Acting Class Blog Posts

Last week, I saw a former student of mine on a morning talk show. He studied and coached with me for a few years. I got him an agent and he began to audition. After many auditions, he booked a… Read More

Over the years, there’s been much debate about acting workshops. Are they worth your time and money? What makes one school of acting better than another?  Why should I listen to an acting coach who isn’t a celebrity? More than… Read More

People are drawn to storytelling. Of course, the device has been used in entertainment for thousands of years. But a recent Harvard Business Review study found the neurological reasons why we enjoy hearing stories. The investigation exposed a group of… Read More

Two Questions: If you were given the instruction manual for a new product but the manual was meant for a completely different product, do you think you’d have much success properly operating that product? If you landed in a foreign… Read More

I learned this equation as a kid, and it is still the most valuable math lesson I have ever been taught. Success is not a fluke. It is the result of countless hours spent in preparation for the opportunity of… Read More

An audition is your time to perform for the purpose of showing how you would do a part in a film, TV show, commercial, etc. It is a chance to show a sample of your creative work. While this is… Read More

When you think of yourself as an actor, do you think of yourself as your “brand?” Or do you think of yourself as an actor who is more interested in expanding your boundaries; someone who is committed to developing the… Read More

There is never enough time to be ready for an audition, especially when it’s the one you’ve been waiting for… the one you really want. When an audition comes, you usually have at most one day with the sides to… Read More

As actors, we audition, but we don’t always get the role. This is part of the job. Sometimes we may not even be in the running, and other times we get so close we can smell craft services. The director,… Read More

  Use what you know. Don’t worry about what you don’t know. —Michael Shurtleff, playwright, casting director, and author Maybe your friends tell you, “You’re so attractive, you should be in commercials!” Or perhaps you’ve been approached at the mall… Read More

When I began to study screenwriting with Syd Field, one of the major principles that he taught me was Dramatic Need and it really struck a chord with me. Below is a discussion of how now, years later, I teach… Read More

  A successful career in the arts and especially in the performing arts is difficult to think about as a product. After all, a human being is involved. The preparation necessary to become an actor is specific and requires an… Read More

February has already arrived and for many actors, the New Year and New Year’s Resolutions go hand in hand. Starry eyed hopefuls will imagine networking more, plan to nail every audition, and decide to look into that commercial class they have… Read More

You read about it all the time: the actor who tells stories about what it took them to become an “overnight success.” They talk about auditioning for years, playing summer stock, auditioning, studying, auditioning, working as a waiter, paralegal or… Read More

Conscious in the Room This one would seem to be obvious—of course you’re going to be conscious in the room where you’re about to audition, that’s what you’re there for! But it’s sometimes harder than it sounds to remain totally… Read More