I Don't Need an Acting Class

Osad

• The Human Being Behind the Character 16.06.2026 16min

  Continuing work on the Frank Gilroy play, The Subject Was Roses, this expert from Milton's in-person class begins to explore the road in to building a character with more depth.
• Working on Text 12.06.2026 12min

  Working on a play begins to give actors the foundation of working on any text they get. These are excerpts from my Script Analysis class at The Actor Lab in New York.
• The Partner and their Behavior 26.05.2026 14min

  We're combining two exercises in this class. (1) Seeing someone 'on the street' and being able to make decisions about who they are, based on their behavio and (2) building an attitude towards them.
• Making Active Choices 19.05.2026 15min

  Making choices that really bring you to life seems to be a constant struggle. Maybe it's because we're relieved that we can come up with any choice, but the choices must be worth it. They can't be passive.
• Living Off Your Partner 13.05.2026 13min

  Actively building an attitude to your partner can open you up to the action of the scene.
• Empathy and Sympathy 05.05.2026 12min

  We need to really be careful about the vocabulary of acting. There are concepts that keep working their way and it can dangerously lead actors to a kind of passivity that lessens the power of experiencing.
• Believe Your Choices 29.04.2026 14min

  After I vent about the Broadway production of Death of a Salesman, where they yelled at the audience for three hours, we look at the necessity of not just making great choices, but believing them. Not just performing them.
• Character Traits and Actions 21.04.2026 16min

  Directors give performance or effect directions. It forces actors to play cliches. Figuring out the nature of a character trait or spine or personality frees an actor to play an action ... or an impulse ... that makes behavior more actable.
• Actors Talk Acting 16.04.2026 16min

  Last week I gave classes in Poland and it was extremely useful to have a fresh perspective on students who were slightly new to this way of working – and also affording an opportunity for actors to talk about their particular problems.
• Working On A Monologue 07.04.2026 18min

  My student, JP, has been working on the Biff and Happy scene from Death of a Salesman. In this episode we work through a place where he was stuck with that feeling of "now I'm performing a monologue."
• The Actor's Personal Connection 31.03.2026 14min

  In coaching an actor this week, I was struck again by what feels obvious—and yet is so often missed: the actor must find a personal connection to the circumstances, or the character’s conflict never becomes a lived experience.
• Talking Out 31.03.2026 13min

  Revisiting the concept of talking out as a way to help actors own everything they think about a character and a play.
• Living off your Partner 24.03.2026 14min

  Building the character's attitude towards their partner is not only essential in playing a scene, it saves you. There's a danger, however, in building the attitude all on one level.
• What to work on 18.03.2026 17min

  Sometimes I think we've just had too many classes - and too many teachers telling you what you have to do in order to play a part. An actor needs to develop the ability to figure out what is necessary for each part.
• Seeing What's Not There 13.03.2026 15min

  The ability to visualize and live off images that are in the actor's imagination is a great skill to develop. It keeps you from acting in a vacuum,– to say nothing of solving the problem of a bad partner.
• Talking Out Revisited 03.03.2026 13min

  Actor work is not an intellectual exercise. And it’s not about “good writing.”It’s about experiencing.The audience doesn’t come to the theater for the words on the page. They come for the experience of what the character is going through — in the world of the play.In this episode, I return to one of my core tools: Talking Out. Through études — structured improvisations in which you speak aloud everything happening with your character — you begin to move off analyzing and philosophizing about the character and move into the experience of the character.
• The Technique Works! 24.02.2026 16min

  Actors have a tendency to abandon their technique as soon as they get an audition – and leap to a performance. Just taking a little time to really think about the text makes an enormous difference.
• Building a Character 17.02.2026 18min

  There are many roads in to building a character and, unfortunately, there is no paint-by-number approach. It's great as an actor to play with several different techniques.
• Connecting Through Specifics 10.02.2026 16min

  When an actor does not connect, you catch them "acting". It doesn't matter if it's a television series or a play. Specificity helps us connect.
• Fighting Clichés through Specificity and Events 03.02.2026 16min

  We have a tendency to leap to clichés because the dialogue seems to lead us there. There's a way to fight this.