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Feb 23, 2024•2 min
I Don't Need an Acting Class
Become a Paid Subscriber: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe
Academy Award winner and celebrated acting teacher Milton Justice invites you into his weekly acting class, based on his years of study with the legendary Stella Adler. I Don’t Need an Acting Class delves deep into the craft of acting, breaks down concepts, tools and techniques, explores endless possibilities and offers you a foundation on which to build a solid, dependable process. Produced by Walker Vreeland.
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Episodes
Trusting Your Creative Impulses
In this episode, Milton shares an example of what it means to trust your creative impulses. This means allowing yourself the freedom to wander around until you find a connection to what you're talking about. Although you may know where you're going, you don't necessarily know how you're going to get there, or what choice you're going to discover that ends up bringing you to life. WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/sub...
Feb 20, 2024•13 min•Season 6Ep. 162
VIDEO: Mark Ruffalo Goes Rogue
“I’m so sick of Mark Ruffalo. Whatever that is, I’m so sick of it. I am so sick of him that literally there was a part of me that was flirting with disaster.” On the heels of his Academy Award nominated performance in the film Poor Things , Mark Ruffalo joined his former acting teacher and coach Milton Justice on the podcast I Don't Need an Acting Class to discuss his process. He has since been nominated for an Academy Award. “I’m always thinking I’m about four hours away from being fired!” He a...
Feb 14, 2024•21 min•Season 6Ep. 157
Mark Ruffalo Goes Rogue
“I’m so sick of Mark Ruffalo. Whatever that is, I’m so sick of it. I am so sick of him that literally there was a part of me that was flirting with disaster.” On the heels of his Academy Award nominated performance in the film Poor Things , Mark Ruffalo joined his former acting teacher and coach Milton Justice on the podcast I Don't Need an Acting Class to discuss his process. He has since been nominated for an Academy Award “I’m always thinking I’m about four hours away from being fired!” He al...
Feb 14, 2024•23 min•Season 6Ep. 157
What Acting Is and Isn't
This week’s episode is based on a question we received about adding your own circumstances in order to increase the stakes, or help you connect. Here’s the question in its entirely: Is it acceptable to add your own specific circumstances or facts to bear down on generalities in the script? Or is this dangerous embellishment? David Mamet says to invent nothing, and that the author has given you only what is germane to the physical action of the play, as the joke-writer gives you only what is germ...
Feb 12, 2024•21 min•Season 6Ep. 161
Telling Someone Else’s Story
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This episode begins with the exercise of telling someone else’s story. It involves hearing a story from someone in class, and then retelling it as our own. This is a great technique exercise because it allows you to layer in your first impressions improvisationally. You don’t have to get it all the first time. And in the process, you find the details that stick with you—...
Feb 06, 2024•19 min•Season 6Ep. 160
Observing The Art of Seduction
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe Milton begins this episode by emphasizing the importance of observing human behavior— our own and others. The reason is, it gives us clues to everything, from character to circumstance to what “playing an action” looks like. Milton gives the example of an audition Diego recently worked on, where he struggled to play the action “to seduce.” This is where observation becom...
Jan 31, 2024•16 min•Season 6Ep. 159
The Sin We Commit Without Knowing It
This week, we go back to some of the fundamentals of acting technique. One of which is, The Biggest Sin: Thou Shall Not Make Performance Choices When You First Read The Script. But this is not something we’re always aware that we’re doing. We forget. Or— we have an immediate response to the character or the circumstances, and run with that first instinct. Or— because of our own personal beliefs and values, we unconsciously pass judgement on the character we’re playing. Regardless of the reason, ...
Jan 23, 2024•16 min•Season 6Ep. 158
Think Like an Actor
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...
Jan 09, 2024•9 min•Season 6Ep. 156
Be Outstanding
“Don’t shop at Kmart if there’s a Tiffany’s at 57th and 5th.” -Stella Adler on Making Choices This episode begins with Milton’s deconstruction of an audition. He talks about the downside of adding a lot of plot points to your preparation for a scene: it means you have to earn every single one of them in a way that feeds you emotionally. “But the advanced work,” he says, “is making kick-ass choices. You challenge yourself to be smarter.” WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content...
Jan 02, 2024•19 min•Season 6Ep. 155
Active Relaxation
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe There are some misconceptions about relaxation in acting. You want to be relaxed but not so relaxed that you’re not able to be active as your character in the given circumstances. As Milton says in this week’s episode: “I think a lot of it is figuring out where to put your focus in the work, rather than trying to solve the problem of being all over the place, or being nerv...
Dec 26, 2023•20 min•Season 6Ep. 154
Playing Witch-Twins on American Horror Story
In this episode, actress Annabelle Dexter-Jones joins us on the podcast to talk about playing twin witches on American Horror Story. She discusses the extensive background and character work the did while working one-on-one with Milton, as well as the exercises that freed her up the most and allowed her to make ever more discoveries. 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...
Dec 19, 2023•16 min•Season 6Ep. 153
Bonus Video Episode: Working Slowly
An excerpt from Milton's Masterclass at Spotlight in Stockholm, Sweden.
Dec 14, 2023•10 min
The Given Circumstances Are Everything
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe What do we mean when we say the Given Circumstances? According to Stella Adler, the Given Circumstances includes everything— all the facts. And as Milton puts it, it incorporates all the P’s: the play, the playwright, the plot, the place, the period, and the personality, past and profession of the character. Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email u...
