The Right to Act

Interview with Paul Kampf, Founder and Acting Teacher – PAI Training – Part 2

breadlineproductions — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:25:42 +0000

As we enter 2012, PAI Training and Breadline Productions continue to grow. I thought this might be a good time to rewind and share Paul’s story about moving from theater in Chicago to film and theater in LA, and how his unique approach to teaching acting sets him apart from the myriad of other acting teachers in LA. What follows is part 2 of a two-part interview that I, the Director of Social Media (DSM), did with Paul Kampf.

DSM: Speaking of acting student success, you have quite a choir of praise for your work from current and past students.

Paul: I am very grateful for the comments and word of mouth that continues to grow. The most important thing is the impact on those you work with. I’ve seen actors careers launch, rekindle or grow in ways that they didn’t expect. That is the most satisfying part of teaching.

DSM: You work with actors ranging from well-known to just starting out. Is your approach different?

Paul: The approach, essentially, is very much the same. I focus on each actor’s instrument. It’s so crucial to know the notes the actor can plan and if the actor knows how to play those notes. Award winning actors have a different instrument, developed and honed over years of work. I put my focus on the notes and triggers that are in their blind spot, as I do with talented, soon to be known actors.

DSM: It sounds more like a music lesson than an acting class. How is your work different than all the other teachers out there?

Paul: I do think of acting like a music lesson or a sporting activity. Each requires the participant to know HOW their instrument works, WHAT needs to be done to gain control of those assets, and WHERE to work to expand the notes or build the muscles necessary for success.

DSM: Where did your approach come from? Do you come out of a specific ‘School’ of acting or method?

Paul: Hmm… I would say that my approach comes from two different sources: My own experiences as an actor and my desire to find a personalized approach to inspire the actor to teach himself. I started out deeply in Meisner Training while an undergraduate. During that time I also studied Stanislavski’s system (well, as much as you can through American translation). By the time I was in Graduate School I was immersed in all theories and approaches from Artaud to Michael Chekhov.

At that time I really started finding the power in the imagination, the image, and connection to the body. I came to the conclusion that an actor’s whole life should be focused on cultivating a tremendous imagination. He then has to be able to imagine and feel. Imagine and feel. If the bridge is there, anything is possible. So, I started a personal journey to develop techniques, exercises, and processes that allow the actor to achieve the above.

DSM: So, you have your own system?

Paul: Ughhh… I shutter at that thought since ‘The System’ has so many connotations. I will say that I have developed an approach that builds the actor’s instrument no matter the approach he or she follows. If the instrument is in tune, Meisner, Adler, Hagen, Boleslavsky, or anyone’s approach will serve the actor well. But if you believe in digging into the actor’s personal, painful, conscious life experiences, you won’t find my approach effective. I teach ‘what could be’ for the character, not ‘what was’ for the actor.

DSM: How does an actor reading this interview, or going through your website get a chance to consider working with you?

Paul: I will tell you up front that I’m a little different in that way as well. If an actor is interested in potentially working with me, they should send an email. We then set up a meeting over a cup of coffee and I talk. I listen. I ask questions. I answer questions.

An actor spending $1.00 on training has to believe he will get a minimum of $1.01 back. By sitting down and talking we each get a clear sense of the other. It’s a personal relationship and if it doesn’t feel right, then why would you go forward?

If it feels mutually right, then I will suggest the actor take a one on one intensive with me for 4-weeks to prep him with the basis of my approach. From there, they step into an Ongoing Master Class.

At times, actors have stepped right into a class, but I don’t want anyone not to have the base tools that I teach. I do cover/review them in class from time to time, but it’s not the focus of the Master Classes.

DSM: What is the actor’s commitment to your classes? Do they have a short-term contract?

Paul: I know a lot of places do that, or they have your credit card on file for automatic charge. I don’t do this. An actor’s commitment to class is month to month. If the work, their growth and the atmosphere aren’t giving more than they are paying, they shouldn’t come back next month. Incidentally, I’ve never had one-month actors.

To find out more about Paul Kampf’s Master acting classes, check out the website for PAI Training, or email him at asst@breadlineproductions.com – PART 1 of interview with Paul Kampf, LA Acting teacher

Interview with Paul Kampf, Founder and Acting Teacher – PAI Training – Part 1

breadlineproductions — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:01:49 +0000

As we enter 2012, PAI Training and Breadline Productions continue to grow. I thought this might be a good time to rewind and share Paul’s story about moving from theater in Chicago to film and theater in LA, and how his unique approach to teaching acting sets him apart from the myriad of other acting teachers in LA. What follows is a two-part interview that I, the Director of Social Media (DSM), did with Paul Kampf.

