Student Spotlight – Jim Meskimen

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.Jim Meskimen
Jim Meskimen

“It’s a very supportive group, and everyone has your back.
That’s rare in the extreme!”

-Jim Meskimen

As a professional actor for the last thirty years, Jim Meskimen has appeared in films like Apollo 13, The Grinch, Frost/Nixon, The Punisher, Not Forgotten, and There Will Be Blood. His TV credits include Friends, Whose Line is it, Anyway?, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Castle, Lie to Me and Rules of Engagement.

His viral video, Shakespeare in Celebrity Voices has already reached over 900,000 views and his subsequent impressions videos have cemented him as a major YouTube talent. In fact, The Australian Today Show dubbed him, “The World’s Greatest Impressionist.”

For most of his career Jim was trained in improv, which he found very useful. Later on when he came to The Acting Center, he studied the technique as it applies to scripted material and found it to be successful for him. He not only uses the technique to prepare for an audition, but he uses on set once he’s gotten the role.

 

 

 

“I use it every time I audition and when I book the job, too. It’s very simple and practical, and I have a lot of confidence as a result. It gives me a solid grounding, so that I feel free to create a character and still deliver what is needed by the people running the show. I find it easier to learn a part and deliver on it, both in the audition and the final performance in front of the camera.”

 

 

Jim is continuously creating all the time. Whether he is acting in TV or film, starring in a commercial or in his “Jimpressions” show where he showcases his masterful talent and skills. He feels strongly about being believable at all of this character-based work.

 

 

“The most important thing to me is becoming the character and looking at the scene from his viewpoint. Everything begins there. If that character is one that I am being entirely, then the scene has a good chance of being effective and convincing.”

 

 

At The Acting Center, students continuously share how encouraged and safe they feel to create and explore. They find the environment and teaching so different from any other place they’ve been. That is a sentiment that Jim echoes wholeheartedly.

 

 

“In the distant past I studied with one very famous school in New York, but it was a disaster and nearly ruined me as an actor. There was no technique there to speak of, or I didn’t learn it because I was too busy defending myself from the instructor! I think the lovely thing about TAC is that you come in and mainly work with yourself and others in the school, and the creative side is something you have the chance to completely indulge yourself in; at the end of the day, you have made a lot of discoveries.”   “I recommend this method of teaching and acting to anyone who is interested in becoming more skilled, quick on their feet, and confident. It’s a very supportive group, and everyone has your back. That’s rare in the extreme!”

Watch Jim’s latest project!

The Impression Guys – Integrity (YouTube Comedy Week)

 

Jim 2

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