Acting 104: Assignment 3: Performing a Short Monologue

Your assignment for the fourth and final class meeting is to choose a short monologue (1-3 minutes long), memorize it and practice performing it. Look for one that has an emotional arc and lets your character experience more than one state of emotion.

Be sure to time your monologue when practicing it, including any stage actions, so that you’ll have a general idea of how long it is; what seems like a short monologue on paper may end up being much longer when it’s performed.

  • Monologues are always one character talking to another character- even though the other character is not seen on stage.
  • They’re talking for a reason – the reason might be to win the other character’s heart, to drive them away, to scare them, to humiliate them, to give them courage and confidence.
  • The strongest monologues have an emotional arc.

More tips:

  1. Choose a monologue that you find interesting and feel a personal connection with. 
  2. Look for a monologue that lets us see more than one side of the character.
  3. Look for one that fits your “type” as an actor, if you know it. Do you have an affiniity for “mean girl” types? Search for “Mean girl actor monologues”. Are you usually perceived as a “friendly girl next door”? Look for this monologues – etc.
  4. Consider monologues that were written for someone from a similar background. I.e., are you male or female? Young or old? (You might search for “Monologues for young male actors” or “Monologues for older female actors”)
  5. There are dramatic monologues and comedic ones; either can work. Monologues that are serio-comedic (both funny and touching) can be an interesting choice and give actors a complex scenario to bring to life. 
  6. If you find a monologue you like, but it has some sentences you can’t figure out how to perform, consider shortening it by removing the words you can’t make fit.
  7. For this class exercise, there are no points off if your monologue has profanity. But be aware that if you’re choosing one to use in an audition, it’s often best to avoid or minimize profanity.
  8. It’s fine to do a monologue that was performed by another actor, but don’t imitate (or watch) their performance; study it and play with it till you can find your own take on it.

Note: If you don’t have a monologue in mind, the easiest way to find one is to do a search for terms such as monologues for men; monologues for women; monologues for older actors or monologues for___________ (any other group you belong to) 

The file below has examples of several short monologues:

MONOLOGUESDownload

Examples of monologues

A monologue is a long speech delivered by a single character in a larger work, often a theatrical play or movie.  Many actors find it helpful to watch monologues before performing one. Here’s a short monologue from Erin Brokovich. Actor: Julia Robers

Sally Field monologue from Steel Magnolias

Al Pacino monologue from Scent of a Woman

Short scene from A Few Good Men (includes  Jack Nicholson’s monologue)

Monologues from auditions – well known actors:

Harrison Ford auditions for Han Solo in Star Wars. What do you think? Would you have cast him in the part? Why? Why do you think he got the part?

BRAD PITT AUDITION TAPE (EARLY)

What do you think of his audition? Would you have cast him? What about DiCaprio’s? What made their auditions successful?

RUSSELL CROWE TALKS ABOUT AUDITIONING:

MATTHEW FOX AUDITION TAPE:

HENRY THOMAS AUDITIONS FOR E.T.

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