Above is a short video from a very useful website called expertvillage.com
This particular video talks about the importance to aspiring actors and actresses of having their own website. Indeed, a website is a powerful tool, something that is not only a showcase for all your best performances and casting photos, but which is always available to casting directors 24/7.

And this is just one piece of advice which expertvillage.com provides in video form. There are many others including 'How to Sign up for an On Camera Audition', How to Use Props in an Audition, Tips for Memorizing Lines, and so on. These advice videos have been put together by Lori S. Wyman, ExpertVillage.com's resident expert on acting and one of southeastern USA's most prominent casting directors. She worked on the 2nd and 3rd season castings for 'Miami Vice' and ended up heading their entire casting division, so she should certainly know wht she is talking about.

Expert Village gives advice about a whole range of subjects, not just about acting. But if you search around the 'Arts and Entertainment' section you will find several items that will be of interest to the up and coming actor or actress. I certainly saw several entries under the heading of 'improv', and there are many other topics relating to theatre, such as 'exercises', 'standup', 'comedy', 'auditions', and so on. Some pretty useful stuff, and all in video form - check it out!

Labels: acting, Advice, ExpertVillage.com, video, website

Here is a very good online resource for all you budding actors and actresses - actingbiz.com - a website written by actors, for actors. It is full of useful articles about acting, acting tips and advice, spotlights on particular actresses and actors, video clips, casting call notices, and even provides a list of films and TV shows that are currently in production or that are prepping, casting or about to begin shooting - how great is that? They also have a great video section where well-known actors and actresses discuss their careers, the characters they have played, casting, and what it is like to work in Hollywood.

While you are there, check out some of the articles by Ruth Kulerman. They are very useful in their advice and cleverly and wittily written. Her latest article is called "Five and a Half Tips Not Taught in Drama Class" and looks at important acting matters like when and when not to pause; how to ask without asking; and 'semaphore' acting! Ruth has many articles listed and I would defy anyone not to find something in each that they didn't know before! Very good.

Another great feature of this website is that it has a free forum where actors and actresses of all ages can "swap ideas about all aspects of the art and craft of acting; Exchange information, stories, acting tips and gossip about working within the field of acting." The forum is usefully split up into various categories including one for beginners, general advice and tips, classes and workshops, casting and agents, personal experiences, and so on. I think the site must be fairly new because there are not that many entries on many of the forum topics when I looked at it, but that aside I would rate this site very highly and am sure that it will expand rapidly as more aspiring actors and actresses get to know of it. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Labels: acting, actingbiz.com, forum, resource, website

Here is a classic example of how easily one can be distracted by the internet! There I was just writing a piece for something else and all I wanted was a simple little quote to finish the piece off. So I did a search for the quote - that led me to finding a quote by an actor on acting - that in turn led to yet another distracted hour looking through acting quotes.
If you ever need a good acting quote, by the way, there are no end of websites out there that will happily deliver what you need. I have to say that I do love a good quote and there are some good ones when it comes to the acting profession.

Here are the top ten I enjoyed most on my diversionary journey (in no particular order, except perhaps the Michael Caine quote which is probably my favorite!):

1) First of all, I choose the great [roles], and if none of these come, I choose the mediocre ones, and if they don't come, I choose the ones that pay the rent.
Michael Caine

2) Do not try to push your way through to the front ranks of your profession; do not run after distinctions and rewards; but do your utmost to find an entry into the world of beauty.
Konstantin Stanislavisky

3) Acting deals with very delicate emotions. It is not putting up a mask. Each time an actor acts he does not hide; he exposes himself.
Jeanne Moreau

4) Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse. It's a bum's life. The principal benefit acting has afforded me is the money to pay for my psychoanalysis.
Marlon Brando

5) I am acquainted with no immaterial sensuality so delightful as good acting.
Lord Byron

6) I don't want to read about some of these actresses who are around today. They sound like my niece in Scarsdale. I love my niece in Scarsdale, but I won't buy tickets to see her act.
Vincent Price

7) I never said all actors are cattle, what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle.
Alfred Hitchcock

8) Why, except as a means of livelihood, a man should desire to act on the stage when he has the whole world to act in, is not clear to me.
George Bernard Shaw

9) Remember: there are no small parts, only small actors.
Konstantin Stanislavisky

10) The real actor has a direct line to the collective heart.
Bette Davis

Labels: Alfred Hitchcock, Bette Davis, George Bernard Shaw, Jeanne Moreau, Lord Byron, Marlon Brando, Michael Caine, quotes, Stanislavski, Vincent Price

For those of you considering a professional career in acting one of the things you will need to consider is becoming a member of the Screen Actors Guild - www.sag.com. Now, this is large subject, too large for a simple blog post. However, I did come across a good source of basic information for those who have reached that stage in their careers. Written by the Screen Actors Guild, it appears on the entertainmentcareers.net website, a good site for all kinds of resources in itself.

The article goes into a number of subjects starting with an overview of the purpose of the Screen Actors Guild. One thing they make clear from the start, they are not a source of employment themselves, but they will see that your best interests are looked after when you do get hired for a role. Another important area they cover concerns the employment of children in the acting profession, encompassing from babies to teenagers, and there is a website link and a 'Child Actor Hotline' phone number. They seem to be particularly concerned about the number of scams on parents eager to see their child getting ahead in the 'business'.

