01. What Technique Do You Teach?

Actually, unlike many acting teachers, I don’t teach an acting technique and actually help actors let go of technique. This allows their talent and instincts to freely explore the never ending living truth of each moment unencumbered by rules and obligations of how to act. Over the past forty plus 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," of a particular technique. Many actors join my acting class with a technique—and then realize, with great relief, the benefit of letting it go and working 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. At the time, I didn’t know how much those techniques were choking my creativity, putting me in my head, and blocking my instincts. I realized that the way you work has to inspire you, free you and be effortless for you.

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