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Here's a question actors ask me all the

time.

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Do you know a good acting teacher?

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And I understand the question,

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but there's a problem with it?

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Good for what?

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Good for whom?

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Because the best acting teacher in New

York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, or

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wherever you happen to be,

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might be completely wrong for you.

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Not because they're a bad teacher,

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because they're teaching something you

don't need, or teaching it in a way

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that doesn't communicate to you.

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Actors spend thousands of dollars on

training, classes, workshops, intensive

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private coaching, scene study, on

camera, voice movement, improv.

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And sometimes they've finished all that

training

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and still can't answer a very simple

question,

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what exactly am I trying to get better

at?

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Because that's where we should start.

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Not with a teacher,

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not with the class, not with the

recommendation

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with you.

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Because good training isn't necessarily

about finding the best class.

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It's about finding the training you

actually need.

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So today, I don't want to give you a

list of acting teachers, and I'm

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certainly not going to tell you there's

one acting technique that everybody

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should study.

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There isn't.

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What I want to give you instead is a

way to think about training,

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how to choose it, how to evaluate it,

when to stay

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and perhaps when to move on.

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And most importantly,

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how to know what you need before you

start spending money trying to find it.

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Welcome to casting actress.

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Cass.

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I'm Jeff dries back.

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Casting director, teacher, author,

former actor and somebody who has spent

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a very large portion of its

professional life on both sides of the classroom.

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If you're new here, gosh, welcome.

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And if you've been listening for a

while, I'm so glad that you're back.

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You can find everything we're doing at

casting actress cast all one word dot com

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you'll find the podcast, information

about my book, booked it, the actor's

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play book for getting cast, and my

online course.

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Next level auditions prepare smart,

smarter perform, better, book more.

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And while you're there, fill out the

form and jump into the talent pool.

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That gives you access to some free

materials I've created for actors,

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including the voice over book and a

video

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about casting directors

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casting what they don't tell you.

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Ok,

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now let's get into this.

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Because training matters,

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but only if the training is actually

helping you grow.

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The first thing to do is to start with

the need and here's where.

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I think actors sometimes get this

backward.

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They start by looking for a class.

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If you want to start by looking for a

problem.

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That sounds rather unpleasant, doesn't

it?

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Congratulations.

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We've identified your problem.

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But that's really what training is

supposed to do.

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That's really what training is supposed

to address.

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Ask yourself,

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what am I trying to improve?

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So, for example, maybe you freeze

during auditions.

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Maybe you're on camera.

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Work feels too theatrical.

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Maybe you struggle with comedy.

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Maybe you're uncomfortable improvising.

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Maybe you can't seem to make strong

choices.

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Maybe you have trouble accessing

emotional material.

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Maybe your voice isn't supporting you.

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Maybe you're terrific when you've had

three weeks to rehearse, but fall apart

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when somebody hands you four pages and

says, we'll see you to morrow.

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You see, that's useful information.

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Because now you're not simply looking

for an acting class.

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You're looking for training that

addresses a specific need,

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and that changes everything.

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One of the most important questions you

can ask yourself is, what can't I do

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yet that I want to be able to do?

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There is your starting point.

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Let's talk about the word of mouth

problem.

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Actors.

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They love recommendations.

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For example, who do you study with,

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or you have to take this person's class?

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And word of mouth can be useful,

absolutely, but here's the problem.

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Your friend, isn't you?

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Your friend may need discipline.

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You may need freedom.

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Your friend may need technique.

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You may need confidence.

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Your friend may thrive with an

instructor who is confrontational.

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You may completely shut down.

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Someone can truthfully say, this

teacher changed my life.

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That's so wonderful.

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That still doesn't mean they're going

to change yours.

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Recommendations are leads.

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They're not conclusions.

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I would suggest trusting them as

research.

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And there's also an unregulated problem

we need to talk about.

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This is another uncomfortable reality.

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Acting.

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Training is not a particularly

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regulated

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business.

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There isn't one universally accepted

credential that suddenly makes somebody

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qualified to teach acting.

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And the ability to act doesn't

automatically create the ability to

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teach acting.

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Those are different skills.

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A wonderful actor may be unable to

explain what they do.

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A wonderful teacher may never have been

famous.

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That's true.

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Celebrity isn't pedagogy,

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and neither is a long resume.

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Teaching requires communication.

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Observation,

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diagnosis, adaptability.

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A teacher has to be able to look at one

actor and recognize

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your pushing,

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and then look at another actor doing

almost exactly the same thing and realize

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you're protecting yourself.

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Same result.

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Different problem,

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therefore

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different teaching

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that's where good instruction becomes

enormously valuable.

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Let's talk about technique versus dogma.

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I'm always a little cautious when any

acting teacher suggests that their

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particular technique is the only way to

act.

