Student Spotlight – Alan Harden

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Alan Harden

The Acting Center Student Spotlight - Alan Harden

From the moment he was born, this Air Force brat moved all over the world and never stopped—growing into a financial services career that took him to the United Kingdom, Europe, Cyprus, Dubai, Hong Kong, Scotland, Tokyo, Singapore and every point in between before arriving in Los Angeles. As markets and businesses changed in that industry, Alan perfected his poker face. As an actor, he now faces the challenge of letting down his guard and showing his emotions for auditions and on set.  Listening to him tell stories about his newfound career, he’s not only having a fantastic time, but he’s succeeding!

“I booked…simple as that. National and global commercials.”​

When did you realize that you wanted to be an actor?
Actually it was more the other way around. I retired from a career with large corporations in Financial Services and a friend who was a commercial actor asked if I had ever considered doing something like that. I had not but between a push from the actor and support of my wife, I agreed to meet the agent. I expected them to laugh and “say thanks, but no thanks,” but much to my surprise they signed me on the spot and I was auditioning a week later!

How did you get started?
By failing! I luckily got out on auditions quickly and failed even quicker! But I was super lucky, on my 3rd or 5th audition we were sent into the room in threes,  we were given some parameters but in essence had to improv a customer/Financial Services scene. Given my financial services background I was confident. I went first (rookie mistake!) and did my thing and then got to stay in and watch the other two. The next guy was good, I mean awesome. The last guy I beat (not competing!). I realized right then that if I wanted to do this I needed to learn, study, practice and get MUCH better!

When did you start studying at The Acting Center?
I went around the block and studied in several different classes and schools. None of them showed ME what I could do to get better. They all had a method I could try to adopt and copy but The Acting Center allowed me to take whatever little talent or skill I had and gave me drills and skills to improve upon what I had. They did not force me to learn a different language but just taught me how I can expand my voice.

What Happened with your career after doing the AUDITION and COMMERCIAL INTENSIVES?
I booked…simple as that, national and global commercials.  I now had a procedure to adopt and skills to execute before I got in the room allowing the performance in the room to be fun.

What at The Acing Center has helped you most?
As I said, a way to manage the process pre-audition and skills and tools to execute, allowing the room to be fun. It allows me twice a week to practice and train to keep the muscles I have developed strong and work on weaknesses, of which there are many. For example, I want to continue to grow my emotional range, I want to remember lines faster. It does not matter what the weakness is—the only way to strengthen it is to recognize it and develop a plan to strengthen it.

“The difference is the increase in the percentage of callbacks and avails and that leads to more bookings.”​

Tell us about your recent successes booking commercials, callbacks and number of avails.
I recently booked commercials for UBER, Siemens, Reverb, AAA and FlexJet. The difference is the increase in the percentage of callbacks and avails and that leads to more bookings. This is a numbers game of course skill is not the only thing in our game, you may be the best but your look does not fit. Also you may not be the best but your look fits, so I figure that evens it out. Skill matters and that is where The Acting Center fits in.

What is your favorite thing about The Acting Center?
It is a fun place full of interesting people doing their thing. There is support but no judgment. Everyone is on a journey to be better and The Acting Center provides the tools and drills to help. Thank you for letting me be part of The Acting Center and for the help, support and care.

Ready to take the plunge?
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Student Spotlight – Kristen Henry King

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Kristen Henry King

The Acting Center Student Spotlight Kristin Henry King

A native of New Orleans and born of Jamaican/Cuban and Guyanese/Portuguese lineage, Kristen Henry King began her love affair with music at the age of seven when she began learning the piano. At ten she began voice lessons and by fifteen was traveling the world as a member of the elite vocalist group, The Triple Trio.

King began to garner recognition as a lead vocalist in her hometown shortly thereafter, winning the Houston Young Artist’s ’Program and receiving a grant from the Houston Grand Opera for voice. She eventually received a Music Talent Scholarship from the prestigious New York University, where she earned a B.A. in Classical Vocal Performance.

Now bringing all of her talents to her acting career she is killing it there, too! Kristen has been studying at The Acting Center since the beginning of 2018 and is booking like crazy! Here’s what she has to say.