DSM: What brought you out to LA?

Paul: I came out to LA from Chicago after I directed a feature film (Brothers Three). I had a theater company, Breadline Theatre Group that focused on world premiere theater. After fifteen years it was the time to transition.

DSM: How did you get into teaching in LA? There are a hundred plus teachers/programs. Why teach when you’re writing/directing?

Paul: For the first time in years I wasn’t in my theater working with actors on a daily basis. I was going from where I was staying to the editing room and back each night. I really longed for the connection to actors, so I was asked to come in as a guest teacher at a well-known training program. I co-taught with someone for a few short term Master Classes.

DSM: What did you think of the classes?

Paul: Well…to be honest, I didn’t think the focus of the teaching was on the student, nor did I feel the program had the interest of the student at heart. I was working with ‘Master Level’ students who had been training in the program for years. I didn’t see a lot of human truth in the majority of the work. I was disappointed for the students.

DSM: What do you mean by ‘Human Truth?’

Paul: Human truth is the actor’s job. It gives an audience the opportunity to go on the emotional ride with the actor because the actor is going on that ride as well. Most of the work I saw was controlled and “presented.” Choices were made, intellectually, but I didn’t see the work IN the actor. We were working on camera so there was nowhere to hide.

DSM: So you left teaching there?

Paul: Initially there was a desire by the student base for me to stay and teach a Master Class. I thought it was a good situation, but when I saw the fees the actors were being charged to take the class, I couldn’t go forward with the classes and canceled. Regardless of the fact that I would be paid a small portion of the fee, which was strange, I couldn’t feel good about actor’s paying so much for a class. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not undervaluing my work or the value of the techniques I teach, but half an actor’s rent for a 4-week class isn’t going to benefit the actor.

DSM: So, you left and started your own school?

Paul: I did leave, yes, but was busy with other projects that I was writing/directing. But soon after I got a lot of calls and emails from some of those students in the Master Class asking me if I would do private auditing coaching, or any short-term teaching. So, I worked with a handful of people one-on-one and then I established one Master Class per week. Then word of mouth seemed to spread and it became two, then three, etc.

DSM: So you have many ongoing classes now?

Paul: No, I have kept the class sizes smaller so everyone works…really works each week. I have two Master Classes now and do specialized Intensives (Audition, Technique, 4-week Intensives, etc).

I have private students and private audition coaching as well, so I want to keep my schedule comfortable so students get my attention and focus. I have been in too many classes myself where the teacher isn’t really there mentally. They are physically there but more consumed with eating or checking email and you’re left wondering why you’re really there.

DSM: You seem to be active on many sides of filmmaking, that is, many projects and roles in different productions. How does that work with your teaching?

Paul: I honestly think it all works together. Anyone who has been out in LA for any length of time knows that there is no sitting and waiting. If you believe in your craft you DO. I come from a deep belief in ensemble and the power of people working together.
I bring that approach into my teaching as well. If you don’t apply what you teach, how can you offer real support/inspiration to those working with you?

I put this into action with a small feature film, ‘From Grace.’ I wrote it for one of my acting classes and six months later we were filming it. It was a truly blessed experience for all. I made two shorts as well with great actors from my classes.

DSM: Was this a unique situation or will you do more down the line.

Paul: Yes and Yes. It was a unique situation, considering that the talent and dedication made up for the lack of time & money. In 2012, I plan on expanding by adding PAI’s Lab. The Lab will be a three month program where selected actors from the Master Class(es) will move into the Lab and work on high quality, short films. I will invite outside writers/directors to lead these projects. This way class fees will cover training and practical application.

Right now, I am currently in pre-production on a feature that I am producing. A very talented acting student of mine wrote the film and I got involved to develop the script and put the project together. Now, we’re prepping for casting. She will be playing one of the leads.

DSM: That seems ambitious. Will producing work like this take away from your training?

