NO ONE CAN SELL YOU A DREAM.

In a career where there is no such thing as a guarantee, you must be strong-willed, focused, and willing to possibly FIRE your friends and/or family.  My acting coach told me this when I first started his classes.  He also told me, "You cannot sleep your way to the top; but you may be able to fuck your way to a good middle."  What I am saying is: you need support, not someone pulling you down, slowing you down, or telling you that you will never make it.

The entertainment industry has many roads that may lead to getting a foot in the door; but in the long run, you have to get started now.  If you have an uncle that has the last name of Cameron, as in James Cameron, then maybe you can take advantage of that.  If you are like the rest of us and do not have any relatives at the top of the ladder, then you better get ready to work and I mean work hard.   This industry is a job - %100 work.  You are basically starting your own business; so you have to know "who" you are and how to market yourself.

First thing to know about acting!!!  GET A JOB!  I don't mean an acting job - I mean get a job that can pay your bills and keep food on the table.  You don't need to party like a rock star - you need to drive a hooptie, if need be, so that you can afford your training and gas to get back and forth to auditions.  This industry is not glamorous unless you are Brad Pitt.  Otherwise you are not making a lot of money; and you need to know how to save it.  You don't need to like your job; but if you want your career to be acting, then you have to pay to play right now.  I call acting my habit, like a drug habit, because I had to keep a regular job to pay for acting class and keep myself afloat between acting jobs.  Eight years is considered an overnight success; so if you are in a rush, then strive to be a burger flipper at McDonald's and it won't take as long to reach your dreams.  No one is going to give you anything; and if you are waiting around to get discovered, then just quit now.  I am not here to discourage you, but to give you the honest truth about this industry. 

Extra work - it isn't a bad gig.  If you are a green (new) actor, then do some extra work and learn what happens on set.  Learn the roles of everyone and what their job entails.  Pay attention to the lead actors, and see how they handle themselves.  Hopefully you are watching a professional who isn't an asshole.  After you have done it a while or when you start auditioning for real acting roles (speaking parts), then you may need to get out of extra work!  You don't want to meet a director on set as an extra, then go in for an audition for them the following week.  It's ok every now and then if you need to catch up on some bills; but overall, in a perfect world, get out of extra work.  There is no job that is not good enough.  You need money; and you need to know how and where to spend your money.  You also need to know how to do your homework before you spend any of your money on photos, acting coaches, etc.  NO ONE CAN SELL YOU A DREAM.  NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU A STAR.  NO ONE GETS DISCOVERED.  If it were that easy, then you wouldn't want to be an actor.

Remember acting is a journey, not a destination.  Enjoy your trip!

The moment before.....

The reality of our Industry.

As you guys know I focus on TV and Film. That being said, the reality of our industry is that we move quick. Fast. The term we like to call it is "Hurry up and Wait." We are not shooting a play, so you can not take 20 minutes to prepare for a scene then 15 minutes after to get ready to reset and shoot that scene again. Our preparation as actors should be done at home before we even get to the set. Methods devised specifically for the stage that have you using a Sense or emotional memory that you have not dealt with yourself is not going to be sufficient. We need you to be able to control your emotions so that we can reset and shoot that same exact scene over again. A percent of an actors job is knowing your industry. The circumstances of the actor must eventually be left at the trailer. If you are using a emotional memory that you have no control of then you can not do that. Before you hear action you must be living in your characters circumstances.. The Craft has been devised to do away with itself..

reply: One on One vs Class room setting?

This was a reply to an email that was focused on whether I thought a Class room setting or a one on one setting is the best for actors...

My passion happens to be acting; and I come from many years in the industry on many levels, as well as many years of studying with a wonderful and amazing coach. With that being said, I am in the hopes that I can train some wonderful actors here in Louisiana, so that we have a quality talent pool for producers and directors to choose from.

There are only a few coaches that I would recommend in the Louisiana area. If you need some advice, I am more than willing to help you. As for me, I do think every actor is different; and that is one of the reasons I do not teach a specific method. If I did teach only one method, then I would be saying that there is a perfect way to teach TV and Film in that method alone. I think most of the methods were devised for stage; so to use methods that were devised years before my creative venue(tv/film) was even invented, would be wrong.

As for class settings, there are benefits to both one on one coaching, as well as a class full of students.

I think one on one is wonderful when you focus on an audition or rehearse and prep for a role you booked. It is also interesting, later on, when you have moved past the basics and are delving deep into your work. Even then, many things can still be done in a class setting for others to learn and for you to share.

A class setting is one of the best ways to learn and to absorb the fastest. Our jobs as actors are to be observant and pay attention to the human condition and to create truthful behavior. How better to do so than with a nice group of people to observe? I think many actors find they learn more by sitting and watching a scene or waiting until I speak about the scene rather than sometimes being in the scene themselves. Sometimes it is easier to see your own problems in someone else's work. However, you also have the advantage of working with many different personalities and walks of life that you would not have in a one on one session. Then once you are in the scene study class and you need to work on a scene, there is no hesitation from "living" in front of people in your imaginary circumstance. Acting is- creating real life in an imaginary circumstance.