Is Acting School the Right Place for You? by Julian Kelly

Is Acting School the Right Place for you? Maybe. If you want to be famous, you don't need to be an actor in order to do this. Find a reality show, be as outrageous as possible, bring up television ratings, and you can probably be very successful.

You don't need to go to school in order to learn how to drawn attention to yourself. You do need to go to school if you want to learn to transform your entire self into a workable canvas on which you may shed layers of your own persona, yet all the while maintain total control, and breathe existence into an abstract concept who will later become a "character".

But an untrained actor, in my opinion is a hazard and insult to those of us whom have spent years perfecting our crafts. Literally. Untrained actors, for example, may not know that even blanks, when shot at point blank range in a gun, often give off a blast and gun powder splatter, capable of blowing a person's face off and/or otherwise fatally wounding someone. This is the kind of important life-saving information that you need to have in your back pocket.

An untrained actor is at a greater risk of providing his cast-mates physical harm through misuse of sets, props, and weaponry. Acting is a skill, which requires precision and a great understanding of the psyche, the body, and the environment, but acting school may not necessarily mean enrolling yourself in Julliard for four semesters.

There are various private acting coaches, and acting studios all around the country, which can accommodate a variety of budgets and skill levels. In my opinion, the more serious the student, the more serious the training needed. Even the best of actors, the Emmy and Oscar award winners, have private coaches and take classes on a regular basis.

(from "Actor Tips" is copyright 2007 by Chad Gracia)