Paul: Yes, it is ambitious. But there needs to be a place for actors to apply their craft when they get in touch with their real talent. It will be part of the training. I plan on keeping my Master Classes manageable. The danger with any program (and many in LA have fallen prey to this) is that there is a desire to add as many students as will pay. Pretty soon the quality of the program and student success drops drastically. Without student success, I wouldn’t have built a program that I’m proud of and that provides accolades for the actors.

To find out more about Paul Kampf’s Master acting classes, check out the website for PAI Training, or email him at asst@breadlineproductions.com – Part 2 of the interview with Paul Kampf

Creating Your Own Opportunities to Act

breadlineproductions — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 08:57:28 +0000

And Finding Out Whom You Really are Along the Way

As the economy continues to impact every industry, it’s clear that the film and television industry is going through tremendous changes that directly impact what it now means to be an actor.

The old adage that hard work, talent and luck are the keys to an actor’s success needs to be amended with the addition of ‘creating your own opportunities.’ As the number of roles available continues to decline, those in the hiring process (producers, casting directors, and directors) are all under pressure to take fewer chances on unknown talent. Moreover, even if they’d like to do so, distribution requires a recognizable face over the best actor for the role.

There was a time when an actor with a few credits could get in on co-star television casting sessions without a tremendous amount of push. Now co-star roles are being filled with guest star-credited actors, and guest stars are being filled with what were formerly series regulars or leads. Independent film follows the same pattern of people working below their past credits or financial quotes.

So, how does an actor try to get opportunities in such a climate?

Create your own opportunities — opportunities that you believe in! Now this seems obvious, and it’s a concept that everyone talks about. However, I’m suggesting that you should be creating opportunities to express your talent, but without the sole focus on someone seeing your work and plucking you into the ever-shrinking system.

Just think about the number of small film projects that you’ve been involved with that weren’t focused on the actual end result of the project as a whole. Weren’t you praying for just one good minute of tape for your acting reel? It’s not much different than getting into a play where everyone on stage is there solely to get an agent’s attention.

Big breaks, like the lottery, can and do happen, yet the actor who finds the passion for the specific work will undoubtedly grow as an artist and find the depth of why they’ve chosen this profession in the first place. By working from a place of passion for a project, you’ll undoubtedly find like-minded individuals who share your creative lens. You’ll then find ways to do more projects – some larger, some smaller, but every project will inspire you to grow your talent.

You’ll be bringing a higher level of commitment to your craft through the discoveries you make about yourself along the way. You might be plucked out of your world and placed into a big opportunity, but regardless, you’ll learn more about yourself as an actor, artist, and human being by reaching for what you want and not waiting for someone to reach for you.

How Important is an Acting Coach?

breadlineproductions — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:22:45 +0000

There are just as many actors who feel that they don’t need an acting coach, as those who are slavishly dedicated to one. This is a subject that is not often discussed, but I think it’s essential to present my perspective on that relationship.

Even as a coach I would say that a coach isn’t the right fit for every actor. There is no replicated formula when you’re working intimately with any talent. Each actor brings his own set of personal and professional skills/issues. Yet, if I’m able to find the right language and connection to the person, the relationship can be glorious.

While sleuthing the script and exploring character choices with the actor, I’m also evaluating the actor’s ability within those potential choices. I must understand the actor’s current skills and limitations so I can aid in shaping an end result that presents the actor in the best possible light during the audition or shoot.

A simple parallel that I can draw is the Olympic figure skater that, along with her coach, chooses a routine that will be judged through a combination of risk and execution. The actor, like the skater, might have a grand idea of what choice would be perfect at a certain moment. However, the likelihood of failure, based on the skill of the performer must be taken into consideration when guiding the artist. Conversely, the coach might have a risky choice for the performer, but failure is almost certain because the coach isn’t in tune with the performer’s current skill set.

One of the worst things for an actor is to be pushed to play too far out of his current abilities. Yes, there is a chance that it will ‘hit’ in the room. However, if it fails in the room, the actor is the one left with that feeling of insecurity and self-doubt. From there forward that painful experience reverses the actor’s progress and creates more barriers to work through. The actor must feel that each audition draws from all his abilities and leaves the best impression on the room.

As a coach, I not only responsible to help shape each audition, I must push the actor’s talents in the right ways so that growth and confidence are part of each session. If the process is effective, the actor will notice my tone changing as we work together. Where I was once giving strong suggestions in multiple moments of a scene, I’m now exploring possibilities in the scene with the actor.