“this place is literally the only place where I have the ability to grow as an actor.​”

When did you realize that you wanted to be an actor?
Actually, I was a singer first—I never wanted to be an actor.

How did you get started?
I was receiving a Bachelor’s in Classical Vocal Performance at NYU and my curriculum included acting classes. I had to be able to emote and communicate as an opera singer, as I mostly sang in different languages and the only way I could do that was to “act” what I was singing.

My first class was terrifying and I never wanted to go up. I was so out of my element, but it was not long before I realized that I was in love with this new art form and it was the key to bringing life to my singing.

When did you start studying at The Acting Center?
I briefly came in at 2011 for a few months, but I was so used to being critiqued in other classes and felt like I needed that, that I left.

I tried many other classes, and it got me to a point where I felt so stagnant in my career, that I hit a wall. I never got a return, despite paying hundreds of dollars for coachings before auditions.

It wasn’t until January of 2018 when I was doing the Audition Intensive that it finally clicked– this place is literally the only place where I have the ability to grow as an actor. I have the freedom to create my own ideas and nurture my own artistic abilities in a safe environment allowing me to make mistakes without judgement, to strengthen what works, and discover new ideas I didn’t know I had.

What Happened with your career after doing the AUDITION INTENSIVE?
The results were virtually instant after graduating the program. I started applying this one-of-a-kind technique to EVERY audition, and WOW!– the reception I got was incredible.

It gave me the boost of confidence I needed in myself to be allowed to make choices that before I thought too risky, but now I see as the “X-Factor” I needed to stand out.
Now I get so excited about getting auditions and preparing for them, I can’t wait to show casting directors what I’m bringing to the table.

Part of this comes from a technique done in the research part of your character that you learn in the Audition Intensive that no other acting school will tell you about. This ONE tool will separate you from the competition. And even if you don’t book the job, you will be remembered.

What at The Acing Center has helped you most?
Having faith in myself, to trust my own choices for the character, take risks, and play characters that I would never have been comfortable playing before.

Tell us about your recent success booking commercials and other roles.
I got called my first callback for series regular roles during pilot season, without a coaching. I’ve booked 8 jobs since January, already more than I’ve booked in the last 3 years combined and we aren’t even halfway through 2018.

Three of those jobs were National commercials, one of which was a spokesperson position for 6 spots that included Voice-over work.

I also have had 17 callbacks, and 15 avails during this time. My stats have never been this high, and I owe a large portion of my success to the Audition Intensive Class, and continuing to practice during regular class periods.

What is your favorite thing about The Acting Center?
My favorite thing is that it is a judgement-free safe zone with other actors who all want you to succeed. We root each other on, and we are all moving up to our next “standard” of acting together.

And anything else you want to say!
There is no other acting class where I can perform multiple characters in one night, be able to be free to really try something that is way out of my comfort zone but have the ability to say “F it, just go for it.” If it doesn’t work it doesn’t work.

And when you are not winning for any reason at all, you can let someone at the school know and they can help you sort it out.

The care factor is really present at this school and I’ve officially found the school for me where there is no glass ceiling.

Ready to take the plunge?
Schedule and interview with us today!

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Student Spotlight – Aleksandra Jade

The Acting Center Student Spotlight Aleksandra Jade

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Aleksandra Jade

The Acting Center Student Spotlight Aleksandra Jade-03
Photo by Dave Hill

Aleksandra has been with The Acting Center since almost the beginning starting in our in our teen classes. We have watched her grow into the beautiful talent that she is today. She has experience in TV and film and just shot the motion capture role of Erica in “Call of Duty: WWII,” starring Josh Duhamel, Jonathon Tucker and Jeffrey Pierce. Keep an eye on her. This girl is going to be a star.

“At our school, there are no limits. You are encouraged to be anyone and do anything, and that’s a precious idea to me that fuels my creative freedom and fulfillment.”

When did you realize that you wanted to be an actor?
Sometimes I think I’ve always known, and sometimes I feel like I choose to be an actress over and over again.

