Acting
Improve Your Acting – 10 Reasonably Good Tips!
Oct 7th
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Expert author William G. Craig’s gives his tips on how to improve your acting skills: You could probably fill a library with all the books on how to improve your acting! So to save you a little time I have put together a list of 10 tips, that I hope, will help you the most.
- Know your script. Read, re-read and then read again, and not just your own lines. From this foundation you can go on to identify the reason for your lines, this will help you react with the right lines and make remembering easier.
- Listen actively, you should give the impression that what your character is hearing is purely of that moment. Resist the temptation to be quick with your lines, just to prove you know them, it is a conversation after all.
- Be brave, the quickest way to improve your acting is to realize that your first choice will usually be the easiest for you to do – not the best one for the part. Look beyond your initial choice.
- Learn to breath, practice 20 minutes a day. Inhale as deeply as possible and exhale for twice the amount of time you spent inhaling (i.e. inhale 15 seconds exhale 30 More >
Movie Review: Jack Goes Boating
Sep 1st
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According to Elle Magazine’s Karen Durbin, Jack Goes Boating, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s film directing debut, began life as a play at the actor’s LAByrinth Theater Company in Manhattan. Movies based on plays are notoriously tricky, too often turning what was bold and crisp onstage into talky and constricted on-screen. And just to make things trickier, Hoffman cast himself in the title role. But like 2008’s Doubt (which brought him his third Oscar nomination after his 2006 win for Capote), Jack Goes Boating looks completely at home on film, and Hoffman is its perfect atypical leading man. An earthy, intimate drama about several varieties of love, the movie revolves around two New York couples, one tentatively coming together as the other keeps falling apart. Delivering stinging bursts of anguish only to bounce back again and again with offbeat humor, Jack Goes Boating is the most satisfying love story to come along since Richard Linklater’s 2004 Before Sunset.
Five and a Half Acting Tips Not Taught in Drama Class
Jul 21st
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Check out Actingbiz.com’s Ruth Kulerman’s Five and a Half Acting Tips Not Taught in Drama Class
1. The Ubiquitous Omnipotnet Comma. (Dethrone Immediately.) Contrary to actors’ beliefs, commas did not descend from Mount Sinai, written on stone tablets. Commas are the domain of a reader, not a speaker. Commas replace the missing human voice whose intonation helps decode written language and make it comprehensible — a fancy way of saying, ignore commas when you act.
They belong on a page, not in a spoken line. Replace commas, not with pauses, but with vocal variety–or ignore the squiggly critters completely. Do not pause when commas cross your path. Slide right across them. We don’t talk in commas, so don’t act in commas either.
My slogan as the comma cop is DOWN WITH PAUSES CAUSED BY COMMAS!
1.5 The Pause the Exhausts. (Verbal exercise: stretch or leap.) There used to be a slogan for one of the soft drinks: “The pause that refreshes.” And yet in acting I have heard eighteen billion pauses, mistakenly believed to be dramatic or pregnant or sensitive or something. (“We find the defendant pause pause pause pause not guilty.”) London taught me: “You have to earn a pause.” Otherwise they are More >
LIONSGATE(R) Roars With Record 26 Emmy(R) Nominations for its Acclaimed Series MAD MEN, NURSE JACKIE and WEEDS
Jul 8th
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MAD MEN TOPS DRAMA SERIES CATEGORY FOR THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR WITH RECORD-BREAKING 17 NOMINATIONS INCLUDING OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES, JON HAMM AS LEAD ACTOR AND JANUARY JONES AS LEAD ACTRESS
NURSE JACKIE SCORES 8 COMEDY NOMINATIONS INCLUDING OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES AND LEAD ACTRESS FOR EDIE FALCO
LIONSGATE’s ® (NYSE: LGF) acclaimed AMC drama MAD MEN and hit Showtime comedies NURSE JACKIE and WEEDS earned a total of 26 Emmy® nominations today, a record for the studio, including nods for both MAD MEN and NURSE JACKIE in the Outstanding Series categories.
MAD MEN, winner of back-to-back Emmys® the past two years for Outstanding Drama Series, topped the category again this year with 17 nominations breaking its previous record of 16, including nods for Outstanding Drama Series, Lead Actor (Jon Hamm), Lead Actress (January Jones), Supporting Actress (Christina Hendricks and Elisabeth Moss), Supporting Actor (John Slattery), Guest Actor (Robert Morse), Writing, Directing and Cinematography.
The Company’s hit Showtime comedy NURSE JACKIE earned eight nominations, the most for any series in Showtime’s history, led by an Emmy® nod for Outstanding Comedy Series and a nomination for Edie Falco for Outstanding Lead Actress. WEEDS earned a nomination for Outstanding Cinematography.
“The continued success of MAD MEN, NURSE JACKIE More >
How to Get An Acting Agent
Jul 2nd
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Wondering how to get an agent in the acting business? Check out these tips fro the New York Conservatory of Dramatic Arts!
Burn No Bridges It may seem like a no-brainer, but always be kind and respectful to agents, whether or not you agree with the way they handle their business. It may seem as though everyone wants to be a famous actor, but the industry isn’t that big, and most agents are well-connected.
