Good acting gigs in Washington D.C. do not come around just by knowing how to read lines from a script. Natural talent is great and all but a good actor and a successful actor have learned techniques and skills that make them stand out in the crowd at an audition as they already know what they need to do and how to move in front of a camera with confidence. You can’t show up to an audition like you were a lost puppy that followed the casting director home will not help you showcase your talents in Washington D.C. at all and the casting director will look at you like you piddled on the floor of the set.
When you take the opportunity to learn proper acting technique, you will be honing your own natural talents that will help you carry yourself through a successful career of your own making. Technique can help you learn how to portray a character and make them more believable and alive on set. You can learn proper technique in Washington D.C. by studying and exploring the techniques that were taught by those before you in the industry and hopefully find a style of acting that fits you and adds to your success, displaying your raw talent in a manner that really fits your unique acting style!
In Washington D.C, there are people training in many different cool and interesting acting methods and styles. Training of this nature can be found all over the globe. A cool fact is that most of the techniques you are seeing being taught are centered around the teachings from a certain Konstantin Stanislavski, he founded the Moscow Art Theatre back in 1897 and put a new spin on the acting techniques that were being taught at that time. He developed a system that has the actors researching the situation or issue created by the script and then they break down the text in accordance to the motivations the character has down to their roots. They will then recall their own experiences and then start taking actions based on the character's motivations and their own experiences. The idea is that the actor at that point is making the characters motivations their own with how the scene is played out in the script. This in turn guides the actor to have a more genuine and realistic performance. You will be surprised to find that a lot of the technique that is taught in Washington D.C. is deeply rooted in the methods taught by Stanislavski.
Students learning technique in Washington D.C. have the opportunity to learn about Lee Strasberg’s technique called “The Method”. As you start looking at different acting methods you will learn that this method is very preferred by some of the more famous actors and actresses that are working in the industry at this time. Those that have made this method their favorite technique actually includes big names like James Dean, Al Pacino and Robert Duvall. This method gained rapid popularity when the Actor’s Studio was founded by Strasberg in the 50s. Some of the greats trained there like Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Mongomery Clift learned their technique and skills there.
Relaxation is the key focus of this method and is also the starting point for this technique. When the actor has learned this series of exercises they will then know how to completely rid him or herself of all tension in their body. With their body fully relaxed; the actor or actress has the opportunity to allow themselves to experience true emotion. The actor or actress can use this true emotion to add layers to a character that they are working on portraying.
Once the actor has achieved the ultimate relaxed state; they then can learn the memory sense technique that is taught by Strasberg. The actor is asked to use their senses to recall objects from the past. One of these exercises is called the “coffee cup”. They are asked to relax and then recall the simple action of drinking from a cup of coffee. When practiced over and over, recollection should become easier with time for the actor. When the actor has learned recollection using their senses, they are then taught about emotional memory. The next method exercise used here has the actor recalling the emotions he felt in a certain moment of time. This gets accomplished by having the actor recall an indirect object that happened to be present during a moment they have been asked to recall. The best example of this would be the light switch in a room during a heated argument they had. This is done to help the actor recall the emotions of that event. Once properly trained the actor or actress will be able to use this method of recall to summon up certain emotions to use with a character they are portraying. While this method may take a lifetime to perfect, it is also one of the more believable techniques that helps actors use recall right now in Washington D.C.
Beginning actors in Washington D.C. are typically asked to explore several different techniques until they find something that fits them. It doesn’t matter which one works or if they need to use a combination of techniques as long as they find something that is going to help them as they continue their journey to a successful career in acting. Acting takes a lot of hard work and any student should take what they learn seriously. Any new actor should also seek to take classes and training courses in improv, voice and any other skills that will help them make themselves more marketable as an actor. It doesn’t hurt for anyone going into the entertainment industry to also take the time to explore writing and directing classes too. This will give you more tools to add to your toolbox and also you may find that you like writing and directing production more than you do standing in front of the camera, that is okay too. As long as the path you choose to make is one that you can show dedication to and put in the hard work you need to succeed in Washington D.C.
Washington D.C. Improv should be the first class you consider taking as a beginning actor or actress. Improv helps any actor or actress build their own confidence and can help them ready themselves for auditions they go to and can help them better develop characters. Improv is fun and the benefits of taking an improv class are endless. Improv showcases can even be a great opportunity for a beginning actor or actress to network as well and give agents and casting directors a chance to see you in Washington D.C. No matter the classes you take; it should be done with hard work and dedication, the more effort you put in the more successful you will be in Washington D.C. and will be a very fulfilling experience.
