I Don't Need an Acting Class (Milton Justice)

We begin our second season with a reminder that acting is not a math equation. “The method,” said Stanislavsky, “is not a guide, it’s a culture.” This means that a creative process, like a culture, is meant to change and grow. There is no hard and fast, static rule book for acting; we require different things for different roles. But if we keep digging, exploring, trying new things, seeing what works and what doesn’t, we will find choices we love, choices that feed us and give us confidence. When we can trust that everything we’ve built is *in* us and let go, that is when the most unexpected and exciting work happens.

This week’s episode calls to mind the Steve Martin quote: “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” You want to make choices that are so inventive that they have no choice but to hire you.

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 

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 us at: ⁠questionsformilton@gmail.com⁠ Also, check out our website: ⁠www.idontneedanactingclass.com⁠ 

When building a character we can use the facts that are available to us in any way that will help us. Just as this is true for our character’s past, physical life or way of seeing the world, it is also true of the time period in which our character lives. Some helpful questions are: how does this time period effect who my character is? And how can I translate that information into behavior?

Don't panic. We'll be back with Season 2 of I Don't Need an Acting Class in September!

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 performance will be unique because everyone connects to something different and has a distinct ”road-in” to approaching the role. Have an acting question for Milton? Email us at: questionsformilton@gmail.com Find more at idontneedanactingclass.com

This week, Milton talks about resisting the urge to play an effect, or a result. Often if we receive an “effect direction” such as: “it’s too big” or “it’s too small,” we will then overcompensate in the opposite direction. By doing so, we’re playing an effect, focused on our behavior as opposed to what creates that behavior. Part of being an intelligent actor is having the ability to translate an “effect direction” into something actable or doable. For instance: can I get more specific so that this feeds me more? Why am I saying this? What’s happening in the scene? What is the big idea?

This week’s episode can be applied to any part of the process. You always want to give yourself permission to let your mind wander through, make discoveries and absorb information, be it about a character trait, their relationship to a certain fact, what is going on for them, or what the play is about. It’s okay not to know. In fact, “knowing” anything too quickly can be a hindrance to the creative process, the millions of possibilities that exist and the depth necessary to dig when building a human being. Brought to you by weaudition.com and anchor.fm I Don’t an Acting Class (the book!) is out November 1st. Pre-order at idontneedanactingclass.com

Two of Milton’s students are currently starring in an off-Broadway musical, and this week he discusses his recent work with them. He talks about the similarities between the structure of a film and the structure of a musical. In (almost) every scene there is a song, which takes place because the circumstances become so heightened that the only thing one can do in that moment is to sing; and like in film, each scene turns, (i.e. a big change happens and usually it’s during a song.)

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 

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 confident, but finding where they have self-doubt could be a revelation. It’s these internal conflicts that are the character’s central problem. They are tortured not by the society in which they live, but their own psyche. Have an acting question for Milton? Email us at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

Film Genres

Genre Conventions are specific settings, roles, events, and values that define individual genres and their sub-genres.

1. Love Story
1. Buddy Salvation
2. Road Picture
3. Horror Film
1. Uncanny – source of horror is astound but subject to “rational” explanation – such as beings from outer space, science-made monsters, or a maniac.
2. Supernational – in which the source of horror is an “irrational” phenomenon from the spirit realm.
3. Super-Uncanny – in which the audience is kept guessing between the other two possibilities
4. Modern Epic – individual versus the state – Spartacus, Erin Brockovich
5. Western
6. War Genre
1. Pro-war – covertly glorifying war
2. Anti-war
7. Maturation Plot – Coming of age Story
8. Redemption Plot – film arcs on a moral change within the protagonist from bad to good
9. Punitive Plot – good guy turns bad and is punished
10. Testing Plot – stories of will power versus temptation to surrender – Forest Gump
11. Education Plot – Deep change within the protagonist’s view of life, people, or self from the negative (naïve, distrustful, fatalistic, self0hating) to the positive (wise, trusting, optimistic, self-possessed)
12. Disillusionment Plot – a deep change of worldview from the positive to the negative – Great Gatsby, Macbeth
13. Comedy
1. Parody
2. Satire
3. Sitcom
4. Romantic
5. Screwball
6. Farce
7. Black Comedy
8. Bro Comedy
14. Crime
1. Murder Mystery (master detective POV)
2. Caper (master criminal’s POV)
3. Detective (cop’s POV)
4. Gangster (crook’s POV)
5. Thriller or Revenge Tale (victim’s POV)
6. Courtroom (lawyer’s POV)
7. Newspaper (reporter’s POV)
8. Espionage (spy’s POV)
9. Prison Drama (inmate’s POV)
10. Film Noir (POV of a protagonist who may be part criminal, part detective, part victim of a femme fatale)
15. Social Drama – problems in society 0 poverty, the education system, then constructs a story demonstrating a cure.
1. Domestic Drama (family problems)
2. Woman’s film (dilemmas such as career versus family, lover versus children)
3. Political Drama (corruption in politics)
4. Eco-Drama (battles to save the environment)
5. Medical Drama
6. Psycho-Drama
16. Action/Adventure
1. High Adventure
2. Disaster/Survival Film
17. Historical Drama
18. Biography – must have point of view Gandhi becomes the hero of a Modern Epic, Nixon suffers from Punitive Plot
19. Docu-Drama
20. Mockumentary
21. Musical
22. Science Fiction – often marry the man0against0state Modern Epic with Action/Adventure: Star Wars
23. Sports Genre - a natural home for Maturation Plot, Redemption Plot, Education Plot, Punitive Plot, Testing Plot, Disillusionment Plot, Beddy Salvation, Social Drama.
24. Fantasy
25. Animation
26. Art Film

