Glorious Class Minutes
- It’s NOT YOUR lucky day, it’s THEIR lucky day, ‘cuz they get to see you!
- Your thought is about what JUST HAPPENED, NOT what you’re going to do next or say next!
- Rehearsals are where we PRACTICE HAVING FRESH THOUGHTS ON THE FLY! They are not where we decide how we’re gonna do the scene come hell or high water.
- Method was created to work over MONTHS. You don’t have that kind of time for an audish.
- STOP THINKING ABOUT CHARACTERISTICS! IT MAKES ACTING HARDER!
- The audience are the ones watching, they are the ones who want to be entertained. It doesn’t matter what you (the actor) like, it matters what the audience likes.
- You can’t be thinking about what your line is going to sound like.
- Don’t plan your thoughts. Listen in the moment.
- Ten minutes before class, Lesly’s haunting cry can be heard echoing through the hall and up the stairs: “POINT OF VIEEEEEEW!!! Point of view, point of view, point of view! You motherfuckin’ actors better have a motherfuckin’ POINT OF VIEW!! Jesus!”
Class Minute Brilliance!
- READING IS NOT ACTING.
- Employ: Instant Forgiveness – no matter how badly you think it went, put one foot in front of the other and FORGIVE YOURSELF, THEM, WHATEV. Don’t blow what’s next because what came before was a disappointment. Instead say, “I’m here, I value this experience, let’s throw a party and see what happens next.” THIS IS AN ACTIVE CHOICE.
- EVERY SCENE IS ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIPS, NOT ABOUT THE LINES.
- ACTING IS NOT ACTING – IT’S UPSETTING THAT THEY CALL IT ACTING! Let’s call it NOT acting. LET’S CALL IT THINKING!
- We CAN’T think we’re ACTING!
- Once an actor hadda walk with a limp, so she put a bottlecap in her shoe.
- ALWAYS BE AWARE OF YOUR BODY’S PROXIMITY TO YOUR LOVE INTEREST!
- In situations where the reader is f-ing you up, just say (in a nice way) “Why don’t we try it again!’
- YOU schlepped over there to act for them. You paid for coaching, gas, parking, and that ticket you got, not to mention the nails, the blow dry and the lipstick. So HAVE BALLS. DON’T BE APOLOGETIC!
Selections From Class Minutes
- Process the lines as you hear them. Don’t jump ahead and don’t anticipate.
- Rehearsing = exploring possibilities.
- We’re not looking for the great reversal, or the great technical achievement, we’re looking for the truth.
- Don’t go into a scene knowing how you’re going to do it. Don’t TRY to be anything. Trust the words and trust your work.
- Physical behavior must have thoughts just as much as lines of dialogue. Move with reason.
- Real thoughts guide real behavior.
- Don’t just go to the “Character Store,” it shows. And it’s cheap.
- Good actor thoughts to use at auditions: “I was just passing through and heard you guys needed some help.” “Just one stop on my busy day.” And when they say, “Thank you,” afterward, think: “You’re welcome.” And continue on with your busy day.
- Acting should be invisible with a point of view.
Class Minutes!
- When you go to an audish, you’re doing them a favor, acting for them for free.
- You gotta believe in magic time in order for magic to show up.
- You don’t have TIME not to spend at least an hour each day to release the right side of your brain. The left has been in charge for far too long!!!
- Directors will often tell actors, “We got it but do it again and just throw this take away,” or “Do this one just for fun,” to get the actors to actually let go of the work and make it authentic. Do yourself a favor and just do this in the first place and save everyone the trouble of having to trick you into giving your best performance.
- Naturalism only relays one layer of the character and their thoughts. It feels real but is not very engaging. Sounding natural is not the goal; having strong opinions and clear thoughts is the goal and if you have that, not only will it be natural, it might even be INTERESTING!
- The slightest changes separate a B+ (no callback) from an A performance.
- If there is a physical action that you find uncomfortable, chances are you are not having a thought or if you are, your thought is probably, “I have to do this physical action now.” Instead of awkwardly adhering to the stage directions, have a thought about what’s going on and you will find a way to naturally motivate the action.
- We want Fat Free Acting. No gristle, no white stuff. Lean is what we want, specific and clear. Fat Free Acting starts in the brain, with thoughts. When your acting gets fatty you gotta burst out the lap band and tone that shit up, y’hear?
