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Choosing Monologues For An Actress

Answers to various acting questions I get from aspiring actors and actresses.

Q:  I have applied for a couple of Acting courses at two different Universities. I want to use a monologue from a film in my audition but I don't if it's good enough. Can you give me some advice on what monologue to use?  It has to be at least 2 minutes and I really want something that will show off my acting.

A: I generally tell actresses that monologues are a very personal thing and it's pretty hard to tell someone what they ought or ought not to use. 

As such, if you find a monologue that you connect with and understand emotionally, you're on the right track. Depending on the school, the monologue from the film may work. Some schools require monologues to be from published plays, others don't care about the origin of the material. 

One of the big reasons I put "44 Fantastic Audition Monologues for Women" together was because of the difficulty actresses have in finding appropriate material to play. I am obviously biased here, but I feel that there is some wonderful, off the beaten path stuff in "44 Fantastic Audition Monologues for Women" that should give you ample material to work from. 

Barring that, I would say that you should probably focus on plays that you like, especially ones that feature female lead actresses that you identify strongly with. 

Hope this helps and best of luck out there!

As always, if you have any questions or thoughts, or would just like to share some of your successes, please feel free to drop me a line.  I actually answer them.

Best of Luck out there and remember, you can't fail if you don't quit.

D.L. White