In this episode, Milton walks us through the shift that took place in the late 19th century when writers began writing about real people. Plays became much more complex and based on the interior life of their middle class characters, as opposed to being centered around the aristocracy which was larger than life and less personally relatable to an audience. Therefore, a new form of acting was called for. Have a question for Milton? Email him at questionsformilton@gmail.com

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe

This episode is a five minute rant from Milton about how we don’t find our lives interesting, which is why we often discourage the approach of “using our own lives” for a part. We fail to see the greatness in our own lives and the universal themes that run through them. We tell our own stories in a removed, almost clinical tone as if we were reporting the news. And so when using our lived experience, our performances reflect that lack of size. Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

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 out what each of us needs in order to do that. Have an acting question for Milton or want to register for his upcoming workshop in March 2023? Email us at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

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. 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

As actors, we are the musician, instrument, composer and conductor. Therefore, there are certain technicalities we have to be aware of that have little or nothing to do with being truthful. Since real life is often boring, it’s not enough for our work to be truthful, it also has to be interesting. Brought to you by weaudition.com and anchor.fm I Don’t an Acting Class- the book is out November 1st. Pre-order at idontneedanactingclass.com

The ability to identify what’s going on in any given scene from an actor’s perspective is very important. Instead of getting bogged down in all the elements of the scene— specifically the plot and what your character is going through emotionally— we have to be able to take those facts and translate them into a clear action that activates us. If the action does not bring us to life, we have to find another one that does. This is like a gateway to freedom for the actor, a key that will free you up and allow you to access your creativity and spontaneity within the scene. Have a question for Milton? Email him at questionsformilton@gmail.com Brought to you by Anchor.fm and weaudition.com

Or we should say: everything must be magical. To YOU. This week’s episode is a lesson in connecting. We hear a student, Grace, go from “reporting” to “experiencing.” A big part of “getting it” is understanding the purpose of talking out. Once you understand what it’s for, then it becomes easier to make a good choice and “go there.” And when that happens, you no longer have to work so hard. The impulse of the character and circumstance take you over and magic happens. 

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 

The lineage of this podcast is derived from the teaching of Stanislavsky and Milton’s teacher Stella Adler, who, among other things, taught her students to aspire towards the big ideas we communicate as actors, (ideas which are far bigger than us.) This is the thrill of acting— entering a different universe, a different skin. It is always a chance for growth. “Your attitude shouldn’t be: oh, I have to build that,” says Milton, “but rather I get to build that. Every fact of a play affords you a fabulous opportunity.” Have a question for Milton? Email him at questionsformilton@gmail.com

When creating a character, it’s important to take yourself out of the mix. If you don’t, you’ll bring the character down to you, falling back on how you would react to the given circumstances, as opposed to taking stock of what you know about the character, and building a human being based on those facts. If you know where the character ends up— being a success— then you can further examine the nature of that fact: what is the makeup of a successful person? How do they operate in the world? What do they do? Also, this episode is worth listening to just to hear Milton talk about Wu-Tang.

One of our listeners recently began work as a series regular on a new show, and found herself a little lost because of the lack of information she’s been given about her character. When you don’t know where your character came from or is headed, how do you create a three-dimensional human being? How do you approach material when you’ve been given so few facts and there is so much unknown? Do you just make it up? What if you get the character all wrong? In this special episode, Milton invites actor and former student Grant Show (Dynasty, Melrose Place) to class to address what is a complex but common situation in which so many actors find themselves, both in auditions and on actual jobs. Have a question for Milton? Email him at questionsformilton@gmail.com Brought to you by Anchor.fm and weaudition.com

Talking out or improvising text helps us connect to what we’re talking out, sometimes by way of letting us know we are lying. In that sense, talking out is like a lie detector. It’s a way of self-assessing our own work. For example, if we’re bored, that means we’re not bringing ourselves to life, which means we haven’t earned it. Will don’t believe it and neither will anyone else. Milton also makes it clear what talking out isn’t: it’s not performing, it’s not standup comedy, it’s not telling a story. It’s solely meant to connect, or begin experiencing the character and circumstances.

