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Philosophy

Tuition > Philosophy > Technique > Skillset Vs. Mindset > Rules > Schedule > Reading List

I am not here to teach you to act. The camera exposes acting as fraud. I am here to change your belief system. Great actors are great because they have a specific set of beliefs about themselves and what their job is. I am here to help you believe. Here are some of the beliefs that I will help you install.

Throw the word "Choice" out of your vocabulary! Replace it with the word "Risk." Choices keep you safe, Risks make you dangerous. Nobody likes watching a safe actor and all Movie Stars have an aura of danger about them. Why? The truth is we don't make choices in our lives about what we are going to feel in a given situation. If we do, we're usually wrong when we get there. In life, feelings and experiences are a result of being aware of something either in front of us or somewhere else in our conciousness. In order for your work to be "Life Like," it has to be, "Like Life." So the greatest moments in your work will be moments where you become so wrapped up or aware of something that you can't help but react to it instead of trying to execute or perform some predetermined "Reaction." There is nothing worse than canned reactions or emotions where the actor looks like he is reacting to something that happened yesterday or in last night's performance. Likewise there is nothing better than the surprise of an actor who is so involved that the reaction he is having is just as much a surprise to him. So the skillset of the actor must be about understanding and seeing what is really going on in front of them in the moment and trusting the real feelings and experiences that overcome them even when it's an audition and there isn't really anything there in the environment.

Don't imagine, believe. Imagination is a left brain activity. The job of that left brain is to keep you safe.

Passionate Carelessness- I believe with all my heart that this is the formula for success, that all great actors possess it and have it in their blood. Passion for the process and carelessness about the result. They do it for themselves and do what they do best instead of trying to force what is real about themselves into some 2 dimensional character sketch from a script. If you look at any great actor from Kathy Bates to Robert De Nero to Christopher Walken or Denzel Washington they are themselves or a part of themselves in every role. What is different from movie to movie is the circumstances that surround them. It is an awareness of those circumstances that guides their emotions through the roller coaster called the story.

Acting is easier than we make it. Great actors make it look easy and fun not because they are sooooo talented. They make it look easy because they believe that it is easy and fun.

The barriers between you and your success are barriers that you have put there. But what are they? That's why I am here. After years and years of watching actors and working as an actor, I have sharpened my senses to where these barriers come from. Once you know where they are it's like the old joke. A guy goes to his doctor and says- "Hey Doc, it hurts when I do this." The doctor says - "Don't do this."

Acting is easy compared to auditioning. I am going to put you through so many auditions week after week that auditioning will become easy, . . . then imagine how easy acting is going to be.

To be really good at something you have to do it enough that it isn't something you have to think about. At WCI you work EVERY WEEK. Classes are limited to 10 people so you can get your time in and start allowing this thing to be second nature.