• Writing the Acting Book

    Updated: 2010-11-26 00:40:46
    I have on many occasions been asked where it is possible to find my ideas on acting written in some book form. I am always surprised that a four hundred page blog will not suffice. But then again, I do particularly understand the credibility that a published book on acting brings and so have started [...]

  • National Audition For Teens 2010

    Updated: 2010-11-22 19:57:54
    AUDITION TIME for our TEEN ACTORS! Dearing Acting Studio Create an unforgettable audition video! 480-313-9901! This is a wonderful opportunity for our teen actors. Remember, video auditions are the fast, easy way to submit yourselves for castings in LA and all over the country! MADISON HIGH is a pilot, shooting in LA. They are looking [...]

  • Arizona Actors Blog Actor Tip – “After The Audition”.

    Updated: 2010-11-22 19:46:05
    There’s nothing more stressful than the audition room. Scratch that. There might be a place that’s more stressful. It’s the inside of your car as you pull out of the parking lot after being in the audition room. Tell us if this inner monologue sounds familiar: “That felt okay. Pretty good. Gosh, my heart is [...]

  • A Mixed Bag of Stuff…

    Updated: 2010-11-22 10:00:03
    In Saturday’s Guardian, writer and occasional performer David Hare write about respect for actors. I thought it would be interesting to share this article with you, it’s of the high brow nature that you would expect from Hare but a good read, I hope you’ll enjoy it. Read the comments that go along with the [...]

  • Guest Blog: The A-Lister Problem

    Updated: 2010-11-21 00:40:42
    My good friend and writing partner Philip Larkin (the writer, not the poet) has written an excellent blog about A-Lister Actors working on Sorkin’s material.  I enjoyed it so much, I got his permission to reproduce it here on my blog.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It’s not a secret [...]

  • Park Bench or The Chair Game

    Updated: 2010-11-19 14:00:13
    There is an improv game that young actors like to play that is called Park Bench. The set up is very simple, two actors and a chair. One actor tries to get the other actor to let them sit in the chair or ‘on the park bench’. The actors that have the persuading role often [...]

  • The Mountain

    Updated: 2010-11-18 13:00:43
    Actor training is a continued process of learning that can go on for your entire life.  Whether you subscribe to the 20,000 hours to reach expertise, or the 20 years, or the 10 years, or whatever, either way, when you’re learning something new, it can feel like a bloody mountain that you’ve got to climb. [...]

  • The Difference Between Want and Action (Task)

    Updated: 2010-11-17 17:00:24
    A question that commonly arises in class and on my blog is:  What is the WANT and what is the ACTION and how do they actually differ?  So, today’s blog at aimed at answering that question and thanks for Tommy for bringing it up again: The WANT belongs to the character.  The character WANTS the [...]

  • Verbs, Wants and Technique

    Updated: 2010-11-16 00:00:53
    Tommy asked: Does an objective always need a verb in it? And is it possible for acting to be entirely intuitive rather than requiring technique, do we always need to use technique? Technique of any kind is only useful – if it’s useful, if an actor can truly understand the script intuitively burrowing beneath the [...]

  • The Acting Coach Scotland Monologue Competition

    Updated: 2010-11-15 09:00:24
    Today, I’m launching a monologue competition, a chance to show us all what you the readers of my blog can do…  The prize is a 2-Hour coaching session with Mark Westbrook at the Glasgow Acting Studio of Acting Coach Scotland, but don’t worry, if you can’t make it here due to distance or an ocean [...]

  • Limitations

    Updated: 2010-11-14 00:00:03
    Sarah asked if the technique of Practical Aesthetics was too stripped, if approaching every scene simply doing an essential action, may be truthful, but wouldn’t it mean that all your performances were going to be the same character, just in different situations?  How do I add the extra layer of character?  Say, if I was [...]

  • Beating the Nerves

    Updated: 2010-11-13 00:00:30
    First day on set, opening night, big audition or interview? Whenever something is important to us, when we have something at stake and feel we have something to lose, that’s when we tend to get hit by nerves. When something matters to us, when there is a chance to prove ourselves, a possibility of failure, [...]

  • Heretic

    Updated: 2010-11-12 13:26:03
    Heretic is what I am. I do not believe in the established dogma of the acting profession, my views are contrary to tradition and popular opinion. And like other heretics, I am regularly attacked, abused, insulted and derided. I don’t tell you that to elicit sympathy, but to illustrate the path of the heretic, it [...]

  • Scam Alert!!

    Updated: 2010-11-11 14:46:05
    A special mid-week Answers for Actors… Actors — particularly those new to the business — need to be aware the practice highlighted below (after my signature). Please share this post/video with fellow actors. My Best, Paul             Additional Share Options Are Below After the Links to PaulRussell.net E-mail This Post [...]

  • Tactics for Beginners

    Updated: 2010-11-11 14:00:33
    So, we’ve been talking about Tactics and Actions for the past few days and it occurs to me that it would really help to talk about precisely what tactics are and give some detailed information that would help someone new to the idea of TACTICS.  This is not the first time I’ve done this, but [...]

  • An Analysis of Marowitz

    Updated: 2010-11-09 09:28:43
    In yesterday’s blog, I lead you to the infrequent blogging of legendary director Charles Marowitz, and his blog on ‘Getting Stanislavsky Wrong’. Great as it was, I thought it would be interesting to provide an analysis of his blog, examining and exploring his main thesis and other areas of interest. First off, he gives us [...]

  • Getting Stanislavsky Wrong

    Updated: 2010-11-09 09:18:24
    I just wanted to share with you an interesting blog post on Stanislavsky by the legendary director Charles Marowitz. You can find it here: http://www.anactorprepares.net/2010/01/getting-stanislavsky-wrong.html Food for thought indeed! Thankfully much of this dovetails directly into Practical Aesthetics! To You, The Best! Looking for Acting Classes in Glasgow? Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach [...]

  • My Favourite Acting Exercise

    Updated: 2010-11-08 14:45:21
    I’ve got books full of useless acting exercises, I’ve tried them, I’ve worked at them, I’ve done them myself, forced professional actors to do them, made students try them out, in the end, most of them don’t work, force the actor further into their head, distract attention but don’t help the scene. My favourite acting [...]

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