How did you get started?
When I was little, I would watch movies with my sister and we would spend hours putting on an entire production. We did hair, makeup, made our own props, everything, just to recreate that movie live for when my dad came home from work. It was a lot of fun! That turned into doing school plays, being in a theater company in Chicago (doing musicals in Polish) and then coming out to Los Angeles when I got interest from a management company.

The Acting Center Student Spotlight Aleksandra Jade
Photo by Dave Hill

When did you start studying at The Acting Center?
I started at The Acting Center in TeenProv!

What at The Acing Center has helped you most?
Acting all the time. I feel like I can measure my improvement for myself, check in with my heart, you know? Everything is a character card, whether it is an audition, a booking, an exercise in class. It’s all acting; being another person for real right then and allowing that experience to naturally unfold. At our school, there are no limits. You are encouraged to be anyone and do anything, and that’s a precious idea to me that fuels my creative freedom and fulfillment.

Tell us about your recent success booking “Call Of Duty”.
My experience with “Call of Duty” was amazing. I remember after the first day of rehearsals, I came back home and cried my eyes out at the kitchen table to my boyfriend. Haha! I felt so much gratitude to be a part of this special project, be challenged in my acting, and to get to work with top players like Josh Duhamel, Jonathan Tucker and Jeffrey Pierce. It was such a professional and positive set, and I got to do motion capture—so fun!

The Acting Center Student Spotlight Aleksandra Jade
Aleksandra on set of Call of Duty with actress, Lilith Max.

What is your favorite thing about The Acting Center?
The community. There is no criticism here, we don’t waste time on that, so you get to see your peers work all the time. We root for each other! We help each other create art, tackle career obstacles and support each other. It’s so genuine and motivating.

And anything else you want to say!
I have some big projects in the works coming out next year! Stay tuned! 🙂

Ready to take the plunge?
Schedule and interview with us today!

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Student Spotlight – Marcus Coloma

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Marcus Coloma
Marcus Coloma
This California native is no stranger to roles on your favorite shows such as, TNT’s Major Crimes, Fox’s Lucifer, CBS’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and many others. Marcus also made a mark for himself as a lead in the Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 & 3 movies as well as Material Girls with Hilary and Haylie Duff. After having taken a break with acting, Marcus returned to The Acting Center this year where he started having immediate success with our technique. He was eager to talk to us about his journey.
 …

When did you realize that you wanted to be an actor?

I realized I wanted to entertain people around the age of four. I remember at 4 years old watching Cheech and Chong with my brother. He was laughing hysterically during a scene when they peed in a garbage can. I remember after the movie, I peed in a garbage can and my brother laughed! My mom didn’t. That was also when I learned about demographics.

 

How did you get started?

At 18, I hopped in my car and drove down to LA. My uncle knew a lady who graciously let me crash on her floor for a couple weeks. Then I convinced a buddy from high school to move down, and I crashed on the floor of our tiny one bedroom apartment in Venice. I would buy a three dollar burrito and have half at lunch and half at dinner. I loved all of it.

I got headshots, mailed them to managers and agents. A manager called me in and put me with an agency. I booked a soda commercial. A friend said I’d make 70-80k on it. I quit my side job. I made 5K on the commercial, and after taxes, agency commissions, and paying the union initiation fees, I ended up owing $1.25 to the soda company. Luckily, the side job took me back on. Then it was auditioning and going to acting class until I booked a recurring role on an MTV show.

 

When did you start studying at The Acting Center?

I came to The Acting Center in 2012.

“The ability to causatively go in and out of the character to me is essential. This is the only school that I’ve found that is aware of the ability to become another character, and gives methods of practicing this ability.”

 

What at The Acing Center has helped you most?

The Acting Center really defined what the craft means, it gave me a workable way to move towards achieving the work I want to achieve. I’d always heard people saying you have to do the “work”, but would ask them what that meant, and wasn’t able to get an answer. The Acting Center answered that question for me. It also balanced out all of the theory on acting with the act of doing it. I love that the majority of the class is spent working and drilling versus listening to someone lecture.

