6 Lessons From Taking Acting Classes

After watching this video, I was inspired to take acting classes:

Since then, I’ve been taking private coaching lessons at the SAI. Here are six of my learnings:

  1. The First Step: Overcome Shame
    Everybody knows how people behave strangely in front of the camera. We do this because of our shame. We want to show our best side. Instead, we often show our worst.
  2. Playing Yourself
    Acting isn’t about playing someone else. It’s about playing yourself in various situations. If you aim to cry like Leonardo DiCaprio, don’t imitate him. Put yourself in the same emotional state, feel it, and act accordingly.
  3. We Play Roles All The Time
    When we are at work, we play a role. When we are with our partner, we play a role. When we are with our friends, we play a role. All these roles are diverse, and we play them perfectly. Acting is the same. Just do it professionally and select the role deliberately.
  4. Do What You Would Really Do
    When you enter a bus, what do you do? Do you go directly to a seat and sit down? No! Instead, you: (1) enter the bus, (2) look around and scan all the people present, (3) decide where you want to sit/where it’s safe/not annoying to sit, (4) scan the seat to see if it’s dirty, (5) sit down. This program runs unconsciously. As an actor, you need to repeat all these steps consciously. Otherwise, it looks like bad acting on camera.
  5. Slow Down
    In real life, we do many things at the same time: turning around, starting to talk, pointing at something. In acting for movies/TV, all these steps need to come one after another.
  6. Every Action Needs A Reason
    Before you do something, you need to show emotionally why you do it.

Do you have some other basic lessons of acting?