In my post on Why You Need A Practical Acting Practice (And How To Build One), I outlined the process of having a personal acting practice. I talked about how it can be helpful and offered a ton of ideas on what you might want to include, from character development exercises to vocal exercises and improvisation.
For anyone who has been to drama school, you will hear that you have to have a personal acting practice. But is it really that important for developing a character and honing your craft?
I’m here to tell you that, yes, it is. In fact, it might be the most important thing you can do for your career, whether you’re just starting out with acting for beginners or are a seasoned pro looking to take your character building to the next level by becoming an expert in acting techniques like the Stanislavsky technique.
Here are the reasons why it’s so important to have a personal acting practice
1. Flexing Your Acting Muscles
Okay, so you’ve studied acting, you’ve been in training, or you’ve been doing plays since you were a kid. You know about acting. You know what it entails; you know about Konstantin Stanislavski and Chekhov and Strasberg and their various acting techniques like the Stanislavski system and method acting. That knowledge isn’t going anywhere, right?
Right. Well, partially right.
Many of the skills we use in our acting work actually need to be practiced regularly so they stay strong. For instance, building concentration, releasing muscle tension and being in touch with our emotions through techniques like emotional memory, as well as anything involving our physical apparatus such as vocal exercises for stage presence and physical flexibility all need to be practiced regularly.
Of course, with our physical and vocal skills, the muscles that we need to use become weaker when we don’t regularly use them.
However, our brain actually works the same way. Our minds have a liability to jump around, become distracted, and lose the ability to be aware of our bodily sensations and our surroundings. This is why we may hold tension in our shoulders without even realising it, or why our brain whirls with anxiety and feels out of our control.
Why You Need Regular Practice
So, we need to regularly practice moving our body, using our vocal apparatus, and training our brains to have focus and awareness.
If you don’t think focus and awareness are important, go and check out my post on Concentration For Actors. You will discover that concentration is actually the foundation of any good acting practice, whether you’re using the Stanislavski method or other Stanislavski techniques.
Do you want to know why this information might push your work to a level most actors only dream of getting to?
Because most actors underestimate how important it is. Even if they know they need concentration, they may not understand why it’s important or how to train it. Even if they know all that, the number of actors that actually put regular work into building up their concentration is absolutely tiny.
All you need to do to get ahead of the game is simply turn up for yourself on a regular basis and practice using the skills you need to use in your acting. It’s really that simple.
2. Building Your Confidence
Lack of confidence is a classic pitfall for many actors. If you have the belief that you or your work isn’t very good or has nothing to offer, then you will struggle to offer up anything that will make your work great, whether it’s characterisation in drama or getting into character through character development.
I know that sounds scary when confidence is a struggle. But do you want to know the best thing about confidence in acting? The moments when you lack confidence, when you feel fear and when you’re unsure are the things that will make your performance great. You don’t need to put on a brave face, you just need to trust that you are enough.
In fact, rather than building confidence, we should call it building faith in yourself. Trust that you are enough even when you’re scared.
Do you know why? Because your characters get scared and unsure too. You only need to share and be honest about what so many people are unable to.
So, how does this tie into your personal practice?
Having Faith In Yourself
Well, the more you turn up for yourself, the more faith in yourself you will have. It’s as simple as that.
I promise you, there is nothing worse than getting an audition script through and knowing that you haven’t practiced your acting in weeks. Your practice won’t feel fresh, you will feel unsure of yourself, and you will know in your heart that you haven’t been doing all you could do to feel ready for this moment.
You are starting off feeling like you aren’t good enough to do this, which means you are already on the back foot.
If you hold a regular practice, when that audition script turns up, you will be able to say, “Okay, I’ve been working hard, and I’ve been doing my best to be ready for this moment. All I have to do now is continue doing my best.” You will have faith in yourself.
Build confidence in yourself by simply turning up and doing the work regularly, and you will begin to allow yourself to feel worthy of playing the roles that come your way. You will be able to fight for them rather than holding yourself back.
3. Become Ready For Anything
As I said before, you never know when an audition script is going to turn up. You always want to be ready for the next opportunity that comes your way so you can meet it with all you have.
While have faith in yourself might be the most meaningful thing having a personal practice gives you, there is also a practical side to it too.
Having a regular practice of various skills won’t just give you faith in yourself in a general sense, but it will also allow you to know that you have a skillset you can use for each role.
Let’s say you get an audition, though, that requires a big physicality. Your personal practice involves movement sessions twice a week, where you take time to engage with physical acting practitioners and create character physicalities. You work with Laban, Lecoq, Chekhov, Elemental Work, Archetypes, as well as general strength and bodily awareness work.
You will immediately have familiarity with your body and what it can do. Plus, you will have many creative ideas you have explored and been inspired by in your personal acting practice and will have a number of ideas ready to explore and expand upon more.
Building up a back catalogue of skills and ideas you can draw upon means that you will be ready for anything when opportunity knocks, whether it’s creating a character from scratch or developing a character you’ve been given.
4. Finding Your Own Style
As actors, we can spend a lot of time trying to be good enough, to figure out the formula that others actors use and how we can utilise it for ourselves.
You’ve probably also heard people say that your individuality and your uniqueness, who you are as a person, is what makes you valuable as an actor. This can be hard to accept at first. I know I used to think this advice was a way of people seeing if you actually are good enough just as you are.
