In this episode, Milton takes a great question about pacing, which is a note actors get all the time, especially from people like agents and casting directors, and even directors. The reason it’s so precarious is because it’s an “effect/result” direction and never addresses the reason for the pacing. Does the pacing need to be different because of the genre you’re in? Or is it because the moments aren’t “filled” and therefore the work is dying? Or is it both? Most people who give notes about pac...
Jun 19, 2023•19 min•Season 5Ep. 140
This week, we bring you a private coaching in which Milton breakdown a monologue he’s seeing for the first time with an actor he’s working with for the first time. As the session progresses, you begin to understand his approach. From getting beneath the mentality of a character and they way they see and understand the world that they’re in…to beginning to own and experience the the enormous struggle that underlies the reason for the play. Here is the monologue: A Bright New Boise By Samuel D. Hu...
Jun 17, 2023•22 min•Season 5Ep. 139
In case you missed it live, this week we bring you our Conversation on Acting series with Sharon Carnicke. Sharon is an internationally acclaimed expert on Stanislavsky. Her latest book Dynamic Acting through Active Analysis follows the evolution of a radical rehearsal technique created by Stanislavsky. She is also the author of Stanislavsky in Focus: An Acting Master for the Twenty-First Century , Checking Out Chekhov: A Guide to the Plays for Actors, Directors, and Readers , and is the coautho...
Jun 12, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 5Ep. 138
Film Genres Genre Conventions are specific settings, roles, events, and values that define individual genres and their sub-genres. Love Story Buddy Salvation Road Picture Horror Film Uncanny – source of horror is astound but subject to “rational” explanation – such as beings from outer space, science-made monsters, or a maniac. Supernational – in which the source of horror is an “irrational” phenomenon from the spirit realm. Super-Uncanny – in which the audience is kept guessing between the othe...
Jun 05, 2023•16 min•Season 5Ep. 137
This week, our episode focuses on the idea of instinct. Most of us think of that word as something w’re born with, something that is innately part of us. But in the context of training and learning a process, instinct is learned. The more you exercise certain muscles of your technique, the more it is there for you when you need it. For example, one of our tools is slowing down enough to analyze “the nature” of an idea and then translate it into something actable. If we take the time to work thes...
May 29, 2023•20 min•Season 5Ep. 136
This episodes happens to contain more casual chat and personal anecdotes than usual, but there is a point to it. It’s about the need to look at your character’s character. Do they have a strong sense of morality? Do they have principals, and off so, what are they? This is a particularly important question when playing someone whose actions in the play reflect their moral character. Perhaps they take a stand and do so at great personal cost. This is such an integral part of a human being, one tha...
May 22, 2023•19 min•Season 5Ep. 135
This week, Milton talks about his approach to scene work. He begins discussing what the scene is about, has each actor do an etude (or improvised) monologue about their character, and then has both actors do an improvised scene that is not in the play. However, it’s important that this scene is not an arbitrary choice. There needs to be a reason in the text to explore this “missing” scene. Why does he do this? As Stella once said: “If you know how your character lives outside the play, then when...
May 15, 2023•19 min•Season 5Ep. 134
Hey everyone. First of all, we want to welcome our new listeners. It never ceases to amaze us that people keep discovering the podcast everyday. We’re so grateful. We also want to know what you think. Are there any issues you want to hear Milton discuss? Any questions or confusions? What do you love? What do you hate? (No we’re not trying to get you to do an acting exercise.) We would love to hear from you. So if you would, please take a couple minutes a leave a review for us on Apple Podcasts. ...
May 14, 2023•1 min
This episode with Milton’s famous class exercise “Something I Love/Something I Hate” where you talk out improvistorally while building something you love or hate. The purpose of this exercise is learning to live off the images and make choices that feed you in order to earn the line “I hate ________”, or: “I love ________.” “What I want you all to do is stop throwing things out there that you don’t pay a price for.” Milton says. “Everything is something that needs to be earned.” Have an acting q...
May 08, 2023•19 min•Season 5Ep. 133
This week’s episode, taken from a private coaching session, is about uncovering what your character’s problem is, and who the character’s partner is, in order to get to the action. And the problem is never the plot. Even though the given circumstances play into the problem, the true problem is always a much bigger, cosmic idea. Your impulse to solve this problem is what you’re doing to solve it. Have an acting question? Send us a voice message (link below ⬇️), or an email at questionsformilton@g...
May 01, 2023•21 min•Season 5Ep. 132
This week’s episode is an excerpt of a coaching Milton did with JP for a SWAT audition. You’ll notice that the difference here between teaching and coaching. Teaching demands that the actors themselves comes up with the choices and tools they’ll use for that specific material. Whereas coaching requires less independence because the coach gives it to you. It’s important to take note of what you’re function is in the grand scheme of the episode. If you’re a “plot point” there to further the storyl...
Apr 24, 2023•21 min•Season 5Ep. 131
A question was asked our script analysis class about the idea of stillness in film acting, which led to a conversation about the proliferation of acting “tricks” that are espoused by so many actors who may be brilliant, but don’t always have a clear idea about their own process or what makes them great. “Stillness” is a result or “effect direction” while active listening is something you can actually do. We want to know: what is the worst, most confusing, unhelpful, or enraging acting note or di...
Apr 17, 2023•18 min•Season 5Ep. 130
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe The episode discusses the importance of seeing the character you’re playing as a separate entity. You, as the actor, get the opportunity to build a human being. After allowing your mind to wander and wonder what it would be like to be *this* person in *this* specific circumstance, you can begin talking it out different moments. Eventually, you will be ready to shape-shift into the char...