Leaving a bad impression with one acting agent can destroy your reputation with others. Conversely, if you impress an agent, she or he may recommend you to colleagues. Remember that many acting agents are creative people as well; they work in the same industry that you do. The more you respect your agent and work hard for them, the more they will work for you. Not to mention that being respectful and professional in all you do establishes you as someone anyone would want to work with.
Choosing an Agent When you look for potential acting agents, consider where you are in your career. If you’re just starting out, a smaller agency will probably suit you better. This doesn’t mean you have to skimp on professionalism. More >
SUMMER STOCK NYC Debuts July 16
Jun 30th
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This summer, the great American tradition of summer stock theatre is being brought to New York City by CAP21: America’s Musical Theatre Conservatory & Theatre Company. The inaugural season will celebrate the women of Broadway.
Summer Stock NYC, a new initiative of the CAP21 Theatre Company, debuts with “A Celebration of the Broadway Musical” on July 16. The 75-minute musical revue features hit songs and production numbers from classic Broadway musicals, starring awarding winning Broadway and cabaret artist Karen Mason (“Mamma Mia!”;”) and “As the World Turns” Daytime Emmy nominated actress Colleen Zenk
Summer Stock NYC is the first collaborative partnering of CAP21 with The Fund for the City of New York, Pace University, Hunter College and Capital One, as a corporate sponsor. “A Celebration of the Broadway Musical” will play July 16 -18 at The Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts (Pace University) and July 20-23 at The Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse (Hunter College). Ticket prices range from $15 to $30.
In 2011, Summer Stock NYC will tour different boroughs with a full length production of a classic Broadway musical.
Amanda Bynes to Retire from Acting at age 24
Jun 25th
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Actress Amanda Bynes made a stunning announcement via her Twitter account yesterday. The young actress shocked everyone when she revealed that she’s retiring from acting at age 24.
“I’ve never written the movies & tv shows I’ve been apart of I’ve only acted like the characters the producers or directors wanted me to play,” she wrote on her Twitter account on Saturday. “Being an actress isn’t as fun as it may seem,” she added.
Later in the day, Bynes tweeted, “I don’t love acting anymore so I’ve stopped doing it.”
At 13, she joined the cast of “All That,” a Nickelodeon sketch-comedy show that developed an adult hipster audience. That show spun off “The Amanda Show” (1999-2000), which led to the WB’s teen hit “What I Like About You” (2002-06).
New Cast of Paramount’s “Footloose” Remake Revealed
Jun 24th
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Adam Goodman, President of Paramount Pictures Film Group, announced on June 22nd the completion of principle casting on writer / director Craig Brewer’s “Footloose”. Following an extensive worldwide search, newcomer Kenny Wormald will play the highly coveted role of ‘Ren’, opposite previously announced star Julianne Hough as ‘Ariel’. Dennis Quaid also joins the cast in the role of ‘Reverend Moore’, along with Miles Teller as ‘Willard’.
The movie will feature choreography from Jamal Sims, who recently worked with Madonna on her Sticky & Sweet Tour. Sims has choreographed countless movies and videos, and will next choreograph the Neil Patrick Harris’ production of the award-winning musical Rent starring Nicole Scherzinger and Vanessa Hudgens, from August 6-8 at the Hollywood Bowl.
The movie is slated for release on April 1st, 2011. All of the 80′s movie fan will be lined up at the theaters anxious to see if the new version of “Footloose” will be an ode to a classic film.
Bristol Palin Makes her Acting Debut on “The Secret Life of an American Teenager”
Jun 24th
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Since that unforgettable republican presidential campaign between John McCain and Sarah Palin, the Palin family has been forever stamped into American culture. This includes her daughter Bristol Palin, who caused a mini-firestorm with her teenage pregnancy during Sarah Palin’s campaign. However, since then we have been bestowed with Sarah Palin books, a full-out half-nude spread by Bristol’s baby’s father Levi Johnston. Now Bristol Palin will be making her acting debut in the tv series, “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.” The most famous real-life teenage mom in America, will play herself as a friend to the show’s protagonist, Amy, at a music program for teen mothers. The young mother’s acting will be critqued heavily, let’s hope that the reviews are favorable!
“Auditions: 5% acting. 10% looks. 85% dumb luck”
Jun 18th
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Check out LA actor Lary Crew’s simple guide to auditioning:
“One thing I know: no one can really teach you what it’s like to audition. You need to DO it over and over again. Personally, I audition for anything for which I might be remotely right. On occasion, I even audition for something for which I am wrong, just for the experience of auditioning. The more I do it, the less intimidating it is. I audition for student films, TV shows, feature films and commercials because I consider auditions part of my education as an actor. To me, auditions are free acting workshops or rehearsals.
BEFORE Before the audition, don’t over-prepare, Remain flexible. You don’t know exactly what the casting director is looking for. Often, they’ll ask you to read the lines differently. If you’ve rehearsed just one way to do it, change will be difficult. Be comfortable with what you’re doing, but prepared to change.”
