William Stanford Davis is a veteran actor with more than three decades of experience in television and film. He is also a dedicated mentor to students and up-and-coming performers. Davis currently stars as Mr. Johnson on Quinta Brunson’s ABC comedy “Abbott Elementary.”
I never set out to be a teacher. Don’t get me wrong—I love teachers. I’ve shared before how much having my aunt as a teacher inspired me, but that wasn’t something I saw for myself. To be honest, I don’t think of what I do as teaching. What I do is share—share what has been shared with me.
I first started helping actors two decades ago. I was in an acting class, and I had begun to book work. At the time, I was booking a job about once a month, and for an actor, if you’re working 12 times a year, that’s a big deal. You are an actor. My fellow students started asking for help more often, and I found I had something to give—something worth sharing.
A lot of what I love to share is what I learned studying at the Actors Studio. That changed everything for me. The Actors Studio isn’t just about technique; it’s about accessing human behavior. That word—behavior—wasn’t something I ever heard in other acting classes. Other places teach the basics, like moment-to-moment acting; but behavior—that’s what human beings do. How you place your hands, sit in a chair, or swat a fly—it’s all specific to each and every person. Those are behavioral things, and they’re things you can’t “act” without it looking and feeling like acting.
Of course, you should be incredibly familiar with the text. You can’t get around that. Every word is specific. I’ve heard of actors reading their lines 250 times. Do whatever you have to do to never fight for a line. But behavior—that’s what brings nuance and specificity, and takes a performance to the next level.
I was lucky enough to have Martin Landau as one of my mentors. He never “taught” me anything. He’d say, “Hey, Stan, let me share something with you.” It always felt like a gift. He once shared with me how every experience we have in life is filtered through our five senses. You see it, touch it, taste it, smell it, or hear it, and you react to those things. If the wind is blowing or there’s a humming on the TV, it affects our behavior. That seems simple, but I love sharing this with other actors because of how it deepens any performance and brings beautiful subtleties that the camera can catch.
When I work with young actors, I share that this has to be a 360-degree, 24/7 commitment. I once heard that being an actor is like being a whole other species of people, and I’ve borrowed that because it’s true. If you’re an actor, everything has to be about your craft. All your civilian decisions—going to the gym, finding a job, going to bed early or staying out late—should be in service of the work.
I’ve often told aspiring actors: If you can imagine doing something else, you should do that instead. It can be cruel sometimes. You might not work for 10 years. Those hard days—some when you can only afford Top Ramen—if you stick with it, they make you stronger and more committed. But you have to love it enough to survive that.
For seasoned actors looking to refresh and reset their work, I always suggest going back to the basics. Start with how you carry yourself in the room. That’s a word I hate: room. If you call it a room, then you treat it like a room. If I’m self-taping for a scene on the South Side of Chicago in the dead of winter and it’s midnight—that ain’t a room! Step into where you are. Is it summer or winter? Is it 1 o’clock in the afternoon or the middle of the night? Are you alone, with your lover, or with your enemy? All that changes how we behave.
Then filter that through your five senses and explore the who, what, where, and why. That’s the work. Let those answers ground you and infuse your performance.
This is all work that I still do today on “Abbott Elementary.” Mr. Johnson is a real human being—a real 360-degree person. He does everything that human beings do. His reality might be a little stranger than your reality, but it’s real. He’s not a cartoon or a caricature. Because of all the fantastic writing, I’m able to layer on all these other things that influence who he is and how he carries himself.
Mr. Johnson is a fisherman. He’s lived and worked all over the world. Under his gruff exterior, there’s a kindness. He’s enigmatic, and, of course, we know he’s a conspiracy theorist who doesn’t believe the moon is real! I try to bring the reality of having those jobs and the knowledge and beliefs he’s gained—and that he holds with him every day. It’s his commitment to that reality that makes him such a fan favorite.
So no, I don’t teach, I share. I share what’s been shared with me. I share what I’ve lived, what I’ve learned, and what I continue to discover. Acting isn’t about pretending; it’s real behavior in imaginary circumstances. It’s living your character’s truth and behavior, and being present enough to notice the smallest of details. It continues to bring me so much joy to see the success of the actors I’ve worked with, and it makes every moment spent sharing worth it.
This story originally appeared in the August 18 issue of Backstage Magazine.