The Bold Acting Podcast

On this evening the Emergency Ward at St. Joseph’s hospital in west Toronto did not disappoint. A woman that looked like Leonid Brezhnev (mostly in the eyebrows and weight class) triaged at window number 3. There’s blood coming out of my pee pee, Leonid said. At window number 4 a Mexican man said “I can’t close my eyes.” At window number 2 an Indian man was missing a third of the skin from his fac...

Today on the flodflast: * The Dalai Lama is boring. * The aged watch theatre like Mexicans watch film. * Tim Ferriss needs my help. And … * Jetlagged. A full dose of zopiclone in response. What a treat. Normally I make a script of thirty pills last me approximately nine months. That way it’s not another thing I’m hooked-on (Right now the running tally is wet gin martinis, short fiction, nasal spra...

The Bold Acting Podcast is reflections on performance and how it relates to life. What fuels a creativity, what we covered in acting classes and how a modicum of self-awareness goes a long way towards being a person. Thank you for listening to The Bold Acting podcast. This episode is free. Feel free to share it. "What is beautiful is seized.” I read this in a Lorrie Moore story. I think it might m...

No one ever told me the nicest thing you can do for you is to serve others. There is the altruism, the charity, the moral high-ground of it all but really the real reason it’s such a good thing to do is that it must be the most selfish move around. Because you are no longer thinking about you. And that right there is a type of freedom. If you like the Bold Acting Podcast talk it up at your next di...

You’re always allowed to start again. It’s one of our great strengths. Author Sebastian Barry says something like no matter what you have left behind, no matter how you’ve lived or not lived, whether you’re young, middle-aged or old, is that you can always start again. It takes a bit of larceny. There’s a taste of bile in the back corners of your mouth. That is shame. Spit it out. The courage of a...

The rat race to me is that special place within the middle class where you’ve made just enough money that they will loan you so much more money that you can live above your means. I think this is where the saying They’ll sell you just enough rope to hang yourself with” comes from. I’ve been keeping up with my neighbours. For the last ten years I’ve been living in Roncesvalles. A neighbourhood that...

I’m 51. If all goes well I’ll have 25-30 good summers left. How many do you have left? Are you acting accordingly? Are you taking big risks? Are you batting for the fences? This week I talk about public versus private moments, style versus preference, the end of summer and just … the end. Then we have advice from industry experts Andrew Deiters of Groundglass Casting, Ian James Corlett, voice acto...

When I think back at what an idiot I was in my twenties, thirties and forties I immediately think What will you think of your 2023 self when you are in your 70s? It’s a horrible thought. That I’ll still be a disappointment. And that when I’m in my 70s I’ll only be, statistically, ten years away from being in my grave. Yes, I plan on being buried in a grave. Laid out. With a large bust of me on top...

Oh to have the energy I had when I was 25. You’ll never again have the strength you have in your twenties. Trust me. I know. Your job now is not to achieve work/life balance. Forget all of your expectations of others. You’re owed nothing. Your job is to work harder than everyone else. Quit taking breaks. Stop talking about how you’re exhausted. Apart from real mental illness you have no excuses. P...

“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.” — Nick Tosches Wisdom comes from failure for the most part. A regret, adversity, a challenge. You don’t learn much from wins. Regrets are a real shortcut to learning. If you have no regrets you’ll make the same mistake twice at lea...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit boldacting.substack.com Learn from the greats. You might not know Alison Steadman but you should watch her performances and see if you can’t benefit by taking a page out of her playbook. She’s acted in Mike Leigh movies, The King’s Man, Pride & Prejudice and my favourite Gavin & Stacey among others. Her performances are surprising, unli...

Today I read three newsletters and answer three questions. I love the Q&As. If you have a question you want answered on the show email me a voice memo to jasonbryden@gmail.com. For more information go to https://boldacting.com. Drop-in to my Sunday night cold-read class in Toronto. Email me at jasonbryden@gmail.com and I’ll put you on the list. Sign up to my free newsletter at boldacting.substack....

