You probably wouldn’t go to a foreign country without a map, or at least something to help guide you to your destination. The same applies to anyone starting out with acting courses and hoping to carve a career path in acting.

Think of acting as a kind of foreign land. You’ve seen it on TV and in brochures but of course the reality isn’t quite the same. Residents of that land (established actors) know that even reading the guide books doesn’t give you anywhere near all the inside info you need.

In your acting courses you’ll soon learn about the different roles that people play in the industry and how and where you can slot into the structures. That’s part of the battle, because acting is not the easiest arena to succeed in.

The longer you spend creating your acting career, the more you’ll discover – including the unwritten rules. You’ll learn a lot as you become a part of an acting community, even if you’re only on the margins. You’ll probably get some hands-on experience of the terrain of the theatre even if you only have a part-time job manning the box office, for example.

Members of all professions indulge in ’shop talk’. If people are talking about something, maybe you need to know about it. You never know when snippets of information about the workings of the industry will come in handy. From casual conversations you can pick up tips to help avoid the pitfalls as well as identify the opportunities for you as an actor.

I keep mentioning ‘the industry’ but it’s not a solid or unchanging thing. Keeping tabs on developments is always worthwhile. Fashions and social currents shift. Think of burlesque, which sank in the thirties and came back as humorous theatre sixty years later. Think of the openings for actors that new technologies have created.

Being an actor is more than about honing your dramatic skills. If you don’t know the lie of the land you can make mistakes and miss opportunities. You can’t start exploring too early either. You can start checking out this new world you plan to live in even if you’re a first year student at one of the acting schools.

All careers need some planning, even if there’s no guarantee that your well-laid plans will come to fruition. Getting to know the world of acting extends well beyond your acting courses, but if you’re dedicated it will be a journey of discovery rather than a chore.

As an actor, who inspires you? More importantly, what is it about Robert De Niro or Meryl Streep’s work that says to you ‘Wow! This is what great acting looks like’.

One of the great things about being an actor is that you can chalk up going to the theatre or watching movies as an extension of your acting courses. As an actor you’ll learn a great deal about your craft in acting courses in london, from your teachers and fellow actors, and from your own efforts to master roles. After hours, watching the legends of stage and screen can also be an important part of the learning process.

The thing about great acting is that it doesn’t look like acting. It’s hard to separate the actor from the character. If you ask ‘How do they do it?’ the answer may not be obvious – because the experts do it so well.

It’s worthwhile studying the techniques used by the actors whose work blows you away. You can download film scripts from the web and try playing suitable scenes yourself. Having the words in front of you may help you to identify just what the actor is adding to the scene.

That could be the emphases, tone and pacing of their verbal delivery. It could be the way they marry gesture and movement to the spoken word or the way they use the performance space. If you can get a sense of how different actors amplify and add texture to the roles they play you can use that insight to analyse and enhance your own technique.

Of course you can’t see an actor’s approach to the role and the way he or she prepares. No amount of watching films or plays will reveal how top actors achieve the task of dissolving the boundaries between their own persona and the character they are playing.

Luckily, one way to do this is an open secret, though not all acting schools teach it. Many of the most celebrated actors of our times use the techniques of method acting to prepare for a performance. One principle of method acting is that drawing on emotion-laden memories helps actors to focus and to break down those boundaries.

That results in the seamless performance that is the hallmark of the greats. If you take the time to study their performances, the actors who entertain and move you can also be role models and teachers, from whom you can learn a lot.

The simple answer is yes, they do.

Every one of us has what psychologists call conditioning. Conditioning is the effect that our culture, environment, the people in our lives and our life experiences have on us.

No two people are alike and the way we perceive the world is different. For example, if two people see a car crash, each will experience it in a different way. Why? Well, one may seen the accident from a slightly different angle, one may be physically fitter than the other, which affects their sensorial perception of the incident, one may have experienced a car crash themselves, one may have lost a friend in a car crash and so on. All these different elements mean that each individual will perceive things differently.

So, how does all this tie into your acting training, and what is your parents’ role in shaping your acting ability?

Well, our parents pass on their fundamental beliefs, many of which you will have consciously or unconsciously adopted.

