How do you train actors to be outstanding?

How do you teach actors to be outstanding?

Here are a few tips that have helped me, as a drama teacher, over the years...

  • Be clear about your goal. What kind of actor are you trying to nurture? A generous actor, a star actor, an ensemble actor, a dangerous actor, charismatic actor?
  • Set out the values you want your students to adopt.
  • For me these are: warmth, generosity, enthusiasm (which includes curiosity) and grit.
  • Select and hone the qualities that will best deliver your goal. For me those are presence and charisma.
  • Focus on how to motivate your students to want to become excellent or outstanding. One way of helping them do this is to get them to set targets for themselves.
  • Set up a positive, nurturing environment in which they can rediscover the playfulness they probably had as young children.
  • Rekindle their imagination. Given all the core competences an actor needs, it's the uniqueness of their imagination that makes the difference.
  • Establish a climate in which they can take risks and learn to regard failure as a necessary step to success.
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