I started on what I thought was going to be a short journey to being an actor.  I live in Central Florida so it was easy to find an Orlando Acting School I could sign up for lessons with.  I wasn’t looking to achieve fame and money, just some exposure.  I remember sitting on the couch with my wife and always saying “I could say that line just as good as George Clooney (or who ever the lead actor was)”.  She would always reply with a “Yes you can”.   She just didn’t feel like hearing me saying it throughout the movie or show so she would agree just to shut me up.  I am sure we have all had that feeling that acting isn’t hard, we can all do it.  What I hadn’t realized was that acting is truly an art that needs to be learned, practiced and honed.  I always thought of it being little more than trying to tell a lie but that is not at all what it is.  You need to learn how to interpret lines and then understand how to change your interpretation when directed to.  You need to know how to get your eyes, mouth, face body to interact with people without relying solely on words.  Let me give you an example:

“Yesterday was my birthday, I don’t really like it when anyone makes a big fuss about my birthday but I do like it if people would at least acknowledge it. I look forward to people taking 8 seconds out of the year to send me a special wish that they have already sent to their 400 other not so close friends. Specially when I go the extra mile and post your standard “Happy Birthday” on their facebook wall. I mean the least they can do is post one on mine. So every year on my birthday, I clear 15 minutes per hour out of my work schedule just to sit back and read all the well wishes. Most times I try to make sure I have a comfort snack in hand just to help me savor the moment. Unfortunately I go into each 15 minute slot knowing I will spend most of it eating my snack and very little if any reading well wishes that seem to have not hit my wall yet.”

Not very hard to make up a story like this. Sounds like it could be believable. But if you had to remember this word for word could you? How would you interpret this? Would you be depressed, happy, sarcastic, angry when you presented this to a camera or audience? Would you know how to carry yourself, would you know where to look if you were taping this for an audition? If you said you would start out angry and end up sad, could you actually do that? If a director asked you to start out happy and end up angry could you also do that? Can you visualize why you would even be saying this to someone or who that someone may be?

I started on what I thought was going to be a short journey to being an actor.  I live in Central Florida so it was easy to find an Orlando Acting School I could sign up for lessons with.  I wasn’t looking to achieve fame and money, just some exposure.  I remember sitting on the couch with my wife and always saying “I could say that line just as good as George Clooney (or who ever the lead actor was)”.  She would always reply with a “Yes you can”.   She just didn’t feel like hearing me saying it throughout the movie or show so she would agree just to shut me up.  I am sure we have all had that feeling that acting isn’t hard, we can all do it.  What I hadn’t realized was that acting is truly an art that needs to be learned, practiced and honed.  I always thought of it being little more than trying to tell a lie but that is not at all what it is.  You need to learn how to interpret lines and then understand how to change your interpretation when directed to.  You need to know how to get your eyes, mouth, face body to interact with people without relying solely on words.  Let me give you an example:

“Yesterday was my birthday, I don’t really like it when anyone makes a big fuss about my birthday but I do like it if people would at least acknowledge it. I look forward to people taking 8 seconds out of the year to send me a special wish that they have already sent to their 400 other not so close friends. Specially when I go the extra mile and post your standard “Happy Birthday” on their facebook wall. I mean the least they can do is post one on mine. So every year on my birthday, I clear 15 minutes per hour out of my work schedule just to sit back and read all the well wishes. Most times I try to make sure I have a comfort snack in hand just to help me savor the moment. Unfortunately I go into each 15 minute slot knowing I will spend most of it eating my snack and very little if any reading well wishes that seem to have not hit my wall yet.”

Not very hard to make up a story like this. Sounds like it could be believable. But if you had to remember this word for word could you? How would you interpret this? Would you be depressed, happy, sarcastic, angry when you presented this to a camera or audience? Would you know how to carry yourself, would you know where to look if you were taping this for an audition? If you said you would start out angry and end up sad, could you actually do that? If a director asked you to start out happy and end up angry could you also do that? Can you visualize why you would even be saying this to someone or who that someone may be?

Turns out acting is much more than just telling a lie.This all brought me to the realization that acting is not just telling a lie.  It is much more than that.   And one of the most important parts of becoming an actor is finding a acting coach that can help you learn how to do all of this.