This affects your acting ability.

Let me give you an example. Say someone has to play a scene in an acting class where they cry. If the actor has grown up in an environment where parents have said that he or she shouldn’t cry, or no one in the family ever cried, it will be harder for that actor to suddenly cry on cue for acting purposes.

Now, this is not to say that actors cannot change this, because they can. They just need to be aware of their conditioning and how it is affecting their acting. Actors can then use particular exercises developed when they attend acting courses to address the issue.

Here is another example of conditioning. When Sharon Stone walks into a room do you think casting directors have any trouble seeing her in the sexy diva-type role? No, of course not. Why? Her natural conditioning supports this type of character. However, if she were to play Mother Theresa then she would need to address her natural conditioning and change it for the audition.

You just have to be aware of your conditioning and any limitations it has placed on your acting ability. Then you can start to address them. In some cases your conditioning will be extremely helpful and will help you play a role better…something you can thank your parents for.

One of the most common mistakes I see actors make at is assuming that there is only one way to play a character or a scene. What you may not know is that there are at least 49 other ways that the character and scene could be done.

Let me demonstrate this for you.

If you have a group of 10 actors on an acting course and you ask them to read the same part, each one will be different. There may be commonalities but, because each individual is unique, they will bring their own take on the character.

Of course this is unconscious and driven by the conditioning of the actor.

Great actors are very conscious of this and are constantly looking for the variety of ways a character or scene can be played.

Marlon Brando was a master at this. He used Method Acting and attended method acting classes at The Actors Studio in New York.

Each time he did a film take he would often change what he did in the scene and play with it to see what the possibilities were.

It’s best to have an inquisitive mind as an actor. You should constantly be asking the question – why?

I was speaking with my sister the other day; she has a 2 year old son called Luke. She told me his current favourite word is ‘why?’. Often he will ask ‘why?’ ten times in a row to get the information he needs.

We could all do with a touch of this child-like inquisitiveness. You will discover a lot more than just how to develop your logical train of thought.

Another great quality kids have, that allows them to explore many possibilities, is their ability to play without fear.

Kid’s don’t worry what others may think of them. They just want to play and get what they need. And boy, when they need something, they go after it 100%, finding it in many different ways.

This is something all actors need to develop during their acting training. They have to go after what the character needs in a creative, inventive and fearless way.

We can learn a lot from the little people.

I often get asked, ‘Is it important to have a degree in acting?’.

My answer is ‘definitely not’. In fact, it can be a hindrance.

Acting is not an academic subject. Sure, you need to analyse a script logically, but you don’t need a Ph.D. in acting to be able to do that. More importantly, you have to be able to take impulses and actions.

In my experience, too much thinking is a killer in creating good acting.

Over-analysing and academic approaches don’t sit well in the professional acting environment. Acting is a practical activity. Acting training requires constant ‘doing’. It requires you to take action…to act.

Often students take the degree route so that at the end of it they can say they have a degree. Why? Well, it’s really an ego thing. It sounds good to say you have a degree but, trust me, it won’t count for anything in the audition room.

Casting directors and agents couldn’t care less if you have a first in acting. What they want is to see is the goods in the audition room. If you have spent years with your head in a book instead of in practical acting courses then it will show.

The current situation in the UK is that many drama schools and acting schools are aligning themselves with universities to ensure student intake and funding from the universities. If it’s an academic course then the government will throw grants at people.

Because of this, I predict that the quality of actors emerging over the coming years will reduce. With more focus being put on academic study, the craft will suffer.

The other reason I hear people give for doing a degree in acting is that it is a safety net. If the acting doesn’t work out then you have a degree to fall back on.

This can be a counter-productive thought process. Having the ‘net’ in place can subconsciously give people a reason to fail. In fact, the ‘net’ unconsciously becomes the plan, because the belief that you can actually make it was never deep enough in the first place. Hence the reason for having a plan B from the outset.

At this point I would like to tell you about the Mongolian army in the 14th century. They were a force to be reckoned with and never lost a battle. The reason? They created conditions which, if they lost, would have devastating effects. When they went to battle they took their wives and children to the battlefield. If they lost the battle, they lost everything. The result was they never lost. They didn’t have a net. It was all or nothing.

