with John Markland
JULY 28th - august 1st (LOS ANGELES)
august 4th - august 8th (ATLANTA)
It’s got to be so real they’re in it, they can’t take their eyes off you, their pulse matches yours –they forget you’re a character.
There is a lot more to acting than “what’s your moment before”. You were born. You had parents. You had a childhood home. You were awkward during puberty. You had love. You lost love. You were hurt wrongly and maybe hurt others wrongly. You have inherited fears and dreams, some that are true and many that are not. But you have a full life and inventing, discovering, and exploring all that is NOT on the page, it is what we craft whether a lead, a reoccur or a guest.
We have an internal encyclopedia of moments, intentions, secrets, motivations, nuances and “all the little” things that make up life. How honest we can realize them and how authentically we can express them, is at the core of our craft. Allowing the character to be a mirror for the self and then allowing yourself to become a character. The process by which you do this must have meat on the bone, heart, integrity, originality, make sense and deliver something REAL.
Actors are given sides, a breakdown, sometimes notes and then a script. The expectation is create something REAL, something AUTHENTIC, something ORIGINAL and do it by Tuesday at 3pm. It doesn’t matter how many years of scenes classes or technique classes you have under your belt… those classes are there to translate and fulfill writer’s intention. The most memorable and moving experiences we have in theater and film is when the actor gives birth to something else, something personal transfers into the REAL, AUTHENTIC and ORIGINAL… transcending a life beyond the writer’s intentions.
My approach to developing characters has become fully immersive over the years and I now have the honor of working with many of the writers and directors of the projects on which I coach. I have a mission of aligning three visions into one while serving the heart of story… the message that touches our soul. The actor is the color, the scent, the sound and most importantly, the feeling, the heart, the unpredictable, the humanity.
You’ll be given a guidebook prior to the workshop this will offer approaches and techniques you will then explore and play with during the week. (Inception, personalization, transference, belief binding, how to find character body and expression, presence-context and even how to rehearse.)
You’ll read and analyze a script, draw parallels, find blind spots, create history, borrow dreams and fears, find a cathartic focus and plant beliefs. The first class will be a live interview with your character followed by a Q & A from the class. The second class you will have interactions in character in posed situations I’ll throw at you. The third day is focused on real rehearsing, (not repeating) and real-world interaction. The fourth and fifth day we will explore how to truly find experience as the character rather than a performance.