I Don't Need an Acting Class

Milton begins this week’s episode talking about a client whose personal life reflects the circumstances of the character he’s playing. It’s yet another lesson about the actor’s instinct to make a character about us, and it’s especially difficult to resist when we have been through almost the exact same experience. The difference is— our relationship to the circumstances. This is what can wake you...

Milton Plays A Car Mechanic The point of this episode is that, while we always need to work hard to make our work believable and interesting, there are times where you might have to work even harder because of your limited imagination and/or life experience. Such as the example provided in this week’s episode: Milton working on a car. This, in life, has never and most likely, will never happen. An...

In this episode, we take a look at the play Loose Ends by Michael Weller. We do so through the lens of realism and the contribution that Ibsen, Strindberg and Chekov made to the modern theater. It’s an unusually long episode, but listening to Milton lecture on and analyze the time period of this play is an example of where script analyses can begin. It’s an exploration, a deep-dive conversation wh...

Whether it’s stage or screen, you have to be able to analyze the text to figure out what world you’re in, what’s going on with your character and how you fit into the bigger picture. This way, you can come up with a choice that gives you something, moves you, makes you excited. So that by the time you *say it,* you’ve earned it. WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! ⁠https:/...

This week, Milton explores a few of the ways we can gain insight into character. We can observe a stranger on the street and then, using a specific character trait, improvise a monologue as that person. We can also examine the events that contribute to a person’s identity. The crucial lesson here is that we never stop searching, never stop digging to find the complexity of a human being. Finally,...

We begin our 7th season with a call to save acting. Together, we can do it! One of the biggest elements that is missing in acting today is understanding the idea behind the play (or whatever it is that we’re doing) and understanding the size of it. Because of the work we do as actors, we get insight into truths about the human experience that we get to share with an audience. And this is how we ne...

In life, we usually don't relive a painful experience when we're talking about it. That doesn't mean it doesn't affect us. It's just that we're not actively trying to "go there." In fact, usually we resist going there with all of our being. The same should be true when we're acting. We must build the character's past, but that doesn't mean our action i...

Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! ⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe

Season finale! The problem with trying to learn acting in a linear way is that no creative art is linear. You can’t fit a lifelong craft into one box or one book. Therefore, there is no one secret, or one method, or one idea that will save you. We have to be able to take on board the fact that acting is multifaceted. It is not about right or wrong, but a matter of depth. And the more you’re able t...

Email Walker at questionsformilton@gmail.com for more information or to register.

In this episode, Milton shares an example of what it means to trust your creative impulses. This means allowing yourself the freedom to wander around until you find a connection to what you're talking about. Although you may know where you're going, you don't necessarily know how you're going to get there, or what choice you're going to discover that ends up bringing you to lif...

“I’m so sick of Mark Ruffalo. Whatever that is, I’m so sick of it. I am so sick of him that literally there was a part of me that was flirting with disaster.” On the heels of his Academy Award nominated performance in the film Poor Things , Mark Ruffalo joined his former acting teacher and coach Milton Justice on the podcast I Don't Need an Acting Class to discuss his process. He has since bee...

“I’m so sick of Mark Ruffalo. Whatever that is, I’m so sick of it. I am so sick of him that literally there was a part of me that was flirting with disaster.” On the heels of his Academy Award nominated performance in the film Poor Things , Mark Ruffalo joined his former acting teacher and coach Milton Justice on the podcast I Don't Need an Acting Class to discuss his process. He has since bee...

This week’s episode is based on a question we received about adding your own circumstances in order to increase the stakes, or help you connect. Here’s the question in its entirely: Is it acceptable to add your own specific circumstances or facts to bear down on generalities in the script?  Or is this dangerous embellishment? David Mamet says to invent nothing, and that the author has given you on...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! ⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠⁠ This episode begins with the exercise of telling someone else’s story. It involves hearing a story from someone in class, and then retelling it as our own. This is a great technique exercise because it allows you to layer in your first impressions improvisationally. You do...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! ⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠⁠ Milton begins this episode by emphasizing the importance of observing human behavior— our own and others. The reason is, it gives us clues to everything, from character to circumstance to what “playing an action” looks like. Milton gives the example of an audition Diego re...

This week, we go back to some of the fundamentals of acting technique. One of which is, The Biggest Sin: Thou Shall Not Make Performance Choices When You First Read The Script. But this is not something we’re always aware that we’re doing. We forget. Or— we have an immediate response to the character or the circumstances, and run with that first instinct. Or— because of our own personal beliefs an...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠ Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: ⁠questionsformilton@gmail.com⁠ Also, check out our website: ⁠www.idontneedanactingclass.com⁠  

“Don’t shop at Kmart if there’s a Tiffany’s at 57th and 5th.” -Stella Adler on Making Choices This episode begins with Milton’s deconstruction of an audition. He talks about the downside of adding a lot of plot points to your preparation for a scene: it means you have to earn every single one of them in a way that feeds you emotionally. “But the advanced work,” he says, “is making kick-ass choices...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠ There are some misconceptions about relaxation in acting. You want to be relaxed but not so relaxed that you’re not able to be active as your character in the given circumstances. As Milton says in this week’s episode: “I think a lot of it is figuring out where to put your f...

In this episode, actress Annabelle Dexter-Jones joins us on the podcast to talk about playing twin witches on American Horror Story. She discusses the extensive background and character work the did while working one-on-one with Milton, as well as the exercises that freed her up the most and allowed her to make ever more discoveries.  WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! ⁠⁠...

An excerpt from Milton's Masterclass at Spotlight in Stockholm, Sweden.

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠ What do we mean when we say the Given Circumstances? According to Stella Adler, the Given Circumstances includes everything— all the facts. And as Milton puts it, it incorporates all the P’s: the play, the playwright, the plot, the place, the period, and the personality, pas...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠ This is one of those ideas in acting that is almost scientific in its certainty. If you’re ever in a scene where your character is meant to be inactive, you must equally compensate for it by finding a way to make what you’re doing especially active. For example, your charact...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠ The reason why “putting something in your own words” is such a useful exercise is because it covers so much territory: understanding the sequence of thoughts, owning the character’s point of view and the size of an idea, and what action we are playing. There are concepts tha...