Now, I cannot say what is right for you, but what I can tell you is that having a plan B can work against you.

My preference is to build your acting ability to an exceptional level and teach you the business of acting so that you succeed first time round.

When you are looking at this choice – between a degree or practical acting – you have to ask yourself what you really want. If you want to be an actor, then nothing beats acting courses that focus on the practical application.

Coming from Scotland I have had my fair share of discussions over this subject and my view, which is shared by many a casting director, is that accents are cool. Your accent is very much a part of you. It’s part of your identity and so it should be embraced.

The days are gone when every actor had to speak in RP (Received Pronunciation – similar to how a newsreader talks) to get a job. Casting people need regional accents because many dramas require them.

I remember constantly being told to lose my Scottish accent when I was at drama school in london. Which I learned to do.

However, I got the shock of my life when I started working in the profession. My main selling point became my Scottish accent. Admittedly ‘Trainspotting’ and ‘Braveheart’ had just been released, which caused a big change in how Scottish actors were perceived.

It also marked a change for people with regional accents all over the UK.

Now, I am not saying that you should only use your own accent. I think you should be able to adopt another accent if the part demands it and when you are practising scenes during your acting courses, this is a good way to test yourself.

The main thing to remember is that when you change accents it’s for a creative purpose, not just because you think the industry wants you speaking the Queen’s English.

I like accents because they are also part of our history in the UK. RP is a social accent and therefore has no real history behind it.

The thing that really tickles me is how Shakespeare is spoken in RP by much of the acting establishment. But in Shakespeare’s day RP didn’t exist and you were much more likely to hear his words spoken in a London accent or another regional tone.

It seems that we have come full circle since those days.

Remain flexible is my advice during your drama school and acting training. Keep the individuality of your own accent but have the ability to change should it be necessary.

The difference between art and craft is partly a product of recent times and is often tied to modern aesthetic judgements. If you like it a lot it’s art. If you want to put it down, call it craft. Alternatively, you might think of the amateur actor as a craftsman and the professional, who has had acting training, as more of an artist. Some might even argue that the art of a dramatic work lies mainly in the writing and direction, and that actors are largely craftspeople who deliver the artistic product. But there are other ways you can see it.

A useful way of distinguishing art and craft is to think of craft as something that potentially anyone can learn. It’s that component of your capacity as an actor that is developed through teaching, by learning methods and techniques (at drama school and in acting training) and honing those techniques in practice. Artistry is harder to pin down, but typically refers to that indefinable quality that exceptionally skilled or gifted people possess. It’s what Robert De Niro or Cate Blanchett have in spades and a lot of other actors don’t possess to the same degree. No doubt that is what you aspire to in your acting career.

There are other ways of looking at the art : craft distinction as well. You can think of the art of acting as a question of individual style. Someone who not only masters a technique but also makes it his or her own might be regarded as an artist rather than a craftsperson. Art is what happens when it you have mastered your craft and are able to add something that is uniquely yours. Each of your performances is larger than the sum of its parts and we can call the difference ‘artistry’.

Wherever you stand in this endlessly arguable debate, most people agree that there is no art without craft. In your acting career, you would probably rather be seen as an artist than a master craftsperson. The thing to remember when you start out in acting is that everyone begins in the same place: learning the craft and the ‘tricks of the trade’. For almost all successful actors, this begins in the classroom or actor’s studio.

From this perspective, acting lessons deal in the craft of acting. It doesn’t follow, however, that your acting training doesn’t also concern acting as an art. Without a doubt, some of the artistry we admire in the performances of celebrated actors is also learned. It’s just harder to label. Acting training will also help you recognise what artistry looks like – even if you can’t pin it down. Perhaps another way of seeing the artist is as someone who, perhaps subconsciously, sees, understands and internalises that which cannot be taught.

