Quick Tips for New Actors

Acting is a life-long journey and it can be overwhelming when you first start out, but here are some AWESOME tips to help you get started.

These tips come from some of our most seasoned instructors here at The Drama Class! 

Tip #1 - Always be training!

Again, it’s a lifelong endeavour. Even if you’ve been an actor for decades, training is so important. If you were a professional soccer player, would you make the team and then never practice? Of course not! Treat the craft of acting like a sport, have the same focus on training and conditioning your acting skills.

Cue the totally shameless plug - check out our offerings at www.thedramaclass.com

Tip #2 - Learn how scripts are structured

New actors tend to focus on the obvious: the craft of acting, and that totally makes sense! But the blueprint of the acting comes from telling the story.

The more we understand what the writer is trying to say, the better we can achieve our roles as actors! Trust me, after understanding story structures, auditioning can be SO MUCH EASIER!

A great book to check out is Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. Snyder dives into how stories are told and what they need to have in order to be successful. Grab your copy from Bizbooks.net.

Tip #3 - Watch TV & film, it's not a waste of time

When you watch your favourite shows, whether they’re old or brand new, watch them with a critical eye. You can start to form opinions about certain genres and characters. “Why is this working?”, “Why am I compelled by that actor?”, ask these questions so you can better understand the world you want to be a part of.

Tip #4 - Don’t just play other characters, practice looking like them

Acting is a visual medium, so if you're auditioning for a CEO character in an HBO-style TV show you gotta look the part too! When you can, spend some time playing around with your hair, makeup and wardrobe and RECORD IT ON YOUR PHONE! You need to be able to see what you can look like when you do your self-tapes with proper lighting, not just the bathroom mirror! 

A reminder when playing with your look: remember that you are not selling yourself as “yourself”, you’re selling the character. Let go of your ego and enjoy the variety of characters that you can believably sell!

Even if you call a friend from your trailer, you’ll feel a lot better!  

The acting world can be overwhelming, so take your time...

Hopefully you found one or all of these tips helpful for your career, but remember not to do them all at once! Remember why you want to be an actor: it's one of the funnest jobs in the world, so HAVE FUN!

For more tips and tricks, check out www.TheDramaClass.com !

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