How to Choose the Right Acting Class

My criteria in looking for an acting class is always I want to know the reputation of the teacher. I want to know if they work with professional actors or if they are just a regular acting class. It's important that they have a good reputation because their name is gonna go on my resume. I also want to know how long they've been in business and who they studied under. For me, when it comes to acting class, it really doesn't matter if you're just starting out as an actor or you've been in the game for a long time, it's the same criteria. You want somebody who cares about the actors, who really wants to help you be the best actor you can be and it's not a cookie cutter acting teacher. I don't want somebody who's giving me the same sides that they've given everybody else in the class and we're all working off of the same sides. (Sides are a couple of pages from a script or it could be a couple of pages from a play.)

“You want somebody who cares about the actors, who really wants to help you be the best actor you can be”

I need to know that that teacher sees who I am and sees what I sell and they're giving me appropriate parts to work on it because as an actor I'm doing this because I want a career. I don't want to waste time doing parts that I'm never gonna get hired for. So part of it is knowing what it is that you sell so when you go into an acting class and making sure you're working with a teacher that knows what you sell so that you're you're sharpening your skill set according to how you're gonna be cast not just for your ego. That should come later on in your life. Once you've been working for a long time, you might want to branch out and say “I know this is what I play, but I'd like to try my hand at Shakespeare, well I'd like to try my hand doing comedy” if you were doing drama for a long time. That's different, but when you're first starting out you must focus on what it is that you sell when you go into a casting office or when you go to an agent’s office. You better know what it is that you bring to the table. So being in an acting class, if I know that what I sell is young, hip, urban I'm gonna work on parts that sharpen me as that character or or that type. Pay attention to the classes. I would suggest you audit every class! You can watch every teacher’s style of teaching so you know how they are, because some teachers are a little hard and can be a little rough with the students, some teachers are very gentle, some teachers are very efficient, they don't really want to get to know you it's like, “okay, did you do A, B, C and D that I asked you to do? You did it? Okay, great.” I think that auditing classes is a must. Before you sign up for class, sit in the class. They charge anywhere maybe from $30 to $50 for an audit (many are even free) and you can see firsthand if you like it.

“I think that auditing classes is a must.”

How are the students in the class? Do you feel comfortable? So my criteria is: great acting teacher, great references, their reputation is stellar because for me, I want to be with an acting teacher that takes their students to Oscar. That's important to me. Not only are the students working, but they have gone to the Oscars, and they're not that many teachers that have done that. But they are out there!