I Don't Need an Acting Class

This week, we bring you a private coaching in which Milton breakdown a monologue he’s seeing for the first time with an actor he’s working with for the first time. As the session progresses, you begin to understand his approach. From getting beneath the mentality of a character and they way they see and understand the world that they’re in…to beginning to own and experience the the enormous strugg...

In case you missed it live, this week we bring you our Conversation on Acting series with Sharon Carnicke. Sharon is an internationally acclaimed expert on Stanislavsky. Her latest book  Dynamic Acting through Active Analysis  follows the evolution of a radical rehearsal technique created by Stanislavsky. She is also the author of  Stanislavsky in Focus: An Acting Master for the Twenty-First Centu...

Film Genres Genre Conventions are specific settings, roles, events, and values that define individual genres and their sub-genres. Love Story Buddy Salvation Road Picture Horror Film Uncanny – source of horror is astound but subject to “rational” explanation – such as beings from outer space, science-made monsters, or a maniac. Supernational – in which the source of horror is an “irrational” pheno...

This week, our episode focuses on the idea of instinct. Most of us think of that word as something w’re born with, something that is innately part of us. But in the context of training and learning a process, instinct is learned. The more you exercise certain muscles of your technique, the more it is there for you when you need it.  For example, one of our tools is slowing down enough to analyze “...

This episodes happens to contain more casual chat and personal anecdotes than usual, but there is a point to it. It’s about the need to look at your character’s character. Do they have a strong sense of morality? Do they have principals, and off so, what are they? This is a particularly important question when playing someone whose actions in the play reflect their moral character. Perhaps they ta...

This week, Milton talks about his approach to scene work. He begins discussing what the scene is about, has each actor do an etude (or improvised) monologue about their character, and then has both actors do an improvised scene that is not in the play. However, it’s important that this scene is not an arbitrary choice. There needs to be a reason in the text to explore this “missing” scene. Why doe...

Hey everyone. First of all, we want to welcome our new listeners. It never ceases to amaze us that people keep discovering the podcast everyday. We’re so grateful. We also want to know what you think. Are there any issues you want to hear Milton discuss? Any questions or confusions? What do you love? What do you hate? (No we’re not trying to get you to do an acting exercise.) We would love to hear...

This episode with Milton’s famous class exercise “Something I Love/Something I Hate” where you talk out improvistorally while building something you love or hate. The purpose of this exercise is learning to live off the images and make choices that feed you in order to earn the line “I hate ________”, or: “I love ________.”  “What I want you all to do is stop throwing things out there that you don...

This week’s episode, taken from a private coaching session, is about uncovering what your character’s problem is, and who the character’s partner is, in order to get to the action. And the problem is never the plot. Even though the given circumstances play into the problem, the true problem is always a much bigger, cosmic idea. Your impulse to solve this problem is what you’re doing to solve it. ...

This week’s episode is an excerpt of a coaching Milton did with JP for a SWAT audition. You’ll notice that the difference here between teaching and coaching. Teaching demands that the actors themselves comes up with the choices and tools they’ll use for that specific material. Whereas coaching requires less independence because the coach gives it to you. It’s important to take note of what you’re...

A question was asked our script analysis class about the idea of stillness in film acting, which led to a conversation about the proliferation of acting “tricks” that are espoused by so many actors who may be brilliant, but don’t always have a clear idea about their own process or what makes them great. “Stillness” is a result or “effect direction” while active listening is something you can actua...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe The episode discusses the importance of seeing the character you’re playing as a separate entity. You, as the actor, get the opportunity to build a human being. After allowing your mind to wander and wonder what it would be like to be *this* person in *this* specific circumstance, you ca...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This week’s episode is about the difference between the actor’s contribution to the creative process, versus the writer’s. Whereas the writer’s job is to put into words what they have to say, the actor’s contribution to the art form is bringing the text to life, which they do by experien...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This week, we’re swinging back to an important idea. Which is knowing what the idea is! Getting to the idea doesn’t happen in an instant. It is a process in which you keep coming back to the piece, whether it’s a play, a film, a monologue, a radio show or a speech, and asking yourself: w...

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 Become a Subscriber for Bonus Content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe Your Monthly Subscription Includes: * Expanded Episodes
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 * Interviews * Videos * Access to the IDNAAC Archives * Newsletters including articles, acting exercises, and chapter’s of Milton’s next book In this episode, Milton wanders around and takes questions while avoiding Stri...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠ Here's what you get: Expanded and unedited episodes • No ads • Interviews • Videos • Full access to the IDNAAC Archives • And newsletters including articles, quotes, acting exercises, and chapter’s of Milton’s next book. For more info or if you have an acting question for Milton, e...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe Even if we’re not working on a Strindberg play, we can learn so much from the playwright about how to bring depth to a character. One distinction about Strindberg is that he showed us real people, not only in external conflict in their relationships with one another, but internal conflic...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe So many of us know what it feels like to doubt ourselves, to ask ourselves: am I doing this right? This week, Milton talks about what it takes to own a play or piece of text with confidence when striving for greatness. The time, the work, the patience is endless, as is the fortitude requ...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This week, Milton introduces us to the playwright August Strindberg, and how Stella Adler’s teaching contributed to the way actors approach his writing. While Chekov and Ibsen signified the beginning of realism, Strindberg marked the beginning of what we think of as the modern theater, d...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe In this episode, Milton recalls one of Stella’s exercises which he teaches to this day. The purpose of the exercise is to invest ourselves fully in an action. One way we can do this is by understanding the “why” behind the action. We can play the action “to teach,” but understanding the...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This episode starts out with a simple “action” exercise but becomes about something much larger: how we go about creating (or talking out) the circumstances so that by the time we get to the words, they are filled with life and believable. As Milton has repeated time and again: “Just bec...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe As actors, Doing research is important, but it’s only useful if we’re able to turn it into something actable. There is nothing useful about the knowledge that comes from research if all we do is know it. This is where the imagination comes in. We have to take the time to let the new info...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe As we approach our new Script Analysis Class beginning March 8th, (if you’re interested in taking it, email us at: questionsformilton@gmail.com ), this episode begins with a quote about “the more you know.” Not only does loving your choices free you, but so does knowing the circumstances...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This week, Milton talks about how essential it is to be in love with our choices. If we, as actors, don’t LOVE the choices we make, we won’t commit to them 1000%. We will end up pushing a performance and feeling stuck. But if we are relentless about finding choices that personally excite...

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! ⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠⁠ This episode features Milton's conversation with his longtime friend, character actress Margo Martindale. Mostly recently, you might know her from The Watcher on Netflix, Bojack Horseman, Sneaky Pete and for her portrayal of Bella Abzug on the limited FX series Mrs. America. Marg...