You do have to have it to work in American movies.

Years ago, in acting class, the actor/director Adam McDonald came up

There’s a term.

You have an audition for a part in a series. The trope of the series is that there are living people and dead people who can communicate with the living people. 

There is a set of leading roles all …

The actor asks, ‘How do you play drunk?’

Good question.

‘The old rule is not to act drunk, but to try and do what you’re doing,’ I said. ‘How about you first really go overboard and do a drunk guy walking.’

He did and looked like …

What can be done in the minimum?

The painter, David Hockney in the Louisiana Chanel video, I am a space freak, tells of the time he spent looking at the Grand Canyon before …

Why do we coach and teach actors?

Is it for quantity or quality?

I have had the objective for many …

If you’re attacking a problem and can’t budge it would you try just leaving it.

Giving it time.

‘Sleep on it.’ That’s what …

If you’re working and your brain jams - take a break.

Learn when to stop.

And find mechanisms that can relax you quickly if you’re on set shooting. Or in …

At The National Theatre School of Canada around 1970, the director John Hirsch made a speech to the students.

In his speech, talking about the shaping and pacing of a play and the actor’s role in that, he used the analogy of a balloon.

He said one had to be aware of …

When you’re shooting a scene be careful not to pick an activity that is difficult to sustain.

It might seem authentic, creative or cool at first, but after hours of repetition it might prove unsupportable.

Eating lots in a dinner scene. Continuous coughing. Twitching your eye. Screaming. These have to be thought out and well …

Often what the coach or director is telling you is a reminder.

You already know it but need to be reminded.

It’s good if you want and like to be reminded.

I was acting in a film one time with Eva Marie Saint and Jerry Orbach and when Eva’s close-up came, she …

It’s a bit like how many fairies on a pin head.

Much debated by actors in bars.

There is no one answer to the question, but even if there was - what good would that do you?

Treat each situation …

Michael Caine is a wonderful actor.

And he was a movie star.

The 1987 Michael Caine on Acting in Film video is interesting to watch.

I took two tips from his video …

The actor in class is a nice Ontario boy, but he’s playing a character who’s a man.

There’s a difference between a boy and a man. Between a girl and a woman. As an actor you need to know if your character is behaving like one or the other.

Both are useful.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the manager …

Some words are written to be read and some words are written to be said.

When we say, ‘Let’s read the scene.’ we mean, let’s speak it - let’s play it.

Text is written in words and you can get diverted when asked to read by …

That’s what they say in court when the judge enters.

Well, they do on TV.

You might, like many actors, ask what you can do to be a better actor when you’re not filming or in class.

Observing. That’s something.

Go to a …

The young actor asks the master coach if she has a trick that will make him a better Shakespeare actor.

She’s horrified. And rightly so.

‘No trick will make you a good actor. Only hard work will.’, she responds. Our young actor …

Does counting the number of words in your line and the number in the other character’s line help you learn the scene?

Part of the form of the scene.

Supporting the content.

Often the two lines are equal. Rhythmic …

There are as many levels of argument as there are human situations. Here are three common ones.

Passive-aggressive.

This common low-level argument form is frequent in relationship and sentimental …

Try and present your work.

A common trait today, once someone has achieved a certain position of power, is to learn how to hold on to it. That can include kicking down the ladder anyone trying to come up and sucking up to those above.

If you get desperate you may find yourself trying to …

Use this as a ‘like or as if’ when needed.

Playing to the lens in a commercial extolling a product the question can come up ‘Who am I talking to?’. Picking a real person you know, love and trust can assist you to make …