Just signed up for another acting class and looking long and hard at a second one that provides practical instruction in using the teleprompter (useful in doing commercials and on-camera narrations.)
You never stop learning as an actor any more than you ever stop training as an athlete. Down time makes you flabby. Whenever you're not getting practice (acting) you need to be learning. It keeps you sharp, helps you make new contacts and maintain friendships with other actors (who otherwise may think you're dead!)
Michael Caine in his autobiography What's It All About? relates a scene he did with actress Lizabeth Scott in the 1972 crime thriller Pulp. He was the star. Scott had been a big star, but hadn't been in front of a camera for more than 10 years. She was shaking with anxiety and needed reassurance to get through the scene (which ultimately she did just fine.) It goes to show that even pros like her can run into problems if they don't keep in practice.
So actors should always be thinking about what they need to learn, what they can add to their repertoire of skills - improv, dancing, voice training, playing the piano, horseback riding, how to handle and fire a weapon (very useful!)
And they need to be constantly watching and studying films and plays. Not just what is current but also films of every decade, silent films ("We didn't need dialog. We had faces." Gloria Swanson, Sunset Boulevard). I am constantly taken aback by young actors who give me a blank look when I mention someone like Richard Widmark.
Anyway I'm off. Tonight we're taking in Black Swan at the movie theater. I also put Ronald Coleman's A Double Life on the Netflix queue to see how they compare. I remember finding it rather annoying that The English Patient pulled a lot of scenes out of Casablanca. Actually it plays as Casablanca if Ilsa had left her perfectly nice husband and run off with Rick, who was a psycho stalker. (I should do a post on why I hate The English Patient.) More later. I have a kitten dancing on the keys.
You never stop learning as an actor any more than you ever stop training as an athlete. Down time makes you flabby. Whenever you're not getting practice (acting) you need to be learning. It keeps you sharp, helps you make new contacts and maintain friendships with other actors (who otherwise may think you're dead!)
Michael Caine in his autobiography What's It All About? relates a scene he did with actress Lizabeth Scott in the 1972 crime thriller Pulp. He was the star. Scott had been a big star, but hadn't been in front of a camera for more than 10 years. She was shaking with anxiety and needed reassurance to get through the scene (which ultimately she did just fine.) It goes to show that even pros like her can run into problems if they don't keep in practice.
So actors should always be thinking about what they need to learn, what they can add to their repertoire of skills - improv, dancing, voice training, playing the piano, horseback riding, how to handle and fire a weapon (very useful!)
Anyway I'm off. Tonight we're taking in Black Swan at the movie theater. I also put Ronald Coleman's A Double Life on the Netflix queue to see how they compare. I remember finding it rather annoying that The English Patient pulled a lot of scenes out of Casablanca. Actually it plays as Casablanca if Ilsa had left her perfectly nice husband and run off with Rick, who was a psycho stalker. (I should do a post on why I hate The English Patient.) More later. I have a kitten dancing on the keys.
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