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February 2021

how to show up for yourself

Try this to get motivated and stay committed

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Ohhh, it’s so easy to find reasons not to do the work we artists know we must do, isn’t it?  And yes of course — even when you’ve scheduled rehearsal time for yourself but then suddenly a sick friend needs your help you still show up for them.  But will you get that time you set aside for yourself back on the calendar?  

What if you started showing up for yourself like you do for your best friends? 

Try scheduling some “non-negotiable” time for yourself for the week.  Show up for you and get yourself into the cycle of success.  When you show up for yourself you produce results.  Those results give you confidence and that confidence gets you right back into action.  This is the cycle of success.  

Sometimes just starting is the hard part.  And if you fall off the horse–no prob–you get right back on.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

So maybe there’s a few things you can think about this week—so it’s Tuesday—going into the rest of the week with some intention and purpose:  here are my non-negotiables for this week. Right?  Here are my non-negotiables–meaning they’re as important as me showing up for a sick friend.  And it doesn’t mean that if somebody needs you for an emergency in a moment’s notice that you can’t be there, but it does mean that you want to reschedule and keep your commitments to you.

 

When I watch my kids accomplish something for the first time, you know something that they don’t think that they can do…when my daughter jumped off the hot tub, which is a high wall into her grandparents’ pool and it was too high–she thought it was too high and she watched this other kid do it.  She was like, I can’t I can’t I can’t, and then she did it. There’s that confidence that comes from that, I did it. I did it. And it springs you into action. It springs you into a cycle of success. And make it as important as being there for someone else. You need to show up for your best friend Renee.


So show up for you and give yourself that boost of like, I did that! And get yourself into that cycle of success. Result producing action producing confidence producing action producing confidence producing action… But it’s first about just getting in and getting going and getting started. And if you fall off, you get back on.

making the first read of a new script count

Actors, don’t underestimate the power of your very first read of a script.

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The biggest gift that initial read gives you is the power of your first instincts.  As you read the script aloud, whether with a partner or alone, pay close attention to the actions your body instinctively plays.  Are you blocking someone in response to being blasted?  Do you react by warming someone when you feel you are being lifted?

Although these actions can (and probably will!) shift and change as you continue working on the material, those first few reads can give you invaluable information about your initial reactions. So take note of them.  From there, you can make adjustments and try new things as you learn more about the characters, but you only get the chance to read the script aloud for the first time once!  Make use of that exciting opportunity to follow your instincts.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

In some of those first reads, it’s really valuable to discover what some of your instinctive actions are as you go and kind of write some of those down. They may change a little bit but depending on what they give you in that first read, you’re going to have that lovely first impulse as to what to do back because you’re reacting to what they just said to you– So in that first round it can be really nice to go back and forth and say, well you’re doing this to me, you’re blasting me, so I’m going to divert you, or redirect you… So when I redirected you, and they’re like, woah, okay so now I feel like I need to (do something else back)…right?  To have that collaboration can be really nice–to do that back and forth. But you don’t need a partner, you can 100% figure out, like how we’ve been working here, thinkin: okay what do I want?  How do I want to affect this person?

have you been seduced by the do-nothing technique?

Have you been seduced by the do-nothing technique?

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I can’t keep quiet about this anymore.

Look, I’m not a hater.  I take zero pleasure in knocking other teachers (or anyone!) but the truth is: Too many acting coaches are teaching a sort of alternative, no-technique-technique that is actually harmful to storytelling.  This approach is damaging the craft of acting and stopping great stories dead in their tracks.    

There are several different variations of this philosophy but the basic idea seems to be (and odds are you’ve heard or even studied this), you are enough: learn the lines, trust your instincts and voilà!   

While it’s certainly possible to get some lucky, lovely impulse moments this way–or if you are basically playing yourself you can pull it off–but that really is about as far as it goes.    

Of course, this do-nothing-technique is terribly seductive.  You don’t have to work very hard!  The idea these coaches seem to teach is that if you rehearse or make too many choices in advance you will be in your head instead of living the scene.  They teach not to ever “plan anything”.  The goal is a kind of naturalistic acting regarded as believable.  “Just play yourself.”  