Your acting lessons are about learning the nuts and bolts of the job. But drama classes are also a key environment for developing the ability to appreciate quality. That will help you, as an actor, to fine-tune your own performances, extend your scope and up your game. In this and other ways the art v. craft distinction breaks down. Method acting is a technique that is taught in academies and actor’s studios. It is also one that is associated with many of the actors we regard as great artists. That probably isn’t just coincidence, and the art and craft of acting can be tough to separate.

As an aspiring or novice actor you can set aside thorny questions and academic debates about acting as an art if you wish. Answers will surely take shape as you learn the craft that is always the foundation stone of all good acting.

Few actors in film have been as successful as those trained in The Method. Why? Because from the point of view of directors, screenwriters, and the audience, method acting works because it delivers the characteristics promised by a character.

One of the screenwriter’s first steps is to write a character biography. This comes after the initial inspiration taken from the real cast of characters in the writer’s lives. By taking one trait from one person and another from someone else, a real person takes shape in their mind.

For instance, they’ll take Aunt Martha’s jealousy of younger beauties and combine it with Mum’s need to wipe off surfaces all day long even when there’s no sign of dirt anywhere. This establishes, for the writer, someone who is insecure, aging, and trying to hold onto a sense of control. In remembering Aunt Martha, the writer smells her icky-sweet perfume, and sees her crusty makeup’s mark on napkins and cups. These details provoke emotions (pity and disgust perhaps) in the writer. Method acting classes aims for a similar result, using the actor’s own emotional memories.

When the director “takes the helm” of a script, the characters take another test of believability. Directors have their own references for a role. Perhaps it’s a male friend who goes on drinking binges in response to his wife’s cheating. The director remembers his yellow fingertips from smoking cigarettes and his shaky manner. As a real person, this friend is totally believable. Solid acting training gives you just the kind of honesty that will convince the director that you’ve turned into this guy. (For the time being, of course!)

Everyone has life experiences with real people in it. It’s up to good acting schools and method acting in particular to point the way to how you can pass those “truth” tests with amazing results.

An actor bring a character out, from inside, using emotional intelligence. For the writer and director (not to mention producers and crew), the process stays trapped in their heads. An actor trained in method acting goes on a natural process of bringing personal emotional memories to serve the character’s needs.

How well the actor does this is key. It’s a lot to live up to, I know. But it’s also one challenge method acting training is equipped to meet. As the leading provider of method acting classes in London, I can help you get there.

When you get there, you’ll feel it. The director sits back, setting the script aside. All that matters now is you, the character, in action. That’s powerful. And there’s no faking it. Aunt Martha won’t go for it.

As an aspiring actor you may wish to specialise in the medium you feel most passionate about. The reality is that most people who have completed acting courses won’t have the luxury of choice, and of turning down stage roles for screen roles or vice versa. It’s a tough world and, as a new graduate from acting school, you will need to embrace all opportunities. That means cultivating the versatility to perform both on stage and in front of the camera. To do this, all actors need a thorough grasp of how different stage and screen acting are.

Successful actors choose their acting training carefully, plan their careers and capitalise on their strengths. It has been traditional in the UK for actors to learn their craft with acting training geared to stage performance. That’s no longer always essential. For example, a new trend is standup comedians crossing over into stage and screen acting (think of Ricky Gervais, Eddie Izzard and Matt Lucas). What is vital is for you to appreciate where your talents lie, and to assess which medium ultimately offers you the best opportunity to shine.

Physicality

The key difference between stage and screen acting is the way in which meaning is expressed and conveyed. The stage play relies strongly on language and verbal delivery. First, that means that the stage actor needs a voice that can be heard in a large auditorium. Second, in stage work the voice is central to expressiveness and communicating emotion. Third, timing of delivery, and using the voice to create and sustain dramatic tension, are crucial, since they can’t be tweaked in the editing suite.

Movies create meaning very differently. Montage – essentially the juxtapositioning of shots – is central. A character has received terrible news. Film can convey his or her reaction in several ways, suitably tuned to the narrative: by cutting to a stormy sky; a flashback to a car crash; a close-up of a dropped phone dangling. In a play, it is voice and physical movement that you must rely on for conveying emotion.

Gesture, movement and physicality are also vital on stage. Whereas tiny gestures can be magnified in close-up film shots, as a stage actor you will use your body very differently. You will need to communicate a physical energy and develop a ’stage presence’. The film close-up permits subtleties of facial expression and movement that don’t work on the stage.

