How To Become A Better Actor - No Matter How Busy Your Life

Ok, obviously we think you should be in class and working with a coach - but sometimes you’re schedule is just too full and there’s no room to add more to your plate. Can you still better yourself as an actor? You can! It’s not a forever fix, but it makes a big difference and keeps you on your path! 

So today, we’d like to share a simple way for you to improve your acting skills while keeping to your busy schedule whether you’re at school, walking in your neighborhood, on vacation, out with your friends or even catching the train.   

It can be summarized like this: 

“No matter what you do, do it with your eyes wide open.” 

Think about how you move through your day. You’re busy and going from point A to point B and you’re doing it all on auto pilot, right? You’re not even thinking about where you’re going and somehow you’ve gotten there. You’re checked out and there’s a world around you waiting to be seen. Class is in session, open your eyes.

Welcome to the art of people watching. You may feel like you know what I’m going to say, but I want to propose it to you in a new way. Have you ever stopped to really watch how people talk to each other? How people cry or argue? Have you stopped to notice how different people hand stress?

For you to really learn from the experience of people watching, you need to keep your eyes open and in tune to their whole body expression; what is expressed and what is felt.

Take the time to observe their body language, their posture, the details in their eyes or lips. This is called sensory acuity; where you take the time to find the micro expressions that tell a bigger more internal story that the normal big expressions we’ve come to rely on.

A great example to glean from would be the TV series, “Lie to me”, where the whole show is based on solving mysteries and detecting lies through reading people’s micro expressions and body movement. You can watch this show to get a real idea of how to portray your character as true to life as possible, in ways that many of your peers won’t even think of.

Once you’ve watched the show, take it to the streets. Go throughout your day and your commute, not tuning the world out, but tuning more closely into people’s interactions, emotions and situations.

Lastly, bring it home. Write notes of what you observe and then come home to review them. Notice your true to life micro expressions as you have a conversation with your boss, friend or spouse and see if you notice theirs as well. Try practicing them in front of a mirror as well, to really see what they look like from the observer’s perspective.

Learning by seeing and doing.  This is an old method that's been tried and found to be true.  For more information on classes and taking your career further, visit us at the New York Acting School for Film in the heart of New York City; where dreams come alive!