How do I imitate an old guy?

August 21, 2019 8:21 AM

I have an audition tonight. A friend informed me that for the part I'm going for, I need to be able to channel/imitate the dad character. How do I do that as a relatively high pitched female?

That's about the entire question, really. I have no idea who's reading for the part of the dad or what their traits are to imitate them, but I'm female with high pitched enough voice so that I'm not sure how well I can do a deep voiced dad. Anyone have any tips/tricks I can figure out uh...today?

posted by jenfullmoon to Media & Arts (15 answers total)

You’re mimicking another character who is present in the scene?
posted by amanda at 8:24 AM on August 21, 2019

My suggestions would be based on stereotypes: voice, movement, hearing lessen with age.

Make your voice quiver. Kathryn Hepburn's later movies demonstrate this.

Imagine you hurt all over, and make your movements slow and shaky. They can be the same movements as the other actor, but slower, more fumbling, less graceful (representing physical slowness with age.)

Keep asking people to speak up and repeat themselves, and be grouchy about it.

Good luck.
posted by blob at 8:50 AM on August 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

Don't worry about the pitch of your voice. Imitation is about style, not substance. Watch American Dad to see a good picture of a comic dad (The Simpsons and Family Guy are a bit over the top).
posted by ubiquity at 8:50 AM on August 21, 2019 [3 favorites]

We don't know how old the dad is.

But please, please, please do not use a bunch of age-related stereotypes. They are as offensive as stereotypes about any other quality and contribute to the problem of ageism in our society (which I notice a whole lot now that I'm older). Not all old people are alike.
posted by FencingGal at 8:59 AM on August 21, 2019 [14 favorites]

Don't worry about the pitch of the voice.

You need to find the speed and cadence of the words and the tone in which they are delivered. Find the place in the body where the "dad" character talks, stands, and moves, and orient yourself around that centre, not your own. Find the mannerisms, the verbal tics, the eyelines of the character you need to channel.

This afternoon, turn on the TV and find a movie with a "dad" character. Practice standing the way that person does. Use their delivery, their posture, their movements. Completely ignore voice pitch.

Find the mental attitude of "dad," go there, and be the dad. Be the dad. na-na-na-na-na.... be the dad.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:15 AM on August 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

Is the dad stereotypically dad-like? Complaints about how much things cost these days, terrible puns, appreciation of extremely dorky and practical things (these socks from the sporting goods outlet are fantastic!)? Does he like Dad Magazine? If so, I'd spend some time riffing on that to get comfortable with it.

FWIW, I'm female and my friends have teased me about being a grandpa since my mid-20s (recumbent bike, like comfortable shoes and going to bed early, thrifty...). Another female friend is *such* a dad with her terrible jokes and enthusiasm for the discount grocery chain. Dad-ness transcends age and gender.
posted by momus_window at 9:16 AM on August 21, 2019

How would you imitate your own dad? And of course what's the goal here - are you imitating the father so that people admire him/mock him/share your view of him...? Go with the intention over the accuracy of the imitation. I'd write more but I'm backstage and there's my cue!
posted by stray at 9:43 AM on August 21, 2019 [2 favorites]

Stand up straight. Stretch out your arms and legs to take up space and put your spread-out hands on your hips. Project an unquestioned authority and knowledge, not like Captain von Trapp but like a guy who gets used to kids asking him “Daddy, why is the sky blue” and delivering a definitive answer. I wouldn’t even worry about how deep your voice is as much as making it sound calm and unquestionable.
posted by sallybrown at 10:02 AM on August 21, 2019 [2 favorites]

Are you meant to imitate the dad character? Or is the character you're auditioning for meant to imitate the dad character?
posted by slkinsey at 10:24 AM on August 21, 2019 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: I have been told the dad is dead and my character is conducting a seance and channeling him. The dad does come back from the dead in the show and is seen in it as himself. I assume I need to imitate whatever actor is playing dad.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:56 AM on August 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If this is an audition, the people doing the casting likely don't know what the actor playing 'dad' is going to act like either, unless they've been cast and have been doing rehearsals already. Maybe they know what the dad-actor did during their audition, but that may not be what the director is going to want in the end. Your audition is to show that you're flexible in creating a medium-channeling-dad character, and that it appears to come naturally and not forced; you need to show you can easily be a dad, so that the director knows it won't be an uphill struggle to get the dad-like performance they're after out of you.

(And, it's an audition, if you don't get the part don't get hung up on the dad-impersonation being the reason, there's lots of reasons people don't get cast)
posted by AzraelBrown at 12:05 PM on August 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

Yes, I agree that your voice is not the key. You may want to deepen it a little. Use shorter, brusque phrasing but I think it's about embodying a male form. Widen your stance, stand as though your shoulders are broader, walk to take up space, be flatter in your emotions and less quick to respond. If you can watch the other actor do his (or her) thing as the character you are imitating, see if you can pick up a stance or way of carrying themselves and try to embody that. I have a (male) neighbor who seems to compulsively jingle the change in his pocket. He's older and it really reminded me of my Dad who would keep change, a cross and his AA token in his pocket and occasionally jingle them. I feel like no guys my age ever do that. To that end, wear clothes that are a little freer and looser so that you can move and don't feel so bound up.
posted by amanda at 3:02 PM on August 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

Channeling during a seance suggests seated, so not a lot of opportunity to get very physical - but definitely widen your shoulders and sit up straight, feet flat on the floor with knees and legs at right angles, or maybe do the "masculine" crossed legs where your ankle rests on the opposite knee (rather than knee resting on knee).

Don't worry about deepening your voice, maybe a little if you can do it comfortably, but move to a more flat declarative delivery of the lines - like everything you're saying is a Known Fact. Speak slowly and feel free to put pauses in between sentences or phrases. Definitely do not uptalk, only actual questions end with a rise in pitch at the end and even then not much of a rise. Make an effort to eliminate or reduce non-verbal interjections (I forget what they're actually called - "Uh", "um", like that.)

Think of "Dad-ness" as Male Authority - everything you say will be listened to and taken seriously, you have no doubts about what you're saying, you don't need to rush all the words out to make sure your audience hears you.
posted by soundguy99 at 4:38 PM on August 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Your audition is to show that you're flexible in creating a medium-channeling-dad character, and that it appears to come naturally and not forced; you need to show you can easily be a dad, so that the director knows it won't be an uphill struggle to get the dad-like performance they're after out of you.

Thanks, all. This bit especially was the guideline I was going for.

It didn't go great, I admit. I think i was decidedly so-so and don't expect to be cast in this one. There wasn't anyone there reading for the dad part so I had no one to imitate, they just told me to do it in a gruff deep man voice. I tried to do it with less strain on myself and they wanted it much deeper, so... Well, I tried. Oh well. Thanks for the advice!
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:50 PM on August 21, 2019 [2 favorites]

One behavior that can be seen by an audience has to do with turning to look at something. A young person will turn his head. An older person is more likely to turn his torso, especially including his shoulders.
posted by SemiSalt at 9:58 AM on August 22, 2019