In preparation for my London trips in March and May, I am reflecting on some of the key points that have brought clarity to my work with actors.
Actors are always researching ways to understand the roles they are preparing. At times, the stories they need to embody are based on people and circumstances that may remind them of their own struggles, personal experiences, or conditioning.
One of the core elements of my work is to shed light on the misconception that you need to suffer or hurt yourself emotionally to deliver a meaningful performance or portray a painful story effectively. This is a major misunderstanding!
Today, with the opportunity to share this video—filmed during last year’s October Mentorship in Crete—I will focus on the potential of connecting with and understanding our darkness, rather than using it for the sake of acting and risking self-harm, and explain my approach on how to safely deliver an emotional performance.
When circumstances feel too close to home, I encourage you to take note of them, explore them, and resolve them on a personal level. This leads to both personal and artistic freedom. When this happens, performances become truly remarkable as they reflect the actor’s deeper understanding of themselves, and consequently, of the character.
Until that personal resolution takes place, I teach approaches that are kind to the self when working on a character. Trust me, the results are always mind-blowing. The work I do with you is a technical exploration of how presence, embodiment, and deconditioning can guide you to work with yourself, not against yourself.
It is one-dimensional and deeply self-destructive to rely solely on painful experiences for acting. In my view, this does not qualify as art. Art is about elevation and catharsis—not about recycling trauma.
I am looking forward to explore the themes of elevation and catharsis, as opposed to recycling trauma, during my upcoming Masterclasses in London this March and May!
My warmest wishes 🤍
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