Acting With No Experience Part 4: Your Acting Training in London

I’m not going to lie to you, starting your acting training in a new place with new people and teachers – be it a drama school or weekly acting classes – is going to be nerve-wracking for some of you.  But it’s also exciting, fun and rewarding.  You will end up getting a ton of new friends and pushing your inspiration through the roof.  Know that you’ll most likely be anxious and nervous, and that’s completely okay – everybody will be the same.

“I’ve never worked as hard as when I was at drama school. It’s the most professional environment I’ve ever been in.” – James McAvoy

This is why it’s a good idea to take a step back and tell yourself that you’re not taking these classes, and getting trained, because you’re already perfect at acting.  No, the reason you’re taking these lessons is to better yourself as an actor, and what’s great about the whole thing, is that everybody else in the class is doing the exact same thing.  So set out there to fail, to experiment – this is your time to find out what works for you as an actor. To jump to other sections of the Acting With No Experience series, please use the table of contents below.

IV. YOUR ACTING TRAINING

4.1 Acting Class Expectations

If you don’t have a clue on what to expect from your upcoming acting class, that’s perfectly okay.  Very often these classes you’ll be attending will give you a schedule summing up exactly what you’ll be doing for the duration of your time there, which makes it a lot easier to prepare yourself for what’s to come.  This is particularly true for drama schools.  If you chose to get to an evening acting classes that’s happening a few times a week, then there’s going to be a lack of variety and you pretty much know what to expect.

When in a drama school, one thing is for certain: you’re not going to sit on your butt and learn theory all day.  Prepare to be on your feet the first day.  Most acting courses in drama schools begin with some ice breaker games and team building exercises.  Since acting is a physical art, expect to get physical.  In a weekly acting class, however, a lot of the students will already be regular so there’s no ice breakers; you just have to join in and become a part of the class by yourself.

Make a good impression on your first day and come prepared and ready to work hard.  Have your favorite monologue and/or musical theater song ready to go, especially if this is a drama school course.  Most likely the instructor is going to want to assess you to see where your strengths lie.  This is not a test, so don’t be worried.  Just do your best and let this be your starting mark.

Wear clothes you can move in.  If you’re enrolled in an acting for a camera class – wear makeup, be freshly shaven, and make sure your hair is how you want it.  You only have one chance to make a first impression.  Don’t blow it!

Whether your first class focuses on movement, singing, camera work, auditioning or scene study, every single class will:

• Develop your talent, as well as your technique.
• Prepare you for the reality of acting professionally.
• Build up your confidence.

As you work through the class, focus on these above things and make them your goals for the class.  You have to be getting consistently better at it.

Upcoming Acting Classes. Now is the time to put your thinking cap on.  You will be expected to retain what you’ve learned so you can continue to move forward in your training.  Take notes.  Bring a recording device.  So much of acting training involves working as a team.  Don’t be the one holding everybody back.

Another advice I would give is to read about the class beforehand. Get online and research teachers, the school, previous and current students – all of this helps you familiarize and consume the information within the class much easier.  If it’s an evening acting class based on some technique (e.g. Meisner Technique), then grab a Meisner Technique book before joining a class and read about it.  You won’t learn how to act, but you’ll grasp the theory and will be a better student when in the class.

Preparation. You’ve gotten the ice breakers and assessments out of the way.  Now it’s time to work.  Each class will be designed to test your endurance, stamina, and mental focus.  Again, this is particularly true for classes in a drama school where there’s a lot of serious physical and mental work involved.  Weekly evening acting classes will be a bit more relaxed (unless you take a Physical Theatre class or something along those lines), and they will usually be focused on your inner self.

Either way, spend some time preparing and do your research to know what to expect.  A lot of hard work is on the way.  Sure, acting is fun, but it also requires dedication and preparation.  Here are some tips on how to always be prepared for each and every class:

• Have a pencil and eraser. In scene study class you will be jotting down blocking notes.  In musical rehearsal you will be notating cuts and key changes.  In movement class you will be writing down your choreography.  Don’t be that person who has to borrow a pencil.  And also, don’t use a pen.  Erasures are much more appealing than ink scribbles all over your material.
• Keep an open mind. You may have come in to your acting training pretty sure of yourself and your abilities.  Guess what?  That’s going to be turned upside down and inside out.  You’re going to be asked to do things that you thought you couldn’t do, that you didn’t think you should do, and never wanted to do.  If you keep an open mind, you’ll emerge a wiser and better actor.
• Clear your schedule. Without a doubt your acting work will not end when class is done for the day.  You’ll be working on songs with your accompanist and scenes with your scene partner outside of class.
• Go see theatre. This is the fun part.  Do your research! Expose yourself to your craft.  See how the experts do it.  Most theaters in London have will call or SRO tickets.  Get out there!

These are all minor things, but once you eliminate any chances for “small” issues, you’ll be able to stay focused on your bigger tasks at hand, consistently.