I’m afraid to say, that this advice is actually true after all – and here’s why. There are a million actors out there who are also trying to figure out “The Formula”. They are spending their time trying to get people to like them and what they do, to think that they’re good enough. They are working overtime to get people to see that they have something to offer.
Unfortunately, people in the industry can smell this from a mile off. Their whole job is to sniff out authenticity so they can always tell when it’s there or not. Not only that, but they probably don’t want to be around someone that finds them aspirational and is desperate to be part of the club.
No, they want people that interest them, that they can connect to, and that they trust.
How do you show them that you’re that person?
Be Yourself
By being honest and being yourself. If they can see that you’re able to embrace yourself and you aren’t trying to hide your own personality but trying to emulate someone else, they will trust you.
Plus, you’re unique! There is literally no one else like you in the world! You may not seem very interesting to you, but that’s because you have lived your life. They haven’t, and they will be interested in what makes you different to everyone else they’ve seen that day who tried to emulate Julia Roberts or Tom Hardy. Trust me, they’ve seen it all before.
So, how does this relate to personal practice?
Within your personal practice, you get to develop your own unique style. You get to discover which techniques work for you and which don’t. You get to discover what interests you and what doesn’t. Mostly, you get to experiment until you figure out your way of doing things.
The more of your own opinions and points of view you develop the more conviction you will have in your own work. You will know that you have something unique to offer and you will have true belief in it because you discovered it through experimentation and practice.
So, allow yourself to explore and decide what you think. Learn to be a rebel. Make up your own mind and allow yourself to share that with others.
In the end, that’s what gives you your value in this industry and in your work.
Observe The Gospel Of Mr Schneebly
You know who gets it? Jack Black’s character in School of Rock.
I’m completely serious!
Check out this scene where he’s teaching the kids to stick it to the man. He may be talking about rock music, but actually, this philosophy applies to all art. It’s not about doing things perfectly, it’s about expressing something you really believe in.
So, trust yourself, make your own opinions, and, if in doubt, stick it to the man.
5. Becoming An Expert In Your Field
My final point is one of those that seems to be simple and daunting at the same time.
Becoming an expert in acting.
A big ask, right? Surely you don’t need to be an expert, you just have to be able to do it?
That’s fair. It really is. As long as you can do the job and do the work, then you are good enough to play that role.
Let me put it this way. Imagine walking into an audition room and knowing that you are an expert in this topic. You know it all, you’ve practiced it all.
Imagine that you can walk into the room and know that you are on equal footing with the panel in terms of what you know about acting. In fact, imagine that you can walk into the room and feel sure that you will likely know more about acting than the people you’re in front of.
People want to work with people who know what they’re doing. They trust and admire their expertise. For instance, if you were getting someone to fix your computer would you rather hire a world-class computer engineer or someone who has watched a few computer videos on how to take apart a laptop?
Fitting In With The Pros
Casting directors, directors and producers at the top of their game are experts in this field. They know plays, movies, acting, scriptwork, performance, believability and the history of the craft. The ability to be on equal footing with your colleagues and potential colleagues is a huge strength.
The idea of becoming an expert can be daunting though. We can’t become experts straight away. We need time and consistent practice.
That’s why having a personal practice can get you to that place. If you put a bit of time aside every day to learn something, discover something new, or build up your abilities, then one day down the line you will be an expert in acting. The top of the top. The creme de la creme.
Then, the world is your oyster.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is practice important in acting?
Practice will help you to develop your skills in acting, as well as learn new ones. It will also help you build up your confidence, and faith in yourself. Finally, it will help you to build up your own opinions, point of view, and your personal acting style.
Can you practice acting by yourself?
Yes! There are tons of things you can do to practice acting by yourself. From movement work, to script work to building your concentration, there is so much to practice and learn. In fact, I’ve listed a ton of great ideas in my Guide To Building A Personal Acting Practice
Is acting a practice or talent?
It’s both! Your talent in acting is actually who you are – the things that make you unique and that you can offer to your characters. Your practice and craft will allow you to take hold of these things and use them to make rich and inspiring work.
Why is practice more important than talent?
Talent is not stable or reliable. The Romans had this concept called a genius which was a spirit of creativity. Everyone had their own genius, and some days it would turn up and some days it wouldn’t. On the days your genius would turn up, you would make your best work. That is your talent at play. But what about the days your genius doesn’t turn up? That is when you use your practice to work at a high standard by yourself, and lure your genius in. Talent is vague and unreliable. Practice makes for limitless skill and potential.
Can you be good at acting with no experience?
It is difficult. Some people have natural qualities that make acting come more easily to them, such as good concentration or emotional availability. However, the ability to actually utilise these effectively in your work, as well as learn all the other skills you need for acting that you may not have takes experience and practice.
Now you know the importance of having a personal acting practice…
As you can see, having a personal acting practice can take you from someone who knows about acting to someone who is an expert in acting.
It can build up your skills, your confidence, your originality, and even more. In fact, some of the skills you won’t even be able to utilise without regular practice. This means that a personal acting practice isn’t only a good idea but is actually crucial for being a great actor.
But how do you create a personal acting practice? What should I include? And how much time should I spend on it?
I hope this has helped you and break a leg on your acting journey!