- The scene DOES NOT start with the first line spoken. Whatever was just said or done before the scene starts MUST motivate the first thing we see otherwise it will just look like, “Okay, now the scene started.”
Class Minutes Genius!
- Message of the day/week/year/life: The more fun you have while you’re acting, the more fun you are to watch. So eschew misery!
- How do I make the acting I’m doing RIGHT NOW the most fun possible? Does worrying about what They think make it fun? Nope.
- Jen: “When your ego gets wrapped up into it, the fun goes out of it.”
- The genius is in your intuition, not in doing the thing you think is so smart and clever and adorable — (it’s not).
- If they see you nail the first bit, then maybe they’ll keep watching; and if you keep nailing bits then maybe they’ll think they can trust you with their show.
- Rehearse all week and then have fun in the performance, being in the scene, looking at each other and having thoughts in the moment.
- When it comes to PERFORMANCE, you have to LET GO and LISTEN. If not, we will see an actor working instead of a character living.
- Live in the unknown. Just listen and respond.
More Insight From Class Minutes
- Your left brain wants to master the lines because it CAN. “I know the answer, it’s this line, and if I memorize it at least THIS will be perfect.” Take your left brain out of its power position.
- You can’t just “bring yourself” to it. You have to bring everything the text wants to it, and THEN bring yourself to it, and hope to God they want someone who looks like you and has no credits.
- Assume your acting is genius until someone you trust says your “first read was awful and you are a talentless freak.”
- Think the thought and let the line just fall out of your mouth.
- When you have a theater background, there is an extra level of “I want to make sure you see my choices” that we have to eliminate.
- If you’re reading for a film lead or series regular, do not dress for the audition scenes…dress for the entire piece.
More Class Minute Brilliance!
- Is your thought a text based thought? Just because it’s cute doesn’t mean that it’s specific enough based on what has happened in the script.
- Find the drama in comedy and the comedy in drama.
- The only way magic can happen is in the not knowing. Otherwise it’s pre-planned and it can be good, but not that magic in-the-momentness.
- Notice how when you hear your own writing it can be very uncomfortable. If you see a writer looking miserable in a casting session don’t project on them that they hate you. They are hearing what doesn’t work in their script. Thinking about what isn’t playing and has to be changed. Don’t take it personally.
- You can be happy when you go into a room, but you’re not lucky to be there. You are supposed to be there.
- The difference between genres is the externalization of the stakes.
Best of the Class Minutes!
- We always SEE what we SAY. IMAGING is completely effortless and HABITUAL.
- Write down character thoughts, instead of characteristics. Preparing with characteristics is like preparing only with an accent. DON’T DO IT.
- If you don’t know what your thought is, sit in the not knowing. It will come. I promise.
- Always ask why this character is in the script. How do I serve this text?
- We have to rehearse and know what we want to do, but then we have to have the courage to live in the moment and be organic.
The Best of Class Minutes!
“I am finding you really get a lot from breaking it down into small bits versus running all the way through the scene over and over. That way you are making sure every breath of life within the lines of the scene is lived.” -Talia T
“Rehearsing every day pushes you into daring to suck, but that suckage is golden. You come to a place where it’s ok not to do it ‘good’ and it frees you up to really give into the process of making it brilliant!” -Talia T
“I finally understand what I’ve been hearing forever, ‘We want to see something different,’ or ‘Bring yourself to it.’ I was always trying to be what I thought they wanted and that was probably pretty boring and definitely not fun.” -NH
“Breaking down the moments before and the first page really set the tone and stage for the entire scene and all that work really paid off as the rest of the scene came much more smoothly. I wish I’d given myself the time and had the patience to work on the moments before and the beginning of the scene in past auditions!” -NH
Highlights From Class Minutes!
- Success should be determined by how you feel about yourself. “Do I like what I do?” “Am I good at what I do?” Not, “Do other people see me as successful?”
- NO STATUS is NO SEXY. NO SEXY is NO EMPLOYED.
- Have fun with high stakes material. It’s what we live for as actors. WE GET TO PLAY!!!!
- Do the work in rehearsal. Make the choices. Set up the jokes. Find the reversals. Then FORGET ALL OF IT in the audition and just listen and have fun.
- Your performance is 97% what the WRITER wrote and 3% your special sauce. Do what the writer WROTE and you will AMAZE them.