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 

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

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 therefore become creatively strangled), you’re forced to get clear about what it is that you’re doing. 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 

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠⁠⁠

Have you ever worried that studying and honing a technique as an actor will destroy your natural ability? Is acting just about being "natural"? In this first episode of I Don't Need an Acting Class, Milton answers the question: "why take an acting class?"

How did we end up studying acting in the first place? In this episode, Milton puts his teaching in context by giving us a brief history of modern acting technique; from 19th-century realism to Konstantin Stanislavky and the American teachers who adapted his principals and revolutionized the American acting landscape.

Stanislavsky never wanted a set vocabulary of acting. The words he used were an outgrowth of the creative work he was doing with actors. They pointed to ideas that brought actors to life, gave them something to hold onto. In other words, it was never *about* the words. Nowadays, we've become so focused on vocabulary, it's lost its meaning. So instead of asking yourself: what’s your action in the scene?” It might be more helpful to ask: “why are you going out there?” Or, “why am I telling you this?” Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at questionsformilton@gmail.com Brought to you by weaudition.com

One effective way to uncover your action in a scene is to ask: what is going on with him/her/them/you? Actions, as we refer to them in acting, are often misunderstood as “activity” or “plot.” The true action is what’s going on beneath all of that, internally, within the character. It is what you are really doing to your scene partner(s) in order to get something. Asking yourself “what is going on?” gives you a broader view of your given circumstances, and your relationships, therefore helping you find something truly active to play. I Don't Need an Acting Class is sponsored by weaudition.com

Actors often ask: “how is this character like me?” But unless we know how the characters we play are different from us, it’s hard not to fall back on playing ourselves, or a variation thereof. Knowing the clear differences in how you and your character approach the world is the first step in finding actable character traits that will help you eventually embody this human being. Brought to you by weaudition.com

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠⁠⁠

It’s true that your talent is in your choices, but that’s not all there’s to it. Your choices must serve the central idea of the play, and must be consistent with the given circumstances of your character. And yet, making a good choice is still not enough. You have to understand what the cost is of your choices and then earn them emotionally. Lastly, we must strive towards creating something enigmatic: good theater. 

Thank you for your questions so far! If you’ve sent in a question, we have not forgotten you, and Milton will address them in upcoming episodes. Send all questions and comments to: questionsformilton@gmail.com

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 specific character traits. We also cover: whether or not personalities change, how to avoid a one-dimensional character portrayal, and the importance of being able to play a wide range of different human beings. Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

“If you’re waiting for the director to help you, you’re going to be dead in the water,” says Milton. This episode is about taking ownership of your process, how you work. This builds confidence and independence as actors. Most directors don’t understand how we do what we do, so we have to be able to translate their effect-directions into something doable. Also, we never want to feel that our performance is dependent on a director. We do however, want to be able to depend on our process, always. This empowers us and allows us to take pride in our work as creative artists.

If you want to create characters that have depth, that is work that you have to do. The script won’t give it to you, and the director definitely won’t give it to you. This requires asking the question: what kind of person would do this/say this? And then, really slowing down as we explore. We must be careful not to jump too fast to a conclusion or make an assumption based on a cliche, or our own limited experience. And, we must spend time digging deep to understand the complexity of the person. As Milton says in one of our very first episodes: “Begin as if you know nothing.” Brought to you by weaudition.com and anchor.fm 

In this episode, Milton talks about the difference between acting as an art form and acting to “get a job,” and how one is much more fulfilling than the other. The Art of Acting is about the pursuit of uncovering the essence, or human spirit, of the role. But that cannot be found overnight— it’s a journey through the complexity of the human condition. Part of our job, as actors is to actively make an effort to connect to other human beings and our own human emotion, especially during a time when we’re isolated from others and cut off from ourselves. “You become a better person when you become an actor,” says Milton. “It broadens you.”

As we approach a play and begin letting the facts simmer in our imagination, we can begin to ask questions, as though we are interviewing our character. There are no right or wrong questions and no two actors will ask the same ones. Your own personal exploration becomes part of your signature on the role. But here’s the rub: we cannot answer these questions based on our own limited personal experience, or from the cliches we have absorbed from film and television. We need to do research. What does that look like? Watching interviews and documentaries, or even better: talking to real people who share your character’s attributes and circumstances. The joy of research is that it opens us up to worlds beyond our own where we can shop for choices that feed us and help us build a 3-dimensional human.

