Actually, unlike many acting teachers, I don’t teach an acting technique. I know that might sound counterintuitive, but over the years, I’ve seen how acting techniques can get actors stuck in their heads, stressing them out because they feel obligated to follow the “rules.” Paradoxically, many actors join my acting class with a technique—and then realize the benefit of letting it go to work with my approach.

It’s kind of like that moment in Star Wars when Yoda tells Luke Skywalker, “You must unlearn what you have learned.” Only then could Luke begin to trust his own talent, instincts, and gifts to become a Jedi Knight.

I’ve personally studied several acting techniques over a twelve-year period, and in a single “aha” moment, I dropped them all. I realized that the way you work should be as effortless as breathing. At the time, I didn’t even know how much those techniques were choking my creativity, putting me in my head, and blocking my instincts.

That “aha” moment is now the foundation of what I teach in my acting classes today.