Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1023, Learning to Act.
This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 1023.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This dialogue is between Richard and Elizabeth about acting.
The ability, which I do not have, to perform in a play, a movie, or a television show, or a podcast.
Let's get started.
It's 6.30 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Why are you banging those pots and pans?
I have an audition coming up and I'm rehearsing.
By banging pots and pans...
I'm up for a part as a 1950s housewife.
I need to learn my lines and be prepared to improvise.
That's why I'm cooking you a 10 course breakfast.
I want to practice staying in character.
I don't really want a ten course breakfast, but if it helps you with your audition... It will.
I have to stretch my acting chops and really get into the head of the character.
Right.
Whatever you say.
Yes dear, your breakfast will be ready and waiting when you want it Did I project enough?
Did I emote enough?
You were great What kind of acting job is this?
It's a small one In a film?
No In a TV show?
Not exactly.
What is it?
It's a commercial.
It's only a bit part, but you know what they say.
There are no small parts, only small actors.
Richard begins this dialogue by asking Elizabeth something.
He says first, it's 6.30 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Why are you banging those pots and pans?
Pots and pans are things that you use to cook.
You might boil some water in a pot, P-O-T, and fry some eggs in a pan, P-A-N.
The question Richard has for Elizabeth is why she is banging pots and pans.
To bang, B-A-N-G, here means to make a loud noise with.
Because pots and pans are big and often made of metal.
If you move them around and hit them against other things, they may make a lot of noise.
Elizabeth says, I have an audition coming up and I'm rehearsing.
An audition, A-U-D-I-T-I-O-N. is also sometimes called a tryout, T-R-Y-O-U-T.
What you do on an audition is go in front of the director of a play or a movie or a television show and you typically will act a little bit of the movie or part of some scene, some dialogue that will show the person if you can act or not and if you are the person who would be best for this particular part.
A part, P-A-R-T, here just means one of the characters in the play or the movie or the TV show.
So here in Los Angeles, for example, there are auditions every day In some part of the city for television shows and movies.
People go to these actors and actresses go to these auditions to try to get into the movie, to be part of the play or part of the television show.
Sometimes it's just to be part of a commercial, an advertisement.
But whatever it is, you usually have to go on an audition.
Notice that phrasal verb to go on.
You can go on a trip and you can go on an audition.
Elizabeth is going on an audition and so she's rehearsing.
To rehearse R-E-H-E-A-R-S-E means to practice, especially to practice either a speech or a performance that you are going to be giving in a play or some other dramatic setting.
Richard asks Elizabeth why she is banging pots and pans as part of her rehearsing.
And she says, I'm up for a part as a 1950s housewife.
We already explained what a part is when we're talking about plays and movies.
It's the character in the play or the movie or TV show.
To be up for means to be under consideration for.
One of the people who are making the movie are considering, are thinking about.
You have a good chance of getting it.
Elizabeth is up for a part as a 1950s housewife.
The word housewife, H-O-U-S-E-W-I-F-E, one word, describes a woman who stays at home and takes care of the house and the children and Nowadays, of course, many women, at least in the United States, work in addition perhaps to having a family.
Elizabeth says, I need to learn my lines and be prepared to improvise.
Your lines, L-I-N-E-S, are the words that you have to say in the movie or play.
To learn your lines then means to memorize the words that you have to say.
Elizabeth is also preparing to improvise.
To improvise, I-M-P-R-O-V-I-S-E is to act or perform without having a prepared script, without having basically any lines prepared for you.
You simply have to make it up as you go along.
Improvisation is very popular nowadays in comedy.
There are a lot of comedic actors comedians, who do what we call improv I-M-P-R-O-V, which is short for improvisation, which comes from the verb to improvise, to make something up as you go along, without having planned it before.
Elizabeth says, that's why I'm cooking you a 10 course breakfast.
I want to practice staying in character.
Elizabeth is cooking Richard a 10 course, C-O-U-R-S-E, breakfast.
A course, when we're talking about a meal, is a part of a meal.
So if you go to a nice restaurant, you may have a three-course meal.
The first course may be a salad or a bowl of soup.
The second course may be a piece of chicken or fish.
The third course may be some vegetable or perhaps a dessert, something sweet.
That would be a three-course meal.
Elizabeth is preparing Richard a 10-course breakfast, which is quite unusual.
No one that I know eats 10 different things for breakfast.
Elizabeth says that she wants to practice staying in character.
To be in character means to be acting like the person in the play or the movie.