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 introduces the Strindberg one-act Playing with Fire, he talks about two defining characteristics of the playwright: class, and the struggle between the sexes. Have an acting question for Milton or want to register for his upcoming workshop in March 2023? Email us at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

There’s a difference between getting the job and getting the part. And if we want to elevate ourselves to doing great work and truly “get the part,” then we have to understand that the key lies in discerning a plot problem from a soul problem. Your character’s soul problem is what runs deep. It’s what’s really going on, underneath the plot. This is not about getting the answer right, it’s an exploration that begins when you start rehearsal and in some ways, never ends. We must keep asking: what is going on with this person, beneath what they are saying? What “soul problem” is this human being wrestling with? Have a question for Milton? Email him at questionsformilton@gmail.com Brought to you by Anchor.fm and weaudition.com

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 direction you’ve ever received? Send us a voice message (link below ⬇️), or an email at ⁠questionsformilton@gmail.com⁠

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠⁠⁠

Contrary to popular belief, just because you can answer “who, what, why, where, when” and “what do I want?” doesn’t mean you can act. Stella Adler said: “Facts are death to the actor until they’re fed through the imagination and become the *experience* of the facts.” Tune into this episode to learn how you can allow the facts of a play to simmer within you and bring you to life.

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe

This week, Milton reminds us of the importance of having a specific relationship with everything and everyone around you. According to Stella Adler, the director’s job is to tell you where to enter, hit your marks and exit; your job is to fill in all the blanks, and we have limitless possibilities at our finger tips when it comes to choices. You are never in a place and time about which you have no point of view. You should never stare out a window blankly with no relationship to what you’re looking at. You should never have the same relationship to everything and everyone in a scene. These are all opportunities we must take advantage of, in order to give us depth as actors.

This week, Milton continues the conversation of expanding the characters we play far beyond ourselves. While it’s true that our choices must feed us as actors, our choices must also feed our characters (who don’t know they are living out our choices— they’re just living their lives— and will respond to our choices differently than we will.) In this episode Milton uses the example of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, and how even though he may instinctively understand different aspects Willy’s circumstances because of his own life experience, he also instinctively doesn’t start with himself and explores the choices that feed both him and Willy. Have a question for Milton? Email him at questionsformilton@gmail.com

If there’s one word all actors are familiar with it’s “objective.” But how often is the idea of “objective” a practical tool and how often is it an albatross around our necks? Stanislavsky wanted acting vocabulary to come out of common usage, and he wanted it to free us, not cripple us. Today we examine where the word came from, and whether the concept of “objective” was even Stanislavsky’s in the first place.

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 character and talk out as them. Most importantly, you want to get specific in your choices so it excites you as much it would if you were telling a favorite story. Have an acting question for Milton? Send a voice note or email us at: questionsformilton@gmail.com 

In this episode Milton shares how his “Talking Out” technique was born in order to clarify how it can best work for us as actors. We talk out in order to take ownership of what we are talking about, little by little. Instead of feeling the pressure to deliver a “performance,” we start where we are, even if it means we are not as connected as we want to be, or will eventually be. This is what Stella Adler meant when she said: “I can believe this much today.” We start small, just with what we, ourselves, can believe, and then we build on that. In each rehearsal, we come back and make more discoveries, get more specific, and more connected. Have a question for Milton? Email him at questionsformilton@gmail.com Brought to you by Anchor.fm and weaudition.com

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠⁠⁠

It can often be overwhelming if you think about the massive responsibility we have as actors and all the many pieces we must fully own before it all comes together to create an illusion that looks and sounds like the truth. We can’t master everything at once and if we try to, we’ll become paralyzed like the centipede who forgot how to walk when he realized each leg was doing something different. Therefore, we must focus on one thing at a time, layering each element onto the one before it, like the bricks that make up a house. “And then all of sudden, one day,” Milton says, “this fantasy happens where you don’t know where you end and the character begins. And you begin to see the world in that particular way. But slow and steady wins the race.”

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠⁠⁠

We have so many tools and techniques as actors that we can easily forget what the missing link is. Or what might help us when we find ourselves stuck. So it’s helpful to step back and ask ourselves: what are the things that I know? What are the acting tools that I have? One of those tools that is often forgotten is the idea. The idea of the play/film, or looking at our character *as an idea*. Often it can be the element that frees us up and helps us make strong choices. Brought to you by weaudition.com and anchor.fm I Don’t an Acting Class- the book is out now! Order at idontneedanactingclass.com

This episode, an excerpt from Milton’s Script Analysis class, examines the importance’s of understanding the deeply human struggle of the playwright and how those struggles are infused into their characters. Using The Glass Menagerie, Milton talks about letting the “active facts” about a character seep into the actor’s consciousness over time, keeping in mind the enormity of the theme that the character represents. “One of the problems we have is that we don’t have a sense of our own personal struggles as being a big idea.” Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

Milton Plays A Car Mechanic

The point of this episode is that, while we always need to work hard to make our work believable and interesting, there are times where you might have to work even harder because of your limited imagination and/or life experience. Such as the example provided in this week’s episode: Milton working on a car. This, in life, has never and most likely, will never happen. And a big part of our talent is know what it’s going to take to get there for us as individuals, playing a specific part. We have to be able to identify what it’s going to take for us to earn it.

