Acting Exercise: Act Like an Actor

Purpose

This is a useful exercise in acting. Use this exercise to help people adopt certain roles or learn how to imitate target behaviours. Acting and understanding how an ideal role feels like can help delegates to get to those targets. For example, being able to act like a manager can significantly help people to eventually become a manager. Not only acting like a manager helps the person to see what it takes to be a manager, others will start to respond appropriately and will be more receptive when that person is elevated to the managerial level. For example, what is the typical body language of a manager? What do they say and how do they say it? What signals show that they are confident in their role? What gestures do they use to reassure? How do they show their feelings indirectly to allow saving face?

This exercise helps with various useful roles provided as mission cards. You can use the exercise as a template for other useful roles or choose based on the content of your course.

Objective

Given a scenario, act out a given role to get the acting job. A casting crew will judge your acting.

What You Need

• Mission cards included below. You need two sets for each group, though you can mix and match the sets between groups as they go through the second round (see below).

Setup

• Divide the delegates to two or 4 groups of roughly equal size.
• A pair of groups work together. One group will be a casting agent or directors of a new movie. The other group would be a number of applicants who want to get the role.
• With this exercise you have two options; you can either give a mission card to a delegate and expect him to play out the role there and then during the course. Alternately, you can give the mission cards before the course and expect them to prepare for their roles and rehearse for it. They can then present their acts during the course and get judged by the crew.
• Distribute the appropriate mission cards to casting or would-be-actors.
• Ask the groups to role play the casting scenarios.
• Allocate 5 minutes for each person in the applicant group to present to the casting group.
• At the end of the round, the casting crew must choose the best applicant. They must explain why they have made this choice to the other applicants.
• Once every applicant has participated, ask for feedback to see how the groups are doing and clarify any questions.
• Ask groups to swap roles and provide new sets of mission cards to them.
• Ask the groups to carry out the roles play again so that everyone gets a chance to act.
• At the end, bring everyone back and follow with a discussion.

Timing

Explaining the Exercise: 5 minutes.

Activity: (5 min per person in each group for each round) * 2 rounds + 10 min analysis per round = 50 minutes for 12 people

Group Feedback: 10 minutes.

Discussion

How easy was it to act out the roles? Who got the acting job and why? What did they do that they were better? What did you learn from this exercise? How important is it to be able to act? What can you do to improve your acting? What did you learn from others in the group who acted well?

Mission Cards

Set 1

Casting Crew:

You are a casting crew of a new drama. You are looking to find a person who is suitable for the lead role who is a charismatic manager of a successful corporation. The movie is about a protagonist who goes on to unveil a corporate scandal. What tasks would you give to the applicants for this role to test their ability to act? Interview a number of applicants and choose the best person for the role.

Applicants:

You have been selected for the final interview stage for a role to appear in a movie involving a corporate scandal. You really want to get this role as it could change your life forever.

 

Set 2

Casting Crew:

You are a casting crew of a new thriller on the history of a significant event in the last century. You are looking to find a person for the role of a visionary leader who saved the country. What tasks would you give to the applicants for this role to test their ability to act? Interview a number of applicants and choose the best person for the role.

Applicants:

You have been selected for the final interview stage for a role to appear in a historical thriller movie with strong charismatic characters. You really want to get this role as it could change your life forever.

 

Set 3

Casting Crew:

You are a casting crew of a new movie. You are looking to find a person for the role of a CEO receptionist or assistant. In the course of the story, the receptionist goes on to know too many secrets and becomes the target of corporate rivals. What tasks would you give to the applicants for this role to test their ability? Interview a number of applicants and choose the best person for the role.

Applicants:

You have been selected for the final interview stage for a role to appear in a thriller movie involving office politics and receptionist’s role in an organisation. You really want to get this role as it could change your life forever.

 

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