In this bonus episode, Milton explores the fundamental challenges of theatrical performance. He begins by praising a student's vivid storytelling about a traumatic experience, noting how the clarity of images and emotional connection made it compelling theater. The rest of the episode centers on Arthur's struggle with a complex role as an 1858 French priest, emphasizing how plays demand deep character work rather than plot-driven performance, requiring actors to build and experience a character'...
Jun 20, 2025•16 min
www.idontneedanactingclass.com
Nov 28, 2024•3 min
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We're so grateful for you. In honor of the holiday we're releasing some audio from 5 years ago, all about an exercise called The Imaginary Vacation. Interestingly, I found it in a folder called "Unusable." I have no idea why I deemed it as such at the time, but I certainly don't think it's unusable now! www.idontneedanactingclass.com
Nov 28, 2024•11 min
But we still have a lot going on. Check out out website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com for all the latest events. Happy Holidays to all of you and we can't wait to see you soon.
Nov 15, 2024•4 min
In this episode, Milton discusses the importance of understanding specific relationships to text and sequence of thoughts. The discussion highlights a common actor's problem of moving too quickly to performance without fully understanding the text's underlying thoughts and relationships. The episode concludes with practical examples of how to break down and connect with text by being more specific about your relationship to each thought.
Nov 05, 2024•26 min•Season 7Ep. 185
This episode delves into the importance of conveying big ideas in acting. Milton emphasizes the need for actors to grasp the magnitude of concepts in great plays, avoiding monotonous delivery that reduces dialogue to a mere "grocery list." He advises performers to explore ideas deeply by asking "What does this mean?" and to get specific with examples to bring concepts to life. He also talks about the difference between artistic pursuits and conventional careers. WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on...
Oct 29, 2024•10 min•Season 7Ep. 184
You have to give yourself permission to fail. If you’re too afraid of being bad, you’ll block your creative energy. Like Venessa Redgrave, indulge yourself in all the worst, most cliche choices first. Get them out of your system, and once they are, then go back and really get to work. But most of that work is done at home. Between rehearsals. It’s about the creative, imaginative research. Talking out. Getting more specific— like “the tear in the curtain.” And you’ll know it’s a good choice becau...
Oct 22, 2024•13 min•Season 7Ep. 183
Or we should say: everything must be magical. To YOU. This week’s episode is a lesson in connecting. We hear a student, Grace, go from “reporting” to “experiencing.” A big part of “getting it” is understanding the purpose of talking out. Once you understand what it’s for, then it becomes easier to make a good choice and “go there.” And when that happens, you no longer have to work so hard. The impulse of the character and circumstance take you over and magic happens. WANT MORE? Become a subscrib...
Oct 15, 2024•17 min•Season 7Ep. 182
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: questionsformilton@gmail.com Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com...
Oct 08, 2024•14 min•Season 7Ep. 181
Talking out or improvising text helps us connect to what we’re talking out, sometimes by way of letting us know we are lying. In that sense, talking out is like a lie detector. It’s a way of self-assessing our own work. For example, if we’re bored, that means we’re not bringing ourselves to life, which means we haven’t earned it. Will don’t believe it and neither will anyone else. Milton also makes it clear what talking out isn’t: it’s not performing, it’s not standup comedy, it’s not telling a ...
Oct 01, 2024•14 min•Season 7Ep. 180
Milton will be teaching a week-long acting workshop at Clap Class in Marseille! The class will be held in English. Must have experience in film, television or theater, and be fluent in English. Monday, November 18th to Friday November 22, 2024; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. To register: go to clapclass.fr
Sep 25, 2024•51 sec
Two topics are covered in this episode: our tendency to be disconnected from what you’re talking about, and our tendency to be disconnected from what’s going on with you in the scene. We shy away from being truly connected because it means vulnerability, it means “going there.” Even if you’re talking about something simple or you’re in a moment that’s not particularly heightened, when we’re connected, we’re revealing ourselves. It’s why we fall back on an analytical tone. Because it keeps us rem...
Sep 24, 2024•13 min•Season 7Ep. 179
Milton gives another round of notes to Chris who is doing a monologue from All My Sons.
Sep 17, 2024•18 min•Season 7Ep. 178
This week, Milton coaches Chris on a monologue from All My Sons. This episode is both audio and video. You can watch the video version on Spotify. WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: questionsformilton@gmail.com Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com...
Sep 10, 2024•10 min•Season 7Ep. 177
This week’s episode calls to mind the Steve Martin quote: “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” You want to make choices that are so inventive that they have no choice but to hire you. WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: questionsformilton@gmail.com Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com...
Sep 03, 2024•10 min•Season 7Ep. 176
In this longer-than-usual episode, Milton coaches the class through Jed’s audition for a TV series in which an out-of-control robot is stealing children. You’ll hear how Milton talks out the entire scene several times. This includes his dialogue, the dialogue of the others in the scene and his response to the others in the scene, as if telling someone a story of what happened. In doing so, he finds choices he loves, which makes the scene more than being a mere plot device. He finds a clear actio...
Aug 28, 2024•26 min•Season 7Ep. 175
In this episode, Milton begins talking through The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash. It’s an example of how we can begin working on a play by ourselves. There is no right way. We can take our initial impressions (whatever hits us first) and wander around with them in a non-performative way. We do this, in large part, to discover what world we’re in, and that becomes our entree into all the specific elements that exist in that world. “But I resist making a decision for as long as possible,” Milton sa...