So to stay in character means to continue acting like the person in the movie, even though you're not filming the movie right now, even though you're not part of the play or the production.
This is a common technique by some actors.
It's a method, which is sometimes called method acting, in which the actor is continues to act like the person in the movie or play, even though they are at home with their wife and children.
There are some actors who are very famous for this particular technique or approach.
Daniel Day-Lewis, for example.
The great Irish actor, is famous for staying in character when he's making a movie, acting like the character, like the person in the movie, even when He's not in front of the camera, even when they are not filming him.
Richard says I don't really want a 10-course breakfast, but if it helps with your audition.
Richard is saying well, you don't have to cook me a 10-course breakfast, but I'll eat it if it will help you.
Elizabeth says, it will.
It will help her.
She says...
I have to stretch my acting chops and really get into the head of the character.
Your acting chops, C-H-O-P-S, are your acting abilities.
To stretch, S-T-R-E-C-H, your acting chops is to...
Expand and improve them to make them work in situations in which you're not normally using them.
The verb to stretch usually means to make something longer, but here it's used to mean to improve or expand.
Elizabeth is trying to get into the head of the character that she is perhaps playing or going to play in this performance.
To get into the head H-E-A-D of someone means to really understand that person, to understand how that person thinks.
One of the most important things for someone who is selling something to you, someone who is marketing a product or service, is to get into the head, or get inside the head of the person who's buying that product or who might buy that product.
This is something that actors also try to do.
Richard says, right, whatever you say.
Richard isn't really all that concerned with Elizabeth's logic or reasoning here.
Elizabeth responds to Richard now in character.
She's acting like the housewife from the 1950s.
She says, yes, dear.
Dear, D-E-A-R, is...
A word that you would use with someone with whom you are in love.
It's a word you might use with your wife or your husband.
It's a little bit old fashioned.
In fact, that's why Elizabeth is using it.
She's trying to sound like someone from the 1950s.
And, of course, the expression yes dear, is meant to give you the idea that the wife will agree with whatever the husband says.
That's the idea that Elizabeth is trying to convey here or get us to understand.
She says, your breakfast will be ready and waiting when you want it.
Elizabeth then asks Richard, did I project enough?
Did I emote enough?
To project P-R-O-J-E-C-T is to speak loudly and clearly.
To emote E-M-O-T-E is to show emotions or feelings when you're acting.
Elizabeth is asking Richard if she did a good job saying the sentences yes dear, your breakfast will be ready and waiting when you want it.
Richard says, you were great.
What kind of acting job is this?
Elizabeth says it's a small one.
The acting job that she's trying to get is not something that is very important or big.
Richard asks, in a film?
Elizabeth says, no.
In a TV show?
Elizabeth says, not exactly.
Richard then says, what is it?
What kind of role is this?
What kind of part is this?
Elizabeth says, it's a commercial.
It's an advertisement.
She says it's only a bit part, meaning it's only a small part.
But you know what they say there are no small parts, only small actors.
The expression.
You know what they say is used when you are going to use some common expression or common saying or popular expression.
The popular expression that is used in acting sometimes is there are no small parts, only small actors.
The idea behind the expression is that it's not important how big a role or part you have in a performance.
A talented actor can demonstrate his or her skills even in a small role and can improve the quality of the performance.
So Elizabeth is going to be playing perhaps in a commercial.
But remember, here in Los Angeles, there are thousands of actors and actresses trying to get jobs.
And so even a job in a commercial is better than a job working at a cafe or a restaurant, which is where most actors and actresses work here in LA.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
It's 6.30 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Why are you banging those pots and pans?
I have an audition coming up and I'm rehearsing.
By banging pots and pans?
I'm up for a part as a 1950s housewife.
I need to learn my lines and be prepared to improvise.
That's why I'm cooking you a 10-course breakfast.
I want to practice staying in character.
I don't really want a ten-course breakfast, but if it helps you with your audition... It will.
I have to stretch my acting chops and really get into the head of the character.
Right.
Whatever you say.
Yes, dear.
Your breakfast will be ready and waiting when you want it.
Did I project enough?
Did I emote enough?
You were great.
What kind of acting job is this?
It's a small one In a film?
No In a TV show?
Not exactly What is it?
It's a commercial, It's only a bit part, But you know what they say There are no small parts, Only small actors.
The person who writes the lines for our little dramatic performances, each episode is the one and only Dr Lucy Say.
Thank you, Lucy.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2014 by the Center for Educational Development.
