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About Arlene Schulman
Expertise
As a professional director, dramaturg, acting coach and actor for over 25 years in the NYC/NJ area, I can help with questions on acting technique, character development, audition and rehearsal techniques, dealing with directors and stage managers, what directors are looking for, and other aspects of the acting and directing professions.
Experience
A professional director, dramaturg, acting coach and actor for over 25 years in the NYC/NJ area, I have directed in professional, university and amateur theatre and have directed and acted in dramas, comedies, musicals, Shakespeare as well as collaborating closely with playwrights in the development of original plays and musicals.
Organizations
SSDC associate member
Advisory Board - Isle of Shoals Productions
Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of America associate member
Shakespeare Association of America
The Shakespesare Institute -
MA "Shakespeare & Theatre" candidate, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
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You are here: Experts > Movies > Actors' Exchange > Actors` Exchange > Emotions and the actor
Expert: Arlene Schulman
Date: 9/5/2007
Subject: Emotions and the actor
Question
Hi Arlene
I'm 22 and acting is a full time obsession for me. I've trained at different schools(not very long and never finished). I have also had probably over 100 auditions in my life and only managed to get 3 little parts. I've learned about different methods and basically my biggest set back is ME. The only thing I know through all of this is my emotions. These things I feel can be so overwhelming sometimes that I wouldn't know what else to do with them but to perform. It's been such an amazing experience for me to be able to be open and totally okay to let go and be free with my emotions. I look at how I deal with my feelings and to me there is no other way you can train that kind of emotion. When you can bring out a raw and natural performance that is coming from a deep place, and wanting to take that and share it with other people. So what scares me is now that it's been 8 years and I'm still doing the same thing am I being stubborn in thinking I don't need to train because I got it or do I have the real deal and I just need to practice and get over myself. Should I train and if so where do you begin to get someone to change their views. Just to let you know this is coming from a place of fear that maybe I'm doing this all wrong, any advice would help. Thanks so much for reading. Leanne
Answer
Hi Leanne,
My apologies for not getting back to you sooner...
Believe it or not, your statistics - 3 roles our of 100 auditions - is not really uncommon. There are thousands of actors for every role in the professional world, and most professional actors can do over a hundred auditions in a single month and they are lucky if they are cast in one. A professional acting career is one of the most difficult there is, and most good professional actors continue to train all their lives in one form or other. I know exceptionally talented, well-trained, experienced actors who have been doing this for 10 years or more and have averages not much better than yours.
You say yo've "trained" at different schools "not very long and never finished." It is entirely possible that your lack of training is part of your problem. A few classes here and there, or a few classes at one place and a few at another is not going to accomplish the kind of intensive training that a professional actor needs to learn not only to access her emotions, but also to control them and make them into a tool that you can use to develop multi-level characters with depth, intensity, but also with consistency and directability.
I know how difficult it can be for many people to be able to become emotionally open on stage, and it's wonderful that you've been able to achieve that. Bringing out "a raw and natural performance" is fine for many performances. But that alone is not going to get you roles. You need to learn how to control those emotions, to make them do what YOU want, to listen and be adaptable and flexible to a director's vision, and, most of all, to be appropriate not to YOUR own emotional state, but to that of the character. Raw emotions out of control are not acting. Think of it this way - raw emotion and raw talent are like a wild stallion. They are strong and beautiful and passionate and awesome. But, in and of themselves they are useless to us. It is only when they learn to control all that strength and beauty and passion, when they learn how to use them in ways that accomplish useful work that they help create great things. Likewise, it is only when an actor learns to control those emotions, find just the right ones for each particular character and scene and moment, when they are able to take direction, be flexible, use their emotion for the good of the play, not for their own satisfaction, that they begin to understand what acting is all about.
Accessing and controling emotions are only a small part of what an actor needs to learn to be able to function and compete in the professional world. There are so many other things - like developing a character, script analysis, voice, movement, listening and reacting, the moment before, taking direction, audition techniques, rehearsal techniques, the business of acting and much, much more. Which is why most professional actors today study at full university theatre training programs and even go on to get their MFA in acting.
Even if you are going to study at an acting school outside a college, it pays to follow through with your studies to gradually begin to build up your skills and techniques that will allow you to learn more than just to access your emotions. A good training program, taken over time will give you the tools to do that.
You ask where do you begin to get someone to change their views. What do you mean by this? You can't go into a training program expecting to change the views of the program. If you expect to do that, why would you even take the program? If you choose a program then you have to go into it with an open mind, to give it a chance to work for you. If you are talking about yourself, you are approaching this the wrong way. A training program doesn't expect to change your views. Its purpose is to teach you skills and techniques that can help you perform as a professonal actor.
Leanne, if you are still doing the same thing - in that you are still making the same mistakes and not moving ahead - then it sounds to me as though you either need training or should try some other field and try doing your acting as a hobby rather than as a profession. If by still doing the same thing you mean you are still auditioning and only getting the occasional role, well, that's what actors do... all their lives. If that is not for you, then it's time to try another career. If you are willing to commit yourself to getting real training, to having the perseverence, determination, passion and persistence to continue auditioning and working at your craft, then perhaps you might have a chance to make a career as an actor.
Best,
Arlene (MsDirector)
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