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 

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠⁠⁠

In this episode, Milton talks about how writing and thinking are great ways for actors to avoid acting, and offers a practical technique that allows us to fully own (and earn) our character’s reality, or in other words: make a complete lie sound like the truth. Email your questions to: questionsformilton@gmail.com

We've all been there. You look at your script and see something that resembles a list. What do most actors do? They act it as a list and by doing so, sound like they're running down a dull inventory of groceries. There's no connection to what they're talking about, no specific choices made, and therefore, no real human being with a past standing before us. This is an episode about having a specific relationship to everything you talk about. You never want to miss the opportunity to build each element specifically. Nothing is a throwaway, everything is something. And the more detailed you are, the more you'll come to life.

“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 also lightheartedly admitted that his co-star Willem Defoe, and even the film’s director, Yorgos Lanthimos questioned his outrageous character choices. “Willem said to me first day on set, he’s like: “Are you out of your fucking mind?”

In the end, Ruffalo was so grateful for the opportunity to take risks and push himself this far: “It was so liberating. You’re always trying to throw your elbows out to stay one step ahead of what people expect of you as an actor. I get bored, you know? And I wanna keep being challenged.”

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. Hunter Will, a disgraced evangelical who has let his own fundamentalist beliefs ruin his entire life, is presented with an option-hold on to his beliefs, or give them up and accompany his new love interest to a Lutheran service on Sunday. But when pushed, he clings to his former belief. WILL: Believe in what? Believe in the Lutheran Church, some branch of some branch of some branch of Christianity, some vapid, meaningless organization that's going to legislate my belief system instead of looking to God's word for it? You work at a Hobby Lobby, Anna. Before that you worked at Walmart, JC Penney, McDonald's, Barnes and Noble, and now we both work here. Your life is meaningless, my life is meaningless, and the only thing that gives any meaning, that brings any hope to this life is my unshakeable belief that God will come again in glory to replace this disgusting life with something new, and pure, and meaningful- And you could take the easy route, you could go to a liberal church, and believe in nothing, believe that God is unknowable and we'll never know the meaning of life, you'll go to college and get a degree in English or Philosophy or Art or Economics and you'll spend your life searching in the dark, trying to find meaning in meaninglessness- become one of those people who sit around in their fashionable clothes with their fashionable friends and call us bigots, and fanatics, and hicks, calling us idiots for actually believing in something, for standing for truth— (losing himself) AND THESE PEOPLE WILL BURN IN HELL, YOU WILL BURN IN HELL BECAUSE INSTEAD OF SEEKING TRUTH YOU MOCK IT, YOU INSULT IT, YOU SPIT IN THE FACE OF GOD AND HE WILL— 

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 you come back to the play, you’ll know how they behave.”

Have an acting question? Send us a voice message (link below ⬇️), or an email at questionsformilton@gmail.com
WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe

Email Walker at questionsformilton@gmail.com for more information or to register.

www.idontneedanactingclass.com

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe

Blocking should always come out of what is really going on in each scene. And as your emotional understanding of what’s happening becomes clearer and more profound, the blocking with naturally change. Unless the director is hugely conceptual, (and therefore “setting” stage pictures, they will welcome this. It comes back to the idea that while very few directors understand the acting process, they nevertheless expect the part to walk in the room at the audition, for our work to deepen and evolve over time, and to take their “effect direction” and translate it into something actable. Have a question for Milton? Email him at questionsformilton@gmail.com Brought to you by weaudition.com

Milton gives another round of notes to Chris who is doing a monologue from All My Sons.

Let’s face it: acting is weird. So are actors. The issues we have…the circumstances we find ourselves in are unlike that of anyone else. Some examples: How does one negotiate a love scene? What do you do when you’re on stage and you start focusing on the mole on your fellow actor’s face, pulling you completely out of the moment? Why dating a co-star is dangerous. What are the principals of “food acting”? And how does a gay cult classic film end up on The Criterion Collection? There are so many weird things that we have to know as actors that have little to do with acting.

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 

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 dial on the action, giving it weight and making it more active. Have an acting question for Milton or want to register for his upcoming workshop in March 2023? Email us at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

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 altogether to understand the meaning as an actor, which manifests itself as the ability to experience it, to understand it emotionally, in the core of our being. “As actors we have to eventually save the world because other things aren’t.” Milton says in this episode. “Our understanding of material and our understanding of life should be what affects people.” Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

As an actor, you want to be so much more than just “accurate.” You must have something going on inside of you that makes you alive on the outside. An exercise we can employ that helps us connect to the life inside of us is talking out something you love or something you hate. “You can do this if you will begin to be observers in life and not an audience in life,” Milton says in this episode. “Look at life, observe it and respond to it. You have to become involved with it.” Have a question for Milton? Email him at questionsformilton@gmail.com Brought to you by Anchor.fm and weaudition.com

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? And how does that inform the importance of what I’m saying?” 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 

