When actors receive sides, they often begin with questions like: Who is this person? What is their personality? Are they guilty? Are they nervous? What tone should I play?

Those are all useful questions. But there is often a missing key that helps the entire character make more sense:

Why is this character necessary for the story?

In this free webinar, acting teacher Jeb Beach introduces a practical framework for approaching television roles through function.

Using the Vancouver-shot procedural series Blue Skies as a case study, we’ll look at how different guest-star characters serve the episode in distinct ways. Some provide useful information while remaining suspicious. Some connect the investigator to a new part of the world. Some appear to clarify the case while quietly complicating it.

These characters may share a similar type or personality, but the story needs something different from each of them. Understanding that difference can help actors make clearer, more specific, and more grounded choices.

We’ll explore:

• The difference between type and function

• How to identify why a character is necessary for the story

• How procedural television creates recurring guest-star archetypes

• How different characters create different kinds of pressure

• What casting may need an actor to prove in the self tape

• What the finished episode can reveal about the role’s true function

  
  

This webinar is designed to give actors a practical lens for approaching self tapes with greater clarity and confidence.

Type helps you understand why you may have been considered. Function helps you understand why the story needs you.