With many of Hollywood’s actors, both experienced and novice, a theatre background is extremely common. Some see stage acting as the natural starting point for the modern actor, but do we ever talk about the next steps? Sometimes it can be intimidating to switch mediums because stage and screen productions have so many different elements to consider — but it can also be a matter that gets swept under the rug by people who think the transition will be seamless. The truth is, the acting styles are very different and it requires different techniques for delivery, expression, and projection.

Our friends at Backstage recently published an article on 4 Ways Theatre Actors Can Break Into TV & Film with some fantastic tips on how to make the transition a little smoother. Here is one of our favorite excerpts from the piece:

The work we do as actors to bring a character to life is exactly the same for theater as it is for film or TV. The difference lies solely in the delivery of that characterization. When I coach actors on transitioning from theater to film/TV, I often hear their concern about “being too big for the camera.” The good news is you can easily overcome this by asking yourself one question:

How far away is my audience? 

In a theater, this is simple. You can see your audience, and a theater actor naturally knows how to modify their performance to reach the back of a 300-seat house versus a 3000-seat house.