Whether you’re auditioning for a pilot or in rehearsal for a Clifford Odets play, our jobs as actors is to launch, imaginatively, into the world of the piece, and open ourselves to its influence. But how do we build this world? By talking out one believable moment at a time and knowing we have to earn what we create. Have a question or comment? Email us at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe

It’s something every actor can relate to: you walk in the room, onstage on in front of the camera. Your heart is racing, your mouth is dry, and before you even speak, you know your nerves are getting the best of you. In that moment, instead of trusting all the work you’ve done and living off the given circumstances, you fall back into “performance mode,” that same, old, tired gimmicky “thing” you’ve been getting by on all your life. This, according to Milton, is just part of the process. Eventually, we begin to trust that the work we’ve done is in us and it’s enough. Brought to you by weaudition.com 

This week, we return to the Russian word Rasbor, which means “to dig down” beneath what you’re talking about to get to the big, cosmic idea. This is a new way of thinking in terms of acting, a muscle that we’re not accustomed to exercising. When we talk about our characters, it should never be about accuracy, or information or words. When we talk about our characters, it should be in a way that shows we understand, experientially, the meaning of the idea. How do we get there? Through “Rasbor.” We must scratch the surface of our impressions and discoveries to reach the true meaning, or big idea, of what we’re talking about. This connects us, vitally, to the character, bringing us to life and giving us something to hold onto.

There comes a point, especially when doing a long run that your choices dry up and no longer have the emotional effect on you they once did. But part of being an actor is never allowing our relationship to anything dissipate. Therefore, we don’t ever want to try and recreate what we did last time, or “bring in our homework.” Instead, we have to keep finding new things that activate our talent, making sure our choices keep feeding us. Your creative process must be an endless pursuit where you’re always looking for something else to keep it interesting for you, and to keep you alive on stage. Brought to you by weaudition.com and anchor.fm I Don’t an Acting Class- the book is out now! Order at idontneedanactingclass.com

Become a subscriber on Spotify for bonus content!

⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe

Last episode we talked about theme. This week, we continue that conversation but make the distinction between truly big ideas and everything else. Big ideas affect all of us, they shape civilization. As actors, our understanding of a big idea has to go beyond our own personal relationship to it in order for us to communicate the idea that the writer intended. This is what is meant by “raising ourselves up to the size of the idea,” as opposed to bringing it down to our limited human experience.

Stanislavsky’s Method of Acting was born out of trial and error. He was not a natural talent. Had he been, we probably would not have been gifted with his discoveries of the craft. By analyzing his students’ successes and failures, and his own, he created techniques that were practical and coaxed the actor “toward the inner most source of their creativity.” Brought to you by weaudition.com

When breaking down a script, a profoundly important question to consider is: how does the time period in which this play takes place affect my character? It’s not just something you want to understand intellectually; it has to affect you experientially. The time frame is an enormous part of the given circumstances and we must take the time to consider how it influences our characters’ behavior. In this episode, Milton applies this concept to Bernie Dodd in The Country Girl, and how the 1950’s attitude towards the arts affects his mentality and gives him something to play against. “A play exists in a world,” Milton says. “And we need to figure out how my character does or does not fit into this world.” Have a question for Milton? Email him at questionsformilton@gmail.com

Our job, as actors is so much more profound than playing the part and getting applause. As Stella Adler’s father said to her: “We need to make it better for them.” When we understand what the play is fundamentally saying to the audience, and what your character represents, it not only gives us something to hold onto, but something to aspire to, lift ourselves up to. It is a universal human idea or lesson that the audience will be better for having learned when they leave the theater. Plus, Milton goes off on Wesley at the end for “trying to get it right”, so that’s fun. Brought to you by weaudition.com

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 pacing have no idea *why* the pacing needs to change, and so they don’t know how to direct the actor to change it. In so many cases, the actor runs the risk of just “doing it faster” without any regard for *what* will help achieve that result and *why* it needs to be be achieved. He also takes a question from a listener, (James) who asks about casting based on your credits. 

Thank you for a wonderful season! If you have an acting question while we’re on break, send us a voice message (link below ⬇️), or an email at questionsformilton@gmail.com and Milton will send you a personal audio response. 

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe

In life, we usually don't relive a painful experience when we're talking about it. That doesn't mean it doesn't affect us. It's just that we're not actively trying to "go there." In fact, usually we resist going there with all of our being.

The same should be true when we're acting. We must build the character's past, but that doesn't mean our action is to relive it. This is another example of trusting the work we've done is *in us* and playing the action of the scene.

And if the scene does call for you to "go there," it's important to give yourself somewhere to go. This has to do with knowing where you're going and where you are in the context of the character's journey.

