today's performers, and again as I said, many directors have auditions or cold readings to cast their next project. You need to learn the tricks to land that role, fight that nervousness, and ace the part. While somebody may not at first “look” like the role the producer or director set out to cast, I've seen time and time again actors who got cast because they aced the audition and showed the director or casting person that they were right for the role. And believe me, that takes acting! Acting performances in adult have grown steadily over the last several years, and in many productions audiences have really enjoyed what they've seen in terms of the movie's characters, besides the great sex performances. The performers who've been nominated and who've won awards are the performers who spent the time really turning in a memorable acting performance. Some of the reasons why it is important to be able to act in today's adult films is that more and more, our audiences want to see a more well-rounded performance. They want to be drawn into the story. A performer can't just get by standing there like some robot reading a few lines of dialogue and jumping into the sex anymore. Many directors and production companies are striving to make more quality releases, and reach a more diverse audience. A solid acting performance can help move the story along better. In a parody project, a good re-creation and impression of the original character's portrayal, besides looking like that character, can also help sell that parody project and make it more convincing. Improvisational skills are also a must-have. Whether you're working on a feature, parody, or gonzo shoot, having the improvisational skills can help you to come up with a character or scene situation at a moment's notice, and that of course helps the director get the shot he or she needs. One acting tip I learned early on from a famous mainstream director was to listen to what the other actor's character is saying, and react to it. Don't just stand there waiting to say your next line, but as he put it, “live the life in-between the lines.” All this and more are explored in my acting workshops that I have for adult performers. Sign up today. James Bartholet's next Acting Workshop will be Sunday, July 12, from Noon to 5 p.m. Please email James today at james@galaxypublicity.com for more information and to sign up. "With any part you play, there is a certain amount of yourself in it. There has to be; otherwise it's just not acting. It's lying."—Johnny Depp