It introduced me to a workable way of becoming another character, a way of shifting from myself and becoming another identity. It really opens up the imagination, and possibilities. As I continued with the technique, the ability to shift gets faster and faster, and I’m getting better at going in and out of character. This is so much more effective. I used to sit and imagine horrible things in my life, which would get me to an emotional state, go to an audition, and it would sometimes be there and sometimes, because casting was nice, or I would run into a friend, I would pop out of it. The ability to causatively go in and out of the character to me is essential. This is the only school that I’ve found that is aware of the ability to become another character, and gives methods of practicing this ability.

The last time I was in class, I worked on two auditions, which is another praise of the class. I’ve never been in a class that is so generous with accommodating the performer. The characters I needed to prepare were totally different—one was very upbeat, and the other was suicidal. After performing the latter, a new student asked how did I bring that much pain to the role, that he knew right away this guy had gone through something heavy. The answer is, I didn’t bring any pain to the role. I became the character, and once I assumed that identity, there was a lot of pain. I was able to end that scene, and jump into the other identity. Then, after class, I went home had a great night, because I went back to being myself.

 

Tell us about your recent success booking “Major Crimes” and “Lucifer”.

Recently, I booked a role on Lucifer and, also, on Major Crimes. I had actually taken about a three-year break from acting. Coming back in was a little daunting. I got back in class, and booked a fun role on Lucifer, where I play an accountant-type head of a Mexican mafia-type family. It was a big booking for me because I wasn’t sure what the climate was going to be like after a long break. Shortly after that, I booked a recurring role on Major Crimes. I auditioned for two completely different roles, prepared both of them in class at The Acting Center, and did such a great job I was being considered for both roles before booking it. I attribute these bookings to The Acting Center technique. I’m also up for a movie in 2018 for an extremely interesting character that is very different from myself, I worked on this in class as well.

 

What is your favorite thing about The Acting Center?

My favorite thing about the acting class is the practicality of the technique. So many of my auditions have such a fast turn around, sometimes it’s 9-12 pages of material that needs to be prepared overnight. I love that I can use class to prepare these. The drills The Acting Center uses are absolutely the most efficient way to prep. I love how emotion is viewed as under the actors control and that one can just create the character’s emotions. It teaches one how to really create.

I’m blown away at the work I see in class. Tonight in class, there was a girl who has never acted and we did a scene and she blew me away. She was so there, completely in the moment, but in a creative, compelling way. There are so many people who want to be great actors, people who will split a three dollar burrito for dinner and lunch to pursue this thing, and it’s really disheartening to not get the results you are going for.

The Acting Center is really a special place to me, because it answered questions about acting that I’ve pursued for 15 years, and put the quality of performances I want to be delivering within reach.

 

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Student Spotlight – Jacob Kamhis

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Jacob Kamhis
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Student Spotlight – Jim Meskimen – Impress Me

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.Jim Meskimen
Jim Meskimen - Impress Me - Student Of The Month

The Acting Center is proud to congratulate our very own Jim Meskimen, who will next be seen in the Rainn Wilson-produced series Impress Me, on Pop TV,
formerly TV Guide Network.

 …

Created and produced by Meskimen, along with writer-director Ben Shelton, and Ross Marquand (new The Walking Dead series regular Aaron), the half-hour scripted comedy centers on two celebrity impressionists who are trying to quit doing impressions and become dramatic actors. The result: total chaos.

Among cameos from Matt Jones (Breaking Bad), Josh Groban and “Weird Al” Yankovic, are fellow Acting Center students Erika Christensen, Beth Riesgraf, Tamra Meskimen, Taylor Meskimen and Tom Ayers.

“This show is about more than two talented celebrity impressionists. It’s about how hard (and hilarious) it can be to follow your heart, even when the cards are stacked against you,” Wilson said. “Soul Pancake birthed this baby online, and Pop’s savvy creative team is bold enough to bring it to TV.”

Viewers can find Pop on their cable box by going to www.poptv.com and using their zip code locator in order to watch every episode, starting March 18th.

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Student Spotlight – Nicolas Suter

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.Nicolas Suter
Nicolas Suter - Student Spotlight

Acting Center student Nicolas Suter is a working actor. He is also 14 years old. Every time we turn around we are seeing his face in national commercials for brands such as Twix, Comcast and Walmart. We caught up with Nicolas and asked him about the Acting for Young Adults class and how it’s helped him get his career off to a running start.

