Training Young Actors #2: TIPS

Two weeks ago I started my series on Training Young Actors.  This week I want to take some time to give some quick TIPS for anyone who is starting out with acting.  Although I primarily work with teens and young adults, I strongly feel that these tips can help anyone who is looking to get the most out of their acting experience.  I hope you find them helpful.  I'll start with tips #1-2 early this week and finish with tips #3-4 a bit later on.  

TIP #1: Get Over Yourself
This tip is so true for so many young people that I work with.  So many worry about their image, status,  perception, etc. that they fail to act honestly and truthfully.  The result is bland and repressed performances that do little to inspire and entertain.  There is so much self-doubt and fear attached with performance that they fail to realize that while they think that they are protecting themselves by holding back, they actually are hurting themselves.  There is so much restriction placed upon many of our young adults and I find that these restrictions can rear their head in acting situations.  While it is a good idea to show decorum, self-control and restraint in many REAL LIFE situations to help keep a solid and positive reputation, when onstage reputation shouldn't matter to the performer.  Stop worrying so much about what other people think about you, what you are doing, what you are saying and how you choose to say it.  There is so much freedom in this decision.  If you can free yourself up from the fears and anxieties about what people are thinking about you, you can focus on your objectives, motivations, reactions and impulses while acting.  Don't get me wrong.  This is easier said than done. But when you can learn to get over ourselves a bit, we can then start getting down to business.  

TIP #2: Listen!
Listening is one of the most life-changing and influential actions that we can engage in.  It has the power to open our minds, eyes, and hearts to things we may usually not pay attention to.  It is more than hearing, seeing or noticing.  It has to do with actively processing the information seen, heard or noticed.  It means that if we are to listen, we are to DO something with what we listen to.  Listening is crucial to success as an actor and I would argue any part of a production team.  Paying attention is not enough.  When onstage, listen to what your scene partner is saying, how they are saying it and also notice their behavior. You will be surprised at how much you will pick up and how natural your responses will be to those observations and moments of awareness.  The great Sanford Meisner talked so much about not just going through the motions or pretending onstage...he called for actors to focus on the "reality of doing" in all that they did onstage.  Try it.  It takes the focus off you and puts it where it should be: on the other person and the powerful reality of that particular moment onstage.  

As much as audiences and critics talk about "chemistry" they might as well just give listening grades to actors and directors.  There is no chemistry between actors without listening.  When two or more actors are onstage or on screen listening to each other, it is a showcase of intimacy that is always enjoyable to watch.  Conversely, when playing a character who does not want to listen or is in some level of denial, the effects are also interesting and tragic.  To see someone struggle to gain one's focus and attention is engaging and heart-breaking at the same time.  Listening can lead to harmony and its absence often leads to cacophony...both of which are wonderful elements of interesting and engaging performances.  

I would love to hear your thoughts on these tips in the comments below and via Twitter as well.  Thanks for reading, interacting and sharing.  Be well.