We talk a lot about actions actors can take to refine their presentation, technique and business game. But harder to pin down are strategies for improving your drive and focus. In the face of relentless rejection, how do actors maintain the winner’s attitude so crucial to long term success? While there are endless strategies to […]
An actor’s education is a beautiful, exhilarating Hydra. The second you think you’ve lopped off the head of one technique, another springs forth. There is always more to learn, deeper understanding to be gained, skills to refresh and hone and refresh again. It’s great! It’s exciting! You’ll never be bored! But the journey to self-improvement […]
Self-deprecating humor is a familiar defense mechanism, and all the more effective for the entertaining, charismatic and witty among us. In other words, actors are prime culprits. How many of us, as sensitive, artistic kids, quickly transitioned into class clown to navigate the brutal byways of early education and adolescence? In many cases, self-deprecating […]
Sometimes it can feel like we, as actors, exist in isolation. We work and promote ourselves as individuals. It’s easy to forget that we are part of a greater community of actors, artists, and storytellers. It’s easy to forget the responsibility that entails. I am part of the Atlanta theatre community, and something happened recently […]
Auditioning can be pretty wretched. Often lacking in standardization, organization, or any sort of environmental comfort to set one up for success, the process is designed to weed out the timid and unprepared (when, indeed, it is designed at all). So the onus is on you to come in guns blazing. This is easier […]
Being your own advocate is a crucial component of a successful career in the arts. But how do you distinguish between the kind of assertiveness and confidence that forwards your career, and the brassy showbiz arrogance that makes everyone hate you? It’s a tricky delineation, and often they feel like two sides of the same […]
One of my early, vivid memories of encountering a “real actor” was in elementary school, when a local actor came to speak about his job. Already knowing what I wanted my future career to be, I was ecstatic. When Jeff (not his real name, because in no way do I remember it) was asked about doing […]