This is one of the most satisfying aspects of my work. When I’m helping an actor discover a potential instead of suggesting playable choices, I know that I’ve shifted closer to the director mind set. I also know, from multiple experiences, that the actor will soon see an elevated hit rate in his auditions. There is really no magical formula for this evolution. It is always made up of equal parts: confidence, personal risk, trust, and the willingness to treat each audition as just one more rehearsal.

If the actor and coach are a good fit, the coach should be able to read a scene and know where that actor’s strengths will come out and where that specific actor needs to be pushed. The actor should know the same and come into each session already working in the same directions.

When I’m in sync with the actor, I’m as important a team member as the actor’s agent or manager. If the fit is really right, I know that I will continue working with that actor throughout all of their agent/manager evolutions in the coming years.

LA Audition Workshop – How to Overcome Audition Obstacles

breadlineproductions — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:12:37 +0000

Two-Week Audition Intensive with Paul Kampf

(Audition Workshop registration information)

There are a lot of workshops that cover WHAT a Casting Director/Director is looking for in the room, but this intensive teaches you HOW to achieve those objectives.

The audition is the hardest part of the acting process. You must:

* Create the illusion of a living scene in the confines of a chair

* Reveal something unique about your take on the character

* Show the base of a final product with only a short amount of time to prepare

As a director, I look for the signals in an actor’s audition/approach that indicate his or her potential on set. In my work as a coach I teach a process that leads to dramatic results in the audition and in your callback/booking rate.

It is not just what you technically do in the reading, but also HOW to apply techniques on a daily basis that make those technical requirements instinctual to you.

The Five Audition Obstacles:

* Heightened emotion
* Numerous Characters with a single reader
* Explicit action in the scene description
* Multiple scenes meshed into one audition
* Characters entering and exiting

In this two week intensive, you will gain the essential tools to apply to any audition situation. The work will ignite your creativity and inspire you to risk your way to a dynamic audition.

This intensive is limited to 15 participants. All participants will be given multiple scenes to prepare. All work will be videotaped for each participant’s personal use.

DATES: Tuesday, July 19th & 26th
TIME: 7-10:30pm
LOCATION: McCadden Theater, Hollywood (1157 North McCadden)
PRICE: $100 (participant) – $50 (audit)
(Audition Workshop registration information)

Once you are registered, a PAYPAL invoice will be sent to you via email to hold your spot.

Award Winning Stage and Screen Actress Diane Venora on Paul’s teaching:

“His technique seems to be how the actor thinks, what he is feeling, sensitivity to his spirit, and loving. He has amazing discernment, wisdom and vision for his students. As a film and theatre director, he has the earned authority to suggest the best ways to act for camera which helps GET the actor the job. His actors book the job. That speaks for itself.

He is generous beyond what I have experienced in other teachers. He inspired me to go into an audition, as I had never experienced in my 32 years of working. He helped to eradicate my doubts and insecurities about auditioning again in one session.”

For more information about Paul and his unique approach, please visit: www.PAITraining.com

What Have You Sacrificed in the Pursuit of Your Acting Career?

breadlineproductions — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 11:12:21 +0000

When I first moved to Hollywood numerous people told me that endurance is the key to building a career out here. Through the years I’ve been in Los Angeles, I’ve personally experienced this reality, and speak of it to others as one’s willingness to sacrifice.

Sacrifice is very personal, of course, and just making the move to Los Angeles or New York is one of the biggest you’ll ever make. As time passes it’s understandable why people lose site of their goals along the way.

One of the best ways to refocus your intent is to do a simple exercise: Make a list. Include the friends and family members that have been negatively impacted by your career choice. Include the personal relationships that are no longer in your life. Include the job(s) you need to have to pay your rent, the lifestyle that you live, the property you own (or lack thereof), your credit score, and the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning.

Add all of these up and then subtract it from the joy you receiving when you act. Not the joy you get from getting paid, that will ebb and flow over time. But the actual joy you get from your craft. Are you in the positive? If not, what are you going to do about it?

As a teacher of acting at PAI, I’ve worked with over a hundred different actors in class or through private coaching, so I’ve been able to observe repeated patterns. Let me state that I don’t believe that talent is something that can be taught. It is innate to the individual. But craft is what is measurable. An actor’s craft is definitively impacted by the sacrifices made along the way.

