Episodes
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In this episode, Milton discusses the importance of understanding specific relationships to text and sequence of thoughts. The discussion highlights a common actor's problem of moving too quickly to performance without fully understanding the text's underlying thoughts and relationships. The episode concludes with practical examples of how to break down and connect with text by being more specific about your relationship to each thought.
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This episode delves into the importance of conveying big ideas in acting. Milton emphasizes the need for actors to grasp the magnitude of concepts in great plays, avoiding monotonous delivery that reduces dialogue to a mere "grocery list." He advises performers to explore ideas deeply by asking "What does this mean?" and to get specific with examples to bring concepts to life. He also talks about the difference between artistic pursuits and conventional careers.
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Missing episodes?
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You have to give yourself permission to fail. If you’re too afraid of being bad, you’ll block your creative energy. Like Venessa Redgrave, indulge yourself in all the worst, most cliche choices first. Get them out of your system, and once they are, then go back and really get to work. But most of that work is done at home. Between rehearsals. It’s about the creative, imaginative research. Talking out. Getting more specific— like “the tear in the curtain.” And you’ll know it’s a good choice because you love it. It excites and fuels you in the part.
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Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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Or we should say: everything must be magical. To YOU. This week’s episode is a lesson in connecting. We hear a student, Grace, go from “reporting” to “experiencing.” A big part of “getting it” is understanding the purpose of talking out. Once you understand what it’s for, then it becomes easier to make a good choice and “go there.” And when that happens, you no longer have to work so hard. The impulse of the character and circumstance take you over and magic happens.
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Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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Talking out or improvising text helps us connect to what we’re talking out, sometimes by way of letting us know we are lying. In that sense, talking out is like a lie detector. It’s a way of self-assessing our own work. For example, if we’re bored, that means we’re not bringing ourselves to life, which means we haven’t earned it. Will don’t believe it and neither will anyone else. Milton also makes it clear what talking out isn’t: it’s not performing, it’s not standup comedy, it’s not telling a story. It’s solely meant to connect, or begin experiencing the character and circumstances.
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Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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Milton will be teaching a week-long acting workshop at Clap Class in Marseille! The class will be held in English. Must have experience in film, television or theater, and be fluent in English.
Monday, November 18th to Friday November 22, 2024; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
To register: go to clapclass.fr
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Two topics are covered in this episode: our tendency to be disconnected from what you’re talking about, and our tendency to be disconnected from what’s going on with you in the scene. We shy away from being truly connected because it means vulnerability, it means “going there.” Even if you’re talking about something simple or you’re in a moment that’s not particularly heightened, when we’re connected, we’re revealing ourselves. It’s why we fall back on an analytical tone. Because it keeps us removed. Milton also talks about the importance of being active at all times, whether we’re speaking or not. A great way to listen actively is to talk out your reaction to what another character is saying. This creates an internal monologue so that something is always “going on” with you, whether you’re listening or looking out of a window.
*This episode is in audio and video format. To watch the video version, find it on the Spotify app.
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Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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Milton gives another round of notes to Chris who is doing a monologue from All My Sons.
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This week, Milton coaches Chris on a monologue from All My Sons. This episode is both audio and video. You can watch the video version on Spotify.
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Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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This week’s episode calls to mind the Steve Martin quote: “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” You want to make choices that are so inventive that they have no choice but to hire you.
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Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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In this longer-than-usual episode, Milton coaches the class through Jed’s audition for a TV series in which an out-of-control robot is stealing children. You’ll hear how Milton talks out the entire scene several times. This includes his dialogue, the dialogue of the others in the scene and his response to the others in the scene, as if telling someone a story of what happened. In doing so, he finds choices he loves, which makes the scene more than being a mere plot device. He finds a clear action, gives himself obstacles which help him play that action, and starts getting a sense of who this person is.
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Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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In this episode, Milton begins talking through The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash. It’s an example of how we can begin working on a play by ourselves. There is no right way. We can take our initial impressions (whatever hits us first) and wander around with them in a non-performative way. We do this, in large part, to discover what world we’re in, and that becomes our entree into all the specific elements that exist in that world. “But I resist making a decision for as long as possible,” Milton says, referring to the barn in the play. “The reason is: I want every decision I make to feed into my understanding of what the scene is about. And at this point, I don’t know enough yet, about the play or my character, to create the barn. But once I know more, I’m going to build it in a way that helps me an as actor, that gives my character something to play against.”
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Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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Two of Milton’s students are currently starring in an off-Broadway musical, and this week he discusses his recent work with them. He talks about the similarities between the structure of a film and the structure of a musical. In (almost) every scene there is a song, which takes place because the circumstances become so heightened that the only thing one can do in that moment is to sing; and like in film, each scene turns, (i.e. a big change happens and usually it’s during a song.)
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Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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This episode gets back to the HUGE topic of using your own life, featuring an in-depth conversation amongst the class. It culminates with the following ideas: even though Stella Adler advised against using your own life and experience because it limits you, it’s impossible to take you out of the work. When you use your imagination instead of searching for how you can “relate” to your character, whatever comes up emotionally for you is the result of your own personal, emotional well. Your life is still going to be there in your performance because it’s you! But that is simply the result, not some place that we should start.
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Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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Let’s face it: acting is weird. So are actors. The issues we have…the circumstances we find ourselves in are unlike that of anyone else. Some examples: How does one negotiate a love scene? What do you do when you’re on stage and you start focusing on the mole on your fellow actor’s face, pulling you completely out of the moment? Why dating a co-star is dangerous. What are the principals of “food acting”? And how does a gay cult classic film end up on The Criterion Collection? There are so many weird things that we have to know as actors that have little to do with acting.
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Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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Even when you're getting bad direction, or someone in the cast inappropriately gives you notes... Even when you feel like you're the only one who knows what they're doing, it's impossible to overemphasize the importance of being respectful and leaving a positive impression on everyone you work with. There are ways to handle these situations. Some actors have to learn the hard way, but for those who don't want to go through that, here's some advice on how to communicate when you feel stranded in a sea of stupidity while continuing to bring your best work to the table.
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Milton begins this week’s episode talking about a client whose personal life reflects the circumstances of the character he’s playing. It’s yet another lesson about the actor’s instinct to make a character about us, and it’s especially difficult to resist when we have been through almost the exact same experience. The difference is— our relationship to the circumstances. This is what can wake you up to the fact that the character you’re playing is in fact, very different from you.
*Starting now, you can leave comments on episodes on Spotify, and we can reply! (Finally!) Please leave and questions or comments you have and we'll get back to you.
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*Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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Milton Plays A Car Mechanic
The point of this episode is that, while we always need to work hard to make our work believable and interesting, there are times where you might have to work even harder because of your limited imagination and/or life experience. Such as the example provided in this week’s episode: Milton working on a car. This, in life, has never and most likely, will never happen. And a big part of our talent is know what it’s going to take to get there for us as individuals, playing a specific part. We have to be able to identify what it’s going to take for us to earn it.
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Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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In this episode, we take a look at the play Loose Ends by Michael Weller. We do so through the lens of realism and the contribution that Ibsen, Strindberg and Chekov made to the modern theater. It’s an unusually long episode, but listening to Milton lecture on and analyze the time period of this play is an example of where script analyses can begin. It’s an exploration, a deep-dive conversation where the actor layers in information and just begins to consider it. Also— stay tuned for the end where Milton shares his favorite relationship advice!
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Have a question for Milton? Send us a voice note below or email us at: [email protected] Also, check out our website: www.idontneedanactingclass.com
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