Alan Gordon Studio

Leave trying out of the equation. Acting is doing. Do you want to know if your choices are working? Do them. By the time you’ve thought about what you could, or should do, you’ve killed the impulse to do it. Good actors are instinctive. They follow their impulses. They don’t think about them.

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You can’t try to be funny, angry, sad, excited etc. They are results. The writer provides you with dialogue. Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Elaine May, Tina Fey, et al, write funny. They expect the actors that have been cast in their plays and movies to live truthfully in the imaginary circumstances. If you have a sense of humor it will be revealed in your work.

“Don’t do anything until something happens to make you do it.“. -Sanford Meisner

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What the hell is the point of an emoluments clause when you can’t stop this pathological liar from profiting while in office.

John Brennan is suing Trump and the DOJ. Let’s give him the support that he needs and deserves.

Who needs more evidence that Trump’s attacks on the constitution are profoundly un-American?

“An ounce of behavior is worth a pound of words.”
-Sanford Meisner

Your actions define you. Your emotions are the product of striving fully to achieve your objective while in connection with the other person.

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Living privately in a public situation requires laser-like focus on the other person. Don’t try to make something happen. Listen and react when you feel the “pinch.”

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Acting is a profession of pretend. Oddly, to be good at it you have to pretend truthfully. You have to be the person that you are portraying. Revealing yourself in the imaginary circumstances. A vivid imagination is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal.

When asked about his process Brando said, “it a combination of my instinct and my imagination.”

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Curiosity is one of your most valuable tools. Take nothing for granted. Delve deeply into the meanings. When you feel it in your gut you will have discovered a truth in yourself that can’t be erased.

“The harder I work the luckier I get.” -Sam Goldwyn

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One of the most valuable things you will ever learn as an actor: “Don’t do anything until something happens to make you do it.” This lays the foundation for stillness.

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If you’ve pre-determined how you are going to play a scene how are you supposed to react instinctively when you have already determined how the other person is going to react? That is the antithesis of living truthfully from moment to moment.

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