4.2 Training Process

There’s always a lot of students in professional acting classes that are already the crème de la crème of their hometown.  It can seem like a real blow to your ego to learn new techniques or be told to do something different than what you’re used to.  With so much “constructive criticism” being hurled your way, it’s important to be kind to yourself.  Take a deep breath.  Try unwinding at the end of your day.

Here are some suggestions that I’ve been given:

• Invite your fellow actors out for a pint. Blow off some steam together, and trust me, you will cultivate relationships off stage that will be very beneficial on stage
• Find a yoga class. A great many actors practice yoga.  Why?  Not only does yoga help keep you fit, it’s a keen way to manage stress.
• Practice. Don’t leave your acting profession at the door of your acting school.  Take the initiative to practice on your own time without having the teacher telling you to do it.

These are just some suggestions. I’m sure you can think of a lot more on how to keep in touch with your actor friends and continuously improve as an actor.  Staying loose, relaxed and friendly helps you not only as an actor, but just as a person.  You want to make new friends and be good at what you do, so again – you need to work at it.

Avoid Giving Up.

It’s not easy being told you’re not ready, you’re not perfect, or you’re not quite there.  But remember, you’re in training.  You may want to throw in the towel after the first week, but here’s a word of advice: don’t.  Yes, simply stick with it.  This is a bit like the military.  They have to tear you down before they can build you up.  Enlist the help of your friends, keep working hard.  Your drama school or acting classes are the places for you to fail and experiment, so do expect failure to happen and be okay with it.

Here’s a fun exercise to assess your progress so far.  When you’re ready to begin your acting career, many casting directors will want to submit you for specific roles, and it’s always best if you can help them along by being very specific about what types of characters you do best naturally.

To gain a little bit more power over your acting career, ask yourself the following questions. And be honest.

1. Name five roles you could get cast in right now. (Notice I said, “Get cast in,” not “what you think you can play.”)
2. What age range do you play? (Not necessarily how old you really are)
3. Name three special qualities you bring to your roles.
4. What physical limitations do you have that could limit your cast-ability?
5. What’s the one thing you really need to work on?
6. Does your “look” and photos/CVs really represent you?

Now have other people answer these questions.  “Other people” could include your friends, fellow acting students, and roommates, or family.  Tabulate the results and see where the similarities lie.  The results may be astonishing.  Remember that having others remind you of your talents and what roles you can play may be just the push you need to get over any hurdles.  Have fun!

“The only thing we have to fear is fear, itself.” – American President John F. Kennedy

Moving Forward. There are three major hurdles to overcome when beginning your acting training.

• Fear. So many things in life are given up because of fear.  But when you can harness that fear and make it work to your advantage, you can become unstoppable.
• Knowing what you want. One of the first things you’ll hear in acting class is “Be specific.”  Anyone can play act.  What will set you apart from non-actors is your specificity.
• Facing rejection. It’s really how you look at it.  You can see failure to secure an acting gig as rejection or as a chance to practice your skills and learn something new.  It’s up to you.

4.3 A Change of Mind

After you’ve given it a semester’s time and you still find you’re out of place, maybe it’s time to reassess your acting goals.  I’m not advising you to give up, but perhaps there are different classes or courses you can try instead.  Perhaps you originally saw yourself as a musical theater performer, but are finding that in a professional setting, you don’t enjoy it as much as you did before.  Perhaps Shakespeare is more for you.  Remember, this is your time.  Get the most out of it!

If you’re stuck, remember there are many different types of performing to choose from.  Try one of these:

• Musical theatre
• Acting for camera
• Shakespeare of classical theatre
• Scene study for contemporary theatre
• Movement and dance
• Writing for the stage or screen
• Directing
• Producing
• Comedy/sketch/improv

Sometimes we ourselves get in our own way.  The point of acting training is to find out what you’re good at and perhaps discover some new and hidden talents!  Make it work for yourself.

Something Is Wrong.

You’ve stuck it out.  You’ve kept trying, you put yourself out there.  But what if you find at the end of your semester that the acting profession really isn’t your thing?

Hobby vs. Profession:

1. Some people are perfectly content doing acting gigs as hobbies. They appear in local community theatre productions, they sing in the church choir.  They love to have something to look forward to after a long day at the office.
2. Others will not stop until they can make a living doing acting. They live, breathe, and sleep theatre.  They know that even though the odds are stacked against them, they will never give up.

Which one is you?  You may have begun your acting training as a (B), but now you find yourself as an (A).  There’s nothing wrong with this.  You gave it a shot.  My acting professor once told me, “If you can imagine yourself doing anything else in the world other than acting, then do it.”

The acting business isn’t for everyone.  It’s much more than singing songs and reciting monologues.  It’s cutthroat, mean, and honest.  If you find that after a semester you don’t want this kind of life, then get out now.  Keep it as a hobby.

(NOTE: This part of the guide is still under development and more details on acting with no experience in London will be added as we continue to develop the whole series.)

>> Acting With No Experience PART 5: HOW TO FIND ACTING JOBS
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