*If you want to access the video version of this bonus episode, you can watch it on Spotify.

www.idontneedanactingclass.com

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠⁠⁠

Welcome to Season 5 of I Don’t Need an Acting Class! Milton begins the season asking the class to reflect on their biggest takeaways and revelations. Among them: how easy it is to jump to a performance; how researching the time period and social circumstances helps our creativity come alive; how the more we know about the world we’re in, the more we're able to believe that world and understand our characters' behavior; the importance of making choices that we love and bringing ourselves up to the big ideas we’re working with. Have an acting question for Milton? Email him at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

Dear listeners, We're gonna take a short break before we return with Season 5. In the meantime, please keep your acting questions coming. You can email Milton at: questionsformilton@gmail.com Thank you so much!

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠⁠⁠

In this episode, Milton muses on the Stella Adler quote: "Your talent is in your choices,” realizing the ways this statement has been widely misinterpreted and misunderstood. The idea has crippled actors because we’re so busy trying to come up with brilliant choices, it paralyzes us. We want the opposite. We want to be freed up when we are acting. What makes a good choice? It isn’t something clever or plot based. A choice is more personal than that. If it feeds you, brings you to life, then it's good. “The technique is meant to free you up not cripple you,” says Milton. “And the amazing choices come out of those freed up moments.”

In this episode, Milton discusses the importance of understanding specific relationships to text and sequence of thoughts. The discussion highlights a common actor's problem of moving too quickly to performance without fully understanding the text's underlying thoughts and relationships. The episode concludes with practical examples of how to break down and connect with text by being more specific about your relationship to each thought.

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe⁠⁠⁠

In every play, there’s a big, universal, cosmic idea, (or theme.) It’s what the writer wants to communicate. As actors we must know what this big idea is. We won’t know what it is right away- our rehearsal process is our discovery process. But eventually, in order to play the part, we have to reach this understanding. Once we do, we must raise ourselves up to the size of the idea, making sure that all of our choices feed into it.

This episode gets back to the HUGE topic of using your own life, featuring an in-depth conversation amongst the class. It culminates with the following ideas: even though Stella Adler advised against using your own life and experience because it limits you, it’s impossible to take you out of the work. When you use your imagination instead of searching for how you can “relate” to your character, whatever comes up emotionally for you is the result of your own personal, emotional well. Your life is still going to be there in your performance because it’s you! But that is simply the result, not some place that we should start.

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 

When building a craft, it’s important that we actively put to use the tools and techniques that we’ve learned. Otherwise we’ll keep “winging it”, hoping and praying that it lands. Also, kicking ass on an exercise doesn’t mean that we’ve mastered the concept. We must be disciplined, practicing the techniques over and over again in order to integrate them into our way of working, and eventually it becomes second nature. This is about understanding that “connecting” and “being believable” isn’t enough. If the goal is to become a great actor, we must keep pushing ourselves, asking ourselves: what else could I try here? What technique could I apply to what I’m working on that will help me go deeper?

Welcome back to the podcast and Happy New Year! Milton begins Season 4 of I Don’t Need an Acting Class responding to the misconception that as actors, “all we have is ourselves”— a statement that sounds logical but couldn’t be further from the truth. Only using ourselves as actors can limit us and lock us into choices that come out of our feelings, judgements and perspectives on our characters. In the end, your work is a result of multiple factors: you and your choices, your knowledge of the play, and the research you’ve done to understand the circumstances, the world of the play, time period, your character, the big idea of the play and how your character fits into that. But throughout this process, you must be able to discern what is you and what is the character. Have a question for Milton? Email him at questionsformilton@gmail.com

Somewhere in the process of creating a character, it’s helpful to step back and ask ourselves: why are we doing this play? Why are the characters we’re playing important? Why bother in the first place? The answers will begin moving you in the direction of a theme, and remind you that big ideas about the human struggle are timeless and vitally relevant, right now. It's also helpful to ask your character "why questions" about who they are and what is important to them. Asking these questions helps to connect you, the actor, to your character, as well as capture their essence in a three dimensional way. 

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, what we end up with is something that lacks depth and complexity. The bottom line is: the mistake is almost impossible NOT to make. The key is: catching ourselves in The Biggest Sin, and coming back to the starting line, giving ourselves permission to really sit with the facts and see what questions occur to us, perhaps do some research and see what sparks some fire within us. If you have the luxury of time, allow yourself the space to build the role, piece by piece, layer by layer.

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 

This week, Milton explores a few of the ways we can gain insight into character. We can observe a stranger on the street and then, using a specific character trait, improvise a monologue as that person. We can also examine the events that contribute to a person’s identity. The crucial lesson here is that we never stop searching, never stop digging to find the complexity of a human being. Finally, Milton shares a “talking out” exercise Shane did which is a great example of allowing yourself to wander until you find something that brings you to life. 

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 

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!

