June 19, 2025
From one of the most celebrated actors of the stage and screen comes this book on the craft of acting.
In Acting: A Backstage Guide, Lucian Msamati draws on his rich experience, particularly in the context of productions at the National Theatre – including Amadeus, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Master Harold and The Boys, Death and, The King’s Horseman, The Comedy of Errors, The Overwhelming – to delve into sets of challenges and possibilities that actors might face.
Peppered with quoted interviews with other industry professionals and personal anecdotes, which are sure to resonate with any reader, this will be a cherished book on any actor’s bookshelf.
The excerpt below is one such candid example of preparing for the job.
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GETTING THE JOB
Welcome to the wonderful world of trying to have a career as an actor. Full disclosure: a magic ‘Smashing Auditions and Getting the Job Every Time!’ formula does not exist. I have walked into some auditions uber-prepared, confident and left certain that the gig is mine, only to be told, ‘they’ve gone another way’. I have stumbled out of others convinced that I am heading straight back to the copywriter’s desk only to be told, ‘they loved you! It’s an offer!’ The soundest steer I can give you is that there are outcomes you can control and outcomes that you cannot. Choosing to focus your effort on what is in your control is more likely to lead you to a favourable outcome than focusing on what is outside of your control. How do we do that? What follows is advice based on my extensive catalogue of audition disasters, and an insight or two gleaned from the other side of the table as a director and producer.
There’s always a list
For all your yet untapped brilliance, passion and enthusiasm, remember you’re not the only one up for a role. There’s always a list. Even when that list is only one name long, it’s still a list. It has to be for practical reasons. That one name on the list may not be available or interested or any other number of reasons. This is not a point about being humble nor is it about being cynical; it’s about being realistic about the industry you are in. Many are called and few are chosen. It is the nature of the game, and the game is long. The simple fact that you’re even on a list in the first place means you’re in the mix. You have to be in it, to win it. How long you choose to stay in the mix is entirely up to you. Take the pressure of yourself in other words and see every meeting as a chance to share your work not as a judgement on the content of your character or ability.
Run your own race
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to watch several young athletes compete for a sports scholarship at a prestigious school. The most gruelling test to take part in but most fascinating to watch was the ‘Beep Test’. This is a timed endurance test in which participants run back and forth between two points positioned 20 metres apart. Participants must maintain a running speed determined by a preset audio ‘beep’ throughout the duration of the test. The required running speed increases as the test goes on, and the gap between beeps gets shorter and shorter, which means you have less and less time to reach the same points. In other words, the longer the test goes on, the more exhausted you get, the faster you must go. A ‘beep test’ looks and feels like a race against others but it is actually a race against yourself. The athletes who endured focused on themselves and the beeps. The athletes who didn’t were those who made it a ‘race to the cones’ against everyone else.
A beep test is a marathon made up of short, intense bursts. The same is true of a career as an actor. ‘Not competing’ is of course easier said than done but in the end the only runner you have control over is you. There have been plenty of times when I have felt that my contemporaries were streaking ahead of me, landing big roles whilst I struggled. There have been times when it felt like a younger, fresher generation were plucking juicy parts whilst I seemed to rot on the career vine.
Funnily enough, I do not recall ever sitting down with my agents or contemporaries and saying, ‘right: we’re in a race! If I don’t play Othello before X or Y, then I have lost!’ Lost what exactly? And what is it that I was going to win in ‘beating’ another actor? A smug sense of fleeting satisfaction because someone else doesn’t have a job and I do? Does that make me a better actor? Do you want to win, or do you want to continually be in the mix? The only way to find out is to run your own race.
Preparation, preparation and preparation
Obvious, right? You’d be surprised though. Read the material as thoroughly as possible and apply the same text preparation questions: do I understand the scene(s), the character’s needs and so on? If it is a published play: do I need to read the scene immediately before this or the one immediately after it to understand this one better? If it is a new play, do I need to read it in its entirety? Gather as much useful information as is necessary to help you prepare and never, ever be afraid to ask for more information if you feel you haven’t received or understood enough.
Also: always aim to be off book and know the lines off by heart. It is always a good look, but it is not always possible. If you are dyslexic or won’t be able to be off book in time, tell the casting director. No agent, producer, director or casting director worth their salt is ever going to mark you down because of this. Specific practical needs will always be accommodated.
If you are having an in-person audition, do you know where you are going? Have you worked out how to get there comfortably on time? If you are up for the role of a high-flying business executive, do you think it might be a good idea to dress the part? If you are having a virtual meeting, is your Wi-Fi working properly? Is your device fully charged? Is that space adequately lit? Are you installed where children, pets or spouses won’t barge in unannounced? Do you need to do a physical or vocal warm-up beforehand? If you are someone who perspires a lot, for example, do you need to carry an extra shirt, towels or deodorant? Under time pressure, seemingly minor things can grow into major distractions and push us off course. Make a checklist for yourself and remember all of this is about giving yourself the best possible chance to do your best.
Be prepared for curveballs
As I was about to launch into my well-drilled piece for an audition once, the director said, ‘Let’s look at scene 27, page 19’. I panicked: this wasn’t what I was asked to prepare, nor did it have anything to do with the role I was up for. I took a breath, did as instructed, was assigned a character and read with the director. I got through it, and the director said, ‘Great! Now let’s look at what you prepared!’ Remember, it is not only your ability as an actor that is on show but also your professionalism, work ethic and attitude.
Life is full of curveballs: delayed trains, an emergency rush to A&E the night before and so on. Call ahead or reschedule. This too is part of giving yourself the best chance to succeed and a demonstration of your professional duty of care and responsibility.
You may get called to audition at a moment’s notice, which can send us either into a blind panic or a rage, neither of which are conducive to presenting our best work. Remember: good casting directors and agents are aware of the high-pressure stakes of auditioning. They never spring these things on you deliberately. Often, the hold-up is further up the chain with producers or broadcasters and so on. There are concerted efforts within the industry to accommodate more favourable and respectful preparation or lead-in times for actors, but pressure is par for the course.
You are well within your rights to ask for a day or two more if you’ve been presented with a ten-page scene to learn for tomorrow! And if you need to do it with ‘script in hand’, so be it. If that is what under the circumstances gives you the space to do your best work, so be it. But again: be prepared. It’s not an excuse to be slack. Make sure you’ve marked your lines clearly, that you have the pages you need in the correct order and that they are bound in a way that is easily manageable and accessible. The same rule applies if you’re reading from a tablet or a smartphone. Scrolling through your device for the correct folder whilst the camera is running on you is not a good look. Remember: you have been called in to show your acting ability, not your emergency origami skills or finger-swiping technique.
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