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There are wonderful approaches to acting

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Stanislavsky

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meisner,

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Adler, strasperg,

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practical aesthetics, Michael chekhoff,

and combinations

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and variations of all of them.

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You can learn something valuable

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from many of those approaches.

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But eventually, the technique has to

serve the actor.

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The actor does not have to serve the

technique

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that's important,

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if you're spending more time worrying

about whether you're doing the

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technique correctly than whether you're

actually communicating with another

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human being,

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something may have gotten lost.

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I sometimes see actors in auditions who

are clearly doing something.

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They're working very, very hard.

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You can almost see the machinery.

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And I'm thinking,

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I don't need to see the technique.

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I need to see the person.

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Good training eventually becomes

invisible.

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That's the goal.

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Now here's something I don't think we

discuss enough.

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I call it the intermediate

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plateau.

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Beginning actors often know exactly why

they're training.

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They like, they don't know how to act

yet.

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Right?

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Well, that's fair enough.

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Everything is new.

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Listening.

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Objectives, behavior, camera technique,

script analysis, professional vocabulary.

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There's tremendous growth, because

there's tremendous territory to cover.

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Then

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something happens,

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they get better.

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And that's where things can get

surprisingly difficult,

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because now they're competent,

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they're not beginners any more,

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but they're not necessarily advancing

either.

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They can do the scene,

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they can

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make choices, they can audition.

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They understand the vocabulary,

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and suddenly

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de plateau.

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So what do they do?

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They take another acting class,

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then another,

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then another.

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But they're repeating rather than

developing.

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This is where training has to become

more specific.

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Maybe you don't need another scene,

study class.

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Maybe you need comedy, maybe

Shakespeare, maybe voice, maybe

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movement, maybe improv, maybe on camera

technique.

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Maybe you need to work on audition,

preparation.

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Maybe you need to take some time off

and eventually apply what you've learned

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that's allowed to

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trading shouldn't become a hiding place

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from doing.

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Are you learning

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or performing?

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Here's another trap.

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Sometimes actors stay in a class

because they've become good at the class.

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They know the teacher, they know the

exercises, they know the other students.

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They know what gets positive responses,

they're comfortable.

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And comfort feels wonderful.

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But ask yourself, am I learning or have

I become good at being a student in

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this particular classroom?

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Those aren't necessarily the same thing.

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On the other hand, constant discomfort

isn't automatically evidence of growth either.

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This is important.

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A teacher who makes you feel good isn't

necessarily a good teacher.

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But a teacher who makes you feel

terrible.

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Isn't necessarily challenging you.

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Pain is not proof of artistic

development,

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neither is praise.

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The question is, am I becoming more

capable?

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Can I do something today that I

couldn't do six months ago?

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You see that's measurable growth.

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Now I want you to visit before you

commit?

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Whenever possible.

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I want you to investigate before you

commit yourself to any training or any class.

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First of all, you need to ask, can I

audit the class.

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Can I observe it?

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Can I speak with the instructor?

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Can you talk to a current or former

student?

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That's a great question.

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What does the room feel like?

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Not, whether everybody's happy.

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Learning isn't always happy,

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but the environment isn't respectful.

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Is the criticism specific?

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Does the teacher explain why something

isn't working?

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Do they offer a path toward improvement?

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Listen carefully to the language.

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There's a tremendous difference between

that.

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Wasn't good.

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And I don't believe you're listening to

what the other character is telling you.

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Right?

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One is judgment, the other is

information.

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Information helps you work and pay

attention to personality.

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Teaching

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is communication.

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If the teacher's communication style

doesn't reach you, it doesn't

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necessarily mean either of you is wrong.

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It may simply be a poor fittle.

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Let's talk about training as an

investment,

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because we have to talk about money,

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because acting.

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Training can become

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enormously expensive, and actors

sometimes feel guilty about considering cost.

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Don't

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you're running a business.

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Training is an investment, and

investments

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need to make sense before committing.

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Ask,

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what does this cost?

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How long is the commitment?

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What other expenses are involved?

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Can I realistically afford this,

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will paying for this class create

financial stress that outweighs its benefit,

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because the most expensive class is not

automatically the best class and

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cheaper isn't automatically smarter

either.

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Think about value value.

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If you have 600 dollars available for

professional development,

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maybe the answer isn't another twelve

week acting class.

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Maybe it's for private voice sections,

or an improv intensive

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or three months of on camera work.

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Or maybe you save the money, because

right now your head shots need replacing

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that's career strategy.

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Your training budget is part of your

business budget.

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Now we need to talk about the

psychological value of training.

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And there's another side of training

that I think has become increasingly important.

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The room,

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the actual room

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with people in it.

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Actors need other actors.

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We spend so much time communicating

through screens, through self tanks and

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on zoom and emails and social media,

AI, artificial intelligence, even

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auditions increasingly

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happen without another actor being

physically present.

