If one wants to play for a professional orchestra or football team, or compete in a chess tournament, one must practice properly and daily. Bobby Fischer was preternaturally attuned to win at chess, but he didn’t become the best by sitting around waiting for the phone to ring inviting him to come compete. He practiced incessantly. So why do so many actors think they are “good to go” and need no training?
There are also quite a few “working actors” who go from role to role, day play to day play wondering when they’ll get their big break. All the while leaning on the drama degree they got back in college or the workshops they continually take. Do you think the first chair violinist of the New York Philharmonic just chills all day and then pops over for the concert? Of course not. Practice, practice, practice.
I equate a first chair violinist to a series regular. Equal effort and talent are required. Yes, the violinist isn’t judged on his/her appearance (hopefully) but hey, that’s the actor’s life. I am sure many of you now are making a list of series regulars who have no training and never practice. I’ll bet most are professional comedians. Nothing wrong with that. If you’re a comedian, the future is bright! If you’re not, then read on.
So the question you have to answer for yourself is, “What kind of actor do I want to be?” The kind who has a natural talent and a great look and who will “be discovered” if you’re in the right place at the right time? Or the one who has some talent, works very hard to get all the crap out of the way of that talent, and becomes a brilliant actor who may or may not ever catch a break. Both are equally valid. Make an honest self-inspection of yourself and answer that question.
If you are in the first category, why are you even reading this? If you fall into the second category, what are you going to do now? Right this minute. Double down on yet another CD workshop? I hope not. Read another book about acting? Well, that wouldn’t hurt, but no one ever became a great actor by reading a book. Hagen, Adler, Meisner, Strasberg, Moss, Stanislavsky, Chekhov, Mamet and Macy—you should read all of them. Also, the Internet is crawling with great videos from many of these great teachers. But what you really should do is enroll in a great, ongoing acting technique class taught by a dedicated and qualified teacher.
Find one where you are surrounded by those more experienced than, or at least as dedicated as you are. Workshops are useful, but they are not going to teach you a technique. Technique takes time and work and a qualified teacher. I believe all techniques are excellent and I advise you learn them all and then create your own technique from them. There is no one way.
But how do you know a teacher is qualified? Well, that’s a tough one. If you are in a major city (Chicago, L.A., NYC, London), it shouldn’t be that hard. For those of you, like me, in a secondary market like Atlanta, finding a qualified teacher can be very difficult. Find out where the teacher has trained. Read his/her résumé. Ask actors you respect where they train or have trained.
Once you find the right class, you need to commit to at least a year (if not two) of learning what they are teaching. Learning a technique usually requires stripping away old bad habits before the new good habits can be taught and learned. It takes time, dedication, sacrifice, money, and tenacity. If making an investment like this in your career choice seems too hard, you may want to choose a different career. If you just want to be a waiter on the show that shoots in your town, you’ve just wasted a lot of time reading this.
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Best known for playing Wendall Jelks on Sundance TV’s “Rectify,” Jayson Warner Smith is married and lives and works in Atlanta, Ga. He is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and is represented by the Alexander White Agency in Atlanta and the House of Representatives in Los Angeles. Look for him in the upcoming releases “Christine,” “The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,” “The Birth of a Nation, and “Mena.”
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