On ACTING: "OVER THE TOP"

The director or casting director/auditioner tells you your performance is "over the top". What does s/he mean by that? The answer(s): (1) Your performance was fake. It was over the top of any really-felt, emotional reality; that is, you were pretending to express more than you were honestly feeling. In brief: you were indulging in bad, fake acting. OR: (2) The emotion was real, but the actor in you was too eager to express it. You were 'pushing', over-emphasizing or self-indulging your emotion: another form of bad acting. OR: (3) You were engaging in real acting--good acting--but you were living the honest emotion at too obvious a level from the director/auditioner's point of view. S/he wanted the character's emotion, while deeply felt, to be more hidden; preferred a more contained character in performance: a good, honest acting job but just not the form of character style the director wants at that juncture of the piece. A FINAL REMINDER: Always perform at all times "at the top" of emotion...feel an intensity of emotion that is always rich and full however moulded to character and events and desire for obviousness at hand. Never act "over the top".