Every agent you have ever met will tell you that classes are absolutely necessary and inevitable. To many actors, classes are just another part of life; like it or not you have to take them. I used to firmly believe this to be true as well. Even though I hated my acting class and just couldn’t find one that was interesting or fun to me, I had decided that they were a necessary evil. If you have ever felt this way about an acting class, keep reading. If you haven’t, keep reading still because there’s some great information here for you as well.
If you haven’t been able to find the acting class that is right for you then I have a possible solution. The majority of classes I have been to are about two things, audition technique, and character work. I have found that through self-submitting on sites like backstage, I have been able to get a lot of practice on those two things specifically. Getting upwards of five auditions a week from these sites, I always find that those are the two things that I gain the most from this. How else am I supposed to come up with a clever way to say the lines if I’m not using character development skills?
When I walk into a self-submit audition room, I treat it as though I am auditioning for something my agents got for me. Why wouldn’t I? After all? That is the best way to get the experience that I am looking for! My primary reason for taking acting classes is to feel like I own the room when I walk into an audition. You’d figure that if you just keep walking into audition rooms time and time again acting like you own the place, eventually it’ll happen automatically. So that’s what I go for every time I get an audition, even if it is for a student film or one of those medical instructional videos! You are what you practice!
If you have found an acting class that you love and that makes your acting bug smile in delight then great for you! A class can be a great way to meet fellow actors and network with them, you can also learn some invaluable things. If you are like me and haven’t found that acting class that does it for you yet, I urge you to join me in the school of life and real like audition practice as cheesy as it may sound. I think you will find that you are able to get just as much out of the audition method, if not even more than a class.