How to play a drunk...

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How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 2:29am

Okay so I know this is random. But anyone have any suggestions about this? I am going to a callback where a scene I have calls for me to play a guy who is drunk. I don't want to play him over the top, but how do you perform this? I know it's a delicate subject to tackle but any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

"Isn't it strange that we spend most of our time learning to do what they put people in asylums for." - Jane Fonda on Acting

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 2:32am

just get drunk before the callback.

"People that excel in the arts understand that the journey is the reward...the result an added bonus. Every day I act or train is a blessing and a dream come true. If Broadway beckons so be it. I have a personal definition of success that is unshakable by a possibly unobtainable goal." -HamletWasBipolar

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 2:40am

har har har...i'm being serious here.

"Isn't it strange that we spend most of our time learning to do what they put people in asylums for." - Jane Fonda on Acting

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 2:45am

have you ever been drunk before?

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 2:47am

Just relax.. A LOT.

Slow everything down and slur your words slightly.

"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>> “I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>> -whatever2

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 2:52am

I mean yes I have been drunk before. Maybe I should have some shots of tequila and rehearse the scene. LOL.

"Isn't it strange that we spend most of our time learning to do what they put people in asylums for." - Jane Fonda on Acting

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 2:53am

Here's the key - put yourself in the mindset of being really drunk, but then try to hide it. People who are really drunk are usually trying to pass themselves off as sober.

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 3:11am

it probably wouldnt hurt to drink a little and rehearse the scene. think like the character. maybe record yourself and what you sound like. why not?

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 3:18am

I remember at a Drama convention in Sacramento, CA, one of the auditors suggested not to play drunk; play attempting to be sober. I have no idea; that's just what he said.

Updated On: 2/21/07 at 03:18 AM

#10

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 3:27am

I'd go method on this one...seriously.

"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"

#11

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 3:32am

Don't tell us you've never been drunk on stage before?

#12

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 3:36am

I agree with those who have said not to act drunk, but act trying to show that you're sober.

Think about it. When you're drunk, most of your time is spent trying to convince both yourself and others that you aren't as drunk as you are, and that is usually what results in the things you find funny later (trying to stand up and wobbling). When you're drunk, you're trying to play off sobriety, so you really need to concentrate on that element of it while on stage.

"Cages or wings, which do you prefer?"-- Tick, Tick...BOOM!

#13

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 3:40am

Just remember that writers never write a drunk scene to show a drunk. They do it because it's a moment where the character is likely to be more honest than usual. So, I would focus on that aspect--the wanting to finally get something out that you were too afraid to otherwise.

johnraymondbarker.com

#14

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 4:21am

"Here's the key - put yourself in the mindset of being really drunk, but then try to hide it. People who are really drunk are usually trying to pass themselves off as sober."

Bingo. Drunk people are struggling to appear sober.

#15

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 7:58am

Also, raise and lower your voice at different times, don't keep it steady.

"I think of avant-garde as downtown shows where you rub waffles and chocolate on yourself."- Hunter Bell

#16

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 8:09am

I find that drunk people speak very precisely because they don't want to slur - I guess it depends on the degree of drunkeness - if you are about to pass out or throw up, the words get slurry but if you are "tight" and are still trying to hide it, you tend to put a lot of effort into forming words - that makes the pattern slower. I like the idea of recording various speech patterns and seeing which one seems drunk - especially with no visual cues.

#17

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 10:37am

Kean's got it. Be very precise. Make every gesture pursposeful. Over pronounce your words. Thinkabout every action before you take it.

#18

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 10:42am

Go watch Denis O'Hare in A SPANISH PLAY. He plays a drunk, and does so exceptionally.

Uta Hagen also talks about how to do it in RESPECT FOR ACTING.

#19

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 10:50am

Yeah, the usual advice with this is to pretend you are actually drunk and do all you can to hide it.

#20

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 10:50am

If you're in NYC, go see Liev Schreiber in 'Talk Radio'. He plays a great drunk.

"If you've got something to say, say it, and think well of yourself while you're learning to say it better." - David Mamet

#21

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 10:56am

A professor of mine told me a way to create the "sensation" of being drunk - if you don't really want to drink - was to close your eyes and spin for ten seconds. Open your eyes - breath in and try to walk as calmly and normally as you can. It's a pretty good fascimile of the feeling.

#22

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 11:27am

"Here's the key - put yourself in the mindset of being really drunk, but then try to hide it. People who are really drunk are usually trying to pass themselves off as sober."

Exactly right! The point is, you're TRYING to be "un-drunk"

Wait...did that make any sense?

"How bout a little black dress?"~hannahshule "I have a penis, not a vagina." ~munkustrap178

Updated On: 2/21/07 at 11:27 AM

#23

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 11:34am

Agreed with what most people said. When actors try to "act drunk," it gets too comical and over done. Subtle goes a long way

"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2

#24

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 3:40pm

jrb is absolutely right. We are currently working on a play where a character got drunk because he is upset with himself - and through drunkenness he is exposing his weakness and vulnerability.

Unless you are auditioning for a comedy in which being drunk is the joke. Then you are better off just getting smashed.

#25

re: How to play a drunk...

Posted: 2/21/07 at 6:20pm

Not that I am the next Stanislavski, but did play Hines in PJ Game last year.

For me I always had to remember to be sloppy, and slur. I also used to spin in circles just before going on. Granted, this sort of drunk was played for comedy than anything else.

I hope this helps, and best of luck.

"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert

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