Camera work and editing achieve effects that the stage actor must create largely by using the body. In film, props and settings are also used extensively to convey meaning and atmosphere. As a stage actor, the onus is on you to do that work.

The Experience of Stage and Screen

As a theatre actor you may find yourself, quite literally, centre stage: significantly in control and in receipt of constant feedback from audiences. In moviemaking, the director’s whim is paramount and editing powerfully shapes the product that (eventually) appears.

Temperamentally, you may discover that you are best suited to performing in one medium or another. You may realise that you are one of the many actors who struggle with the lack of continuity associated with shooting isolated scenes, the process of endless retakes and the absence of audience reaction. Three months on location in Borneo might not be your cup of tea either.

Whatever your preference, the ability to cross over and perform on stage as well as film and TV has clear career benefits. Variety can be the spice of life and mastering the different skills needed can help add texture and depth to your performances.

Method Acting: Bridging Media

Acting for stage and screen demands different acting styles and appreciating that fact should be a consideration for you when you are starting out in acting training and deciding which acting courses to take. Method acting gives actors a firm foundation for work in any medium. Creative expressiveness underlies good performances both on stage and before the camera, even though you will use different devices and strategies to convey it. For stage work, method acting will help you to create the emotional depth and intensity that stage performance demands. In film acting, it will help you to get into character on cue – no mean feat.

Because the stage demands a particular style of acting, some theatre-trained actors find making the transition to the screen difficult. Method acting will help you to bring a naturalism and authenticity to every one of your performances, regardless of whether it is for stage or screen.

As well as honing your ability, a spread of acting courses will illuminate the avenues that you can pursue as an actor and the skills you need to get work in different media. This insight you gain into the world of acting, along with self-knowledge, may lead you in directions other than those you initially planned to follow. Appreciating the different media, and the demands of each, will help you extend your range, depth and versatility as an actor.

Basically, internal means from the inside. External means from the outside. Stimulation means an act that encourages a given response. Simulation means an act that imitates the appearance of a given response.

Now, let’s look at these concepts more closely to see how they apply to acting and acting methods.

The external is all about surfaces. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – the external is a given and a necessity for the actor. An actor showing up for a casting call, for example, automatically brings their external, visible selves. Strangers on the street are seen externally for the most part. It’ll take some kind of stimulation – an accident, a tantrum, a fight – to make the internal come out. Method acting aims for stimulating the internal to come out also.

With external acting, what you get is voice inflections, mannerisms, sad/happy faces, presence if the actor is charismatic enough, and other tools of projection. Don’t get me wrong – all these things are important for an actor. But not at the expense of the internal, the emotional truth from within. The external craft is there to support the internal characterization. They are not intended to cover up for – ‘simulate’ – something real. All good drama schools and acting classes know this.

By internal, we may think of the inside as opposed to the outside of a book. The outside is the cover, right? Usually it is an illustrative surface that covers the content. Take that analogy a little further and you get an act that ‘covers’ for something that may or may not be there.

Great acting is about tapping into internal resources, which we all have, and using it to the fullest. Acting from inside leads to believable characters simply because the emotions are real. That shows – how could it not? Humans are very good at spotting emotional truth – they can be fooled, but only when they allow themselves to be.

The most moving performances, the ones that really touch you, involve actors who bring themselves – their emotions, their experiences, their physicality – to the role.

Method acting stimulates the process by insisting on truthfulness from every angle.

Simulation in acting is a sham, a pretense, a shortcut that will only lead to mediocre performances at best. Stimulation, on the other hand, comes with hard work and years of great acting lessons to perfect. The approach of method acting classes turns out to be one of the most, if not the most, successful approaches for insisting on internally-driven acting brought to the outside. (Marlon Brandon, Harvey Keitel, Denzel Washington, Ellyn Burstyn, Al Pacino, Sean Penn – the list goes on and on – were trained in The Method.)

When it comes to solid method acting classes in London, I am renowned for providing top level instruction. By stimulating your inner tools, not simulating them.