 …

Q) You have been studying at The Acting Center for over three years. What do you enjoy the most about the class?

A) I enjoy how creative it lets me be, and how much I can be myself… whatever that is on that particular day. It’s also nice to have a place where what you create doesn’t matter; you can go in that class and just feel free to let loose.

Q) What have you learned from The Acting Center that you use in auditions and on set?

A) I have learned how to break down characters, using the script as well as the character breakdown the director gives me. I’ve also learned how to use the script to convey the feelings and emotions of the character and not just say the words.

I also realized how to focus in my auditions. Sometimes when you go into the room, people are talking and whispering to each other, coffee mugs are flying all over the place and the casting director is talking at 1000 MPH. It can be easy to get distracted, but The Acting Center taught me that it’s best to simply be yourself, calm down, not rush yourself, and then go into character. Even if you’re doing it very slowly, if that’s how you feel the character is doing it, then that’s how you do it. Go at your OWN pace.

Q) What is the most valuable thing you have discovered at The Acting Center?

A) I’ve learned I can be whoever I want to be, however I want to be, wherever I want to be. I’m able to walk into an audition room, with confidence that I’m going to be the character in my own way. I’m not anxious about “doing it wrong,” or that “someone else did it better,” or having any “demons in your head,” is truly quite empowering.

Q) What would you say to other young actors looking for a great class?

A) The Acting Center is an awesome place where you can study acting, and do it how YOU want to do it. It’s one of the most fun, exhilarating, and simple techniques and classes. At every audition I’ve ever booked, I used The Acting Center’s technique down to the letter!

Ready to take the plunge?

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Student Spotlight – Sundra Oakley

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.Sundra Oakley

“Imagine living in a cave all your life, then someone walks you out of the cave and you realize there’s sunlight, wide open space, and options galore around you…that’s how I feel about coming to The Acting Center!.”

-Sundra Oakley, Actress, TNT’s Legends

 …

From Sex and the City, Lost, Parenthood and Touch, to House of Lies and Suburgatory, actress Sundra Oakley’s TV credits read like a list of your favorite shows. With her most recent guest-starring role on TNT’s Legends, Sundra is continuing on her path of success.

We talked with Sundra about confidence and how important it is for an actress. She told us that The Acting Center has really changed her confidence level and allowed her to be more certain in auditions, so much so that she looks forward to them now.

“The Acting Center has done everything for me in terms of confidence! I’ve learned to trust myself, believe in myself, and my choices. Prior to beginning my studies at The Acting Center, I gave away so much of my power in my auditions by wasting precious time and energy wondering if I was doing what they want, if they liked me, if I was good enough… all that stuff that has no business being in your head. Before The Acting Center, I’d get my sides and my stomach would do a mini flip as those fears immediately seeped into my brain. Now? I get my audition material and my attitude is, ‘Bring it! Let’s do this, kid!’ I look forward to playing. I’ve said it many times–because of what I learned at The Acting Center, I finally tapped into the heart of why I first loved acting. I knew the love was there but after years of that love being polluted by bad advice, excessively unnecessary criticism, and the like, I just didn’t know how to access it. Now I do.”

She told us more about the audition process and how The Acting Center technique has become invaluable in her auditions, as well as on set after she books the job.

“Being taught to just be the character has got to be the one thing that has revolutionized my audition and on-set life. Hands down! Those three words alone have given me a sense of joy, play, and control of my work that makes auditioning fun! And when I’m on set, I haven’t had to worry whether or not I can deliver what the scene calls for. Once I’m truly being that character and not relying on tricks or tools that essentially have me disengaged from my scene partner, and the ‘here and now,’ I’m honestly tuned in each and every time. That freeing feeling is priceless.”

Sundra is an experienced industry veteran, so we were curious what made her training at The Acting Center such a different experience and why she felt that it rejuvenated her and her love of her craft.