Dec 12, 2023•15 min•Season 6Ep. 152
Making the Inactive Active
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This is one of those ideas in acting that is almost scientific in its certainty. If you’re ever in a scene where your character is meant to be inactive, you must equally compensate for it by finding a way to make what you’re doing especially active. For example, your character is “bored” or “depressed” or “listless,” you cannot “play bored or depressed. You must give yours...
Dec 05, 2023•19 min•Season 6Ep. 151
Putting In Your Own Words
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe The reason why “putting something in your own words” is such a useful exercise is because it covers so much territory: understanding the sequence of thoughts, owning the character’s point of view and the size of an idea, and what action we are playing. There are concepts that you can apply to any monologue, any scene. Since you don’t have time to memorize the words, (and t...
Nov 28, 2023•39 min•Season 6Ep. 150
Connecting with The Character’s POV
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe This week, Milton muses about what we mean when we talk about connecting. How much to we, as actors, have to connect to the character’s point of view, and how it that different than the *character* connecting to their point of view? “I often say that you know more than your character knows,” Milton says. “But the question is: what do I know that my character doesn’t know? ...
Nov 21, 2023•16 min
Bonus Video: Milton on Meisner
Your shirt is blue. 👕
Nov 17, 2023•55 sec
Bonus Episode: One Line of Dialogue
You promised to bring me the notes for the lecture. I waited for you and when you didn’t turn up I knew you’d forgotten as usual. This is a comprehensive list of what people in class said they would work on when given this one line of dialogue: Relationship to partner Where are we What is the lecture Are you teacher or student How long did you wait Where did you wait Who am I who are they Past of forgotten as usual What have they forgotten How do I feel about the fact that they’ve forgetten Wher...
Nov 17, 2023•11 min
Improvising Your Character’s POV
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe There are so many (upsides) to improvisation. For one, it helps you get specific, own what you’re talking about, and find choices that you love. It also forces you to listen because you’re constantly having to check-in with your scene partner to see if you’re getting through to them and solving your problem. It also, as witnessed in this episode’s exercise with JP and Aman...
Nov 14, 2023•19 min•Season 6Ep. 148
Your Own Way of Working
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe Milton begins this week’s episode sharing memories about working with Swedish cinematographer, Sven Nykvist and Helen Mirren, and why “taking the time to build slowly and let it layer in” is such a wonderful way to work. And yet, there is no one way of working. This is why taking acting advice from other actors can be so misleading. What works for one does not work for all...
Nov 07, 2023•21 min•Season 6Ep. 145
Creating The “Other”
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe Your individual experience will inform your “way in” to approaching a role and of course, your interpretation of a character will be uniquely yours. But that doesn’t mean the character is you, and that you don’t have to move outside of yourself to create this other human being. A great way to begin imagining this “other” is to read. Reading feeds the imagination. It force ...
Nov 07, 2023•21 min•Season 6Ep. 146
All You Need for TV
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe www.idontneedanactingclass.com
Nov 07, 2023•14 min•Season 6Ep. 147
Acting Is Human Logic
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe One of the biggest contributions that Stanislavsky (and later Stella Adler) made was the clear logic they brought to the study of acting. This episode includes several ideas in acting technique that simply make sense: make a choice, move slowly, do research that feeds you, "keep moving. It may be forward." Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at...
Oct 17, 2023•18 min•Season 6Ep. 144
Getting Hired
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe In this episode, Milton talks about the myths actors tell themselves about why they’re not getting hired. The bottom line is this: if you’re good, eventually you’ll start getting hired. In a culture obsessed with tricks, quick fixes, fast-tracks and branding, our abilities as actors has fallen by the wayside. Sure, it’s nice to have credits but the reason to say “yes” to eve...
Oct 10, 2023•14 min•Season 6Ep. 143
Trust Your Homework
There’s a difference between the preparation work we do when creating a role, and what we’re actually *doing* in the scene. For instance, in your preparation, you may have had to build a past so that each moment is emotionally filled, but that may not be what the scene is about. And so you don’t want to “play” the past, but instead, play what’s going on with you in the scene. This lesson is illustrated as Kaleb and Milton work together on a monologue from the Tennessee Williams play, Vieux Carré...
Oct 03, 2023•23 min•Season 6Ep. 142
We Have Tools
Welcome back everyone! Hope everyone is enjoying their fall so far. We’re beginning Season 6 with an overview of some of our actor-tools: exploring the nature of character, connecting to something honestly and interestingly, they importance of improvisation, visualization, and how music can influence your work. For anyone interested in Milton’s upcoming six-week Technique & Script Analysis Workshop beginning October 7th, there are still a few spots available. For more information or to regis...
Sep 26, 2023•23 min•Season 6Ep. 141
Want to Study with Milton Justice? Register Now.
Hey everyone, Milton’s 6-week Technique & Script Analysis Workshop will begin October 7th. Classes are Saturdays, from 2PM to 5PM EST and will be held over Zoom for six consecutive weeks. The fee for the 6-week session is $300. This is a great opportunity to get your foot in the door to one of Milton's classes, as he rarely opens up a class to new students. It's also insanely discounted, much to my (Walker's) dismay! 🤪 Anyway, if you're interested you can register or get more info by emaili...
Sep 13, 2023•50 sec
Trailer: I Don't Need an Acting Class
www.idontneedanactingclass.com
Sep 13, 2023•4 min
Bonus Episode: Don't Rely On Your Voice
Hope you've all had a great summer. Just a quick message to let you know we'll be back with Season 6 in September!
Aug 26, 2023•11 min
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