Expert: Taylor Sheppard - 7/15/2007

Question
HI, I AM 57 YRS. OLD, HAVE BEEN A BACKGROUND ACTOR (MOVIES/TV), FOR 3 1/2 YRS. & FOR THE PAST 4 WEEKS HAVE BEEN TAKING BASIC MEISNER TECHNIQUE ACTING CLASSES AT H B STUDIOS ( IN N.Y.C.)....... DID I TAKE THE RIGHT FIRST STEPS TOWARD PURSUING AN ACTING CAREER? SHOULD I FINISH THIS CLASS & THEN SIGN UP FOR MORE ADVANCED CLASSES? I NEED AN EXPERT TO TELL ME IF I AM ON THE RIGHT ROAD... I DON'T WANT TO GO LEFT  IF I SHOULD BE GOING RIGHT, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.. I DESPERATELY WANT TO TAKE THE RIGHT STEPS...........  I JUST NEED TO BE POINTED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION & THEN I'LL FEEL MORE REASSURED & TAKE THE NECESSARY STEPS FROM THERE.... I'VE ALWAYS HAD A STRONG PASSION FOR THE ACTING FIELD SINCE I WAS 6 & NOW THAT I'M RETIRED I'VE DECIDED TO PURSUE MY DREAM BUT I DON'T WANT TO GO DOWN WHEN I SHOULD BE GOING UPPPPPPPPPP... PLEASE HELP PUT ME ON THE RIGHT ROAD........... THANKS ALOT.

Answer
Hi Vinny,

I would say you are definitely on the right track!
I just finished reading Meisner On Acting this spring and was blown away with it. I can't forget the chapter where he asked a student if he was getting it, and when he said no, Meisner telling him he was dismissed! But that's how brutal it can be. I auditioned for a music video recently, and luckily, the director was a former student of Sanford Meisner's...great to chat with.
I can think of no better training (if you pay attention) than being an extra. You get to watch the actors rehearsals, watch the crew, listen to the direction by the director, etc. Many people find the waiting and repetition to be not what they thought and they quit. I learned that the people who crowded up to the front of the crowd to be picked in a scene, were generally placed in the back of the area when picked, because they could do less damage that way. Basically, that they were hams and would try to get their faces on camera. I would stay way back and read a book while in the holding area, that way, on day three, when they had used everyone for the 3 day shoot, they would suddenly need someone who had not been seen, and they would put me directly next to the lead actor! Time and time again, that happened! Often, I would get upgraded to featured extra pay. Now, I had the problem after a while, that my agent had to tell me to stop doing extra roles because the casting directors who used to do extras casting where now major casting directors and she was afraid that they would know me as only a background "artist" and would not think of me as serious. (???) True, though.
I would take classes specifically for camera because there are techniques that you need to know and practice to get to be natural looking while still acting naturally. How to do cheats, how to move objects (picking up a phone, for instance) and a lot of other good info.
Improv classes help your acting and audition skills, as well as workshops for auditions, where you meet actual casting directors and hear them say what they like, and more importantly, what they dislike! While taking a class with a casting director MIGHT get you known in a good way (but not a guarantee of work whatsoever) it can also work against you if you do badly, so take plenty of acting classes beforehand.

Let me know how you are doing...

Break a leg!
Taylor