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
Expert: Arlene Schulman Date: 9/24/2007 Subject: After High School
Question I live in Iowa City Iowa, and I have always wanted to be an actor in movies, but the problem is that I haven't taken acting classes, but I've had expericence in a couple plays when I was in a leading role. Do I still have a chance in acting, even though I haven't done any acting classes?
Answer Hi Devon,
The simple answer is no, you don't have much of a chance in professional film acting if you haven't studied acting.
If you want to be a professional actor, and since movies are, with the exception of student films, professional productions, then you have to study to learn the skills and techniques that a professional needs to do their job.
You wouldn't go into an operating room and expect to do surgery without going to med school, or walk into a courtroom and expect to try a case without going to law school. You wouldn't even hire a plumber or electrician who never studied how to perform those jobs. So why would you think that anyone would hire you if you never learned how to act. Professional productions - movies or on stage, are expectionally expensive to produce - thousands, even millions of dollars are involved and at risk. Why would a producer take a chance with all that money on an untrained, inexperienced actor when there are so many well-trained, experienced actors out there looking for work.
Acting may look easy, but it is one of the hardest things to do well, and being a professional actor is one of the most difficult and competitive professions there is. There are thousands of actors competing for every role being cast, and only those will exceptional talent and good training will even stand a chance of being cast in professional, paying, productions.
Sure, natural talent is important. And if you have exceptional natural talent you may think you don't need training. But most often that is a big mistake. Having talent is not the same thing as knowing what to do with it. A child may have natural artistic ability, but they need to learn how to use color and light, mix paints, use perspective and alot more before they can paint pictures that will sell and be considered art. Just the same, a young person may have natural theatrical ability, but they have to learn how to use that talent, learn skills and techniques such as voice, movement, script analysis, character development, scene study, listening and reacting, taking direction, rehearsal techniques, audition techniques, the business of acting, the moment before, acting for the camera, and much, much more. Some of this can be learned by experience, but that takes years (usually of non-professional, unpaid work) and it's unlikely that you will get much, if any, professional work without understanding "how" to act and how to act professionally.
That said, it's certainly not too late to begin studying and taking classes. Most professional actors study in a university theatre training program and get a BA in theatre. Some then go on to grad school to get an MFA in acting. There are many places you can get actor training. If University training is not what you want, there are acting schools all over the country.
If you want to be a professional, Devon, then you have to train to be one. Sure, kids occasionally get cast in movies. But most of those are kids who have family in the business and who have been training since they were very small. They may not have gone to college yet, but they know what they are doing. And as for adult acting, as an actor you will be competing with the best for movie roles. Why not take the time and commitment to make yourself one of those best and train your talent so that it is as good as it can be.