Apr 10, 2023•20 min•Season 5Ep. 129
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This week’s episode is about the difference between the actor’s contribution to the creative process, versus the writer’s. Whereas the writer’s job is to put into words what they have to say, the actor’s contribution to the art form is bringing the text to life, which they do by experientially filling in what the writer has given us. It’s always a lot of work, but every actor’s perform...
Apr 03, 2023•11 min•Season 5Ep. 128
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This week, we’re swinging back to an important idea. Which is knowing what the idea is! Getting to the idea doesn’t happen in an instant. It is a process in which you keep coming back to the piece, whether it’s a play, a film, a monologue, a radio show or a speech, and asking yourself: what is this about? It’s alright not to know yet, and it’s alright if the answer changes. The importa...
Mar 27, 2023•11 min•Season 5Ep. 127
Want more? Become a Subscriber for Bonus Content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe Your Monthly Subscription Includes: * Expanded Episodes * No ads * Interviews * Videos * Access to the IDNAAC Archives * Newsletters including articles, acting exercises, and chapter’s of Milton’s next book In this episode, Milton wanders around and takes questions while avoiding Strindberg because of how much he knows it’s going to cost emotionally. But by the end, he lands on a helpf...
Mar 20, 2023•15 min•Season 5Ep. 126
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe Here's what you get: Expanded and unedited episodes • No ads • Interviews • Videos • Full access to the IDNAAC Archives • And newsletters including articles, quotes, acting exercises, and chapter’s of Milton’s next book. For more info or if you have an acting question for Milton, email: questionsformilton@gmail.com...
Mar 20, 2023•1 min
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe Even if we’re not working on a Strindberg play, we can learn so much from the playwright about how to bring depth to a character. One distinction about Strindberg is that he showed us real people, not only in external conflict in their relationships with one another, but internal conflict, in relationship to themselves. All human beings are paradoxes. As an example: a character may be ...
Mar 13, 2023•14 min•Season 5Ep. 125
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe So many of us know what it feels like to doubt ourselves, to ask ourselves: am I doing this right? This week, Milton talks about what it takes to own a play or piece of text with confidence when striving for greatness. The time, the work, the patience is endless, as is the fortitude required to remain steadfast throughout a career. In this rare and inspiring episode, Milton shares seve...
Mar 06, 2023•23 min•Season 5Ep. 124
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This week, Milton introduces us to the playwright August Strindberg, and how Stella Adler’s teaching contributed to the way actors approach his writing. While Chekov and Ibsen signified the beginning of realism, Strindberg marked the beginning of what we think of as the modern theater, deeply exploring the human being’s complexity and inner conflict. In this episode, as Milton introduc...
Feb 27, 2023•18 min•Season 5Ep. 123
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe In this episode, Milton recalls one of Stella’s exercises which he teaches to this day. The purpose of the exercise is to invest ourselves fully in an action. One way we can do this is by understanding the “why” behind the action. We can play the action “to teach,” but understanding the “why”— (that unless you teach the extras how to ride a chariot properly, they could die)— turns the ...
Feb 20, 2023•16 min•Season 5Ep. 122
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This episode starts out with a simple “action” exercise but becomes about something much larger: how we go about creating (or talking out) the circumstances so that by the time we get to the words, they are filled with life and believable. As Milton has repeated time and again: “Just because you say it, doesn’t make it true.” We have to earn the lines. This episode is about figuring ou...
Feb 13, 2023•21 min•Season 5Ep. 121
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe As actors, Doing research is important, but it’s only useful if we’re able to turn it into something actable. There is nothing useful about the knowledge that comes from research if all we do is know it. This is where the imagination comes in. We have to take the time to let the new information gestate, to turn it around, dig deeper, ask ourselves what it means, all the while letting i...
Feb 06, 2023•9 min•Season 5Ep. 120
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe As we approach our new Script Analysis Class beginning March 8th, (if you’re interested in taking it, email us at: questionsformilton@gmail.com ), this episode begins with a quote about “the more you know.” Not only does loving your choices free you, but so does knowing the circumstances, the people, the period, the world of the play— experientially. As the episode progresses, Milton a...
Jan 30, 2023•24 min•Season 5Ep. 119
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This week, Milton talks about how essential it is to be in love with our choices. If we, as actors, don’t LOVE the choices we make, we won’t commit to them 1000%. We will end up pushing a performance and feeling stuck. But if we are relentless about finding choices that personally excite us, then we won’t have to work so hard once we get up on our feet. Choices that thrill us, free us....
Jan 23, 2023•10 min•Season 5Ep. 118
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This episode features Milton's conversation with his longtime friend, character actress Margo Martindale. Mostly recently, you might know her from The Watcher on Netflix, Bojack Horseman, Sneaky Pete and for her portrayal of Bella Abzug on the limited FX series Mrs. America. Margo won a Primetime Emmy and Critics Choice Award for her role as Mags Bennett on Justified; she then won ...
Jan 16, 2023•20 min•Season 5Ep. 117
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This episode continues the discussion of how to build character. Specifically— how to avoid cliches by remembering that no person is just one thing. Using the tenants of script analysis, finding clues (or facts) in the text about your character is the first step. As you allow these facts to seep into your imagination and you begin analyzing and exploring the complexity of the charac...
Jan 09, 2023•18 min•Season 5Ep. 116
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe 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 spec...
Jan 02, 2023•11 min•Season 5Ep. 115
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe 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 T...
Dec 26, 2022•12 min•Season 5Ep. 114
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe 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 a...
Dec 19, 2022•17 min•Season 5Ep. 113
