Expert: Kenneth D. Plonkey - 7/13/2008

Question
Dear Dr Plonkey,
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to help me.  I am hoping to become an actor.  I'm sorry for being probably the millionth time you've had to answer a question about that.  
I'm 26 years old.  I live in an extremely small town and my school never had any kind of theatre program, so I'm basically starting from the beginning.
I have been searching the internet looking for where would be the best place to start training.  Mostly my searching has done nothing but make me frustrated, but one school that keeps coming up was the New York Film Academy.  I've heard opinions both ways on this school ranging from people who love it to people who say the school is a fraud and nothing more than a "community college" of acting that will do nothing to help anyone break into film acting.  Could you please clear up if this school is at all respected as a good acting school?  And if not could you please give me some other option to help me get started on a career?
I don't want to take too much time explaining to you why I want to become an actor, but I will say I am very passionate about the idea and am willing to work as hard as I have to in order to make it happen.
Any advise you have would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you again
Chris Weber

Answer
Hi Chris, I am happy to answer your questions, that is what I do, advise aspiring actors. I have heard nothing good about NYFA except at their own web sites. They are very overpriced. That and having to live in NYC makes it a terrible choice. A better option would be to move to Atlanta where there is a lot of theatre and film activity, good acting studios and an opportunity to become established as an actor without the stress of NYC or LA. Since you are just beginning let me make a point about that. Most people think and even 'experts' say that the first thing to do is to go to acting school.  I could not disagree more.  The first thing to do is to ascertain if you have any acting talent.  That is not done at acting schools where they have to have your tuition to stay in business. Rather, it is done by participation in community theatre plays, which generally cost nothing but your time and dedication. So you need to live where you have easy access to community theatres. Then you try out for several plays and see what sort of roles you get and what kind of feedback you get on your performances.  If both are positive, it will be time to think about an acting class. YOu do not learn to act in acting classes, you must be born with the ability to act. Acting classes give you things to use in your acting,but you must learn to act on your own.  For more information and answers to your questions write me at kencosp@aol.com  Best wishes, Doc