Aug 20, 2024•20 min•Season 7Ep. 174
Two of Milton’s students are currently starring in an off-Broadway musical, and this week he discusses his recent work with them. He talks about the similarities between the structure of a film and the structure of a musical. In (almost) every scene there is a song, which takes place because the circumstances become so heightened that the only thing one can do in that moment is to sing; and like in film, each scene turns, (i.e. a big change happens and usually it’s during a song.) WANT MORE? Bec...
Aug 13, 2024•9 min•Season 7Ep. 173
This episode gets back to the HUGE topic of using your own life, featuring an in-depth conversation amongst the class. It culminates with the following ideas: even though Stella Adler advised against using your own life and experience because it limits you, it’s impossible to take you out of the work . When you use your imagination instead of searching for how you can “relate” to your character, whatever comes up emotionally for you is the result of your own personal, emotional well. Your life i...
Aug 06, 2024•21 min•Season 7Ep. 172
Let’s face it: acting is weird. So are actors. The issues we have…the circumstances we find ourselves in are unlike that of anyone else. Some examples: How does one negotiate a love scene? What do you do when you’re on stage and you start focusing on the mole on your fellow actor’s face, pulling you completely out of the moment? Why dating a co-star is dangerous. What are the principals of “food acting”? And how does a gay cult classic film end up on The Criterion Collection? There are so many w...
Jul 30, 2024•11 min•Season 7Ep. 171
Even when you're getting bad direction, or someone in the cast inappropriately gives you notes... Even when you feel like you're the only one who knows what they're doing, it's impossible to overemphasize the importance of being respectful and leaving a positive impression on everyone you work with. There are ways to handle these situations. Some actors have to learn the hard way, but for those who don't want to go through that, here's some advice on how to communicate when you feel stranded in ...
Jul 23, 2024•13 min•Season 7Ep. 170
Milton begins this week’s episode talking about a client whose personal life reflects the circumstances of the character he’s playing. It’s yet another lesson about the actor’s instinct to make a character about us, and it’s especially difficult to resist when we have been through almost the exact same experience. The difference is— our relationship to the circumstances. This is what can wake you up to the fact that the character you’re playing is in fact, very different from you. *Starting now,...
Jul 16, 2024•15 min•Season 7Ep. 169
Milton Plays A Car Mechanic The point of this episode is that, while we always need to work hard to make our work believable and interesting, there are times where you might have to work even harder because of your limited imagination and/or life experience. Such as the example provided in this week’s episode: Milton working on a car. This, in life, has never and most likely, will never happen. And a big part of our talent is know what it’s going to take to get there for us as individuals, playi...
Jul 10, 2024•15 min•Season 7Ep. 168
In this episode, we take a look at the play Loose Ends by Michael Weller. We do so through the lens of realism and the contribution that Ibsen, Strindberg and Chekov made to the modern theater. It’s an unusually long episode, but listening to Milton lecture on and analyze the time period of this play is an example of where script analyses can begin. It’s an exploration, a deep-dive conversation where the actor layers in information and just begins to consider it. Also— stay tuned for the end whe...
Jul 02, 2024•28 min•Season 7Ep. 167
Whether it’s stage or screen, you have to be able to analyze the text to figure out what world you’re in, what’s going on with your character and how you fit into the bigger picture. This way, you can come up with a choice that gives you something, moves you, makes you excited. So that by the time you *say it,* you’ve earned it. WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice ...
Jun 25, 2024•12 min•Season 7Ep. 166
This week, Milton explores a few of the ways we can gain insight into character. We can observe a stranger on the street and then, using a specific character trait, improvise a monologue as that person. We can also examine the events that contribute to a person’s identity. The crucial lesson here is that we never stop searching, never stop digging to find the complexity of a human being. Finally, Milton shares a “talking out” exercise Shane did which is a great example of allowing yourself to wa...
Jun 18, 2024•12 min•Season 7Ep. 165
We begin our 7th season with a call to save acting. Together, we can do it! One of the biggest elements that is missing in acting today is understanding the idea behind the play (or whatever it is that we’re doing) and understanding the size of it. Because of the work we do as actors, we get insight into truths about the human experience that we get to share with an audience. And this is how we need to approach plays: that we are letting the audience in on an idea. We are there to teach, inspire...
Jun 11, 2024•14 min•Season 7Ep. 164
In life, we usually don't relive a painful experience when we're talking about it. That doesn't mean it doesn't affect us. It's just that we're not actively trying to "go there." In fact, usually we resist going there with all of our being. The same should be true when we're acting. We must build the character's past, but that doesn't mean our action is to relive it. This is another example of trusting the work we've done is *in us* and playing the action of the scene. And if the scene does call...
May 20, 2024•13 min
Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe
Apr 20, 2024•1 min
Season finale! The problem with trying to learn acting in a linear way is that no creative art is linear. You can’t fit a lifelong craft into one box or one book. Therefore, there is no one secret, or one method, or one idea that will save you. We have to be able to take on board the fact that acting is multifaceted. It is not about right or wrong, but a matter of depth. And the more you’re able to challenge yourself, and integrate the many aspects of being human, the greater chances that the au...
Feb 27, 2024•29 min•Season 6Ep. 163
