THE TRUTH ABOUT ACTING CLASSES!!! & HOW TO BECOME A WORKING ACTOR

WHAT TO KNOW WHEN GETTING STARTED

So here we go with another series of blogs to help the aspiring actress/actor that may or may not fully understand the “business” side of the entertainment industry…My goals are to inform, help, and potentially save you thousands of dollars in unnecessary spending…..

I’ve been asked numerous times what type of acting classes are the best…First off, the hard reality is, you can’t teach talent…And as much as some of you out there may have a fantastic look but no acting ability, no matter how many acting classes you take, you’re not gonna be the next Pacino or Angelina ..Hard reality to many people is they just don’t have the natural talent it takes to make it in this business…You may get a small part here and there, but the real meaty roles will always pass you over for the other 50,000 actresses in this town that DO have the natural ability…I say this not to be mean, but I’ve seen numerous people spending nearly every last dime they have to try and learn acting and after 5 years of classes, pictures, acting coaches, etc., they’re still not landing any roles and they’re practically living out of their cars…

Kiefer Sutherland & D-Teflon

It’s a tough business with hundreds of equally or better-qualified people in line right behind you…And for those of you who are models are have a sexy beautiful face and body, remember, we all age…You’re not always gonna have that look…And when was the last time you saw a bikini model in a leading role of a major motion picture or tv series? And no, Pam Anderson doesn’t count…LOL…Point is, there are thousands and thousands of models out there thinking they can easily break into acting with a few classes, but they’re greatly mistaken and quickly learn that their competition is not just a few other models, but thousands of them, many of which have some real acting chops and talent…..

Getting back to the classes issue…Some newbies and even some actors with limited experience are under the impression that the more classes they take, the better actor they will become…This is completely false…While I’m an advocate for a limited number of acting classes for everybody, it’s time to understand the BUSINESS side of acting classes…Understand, if your acting teacher technically did their job perfectly, they would never have repeat clients as each actor would move on and not need the class anymore…This would be detrimental to the acting school…They’d go out of business within a year…So what do they do to stay in business? They add second and third levels of various classes such as scene study, cold reading, soaps, etc…The student then signs up another $300 to $600 per session for the next level, or, if they’ve been told they almost made it to the next level, but they should take the first level one more time, then even more money is spent by the student…

Truth is, acting schools are in business to make money…Yes, their intentions are to help actors learn and sharpen their craft better, but the main issue is to stay in business…Thus, they need you to keep coming back, again and again…Then, the student is convinced to put on their resume all their fabulous training they’ve received over the last few years…This is incredibly damaging if you fall into this trap…

I’ve posted a previous blog about headshots, with a little info about resumes…If you’re lucky enough to get the casting director to flip over your headshot and take a look at your resume, one major issue that will cause red flags to go off and for your picture to be tossed is years of acting training is listing too many acting classes/schools/training on your resume…This is NOT something you want to do…There are so many of you out there that actually have more classes listed on your resume than credits…There probably isn’t a more quick way for you to help the casting director place your picture in the garbage than by listing all your training…

Scene Study 101, Scene Study 201, Scene Study 301, etc. should NEVER all appear on your resume…Why? Cause the Casting Director, Producers, Director, etc. all will have the same question: “What’s wrong with this person that they can’t get it in the first-class or 2?” This is the truth…I know many of you out there are saying “but the second level of the particular class is more advanced and you learn more techniques…” Really? Think about it…While it may be more intense to a certain degree, the same techniques are taught on all levels, they just have a little different window dressing…If you can’t get scene study or cold reading down in the first session or 2, you’re not gonna get it down after 5 sessions…

Limit what you list on your resume as far as training…NEVER have more than 3 or 4 classes total, listed…Otherwise you will be taken as a rookie and not taken seriously…Remember, on the set, time is money…The more experienced actor is most of the time preferred, as they will have a certain amount of professionalism about them and the producers won’t have to worry about numerous takes due to the actor “trying to get into character”…

A scene study class is always recommended, along with a cold reading class, and a dialect class (probably the most important of all)…Beyond these particular classes, it’s unnecessary to go much further…Commercial classes can be taken, but don’t really do much for anyone in reality, and besides, most of you didn’t grow up with the dream to sell “Tide” detergent on a commercial…If you’re gonna take classes, at least spend the money on the classes that really count…3 years of scene study isn’t going to do anything for you either except cost you several thousand dollars to relearn the same techniques in a different way…

Why do I say all this? Because acting, like producing, is a business…There are too many unethical acting schools and acting teachers out there taking full advantage of a person’s dreams and money…By constantly taking acting classes over and over again, the actor psychologically feels they’re “working” on their craft…This is reinforced by the acting teachers telling them that unless they constantly practice, they’ll rarely if ever, get cast…Remember, who are these people teaching the classes…In most cases, they are either failed actors themselves, or were minor character actors 20 years ago…