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 emailing me, Walker, at: questionsformilton@gmail.com Hope to see you soon!

www.idontneedanactingclass.com

This week’s episode is a direct response to a question from one of our listeners. Belen from Argentina wanted to know what to do when she’s in the middle of a scene and suddenly remembers none of it is real. Email your questions to: questionsformilton@gmail.com

As you gain a deeper understanding of the role you’re playing through analysis and rehearsal, it’s important that we give ourselves permission for our actions, or impulses, to change. It’s not something static that we decide in advance. And, if an action becomes stale and is no longer bringing you to life, it’s essential that it changes. Brought to you by weaudition.com

In this episode, Milton takes a question from Benjamin in Canada who asked him to clarify an idea from our episode The Biggest Sin: beginning your work on a play as if you know nothing. Another way to say that is: begin your work with a mindset of assuming nothing. If you assume you already know about a fact of your character or the circumstances of the play, you’ll neglect to dig deeper and end up just throwing it away, thus making your performance cliche or 2-dimensional. Nothing is inconsequential. Every single fact is an opportunity to ask yourself: what does that really mean? How do I feel about it? The deeper we dig into the facts, and the more specific we get, the more they will feed us, and bring us to life.

“Raising the stakes” is an expression we hear a lot in the world of acting technique. In this episode, Milton gives you very practical ideas and exercises that will help you raise the stakes. These are practices you can apply to any project you’re working on that will help to turn the dial. “The reason practical techniques like this are so useful,” says Milton, “is that, without artificially raising the stakes and playing an effect, it allows you to be more active.” Have a question for Milton? Email him at questionsformilton@gmail.com Brought to you by weaudition.com

We often run into trouble when we try to recreate a performance. This is because the action “to do what I did yesterday” is different from the action that made you DO what you did yesterday. But there are ways to avoid falling into this trap. In this episode, Milton gives examples of adjustments you can make so that the circumstances keep feeding you and the performance stays alive.

Two topics are covered in this episode: our tendency to be disconnected from what you’re talking about, and our tendency to be disconnected from what’s going on with you in the scene. We shy away from being truly connected because it means vulnerability, it means “going there.” Even if you’re talking about something simple or you’re in a moment that’s not particularly heightened, when we’re connected, we’re revealing ourselves. It’s why we fall back on an analytical tone. Because it keeps us removed. Milton also talks about the importance of being active at all times, whether we’re speaking or not. A great way to listen actively is to talk out your reaction to what another character is saying. This creates an internal monologue so that something is always “going on” with you, whether you’re listening or looking out of a window. 

*This episode is in audio and video format. To watch the video version, find it on the Spotify app.

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 

It’s ironic that in this present global, digital age where information travels at the speed of light, we feel so emotionally disconnected to what’s happening in our world, whether in our own country or on the other side of the globe. Perhaps our access to all of it has desensitized us. This has affected our acting because of our inability to understand big ideas. “It’s not enough to be truthful or emotionally connected to it,” Milton says. “When talking about a big idea, it must have size.” Have a question for Milton? Email him at questionsformilton@gmail.com Brought to you by weaudition.com and Anchor.fm 

This week, Milton coaches Chris on a monologue from All My Sons. This episode is both audio and video. You can watch the video version on Spotify.

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 

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 question? Send us a voice message (link below ⬇️), or an email at questionsformilton@gmail.com

WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content!

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe

Cultivating the imagination was one of Stella Adler's core tenets as an acting teacher. But the idea of the imagination is often misunderstood when actors assume that their imagination is limited to their experience. We must inform and enrich our imaginations in order to broaden it as an instrument. When educated, the imagination becomes a much more useful tool. This is why it’s so important to do research, immerse ourselves in the character’s timeline and the period in which they live. If you can get a full picture of the world your character lives in, you then get a much clearer sense of how he or she fits into that world, which is essential in order to fully live off the facts of the play. 

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 it affect us, filtering it into the emotional part of our instrument. Have an acting question for Milton or want to register for his upcoming workshop in March 2023? Email us at: questionsformilton@gmail.com

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 us outside of ourselves, enabling us to immerse ourselves in pages and pages of another perspective. And we can begin visualizing behavior, physicality and mindset. 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 

“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 also lightheartedly admitted that his co-star Willem Defoe, and even the film’s director, Yorgos Lanthimos questioned his outrageous character choices. “Willem said to me first day on set, he’s like: “Are

you out of your fucking mind?”

In the end, Ruffalo was so grateful for the opportunity to take risks and push himself this far: “It was so liberating. You’re always trying to throw your elbows out to stay one step ahead of what people expect of you as an actor. I get bored, you know? And I wanna keep being challenged.”

Milton will be teaching a six-week sᴄʀɪᴘᴛ ᴀɴᴀʟʏsɪs ᴡᴏʀᴋsʜᴏᴘ beginning on Wednesday, January 12th, 2022. I know many of you have expressed interest in taking his class since the beginning of the podcast— and this is your chance! 😄 Class is limited to 20 students— first come, first serve. $500 for the six weeks, BUT— the first 5 people to register before the new year can take advantage of this workshop for the promo rate of $400. Email Walker at questionsformilton@gmail.com if interested!