I Don't Need an Acting Class

Latest Episodes:

Some Elements of Character Jan 02, 2023

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Happy New Year everyone! As we begin 2023, we thought it would be helpful to circle back and address some fundamental ideas about character. Like everything else in acting, this is not a cut and dry, fill-in-the-banks process. Sometimes a large piece of a character is their background, the time period in which they lived, or their social circumstances. Sometimes we’re creating specific character traits. We also cover: whether or not personalities change, how to avoid a one-dimensional character portrayal, and the importance of being able to play a wide range of different human beings. Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

We Are Someplace Dec 26, 2022

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This week, Milton takes us on a journey through the significance of the “place,” the objects (or props) that live there and our relationship to all of it. He shares an improvisation that JP did for The Glass Menagerie. He wanted to explore Tom’s relationship to his sister Laura’s victrola in order to deepen his relationship with Laura. Milton also shares his experience visiting The Eugene O’Neil House as an example of how, in life, we have specific relationships to places and things. Those relationships ground us in the play, fill us emotionally and bring a richness and dimension to our work. Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

The Loss of Meaning Dec 19, 2022

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Do you ever look around at our world today and think: nothing means anything anymore. So many of us are (understandably) cut off emotionally, desensitized, and this has affected acting today. All too often, we think that arriving at a big idea is where our work ends. In fact, it’s where our work begins. It’s one thing to intellectually understand an idea, but it’s another thing altogether to understand the meaning as an actor, which manifests itself as the ability to experience it, to understand it emotionally, in the core of our being. “As actors we have to eventually save the world because other things aren’t.” Milton says in this episode. “Our understanding of material and our understanding of life should be what affects people.” Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

Find Your Life Fascinating Dec 12, 2022

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This episode is a five minute rant from Milton about how we don’t find our lives interesting, which is why we often discourage the approach of “using our own lives” for a part. We fail to see the greatness in our own lives and the universal themes that run through them. We tell our own stories in a removed, almost clinical tone as if we were reporting the news. And so when using our lived experience, our performances reflect that lack of size. Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

How Not to Marry a Performance Dec 05, 2022

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You can avoid deciding in advance how to play something and marrying yourself to that performance by talking out immediately. But if the first thing you do is go to the words, you’ll be stuck with the words, and nothing but your initial interpretation of the words. Even if your instincts are right on, you run the risk of cementing yourself in a performance, and once that happens, it’s very difficult to make adjustments or evolve beyond it. Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

How Objectives Can Cripple You Nov 28, 2022

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In this episode, Milton coaches Guilherme as he prepares the role of Portuguese Vampire from the 17th Century. He begins by suggesting specific images that will help his development of the character’s physicality and point of view. This eventually leads to a conversation about “objectives” and how using that word can actually get in the way of what’s really going on in the scene and the essence of the character. Have an acting (or Vampire) question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

The Ability to See Nov 21, 2022

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One of Stella Adler’s fundamental exercises was a visualization exercise. This is something we can do anytime and anywhere— walking down the street, driving down the highway, standing in the shower. The more you train yourself how to see, the more specific your work will become, and the more the images will feed you emotionally. But this is not work you can do intellectually, deciding beforehand what the images are. It requires a leap of faith to be fully present and let the images come to you. Eventually, you will find specific things that make you come alive. Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

Understanding The Playwright’s Struggle Nov 14, 2022

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This episode, an excerpt from Milton’s Script Analysis class, examines the importance’s of understanding the deeply human struggle of the playwright and how those struggles are infused into their characters. Using The Glass Menagerie, Milton talks about letting the “active facts” about a character seep into the actor’s consciousness over time, keeping in mind the enormity of the theme that the character represents. “One of the problems we have is that we don’t have a sense of our own personal struggles as being a big idea.” Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

Be Believable AND Interesting Nov 07, 2022

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One of the cornerstones of being believable is the ability to connect to the material. And we have to know what it feels like to be connected, so that when we’re not, we do more work to get there. But being believable is just one prerequisite. We also have to be interesting to watch and listen to. Milton shares a story about his former business partner, actress Lee Grant who came up with the most amazing stories as excuses for why she was late for Stanford Meisner’s class. They weren’t just believable, they were fascinating performances. Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

Technique is The Antidote to Panic Oct 31, 2022

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At the end of the day, the technique is there for those moments we feel absolutely panicked and lost, like we have no idea what we’re doing. Maybe we’re staring blankly at a script thinking: I don’t know how to prepare, or where to start. Maybe we’re on stage and have no idea why the choices that have been working for months suddenly have stopped. Or, we’re on set and the director is giving us an “effect-direction” which we need to translate into something actable. Although there’s never one “right” answer to any of these problems, there are certain concepts we can always come back to, like working on character, the social circumstance or making what we’re building more specific. All of the tools we have are there to help feed us emotionally and give us something to hold onto so that we’re confident we do know what we’re doing. Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

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