“But my teacher taught some of the biggest actors out there! How could they not be trusted?” First off, they helped sharpen a skill, they didn’t “teach” that person how to act…The actor already had the natural ability…2nd, why is it that established actors rarely, if ever, attend acting classes? Yes, their fame is an issue, but still, they may hire a coach for a particular role or be invited to give a forum at a particular acting school (in which they get paid), but they know that the whole “acting school” thing is blown way out of proportion, and they don’t waste their time or money once they become established…How many established actors that are constantly working on major series or features in leading or major supporting leading roles do you see in your class? In your school? Pictures of an actor on the wall don’t count…You see few to none that attend regularly…

Are they better actors than you? Not necessarily…They simply had better connections than you did…There are numerous undiscovered actors that are 10 times better than some of the most famous talents out there…Yes, the old

saying “it’s not what you know, but who you know” is extremely valid…

My point is not to rag on acting classes, on the contrary, they are extremely helpful…But it is important to understand the business behind acting classes and to try to recognize when you and your money are being taken advantage of…Casting directors will be the first to tell you to not go overboard with the training (this includes “method” training, the ultimate acting technique that will help you NEVER get cast…you can refer to my earlier blogs about that)…Never list more training than credits if you want to be taken seriously…Understand when your acting teacher is trying to talk you into the advanced class, is it in the acting school’s best interest to help pay the rent, or is it in your best interest? Acting comes from the heart and soul…In many cases, either you got it or you don’t…Refer to my previous blogs regarding the auditioning process…In most cases, acting classes don’t help you when it comes to the audition…Even the “cold reading” classes misrepresent what an audition is really about…Learning the “sides” has little to do with an audition…This point is discussed in detail in a previous blog of mine…

If you feel the need to stay sharp, then take a scene study class once every other year…There’s no need to stay in scene study all year long for 3 years…This is insanity as any casting director, producer, and director will tell you…A director wants you to act “his” way, not your acting teacher’s way…

I’ve have worked with thousands of actors and sat in nearly as many callback sessions and time and time again, I see actors lose roles because they are implementing their acting teacher’s methods and ignoring the director’s methods…Most acting teachers don’t act for a reason! And it’s not because they “love” to teach!

If you’re in love with your acting coach/school and feel I’m full of shit, I simply remind you of this: As I’ve said before, My company has cast/hired thousands of actors, I’ve sat in thousands of auditions, I’ve worked with nearly every talent agent/manager out there, I’ve hired hundreds of casting directors, I’ve raised hundreds of millions of dollars in motion picture financing and distribution…In other words, I know the business backward and forwards…I know which actors know their shit, and which ones don’t…I can tell which actors are being taken advantage of, simply by reading their resumes and which ones are not…My goal is to help you, not hurt you…

By helping you to save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on some unnecessary classes so you can reroute that money to better headshots, better clothes, rent, food, etc., and to help you to better understand the “Business” of acting classes, and to know when enough is enough, then I’ve accomplished what I set out to do…

I’m not saying “don’t take acting classes”..cause I offer at our seminars acting classes but as you know we are select with first giving you the information first before signing up so that you pick the right type of training and courses and teaches to work with and that’s why if you have been on our panel it’s with actors and producers and even casting directors that will give you the truth in backing up what. I’m saying,

We want anyone that chooses this profession for a living to be wise in your choices and that most actors don’t need nearly as many acting classes as they think or as they’ve been told by their acting teachers…People are discovered every day in this town, The first role I hadn’t even taken one class it was just happening to be in the right place the right time and having the right look and even I had to audition and read over and over and over again before I even got the role..But back in the 90’s the business moved a lot slower now ..due to productions now and the way things are shot at a faster pace with less budget they don’t have the time to be sitting around producers and directors waiting for you to get it after 1000 try in your audition and back then many of the stars you see now have or had little to no acting classes…Some of the biggest stars today have NEVER attended an acting class (I’ll list the names to those who decide to comment if you want)…

Few if any acting teachers are actual actors themselves…There’s a reason for this…Show business is a “business” in all capacities…Acting schools are no different…Don’t listen to fellow newbie actors about your ability…If a casting director, producer, director, or agent says something about your ability that’s positive, that should weigh much more than anything an acting teacher ever says! Acting teachers/schools are on the outside…Producers, directors, casting directors, and agents are on the inside…We are the ones doing the hiring, not an acting coach…Keeping that important point in mind, who do you think you should listen to? Remember, I’m on the inside trying to help you not only get work but save thousands of dollars…Is your acting teacher doing the same?

More topics to come…As usual, your comments are always welcome