This week five conversations with creatives from the archives. Yael Staav is an award-winning Film and TV director I used to share an office with. She interviews me for a change. Then I speak to the director of Whale Music, Barney’s Version and Westworld, Richard J. Lewis . After that I speak to my old comedy partner David Milchard who is a veritable internet sensation. Don Enright is an Emmy awar...

Introducing an earlier podcast of mine you might not have listened to. To My Glorious Self is a book of essays I have partially podcasted. Find all the episodes wherever the podcasts are. Originally aired March 2nd, 2022. The names and some details have been changed to protect the innocent. Actors are some of our most vulnerable, most insecure yet underrated members of society. We are prone to hyp...

This week I talk about: * How advantageous it can be to be the foil. Mine the contrary. * The power of the opposite is highly underrated. * The Tour de France is on. Are you working as hard as they are? * Spend time doing nothing. * When we make art for ourselves we speak to other hearts. And I answer these three questions: * From Tanya in Toronto: “Hi, I’m an actor not taking your class but curre...

Actors hate auditioning. It’s a lot of work for nothing. 99% of the time nothing comes of it. Auditioning is a lottery ticket, with commensurate odds, that you pay for with your time and energy. The only way around them is to become a star so that they just give you parts. Or you can go do something else altogether … like plumbing. Plumbers make nearly as much as your family doctor. Or you can mak...

This week I answer questions on the difference between union and non-union actors, whether an actor with an accent should try to sound more Canadian and how to save money when you’re a gig worker. But first I talk about the Method. It’s an acting technique. It’s 100 years old. And I thought what a perfect thing to disrupt. This made me think of reverence and how poisonous it can be. I’m allergic t...

It’s only old people that complain about subsequent generations. When I was young I complained about their complaining: “They don’t get us. They don’t know what it’s like.” What I didn’t realize was how annoying young people can be to old people that are really just jealous of the high collagen levels present in the former. It’s part resentment but it’s also because young people do annoying shit a...

Today on the show I talk about styles of performance and redirection. I also answer questions from listeners on what we can learn from performers, how to improve self-tapes and who exactly watches them. For more information go to https://boldacting.com. Drop-in to my Sunday night cold-read class in Toronto. Email me at jasonbryden@gmail.com Sign up to my free newsletter at boldacting.substack.com...

The fear of public speaking is greater than the fear of death. The risk of the former is more immediate than the latter for most of us. And because we are inherently lazy creatures proximity plays an outsized role in how we determine what to worry about. (You can watch my video about prioritizing your worries here .) We worry about being ostracized by our cohort: the people that make up our extend...

If you like the Bold Acting Podcast talk it up at your next dinner or book club. Word-of-Mouth is the best form of advertising. If you don’t like it maybe just keep that to yourself. Rating and reviewing the thing is also greatly appreciated. It goes a long way to spreading the word. To get in touch email me at:  jasonbryden@gmail.comOr on Instagram  @jasonbrydenofcanada The song used in this podc...

I shouldn’t have gone to university. Actors should take acting classes and personal finance classes not learn about the history of Canadian theatre. We need to learn how to get a day job that won’t destroy our souls. We need to learn how to pay taxes. When you do finally get an acting gig you get this big chunk of money. But no one from university told me you first have to remit your HST or the CR...

Work It Weekly is a drop-in scene study class with me, Jason Bryden, an actor and a teacher with over 25 years experience. It’s a great way to get back into class, to get coached on an audition and to find your community. My Sunday night class is more than just about acting. Find your voice. Take your space. Email me at jasonbryden@gmail.com or go to boldacting.com for more info. And don’t forget...

In real life we do weird stuff with our face, our hands, our body. That’s why life is not always the best model for what we’re doing here. This is make-believe in here. This is something better than real life. We’re after something bigger. We’re after something closer to the truth. The truth is that thing that resonates with diverse and manifold audiences where no matter who they are relative to y...

The monologue inside my head has me regularly the victor. I am fostering grudges, serving up street-justice, putting dickwads in their place. My eyes narrow as I mutter. My brow pulls down. My face now angular feels like it looks like the sharp end of an anvil. I walk around High Park holding another monologue in my hand. One written by André Aciman from his novel Call Me By Your Name — one of my...