Charles Conrad maintained that the greatest source of acting is focus of attention away from oneself while maintaining a high level of energy in a relaxed instrument.
That seems to be paradoxical doesn’t it?
Clearly, an actor must have a relaxed and sensorially alive instrument, grounded in organic to truth, in order to maintain the high levels of energy and concentration required to deliver great work. But how does one do that?
“Acting is the ability to live truthfully under given imaginary circumstances”
~ Sanford Meisner
The objective is to challenge you to always work from the heart of your creative self, and to be truthful and “in the moment” every moment that you’re in front of the camera or on stage. Explore what is, and is not, working in the scene and in you. There is only truth and untruth. Do not judge the rightness or wrongness of your responses. There is no right or wrong truth.
What works best is to come from a place of honesty within yourself. Be open to unexpected emotion and be willing to draw upon imagination so that you can place yourself as fully and completely in the reality of the scene as possible.
Imagination is a powerful tool for any artist, one that connects us with the creative genius of our humanity and expands our horizons. When imagination is joined with truthful self-expression, then spontaneous, unpredictable, fascinating moment-to-moment work will occur. Actors must be willing to transcend perceived or self-imposed limits and to go beyond the familiar for the purpose of courageously diving into that scary, exhilarating, trailblazing place we call the “unknown”.
We will begin every session with an exercise developed by Master contemporaries of Stanislavsky that were practiced at the original Group Theatre and passed on to Thomas by Wendell Phillips. We will go beyond that which is taught in movement, dance, mime, and physical theater classes. Thomas’s unique method will accomplish the task of relaxing your vibrant and alive instrument while grounding it in organic truth. From there we will begin to work on material you chosen. As a long time practitioner of the Method before his many years of film acting training with Conrad, Polanski combines the best of both approaches for film, television, and stage.
We will film your work during our sessions and you will be provided links to YouTube or Vimeo.
Contact Thomas For An Interview Today!
Phone: (310) 849-6641
fromtheheartacting (at) gmail.com