“I always felt like a complete novice, and not in a healthy way. What stood out to me at The Acting Center, is the balance of empowerment and support that is given to the actor, along with guidance. At other acting schools, I’d see the students’ inner flame (including my own) extinguish to a mere oxygen-deprived flicker under the heavy and constant gust of criticism (by teachers and fellow students). This led to extreme insecurities and to doing work that would become ‘safe,’ just to be accepted and given approval. At most other schools, they seem to pride themselves on proclaiming that they are not there to hold your hand and give you a pat on the back, that this business is hard and we better toughen up now. I used to think, “But if we’re not given an arena to just learn, that attitude is cutting us off at the knees before we even have learned to walk!” Now imagine having been born and living in a cave all your life, then someone walks you out of the cave and you realize there’s sunlight, wide open space, and options galore around you—that’s how I feel about coming to The Acting Center! They give you your acting life so you can then go on to build your acting career confidently, without that constant nagging feeling that your every choice is going to be ridiculed to the ground. You are emboldened to throw all the paint on the wall and create and, if your own internal gauge tells you to, even ‘recreate’ your own masterpiece.”

With everything Sundra has had to say about how the technique has improved her acting and confidence, we asked about her overall career in Hollywood and if that has changed.

“Absolutely my career has changed! If nothing else because I finally feel that I regained my personal power that I (unknowingly) gave away at the beginning of my career. Honestly, I don’t think I ever realized I actually had that power. And by power I mean a sense of confidence in my work. The confidence factor is a huge game changer for me. Before I think I held on to this belief that I was just the lowly actor hoping and praying they’d like me, whereas now, I walk into the room with an attitude that I am a collaborator who has a unique gift to provide. And I can have that attitude with humility, gratitude, and grace.”

“I am truly grateful for being able to be a student of The Acting Center. Once I saw a quote that said something along the lines of, “Imagine what you could do if you knew you couldn’t fail.” With that feeling, the world is your oyster, and The Acting Center not only embodies that, it graciously gives that energy to its students.”

Ready to take the plunge?

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Student Spotlight – Gino Montesinos

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.Gino Montesinos

Gino Montesinos

“I’m humbled by the instant respect and admiration I get from producers, directors, and casting directors because I am a trained Acting Center actor.”

-Gino Montesinos, NYPD Blue, Medium, Dexter, 24, NCIS

 …

Gino Montesinos has been a successful actor for over 20 years. We asked him about the skills he has learned at The Acting Center and how those things have increased his abilities, changed his approach to acting, and ultimately his career.

“In terms of confidence, The Acting Center has been extraordinary for me. Even though I worked fairly regularly before The Acting Center, I had a ‘hit or miss’ approach. I had no real technique. You either have a fast, effective technique or you wing it and hope for the best. I don’t have to wing it anymore, my confidence in the audition and filming process has skyrocketed. ”

For an actor, imagination and creativity are keys to a real and believable performance. Gino told us how studying the technique at The Acting Center, and consistently using the drills, has changed him and opened him up to richer work.

“The drills I use from The Acting Center open up my imagination so that my acting comes from a real, true place, helping me to be the character rather than doing what I think intellectually the character would do.

Without exception, when I use these drills, the choices I make come from the true, organic place of me being the character and that is electrifying, exciting to watch, to experience, and have made me fall in love with acting again. So, quitting this glorious profession never enters in my head again as it has from time to time over the years.”

So how does this all translate to being on set and delivering what the director wants with confidence? With as much experience as Gino has, we wanted to know why things are different for him now that he uses the Acting Center tools in his work.

“Many directors don’t tell you exactly what they want, and that’s fine, because it’s not their job to act, it’s ours. With the Acting Center tools, I can instantaneously change direction. Whatever general feeling, idea, concept, hunch, that a director knows to be right when he sees it, but may not have the tools to help you get there, I can take their direction and give them what they want on a dime.”

We asked Gino for a specific occurrence of this and he told us about a recent audition he had for a multiple-episode, recurring guest star role on a major TV show. He only had an hour and a half to rehearse and prepare a page and a half long monologue. Using his Acting Center techniques, within an hour, he had a firm handle on the character.

“I knocked the casting director’s socks off, who said she was already seeing me in the part. She gave me one note and I instantly complied. She gave me a callback right in the room. I not only gave her what she was looking for, but more.  As I walked out, she hugged me and thanked me for an ‘awesome’ audition. She said ‘I started my day with Gino Montesinos and I get to end my day with Gino Montesinos’. That kind of compliment and support was very rare before I came to The Acting Center. Now, it’s much more common and I’m humbled by this instant respect and admiration I get from producers, directors, and casting directors because I am a trained Acting Center actor. Period.”

