Not working right now? You better be working out.
No matter how long you’ve been acting, there’s one thing your career can’t do without: training. But once you’ve picked up a few gigs, do you really need to go to classes and attend training sessions? It depends. Do you want to ace your next audition?
“Acting is like a muscle,” says Lori S. Wyman, C.S.A., founder of Lori Wyman Casting and author of The Organic Actor. “If you don’t constantly keep it sharp, it gets weak and atrophies.”
Wyman’s words aren’t just sound bites to force professional actors and actresses into training classes and seminars. With 30 years of casting experience under her belt, Wyman has seen firsthand the atrophy that can occur when professional actors don’t work on their chops when not working on a project.
Where to Train
Regardless of where you live, you likely have training opportunities within a short drive. You can hone your skills through classes offered by casting directors, community theaters, community-based acting classes, and local colleges.
Before signing up for a class, find out if you can audit it or try out a class or two for free. Additionally, actress Angela Bryan talks with other actors and actresses to find out which training choices are most beneficial. You may also want to find out the style of acting taught through a specific avenue and the teacher’s personality. And while the majority of training courses are valid and useful, some are too good to be true. Hence why Wyman tells actors to be wary when someone charges too much or promises to make you famous.
Regardless of where you live, you likely have training opportunities within a short drive. You can hone your skills through classes offered by casting directors, community theaters, community-based acting classes, and local colleges.
Before signing up for a class, find out if you can audit it or try out a class or two for free. Additionally, actress Angela Bryan talks with other actors and actresses to find out which training choices are most beneficial. You may also want to find out the style of acting taught through a specific avenue and the teacher’s personality. And while the majority of training courses are valid and useful, some are too good to be true. Hence why Wyman tells actors to be wary when someone charges too much or promises to make you famous.
After Class
Necessary as training is, training is most beneficial if the skills learned are developed afterward. To truly benefit from training in a way that grows your career, you need to get out there and try out your new skills. That’s where groups like Actor’s Gym of South Florida come in handy.
“We’ve created a space where people can exercise their skills and receive feedback,” says Angela. “That way, when someone goes to a workshop, they can come here afterward to work out their new knowledge and stay sharp. Or if they’re preparing a monologue or getting ready for a scene for an audition, they have a safe and supportive group to practice in front of.”
According to Bryan, Actor’s Gym is not an acting class, and Bryan doesn’t claim any teaching skills. Instead, Actor’s Gym is a group that allows actors to practice what they’ve learned in training. As they work on monologues, scenes, auditioning skills, and improvisation, actors receive instant peer review. as they work on making a new skill become second nature. And that’s when acting magic occurs.
To learn more about Lori Wyman Casting, visit www.loriwymancasting.com or www.theorganicactor.com. For an easy-to-understand book that covers the ins and outs of auditioning in remarkable depth, pick up Wyman’s “The Organic Actor: Insider’s Secrets to Auditioning for Film and Television.”
Want to build up your acting muscles? Contact Angela Bryan at (954) 661-8202 to sign up for Actor’s Gym, which meets the first and third Friday of each month at the Schacknow Museum of Fine Arts (7080 Northwest Fourth Street, Plantation, Florida). Each meeting costs $5 per person to cover use of the facilities. And if you’re looking for an actress who is continually training, Angela can help with that as well! Check out her website at www.angelabryan.net or follow her on Twitter (twitter.com/TheAngelaBryan) or Facebook.
Necessary as training is, training is most beneficial if the skills learned are developed afterward. To truly benefit from training in a way that grows your career, you need to get out there and try out your new skills. That’s where groups like Actor’s Gym of South Florida come in handy.
“We’ve created a space where people can exercise their skills and receive feedback,” says Angela. “That way, when someone goes to a workshop, they can come here afterward to work out their new knowledge and stay sharp. Or if they’re preparing a monologue or getting ready for a scene for an audition, they have a safe and supportive group to practice in front of.”
According to Bryan, Actor’s Gym is not an acting class, and Bryan doesn’t claim any teaching skills. Instead, Actor’s Gym is a group that allows actors to practice what they’ve learned in training. As they work on monologues, scenes, auditioning skills, and improvisation, actors receive instant peer review. as they work on making a new skill become second nature. And that’s when acting magic occurs.
To learn more about Lori Wyman Casting, visit www.loriwymancasting.com or www.theorganicactor.com. For an easy-to-understand book that covers the ins and outs of auditioning in remarkable depth, pick up Wyman’s “The Organic Actor: Insider’s Secrets to Auditioning for Film and Television.”
Want to build up your acting muscles? Contact Angela Bryan at (954) 661-8202 to sign up for Actor’s Gym, which meets the first and third Friday of each month at the Schacknow Museum of Fine Arts (7080 Northwest Fourth Street, Plantation, Florida). Each meeting costs $5 per person to cover use of the facilities. And if you’re looking for an actress who is continually training, Angela can help with that as well! Check out her website at www.angelabryan.net or follow her on Twitter (twitter.com/TheAngelaBryan) or Facebook.
This article was written by Daniel Brantley exclusively for Club Cabeza, part of the Amplification, Inc. social media network, please follow along on Twitter (twitter.com/AmplifyNow) and Facebook. Daniel Brantley is a freelance writer who often acts as if he doesn’t know who ate the last cookie. Email Daniel or find him online at danielkbrantley.com or go to twitter.com/danielkbrantley to follow his made-for-TV life.