So, I’m going to address the three main components of an actor’s growth: drive, discipline and sacrifice. The unique proportion is specific to everyone’s personal makeup and financial situation. However, sacrifice is the key component to pursue a career that is built on rejection. It increases personal drive and discipline exponentially.

Whether you have financial support, emotional support, both, or neither, there will be a time when you start experiencing real sacrifice in pursuit of your goals. This is the time when I see an actor’s work expand or plateau. I wish it wasn’t the case, of course, but personal sacrifices provide the drive and work ethic to engage an actor’s true focus. The insightful actor notices the positive results in his work from any personal difficulty and continues that same level of discipline even when circumstances get easier.

Wherever you happen to live on the spectrum of emotional and financial stability, the best thing you can do is sit down and honestly list on paper what you’ve sacrificed to pursue your dream, as I suggested above. The length of the list isn’t as important as re-encountering the sacrifices that you’ve made to get where you are today. Notice the drive you feel as you recount what was given up on your path to your passion.

If you do this, I can’t promise that your career will take a radical turn tomorrow, but I can assure you that you’ll find a drive, discipline and focus going forward equal to your list of sacrifices.

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Can Your Acting Really Improve in Less Than 30 Minutes a Day?

breadlineproductions — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:05:19 +0000

The Tree is the Root

By calling yourself an actor, you’ve already implied that you work disproportionately hard for the rewards you reap. However, it’s difficult to quantify how much effort is required to see tangible results since rehearsal is a very unique process for each of us.

Through my private coaching and ongoing classes, I’m constantly trying to reach the root of each actor’s personal process. The growth or stagnation I witness is always connected to the core of each actor’s process. If the tree is not strong, it’s always traced to the roots.

For me, risk is the most important ingredient in an actor’s true growth. Yet, it is so easy to convince oneself that we are being courageous in our rehearsal process when we’re in the comfort of our own home. The performing artist does not know the strength of his rehearsal process without the natural pressures of public exhibition.

The classroom is intended to be a place for process, but so many actors default to the demonstration of a final product and skip right over the actual discovery process. In a class, an actor can talk about his process to reach the result, but there is no way to gauge how much the discussion and the process really line up. In the end, a weak rehearsal process is only a disservice to the actor.

Over the last month, I have worked with a group of actors participating in a unique Rehearsal Lab. The Lab gave each actor a twenty-minute time slot to work on anything they chose in front of their colleagues. They could come in with a honed presentation or a brand new piece. Regardless, the actor had twenty solitary minutes to explore, tear apart and build from there. In this process there was no applause, notes, or response. It was a direct opportunity for each actor to test his own personal process and glean from the processes of other professionals.

With an audience observing their private rehearsal process, full commitment was required. Through commitment, discoveries were made. Through discoveries, great emotional and physical energy was expelled. It was in this naked observation that we learned the most about fellow actors and our own process because there is nowhere to hide, even from ourselves.

On every level, this Lab was extremely successful. Yet the most universal revelation for the group of participants was how much was gained from just twenty uninterrupted minutes of fully committed rehearsal.

We have all spent two or three hours considering ways in which we will work a piece, when a condensed amount of absolute commitment will yield far more. Fully committed time allows us to discover the real depth of the material. It teaches us that failure is the fertile soil of discoveries. Most importantly, it plants the roots of something that is real and not just resting on the surface of what we get away with on a daily basis.

So, the next time you pick up a piece of material, avoid hours of considering what you think it should be, and invest twenty-minutes truly discovering what it is.

Fail Today, Succeed Tomorrow

breadlineproductions — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:29:03 +0000

All actors hit walls in their work. It’s an inevitable reality in the evolution of your craft. However, only you can answer how much effort you’re really putting into your craft on a daily basis.

We do not often test our talent—really test our talent on a daily basis because the result might not lead to miraculous breakthroughs. It might only show small, incremental amounts of growth. Yet, you must embrace this reality, even more than your ability to memorize, network and get the perfect headshot.

The ‘10,000 hours’ timeframe to master any craft has been addressed well in books like The Tipping Point and The Talent Code. They show us that greatness doesn’t come from divine intervention it’s born from our conscious effort to reach towards greatness in our craft.

Each addresses the disciplined process required to move your talent from the conscious to the unconscious. They also address something that is a fundamental to my approach as a teacher of acting: the ATTEMPT at something just outside of our current skill set accelerates the mastering of that task through FAILURE.

