Acting: Why It’s Important To Be Versatile

Picture this: you’re in an audition, reading a well-prepared monologue, and suddenly, out of nowhere in comes a surprise: You are being asked to sing something. Show your vocal range. Demonstrate your general adaptation skills in unexpected situations.

Actors are expected to be skillful enough to play everything. At least that’s the consensus regarding acting as a profession. It’s thought that you’re to be as comfortable with such different authors like Shakespeare as with Arthur Miller, comedy, and drama, able to tackle Euripides’ “Medea” and just as seamlessly play “Big Momma’s House.” Or even a greater challenge — to feel comfortable doing Les Miserables — being able to sing is such a great asset! Of course, precious few have the means to rise to such astonishing heights for the simple reason that none of this is all that easy. Mastering the skills to perform in any of these forms, let alone making the transition between them seem effortless, is certainly why constant maintenance is required of every professional. Each genre and style demand an enormous skill level from you as an actor, yet we’re told this is what being versatile means, and that’s the job of an artist.

So, what this all means — you should invest your time and money in your development. Take a vocal coach or singing lessons. You never know how this can play out, you never know when a casting director will consider you for a role, but all that you lack is the ability to sing. Everyone who can speak can learn to use a singing voice, but not everyone will have a fabulous-sounding voice, but that shouldn’t be a problem — there are many singing actors with voices that are far from pitch-perfect, but they’re still singing and winning audience’s love and admiration.

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