But there are a few major problems with this.  

Most importantly, the scene usually ends up being all about the actor and not about the story the writer wrote.  Countless important stories have dreary coats of grey painted over them by actors who are not being active in their work.  This kind of acting encourages the avoidance of risky, expensive theatre tickets.  It changes the channel. It’s the kind of acting that puts us to sleep.  And it’s getting worse, we just cover it up with big effects, crafty edits and nice looking faces.  

Plus, when actors are not active in their work, tensions creep in and they tend to fall back on old habits.  These actors tend to have a small range and are only able to play a variation of themselves.

Not so fun, right?  

Actors who use deep script analysis are certain they don’t miss any particulars the writer has given them.  I teach my students to break down their scenes and make choices based on the writing.  They pull out their character info, they build relationships to all the script’s PPOE, they dive into the character’s wants, what’s in the way and then, perhaps most importantly, they experiment with how they are going to achieve their character’s wants.  They have thought about what they want the other character to think, feel or do.  They work at affecting their partners.  They figure out where the transitions are.  They raise the stakes.  They get a sense of the style of the writing and make necessary adjustments.  All of these things are vital because they are a part of the story the writer (you know, the person who spilled their soul into those pages) gave you to tell.  If you miss these things, it becomes an act of self-indulgence.  It becomes all about you and how natural you are.  And usually, a biiiiig-time snooze fest.

If you’re not convinced, try doing Neil Simon or Tenessee Williams with the no-technique-technique for eight shows per week and report back.

So why do these teachers recommend we ditch the fundamental wisdom about acting we learned from the greats?  They claim it makes actors heady and blocks spontaneity and impulses.  And I get it, I totally get where they got this idea.

 

But here’s the big key these guys are missing and the vital thing you must learn to become a great actor:

 

After you prepare, you must release your work.  You’ve likely heard that phrase before, but what does it really mean?

Stay tuned.  A juicy part two to this in a few weeks.

what to do when acting doesn't feel fun anymore

What to do when acting doesn’t feel fun anymore

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A lot of actors start to act because it’s fun.  But for some of you, as you get further into your careers, there are moments—or even long stretches of time—when you aren’t connecting to that fun anymore. 

At those often painful moments, it’s critical to ask yourself:  Why do I act?  You have a deeper reason or purpose for acting, whether this has occurred to you or not.  

When you feel challenged by roles that ask a lot of you (or frustrated by roles that don’t), it is imperative to come back to your “why” as a place to get grounded.  I love to encourage actors to create a personal manifesto or a mission statement around your purpose that you can come back to to get back on course or to help you stay there.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

And about sometimes going back to the reason why you act–what is this about for you? Why do you do this? And in the beginning I think for a lot of people it feels really fun and free, and then at some point along the way sometimes that fun gets a little bit lost, especially when you’re working on painful material or when you’re working on dark material and you’re working on these deep dark roles.

You know, I don’t believe in the tortured actor, I don’t believe you have to live a miserable, tortured life to play deep dark roles, but I do think that they require something, an opening up of you. So when you can really ask yourself what your purpose for acting is, and connect to that again, you’ll remember why it’s important for you to tell these stories. So it’s not about you. It’s about our shared experiences, it’s about connecting with an audience and stirring something up in them so that they see themselves in you. It’s about really really creating a personal manifesto, a personal mission for why you do this. Because otherwise it’s really easy to lose touch and say I just want to work on light, funny, sketchy stuff. Which is okay, too! You can go just do light, funny, sketchy stuff.

But I have a feeling that for a lot of you, and a lot of actors I know, get drawn to acting for a reason, and part of that is that want to go there, to be able to use yourself in the most full way. So even when you’re working on dramatic darker sadder angrier material and asking yourself what is this about for me? Why am I having a block here and where do I need to work? Do I need to work with a therapist? Do I need to do some journaling? Do I want to do some of these exercises? Do I need to punch and scream and take martial arts class? Do I need to go boxing every day and punch and work some stuff out?