Flavor of the Day

In the past, acting education would have you go into your past to dredge up the appropriate emotion and substitution (Strasberg), go into your imagination to create emotion (Adler), endow objects with emotional weight (Hagen), etc. I find that if it works out for you, then have at it.

Old master painters also used to spend months and weeks on almost photo-realistic paintings. Writers would labor intensely to find just the exact word or phrase. Dancers would spend years at the barre and musicians would cut their teeth on the most challenging classical compositions. All well and good and admirable.

Modern Art, Modern Dance and Rock and Roll seems to have changed the urgency and immediacy that we want from our art.

I have always found that the Universe, or Spirit, tends to give me roles that directly correspond to where I am at any given moment in my life. Looking back over my scene work as an actor and my professional acting work – I can now see how the roles that I was working on directly corresponded to where I was in my life.

I feel that part of our job as actors is to see what we are working out physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually with each opportunity that we have to work – whether it be an audition, a class scene or a movie/television/stage job. What can you heal in yourself? If we, as an audience witness you REALLY working your process; we can’t help to be healed vicariously. Be a detective. Explore, look inside and ask Spirit – why was I given this opportunity today. Right now. In this moment. What is present for me? What are my issues? How can I use this character to heal myself? What have I got to substitute for this event? Some days I feel like chocolate ice cream. Sometimes, only peach will do.

Accessing the Moment

The way into being present in a scene is through the individual moment. The moment is the actor’s greatest life-saver. Much like life, if you are in the present moment – all things are available to you and there is nothing to fear. One of the most significant differences between improv and scene study is that — in scene study we prepare for the moment. How you behave in the moment is different than how I would behave in the moment; due to our life-histories, experiences, points-of-view, and opinions. In scene study, we create the back story of a person in service to being. A character doesn’t necessitate a different accent or walk (although, sometimes it does!), but it does demand that you leap into the imagination of a person that is not you. In improv, we often just operate from the moment without any depth of values. It can be the difference between a snapshot from a disposable camera and the richness of a professional photo. We create the values of where to bring light, and what remains in shadow. We create what is focused on, and what is in the background. We decide whether to use color, or allow for black and white. When a character is created out of our fertile imaginations, we bring the magic of art to it. When we create out of our imaginations, we invite Spirit’s assistance. We end up with the gravitas of artistry and leave the pettiness of our mundane lives in the dust. Remember, the reason that we don’t have a camera crew following us around all day is that most of us would need an editor, make-up, hair and lights. And, for most of us, our lives are just not as interesting as our imaginations would allow.

Accessing the Magic

When you’ve done the homework of finding where you and the character meld… When you’ve learned the lines by heart (allowing your heart to speak, rather than your head)… When you’ve figured out where you are (time, space, motion) and what you want from the other actor(s) in the scene…
Then, and only then, are you able to let go. You are able to surrender to the moment and let the universal energy play through you. This creative energy will allow you to fly higher than your simple thoughts could have ever imagined. You will be tapping into the brilliance, not of yourself, but of divine inspiration.
We all have the potential to enter the portal of what the world calls creative genius, but it is not our genius that we are accessing. It is our inherent divine nature at work.

Being Extraordinary

Everybody wants to be extraordinary. Yet, some of the most powerful performances in the last few years have been from actors playing ordinary people in extraordinary situations. The paradox is this… the more extraordinary you attempt to become – the more ordinary you seem (because everyone is trying to be extraordinary, see above premise). The more ordinary you allow yourself to be, the more extraordinary you seem (because everyone is trying to be extraordinary, see above premise) as you are unique!

Sure, there are extraordinary performances – I’m thinking of Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp, to name a few. But, if you look at their early performances, they were playing ordinary people in extreme circumstances. Sometimes, with an accent. As their careers grew, so did their artistry.

Everybody is unique. You do not have to find your uniqueness, it is already there. It’s like looking for your car keys and discovering them in your pocket. You can’t try to be somebody, you can only be yourself. Acting is simply bringing forth some aspects of yourself and letting other aspects fall away.

Uniqueness is not something to be discovered or found, it is already there. Just allow it. It is your gift to the world. As long as you’re running to find your “specialness”, you won’t be able to stop to accept what is divine about you.

As long as you try to be extraordinary you will be ordinary. When you become ordinary, you find what it is about you that is extraordinary. I love a good paradox!

Why Train?

Why Train? An athlete, musician, or doctor, would never ask such a question. If acting were such an easy career, wouldn’t everyone want to do it? If you want to be an artist who affects people then you must prepare your craft. As Stanislavsky said, “Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art.” Of course, we can all act passionately and emotionally all by ourselves. But when the stakes are high and tension and self-consciousnesses creep in, we need techniques to fall back on in order to soar.

Can Acting Be Taught?

Can acting be taught? No. A child is electrifying to watch because the focus and concentration, elegance and economy, are all there. So is a cat. As self-consciousness creeps in – so does ego and the desire to ‘perform’. Anyone can be interesting to watch – as long as they’re not conscious of being observed. What can be taught is ways to take the focus off of the self in order to do truthful, organic behavior in imaginary circumstances.

Tension is talent unexpressed. Through practice, you can turn fear into excitement and tension in astonishing behavior. It’s all just energy. Learn to channel it correctly!

It is my belief that each actor has the talent, wisdom, courage, and boldness already inside them. I assist in training the artist to unlock their potential. I have found that as we transform as individuals, so do we transform as artists. As we transform as artists, so do we transform our audience.

Giving Yourself Permission

We tend to create things in our life that feel familiar to us.  One of the common things that actors have inside them, as part of their upbringing is the need to be given permission.  If you have ever found yourself with the feeling that you’d love to be a working actor — if only the agents/managers/casting directors/producers/God would let you; then I ask you, “how are you not giving YOURSELF permission to star in your own life”?  There is rarely a good reason to ever wait for permission to do something that your heart desires.  The more you internalize the waiting for permission, the more you’ll find life reflecting it back at you.