With so much experience in acting classes and show business, we wanted to know why Gino thinks The Acting Center is so different and why it works for him, as opposed to his previous studies.

“Other studies quite frankly were too complicated for me to fully grasp and I gave them up because they were almost useless on the set. I had to come up with my own solutions on the set and at auditions, which was very nerve-wracking. It’s not like that with The Acting Center. What I do in class translates 100% at auditions and ON THE SET.”

 

I am a very experienced actor. For all intents and purposes, I don’t really have to be at The Acting Center, but I’m not interested in just being a working actor. I am interested in illuminating the human condition through my work as an actor. I am also interested in leaving an artistic legacy that I can be proud of.

 

For the first time in my career since I made that decision as a young boy, that I wanted to do that as an actor, I believe I am beginning to make it happen thanks to the continual training and honing of the craft of acting that I get to practice at The Acting Center.”

Want to find out what The Acting Center is all about?
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Student Spotlight – Kirstin Ford

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.Kirstin Ford

Kirstin Ford with Jon Hamm - The Acting Center Student Spotlight

“When you remove criticism, judgment and extraneous opinions from your art, absolutely anything is possible.”

Kirstin Ford, Actress

 …

Anything is possible. And Kirstin Ford is proving that every day. Kirstin recently had the privilege of working on the award-winning television show, Mad Men. Having no prior TV credits, Kirstin considered this a huge opportunity for someone in her position. And not only that, with a host of other roles including a national commercial for Samsung, and auditions for recurring characters on Steven Spielberg pilots, Kirstin is only just getting started.

We asked Kirstin if she was intimidated being on such a huge set with such experienced actors and crew. What she shared is that the confidence she has gained through her studies at The Acting Center put her right where she needed to be.

“I saw these techniques work in an environment that could easily intimidate even a seasoned professional. It’s a funny thing to be in the presence of masterminds and feel like you belong there. I know, truly, that had I continued in classes where the teacher is always ‘right’ and every mistake a student makes is pointed out to the class as a ‘learning opportunity’ there would be no Mad Men.”

At The Acting Center, students are continuously encouraged to follow their instincts and create what they choose, without the opinions of others factoring in. Kirsten shared that she finds this approach empowering. She has taken this with her into her career and gained confidence along with her skill.

“When I first started classes at The Acting Center, I was desperate for someone to tell me I was good. Or bad. Just something that would help me gauge whether I was going to have any success with this art form that I loved so much. Initially, I was resistant to the complete lack of judgment and criticism, but as the months went by, I discovered a powerful truth driven home by all of the teachers – that art is subjective and my opinion matters. These two concepts permeate every facet of my life.

“When you remove criticism, judgment and extraneous opinions from your art, absolutely anything is possible. There is a certain kind of exhilaration that comes from knowing, loving and sharing your artistic voice.

“And magically, at some point along the way, you realize your hands no longer tremble in auditions, you can’t wait to show them what you came up with, and you can do your job with the kind of joy that artistic expression is meant to capture.”

The Acting Center offers students the opportunity to act in every single class, and to go at a pace that suits them, no matter what level of experience they have. This is something Kirstin takes full advantage of.

“I work so much more in my Acting Center classes than anywhere else I’ve studied. In my scene study class, I work on 20 to 30 characters in the first hour alone, twice a week. Quantify that over months or, in my case, years, and I’ve worked on over 1000 characters. Compare that to the singular character I’d work on for a few weeks in the other schools and, well, my skill and ability is expanding and growing so rapidly that I no longer think about whether I’m a good actor. My focus is all about the game of finding something that challenges, excites and inspires me.

“And the most incredible thing is that I’ve never hit a plateau in my studies here. The learning never ends. At The Acting Center, everything is self-paced and you work on something until you fully understand how every single drill is applied as an actor. Essentially, there is no way not to learn and grow and become a better actor here!”

Want to find out what The Acting Center is all about?
Begin just like Kirstin did and schedule a student interview!

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