In terms of advice in getting started in acting, they recommend that you have enough savings to allow you to live for two years without income while you try to get that important first break! There is also important information in regard to being a union member, whether that be the Screen Actors Guild or any of a number of other acting unions out there, such as AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), Actors Equity Association, American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA), and so on, depending on your particular niche in the industry.

There is also advice on getting work if you are not a U.S. citizen or resident alien, and also advice on getting an agent - obviously an important aspect for any actor first starting out on their career path. I thought this a very useful overview and with a lot of useful information in one place - probably more useful than going to the SAG site itself initially. If there are any actors out there with personal experiences of the Screen Actors Guild, or any other actor's unions, please feel free to share them through the comments section below. I'm sure it would be valuable to many of our readers.

Labels: AFTRA, AGVA, Screen Actors Guild, Union

Actors and actresses have to be among one of the most superstitious groups of people out there, and with Halloween shortly upon us and all things supernatural in our minds I thought it might be interesting to look at some of the superstitions historically associated with the theatre.

Probably the most famous of all theatrical superstitions is that associated with Shakespeare's play 'Macbeth'. The play is said to be cursed and bad luck will befall any actor or actress who utters the play's name while inside the theatre. It is always called "The Scottish Play" instead. According to Scottish stage manager, teacher, and superstition researcher Kevin Robertson (www.kevrobertson.supanet.com/page2.htm), even Lawrence Olivier and Charlton Heston have suffered under the curse!

Many theatrical superstitions abounded in Shakespeare's time - a much more superstitious time period anyway, but still many survive today, both good and bad luck varieties. A good list of theatrical superstitions can be found at http://www.csicop.org/superstition/library/actors.html - but here are a few interesting ones that caught my eye; for example, did you know that it was good luck to have a cat backstage? (though don't, whatever you do, let it run onto the stage - that means bad luck!); it is also good luck when you leave your dressing room to leave with your left foot first! One of the most famous acting good luck charms is to wish someone to "Break a leg" before a performance. There are many theories about this superstition but none of them definitive and no-one knows the origin or true meaning to this famous line.

In terms of bad luck, you should never have real flowers on stage; never whistle during a performance; and my favorite - "it is bad luck to have a picture of an ostrich on stage" - Huh?! One of the better known ones is that it is bad luck to have a perfect dress rehearsal before the first performance. One argument is that if the dress rehearsal is too good actors and actresses get over confident and don't concentrate as hard when it comes to the performance itself. That at least sounds like a plausible explanation. I'd love to hear what the explanation for the ostrich superstition is though! Anyway, a black cat has just crossed my path (wanting to be fed no doubt), so I must away. Touch wood, I'll be back next week with more theatrical gems for you to ponder on. Break a leg y'all!

Labels: actors, Macbeth, Shakespeare, superstitions, theatre

Following on from my tribute to Paul Newman a couple of week's ago, I thought you might like to see the above video of his interview in the first ever episode of 'Inside The Actors Studio'. No-one who has an interest in acting can possibly have not seen 'Inside The Actors Studio' - it is probably THE place for hearing about the personal acting experiences of well-known actors and actresses. Paul Newman was president of the Actors Studio and was at the time of the interview, involved in setting up the MFA course in New York.

With thanks to sham420 for putting the video on YouTube for all to enjoy, he describes the Paul Newman interview as a "Master class in Acting, a must see for actors and everyone else out there". The whole interview has been split up into 3, approximately 10 minute episodes for ease of downloading. I have put up the first of those episodes here and I am sure you are all more than capable of finding the other two should you wish to see the whole thing. Watch and learn!

Labels: Actors Studio, Interview, Paul Newman

"The actor has to start from his visceral response to the material. This is why he must reject intellectual choices at the beginning of his work. He must allow himself to be in an exploratory state, unsure of what he is going to do; this forces him to trust his initial responses to the dialogue, regardless of how absurd or contrary they may seem. If he is analytical, his intellect will stifle these reactions."

This is quote from a book called 'How to Stop Acting' by Harold Guskin, published by Methuen Drama, 2004. Known as 'the acting doctor' Guskin uses many examples of how well known actors such as Kevin Kline, Glen Close and Christopher Reeve overcame problems in creating their characters, and tackles a variety of scenarios from theatre, film and television. There is far more to acting than just learning a variety of techniques, and a book like this is a good way towards going beyond them and reaching for something more 'real'.

One Amazon reviewer of the book says, "Harold Guskin's approach is brilliant in its simplicity. He takes you away from "techniques" and back to the reality of being in the moment. When I practice his approach I'm able to truly listen and dialogue with the other actors on a deeper level, and to respond to their words and mine from an internally, gut-motivated, truly living and experiencing in the moment place..."

Ultimately this is a stage further on from just learning the techniques of acting, but it is one that is all important if you are really serious about acting as a profession. This is certainly not the only book that talks about such matters, but it is a good place to start. Christopher Reeve is one of the actors who went to Guskin and is featured in the book, stating, "Many actors, newcomers and veterans alike, often wonder why it's so difficult to be as real, natural, and emotionally charged on stage or in front of the camera as we are in our daily lives. Harold Guskin explains how, by habit and misconception, we tend to undermine our potential. How to Stop Acting is a clear and concise actor's guide to living the truth in our work."
The book is available in paperback for as little as $6 through Amazon.

Labels: acting, books, Guskin, lessons