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The Great Acting Blog: “Creative Capacity”

11.07.2013 , The Great Acting Blog , 0 Comments

I used to hold the egalitarian view that everyone had more or less the same capacity for creativity. This was based on the idea that creativity stems from the imagination and everyone has an imagination. I believed that some people simply chose to pay more...

The Great Acting Blog: “In Movies, Not In Front Of Them”

10.07.2013 , The Great Acting Blog , 0 Comments

I am always dumbfounded whenever I come across an actor who has failed to prepare properly for a scene. It's astonishing because it denotes a lack of interest in the project at hand and in acting generally. What else are we to conclude when you...

The Great Acting Blog: “Being Adaptable”

09.07.2013 , The Great Acting Blog , 22 Comments

One of the key lessons learned while making Noirish Project has been adaptability, adjusting our plan to deal with the actual situation in front of us. This was especially true of locations, where very often the actual location used was very different to what was in...

The Great Acting Blog: “True Dedication Not A Fraudulent Pose”

08.07.2013 , The Great Acting Blog , 0 Comments

True dedication is about being properly focussed on the work as oppose to merely shrugging. It's respecting the craft and the effort of your colleagues. True dedication springs from love. Pretenders love nothing but themselves and are dedicated only to their need to have. Part...

The Great Acting: “A Positive Struggle”

06.07.2013 , The Great Acting Blog , 34 Comments

"A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials." - Seneca Actors face rejection all the time, it's par for the course. This is well documented. It requires a combative spirit to be an actor, a spirit which, frankly, most people don't...

The Great Acting Blog: “What’s The Story?”

06.07.2013 , The Great Acting Blog , 0 Comments

We don't like talking about ourselves because we're not satisfied with our accomplishments and we're afraid of what we think of ourselves. This is especially true when we hear that hideous question; "so, are you working at the moment?" We are acutely aware of the enormity...

The Great Acting Blog: “Extraordinary Is Easier Than Mediocre”

05.07.2013 , The Great Acting Blog , 0 Comments

Most actors don't believe they are or can be great actors. Certainly few possess the drive and creative ambition of, say, an Al Pacino or a Laurence Olivier. Most actors think such an aim is preposterous. In consequence, they accept themselves as mediocre, happy just...

The Great Acting Blog: “Concentrate On Now”

04.07.2013 , The Great Acting Blog , 0 Comments

The life of an actor can be full of stress and pressure. So much of it seems to be out of our control. Things don't move fast enough, we're not where we want to be in our career, we haven't accomplished the things within the timeframe...

The Great Acting Blog: “Be An Explorer”

03.07.2013 , The Great Acting Blog , 22 Comments

A few years back, I wrote and produced a short film. It wasn't a conventional film, it was art house, minimal, exploring the minutiae of human behaviour and while we were making it I took a lot of flak from cast and crew. They didn't...

The Great Acting Blog: “David Mamet Directs”

02.07.2013 , The Great Acting Blog , 0 Comments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQiGspS6rVg I stumbled upon this old, 1980 Creative Arts Television production about David Mamet rehearsing two of his plays, Dark Pony and Reunion, at The Circle Repertory Theatre in New York City. It's like drama school in 30 minutes, not to mention fascinating in it's own...