BYOB – Build Your Own Business

What follows are a few select questions that have been asked of me by several accomplished interviewers and a few by inquisitive people such as yourselves.  

Question: At the beginning of your book, Beyond the Moon, you quote Sir Lawrence Olivier, who some consider the greatest actor of the twentieth century.

“I have been battered and bruised, praised and lauded.
I have laughed and cried, fumed and snorted;
I have been beyond the moon and into the depths of despair.
But in the end, it has been myself I’ve had to turn to, believe in and listen to.
When the time comes, it is you, and only you, who knows the truth.” 

How do you know the truth about yourself? How do you discover the truth as someone who believes they want a career in acting?

Answer: First let me say the most important part of that eloquent statement are the last two lines. Taking responsibility for yourself and your dreams is paramount. To answer your question more directly: your drive. What is irresistible to you? As a child, I found myself drawn to anything theatrical. As a teenager, I couldn’t read enough books, see enough movies and theater, and daydream enough about this remarkable world. As a young adult, I had no problem sacrificing finance, time and social enjoyments in pursuit of my dream. You don’t discover the truth, it reveals itself to you.

Question: When someone is looking for an acting teacher, an acting coach, what do you tell them you teach? What is your technique?

Answer: It is important to note that the craft of acting is the craft of acting. It doesn’t change from one acting teacher to the next. To use an analogy, a C-chord on the piano is a C-chord no matter who teaches you the piano or what kind of music you play. If you rename a C-chord a W-chord, it wouldn’t change what a C-chord is. It is what it is no matter what name you give it.

When the craft of acting, as we know it today, was being formulated by those I refer to as the “great gurus” of acting, these wonderful masters of the craft did one unfortunate thing: They each developed their own language to describe the tools of acting. For example, the most important tool in the craft of acting is knowing what the character wants. Some of the approaches to the craft will call this the character’s goal, others will call it the need; my original Stella Adler training called it action. I currently teach using the word objective. I do that because it is the most commonly used word in the business. Action, need, want, goal, objective, they all mean the same thing.

I’ve studied with a variety of teachers and their individual approaches to the craft. I was hungry to know as much as possible. Over the course of many years, I kept expanding my toolkit so I could share with my students as much information as possible.

I do tell students to be cautious of schools that advertise “film acting.” For the most part, this is a lure to attract students who innocently believe there is something different about acting for the film versus stage acting. Acting is acting. The craft is the craft. Once you’ve learned the craft of acting you can then learn the adjustments necessary for film. In truth, we are constantly adjusting as actors. Adjustments are made if we are acting in comedy or drama, for style, for stage or television. Yes, it is just an adjustment for film acting.

Question: You say that the objective is the most important tool in acting. Why is this true?

Answer: It’s really quite simple: Acting is life. Life is acting. If it’s true in life, it’s true in acting. We never live a moment of our lives without pursuing an objective, even if it is only to take the next breath. The simple actions of life — getting dressed, eating, earning a living — are all about objectives. Objectives are the reasons we move forward, we grow, the way we achieve our dreams. If it is true that I always have an objective, then so it is true for my character.

Question: What is acting to you?

Answer: Acting is many things to me, but if I had to choose one, the predominant drive would be passion.

Question: What do you believe is the one thing that holds most people back from achieving their goals?

Answer: That’s easy: being judgmental of oneself. Anyone can correct this obstacle to success by studying how they judge others. I don’t believe you can be a good actor and be judgmental. Instead of criticizing others, ask yourself what that person needs to do to improve. Then, when self-doubts arise, treat yourself with the same respect. Instead of focusing on all the negatives in your life, make choices about improving the ones you can and dismissing the ones you can’t. Nothing douses the flames of passion as quickly and efficiently as negative self-judgment. (It is important to remember judgment is not to be confused with discernment or good taste.)

This item was originally featured in the November 2017 local newsletter.