Failure ignites our whole system to LEARN. We do it over and over until it becomes an instinct, and not a conscious attempt. The time we take to go through the uncomfortable failures not only builds our talent, but it defines each and every one of us in our work, and our lives.

So, the next time you feel stuck in your work, ask yourself this simple question:
What can you do today to risk and possibly fail?

Then go forward and risk something in your exercises or your scene work. If you find you’re not failing, then you’ve uncovered why you feel stuck in your acting growth:

It feels better to do something well today, than to fall short and do something great in the future.

Get your ego out of the way and fail. You’re ego will benefit from the risk tenfold moving forward.

One Moment at a Time

breadlineproductions — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:44:04 +0000

One of the most difficult skills to master is living one moment at a time without our mind wandering to the big moment later in the scene. Often times we sacrifice the small steps that lead to our truthful discoveries, for fear we’ll be unprepared for the big emotion ahead.

One of the best ways to train ourselves to slow down might actually require that we retrain ourselves outside of the scene. Today’s technology enables us to multi-task at lightning speed. It’s not uncommon to check email, text and listen to music all during a single conversation.

One of the biggest sacrifices we make is our ability to allow our attention to be on the words, actions and emotions of the person across from us. This dulls our capacity to listen at the deepest level. We’re able to divert ourselves when the conversation diminishes or the subject matter becomes boring or uncomfortable. This new reality minimizes our ability to live in the moment, with any focus or emotional awareness. How can it not seep into our acting work?

To overcome our contemporary reality, I suggest taking thirty minutes a day and reduce all personal actions and thoughts to one single task at a time. Granted, this will seem very awkward at first, but commit to the exercise to test your focus. In a short amount of time you’ll overcome the impulses to divert your thoughts to a secondary action. In fact, you will find a renewed energy during that half hour period.

Put your sequence of thoughts and actions together while you make a cup of coffee, and then enjoy it without diversion. Take that approach to a conversation, and you’ll discover many more details about the person across from you. Most importantly, your mind and body will recalibrate to the moment-to-moment experience that you’re actually having.

This recalibration will greatly help you reconnect your thoughts, actions and emotions next time you’re doing scene work. More importantly, you might choose to live extended periods of your day one moment at a time.

The Real Want

breadlineproductions — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:17:49 +0000

Perhaps the most universal element of all approaches to acting is centered on The Want. In short it comes down to one simple question: What is it that I absolutely want from the other person in this scene?

Figuring out the specific want is, in and of itself, a challenge. It sets in motion the details of your creative process. A weak want in the scene gives you low stakes, little emotional life, and often disconnects you from the moment to moment of the scene.

However, there are two essential follow up questions that are often ignored in the process: Why do I want this? & What does getting it mean to me?

Without a doubt, all human beings work on the same simple premise: seek pleasure and avoid pain. Therefore, our want must be in line with this basic truth.

For example, if our want is seek validation from a parent in a specific scene/scenario, then it’s fair to assume that we’ve not gotten validation at any real level up until this point in the script. We must then identify specifically what it ‘feels like’ to interact with our parent in the scene. Most likely that feeling is very negative, but we have to avoid saying or playing ‘it feels bad’ or ‘sad’ or ‘it makes me mad’ and get to a real instinctive understanding in our bodies.

In the above scene/scenario, it could be described as ‘claustrophobic, suffocating, or 100 pounds on our on chest.’ Whatever the image for you, your ultimate ‘want’ is to get rid of that feeling. The desire for relief (pleasure) will drive every choice along the way.

If you take the ten to fifteen minutes to actually trigger that imaginative feeling in your body, you’ll be surprised how much your body desires to get rid of it. It doesn’t theoretically hurt – it really hurts. Now when the scene starts you’re body (which you happen to share with the character) will truly understand how much it wants to get validation so it can unburden itself of that feeling. A few rehearsals and you stop thinking of the prep because that want is transferred into the scenario, relationship, and text.

If the scene doesn’t give you that relief, you’ll experience how deeply you really fight for your want. If the script allows you to achieve that want, you won’t have to manufacture that magnificent turn. It’ll play with ease and truth because the human being inside the character just achieved something essential to its very existence.

[Editor's Note: We'd love to hear what you think of this blog post. Do you have a story about the 'want' from a scene you've done? Please share in the comment section.]