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And technology

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isn't going away,

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nor should it.

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But something interesting happens when

twelve actors get into a room together.

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They watch,

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they listen, they fail, they laugh,

they experiment, they encourage one another.

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They discover they're not the only

person struggling with something

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that matters.

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There is psychological value in

artistic community,

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particularly in a profession where so

much time is spent alone waiting for

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somebody else to say, yes.

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A good class reminds you that acting

isn't only about getting hired,

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it's something you actually enjoy doing.

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Remember, that's

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important.

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We're going to take a quick break.

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But when we come back, I want to give

you a simple way to evaluate any class

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workshop or teacher you're considering.

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And one question that might save you a

lot of money,

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more on getting the training you

actually need

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right after this.

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Ok, welcome, bad let's make this

practical

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before you sign up for your next class

workshop or intensive.

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I want you to consider five things.

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One

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need,

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what specifically am I trying to

improve?

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Not,

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I should be training.

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Why?

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What skills need attention?

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If you can't answer that question, you

don't spend that money at.

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Please

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figure out the need.

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First

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two fit.

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Does this teacher communicate in a way

that works for me?

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Can I understand the feedback?

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Do I feel challenged without feeling

diminished?

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Does the environment encourage

experimentation?

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00:16:32,492 --> 00:16:35,362

Remember, you're not looking for

somebody to tell you you're wonderful

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you're looking for somebody who can

help you become better.

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Three, application,

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can I use what I'm learning outside the

classroom?

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That's huge.

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Does the technique survive contact with

an actual audition?

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That's a great question, I think.

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Can you apply it when you have six

hours to prepare?

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Can you use it on a film set?

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Can you use it when a director says?

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Great?

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Do it again?

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Do it again?

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Completely different.

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I've heard that

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training should eventually

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function under pressure.

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Next

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investment.

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Does the financial and time commitment

make sense for where I am right now?

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Not some day right now.

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Training is part of your investment,

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treated with the same seriousness you

would treat,

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oh, I don't know, headshots,

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equipment,

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travel, or other professional materials.

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Next there is growth.

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Am I actually getting better?

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Not?

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Do I love the teacher?

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Not?

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Have I made friends?

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Not?

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Have I been here for three years?

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Am I growing?

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That's the question.

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Sometimes the right training changes.

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This is something actors occasionally

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will feel guilty about.

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Outgrowing a teacher.

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You don't need to.

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Really.

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A teacher can be exactly right for one

period of your development and wrong

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for the next.

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That doesn't invalidate what they gave

you.

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In fact, it may mean the training

worked.

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You grew.

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Your needs changed.

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Perhaps now you need somebody else.

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Good training should create

independence.

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00:18:37,550 --> 00:18:41,921

Eventually, you shouldn't need the

teacher standing beside you in order to work.

365

00:18:42,889 --> 00:18:46,393

The teacher's voice becomes part of

your own process,

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and then your process becomes yours

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that's development.

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Actors can give teachers

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enormous authority

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honestly, sometimes too much.

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The teacher says, you're a character

actor.

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You shouldn't do comedy.

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You're not ready for television.

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You need another year before you

audition.

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Be careful.

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A teacher has a perspective,

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hopefully an informed one,

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but it's still a perspective.

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No teacher gets to define the limits of

your career, including me.

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Take the information, consider the

source, evaluate whether it helps.

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Then make your own professional

decision.

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A teacher should, expand your

possibilities,

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not shrink them,

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right?

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So here's your reset?

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Stop asking.

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What's the best acting class.

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Guess what there is at one.

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Really instead, ask,

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what do I need to become better at

next?

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That's a much more useful question.

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Identify the need.

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00:19:59,399 --> 00:20:00,800

Research the options

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observe.

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When you can

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00:20:03,870 --> 00:20:06,206

evaluate the teacher, consider the

commitment.

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Consider the money.

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And then ask whether the training is

actually producing growth.

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Because training isn't something you

collect,

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it's something you use.

401

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And remember this.

402

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Good training should eventually make

you less dependent

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00:20:23,790 --> 00:20:24,624

on training.

404

00:20:25,692 --> 00:20:27,360

It should give you tools,

405

00:20:28,94 --> 00:20:28,895

confidence, curiosity,

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00:20:30,30 --> 00:20:31,798

discipline, community and ultimately

407

00:20:32,899 --> 00:20:33,767

independence.

408

00:20:35,301 --> 00:20:37,771

Your teacher isn't creating your talent.

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They're helping you learn how to access

it.

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And perhaps that's the best definition

of good training I can give you.

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00:20:46,112 --> 00:20:47,147

And Jeff rise back.

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Thank you for spending this time with

me.

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00:20:49,315 --> 00:20:51,685

This is casting actor's cast,

414

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and I will see you next time.

415

00:20:54,554 --> 00:20:55,55

Thanks.