Actors, high steel workers and surgeons all need to clear their minds to do their work. 

When they begin work they go into made up time and space. They become the brain, the steel ...

Understanding requires participation.

Practice first and then your brain will catch up with the idea. The idea serves the practice.

When a scene goes well try not to remember what you did, just keep …

Riding a horse at full gallop you’re wont to cry out, ‘Yahoo! Whoopee!’.

As in: 'I landed a big role in a big movie. It’s amazing. I'm amazing.’.

That’s euphoria. Where you can believe, 'This is my life forever' and it can only lead one …

Arguing and discussing are two different things.

If you’re rehearsing a play, practicing in class, or blocking a scene, why are you arguing?

You have a right to give your view, as long as it moves the discussion forward, or develops …

The facts of your acting life make up The List.

When you feel down learn to refer to it.

What could be on the list? 

Well, you exercise, try to eat well, you have an agent, you audition, you act in plays, movies, TV series …

Human beings always look to the future.

On a practical note you have the future to consider every time you play a scene or go to an audition. Part of your preparation will be seeing yourself at the end of the work. How will the audition go? How will …

The late excellent acting teacher, Arif Hasnain, called passing on knowledge ‘The rubbing of shoulders’.

The phrase is sometimes used in the context of mingling with the rich, but that’s not what Arif meant. He didn’t care for the rich. 

People who know something well teach it to those ...

It’s easy to get overwhelmed. 

As the world gets more and more chaotic, so does the movie industry. More competitive, faster, lower pay, harsher and tougher.

You have goals and want to improve, dream in colour, work hard, push …

As an actor you need skin as thin as glass in front of the camera and thick as leather in the movie business. 

Finding an opposite can help you see what the thing is and what it isn’t.

Asking questions allows an answer which in turn allows the opposite …

That’s a terrible place for you to be working. 

One half of your mind going one way, and the other half going the other. Causes a disconnect.

Why?

There could be lots of reasons. Perhaps you think the movie’s content is …

What are your expectations take after take?

Shooting a television series is done quickly over long hours, and if you’re a regular it’ll be all you can do to remember your lines.

Those are the conditions.

Within those conditions you’ll ...

It’s odd to think that you have to fend for yourself, especially when all the work you do is done collectively.

This can create a disconnect and will leave you with another problem to consider.

But it’s the way society functions - people living and working socially, yet fending for …

Let’s begin with Stanislavski’s quote: ‘Unconscious creativity through conscious technique’.

To have this brief entry on consciousness is to potentially underestimate the importance of the idea. 

The point is to highlight consciousness and what it means to you. Stanislavski’s quote raises two aspects to it.

The practical and objective work in analyzing scripts and preparing your ...

When you’re in an elevator with other people breathe fully.

It will make a sound.

That’s why people often hold their breath in an elevator. Breathing fully while in an elevator is one of many opportunities for you to practice your acting in public.

You can be good in a bad movie.

Set the bar high for yourself and fight to keep it there.

You may think parts of the production are of low quality but there is no need for you to lower the level of your work.

You don’t ...

In the movie business you, as an actor, don’t have authority.

The authority comes from the producers. ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune.’

How do you keep your quality, dignity, and high level of excellence? 

There are very few movie stars who can dictate what a movie is about and how it is made. The production companies even control the ...