5 Things I learnt from Steppenwolf
In June of 2018, I spent four amazing days with Audrey Francis and Amy Morton from the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. It was their first time in Australia teaching a variation of Meisner technique...
Acting Tips
Welcome to the Acting Tips section of the site. Listed here are all our latest Acting Tips. These tips are written by our core writers Andrew Hearle, Luke McMahon, Jim Harwood and James Waters as well as many others. All our writers are trained, professional actors. These guilt free acting snacks aim at helping actors develop their craft, rethink there personal methodology and inspire confidence.
If something works for you use it, if not don't try to force one of our acting tips to work; every actor is different. Please let us know your thoughts on any of the Acting Tips listed here. If you have a question about any element of your acting, let us know and we will endeavour to help you out in any way we can.
What to expect at a theatre audition
Theatre is a broad church: ranging from musicals and opera through to schmick main stage productions and big theatres to tiny, hole in the wall, black boxes with auteur directors smelling of cigarettes and essential...
What to expect at a commercial audition
Commercials are an actors bread and butter. They are a big cash earner and the most common thing you will audition for, especially early in your career. They also require a unique style of performance...
How to have an acting career without going to drama school
It’s the terminal question – do I have to go to drama school to have a career as an actor? The short answer? No. But it sure does help. The reverse is true, just because...
Should You Take That Theatre Gig?
So you’ve auditioned for a show, maybe you laid down a self-test, maybe you smashed a callback, maybe a mate just called and was like “You’re the voice, try and understand it.” Whatever the case,...
18 Ways to be a Happier Actor
We’ve all been there. Nothing’s going your way, you’re exhausted, and you just can’t be bothered to help yourself anymore. Oh, and you just spilt yoghurt all over the floor. We thought we’d write a...
5 ways to stop yourself from having an actor’s breakdown
The fake lino floor of my kitchen wasn’t as clean as I thought, and as I lay there in the foetal position with my script in my hand the only thing that was rattling around...
Burning Actor Questions: with David Dean Bottrell
This year, Random House published my first book, WORKING ACTOR which is about how to have a successful career (and a happy life) as an actor. Because I wanted to make sure I’d covered all...
Bamboo: Tree of Unexpected Actor Wisdom
Before I set off on this extended metaphor of an actor as bamboo, let me just acknowledge the irony of this comparison and get that out of the way. Yes, we have all been asked...
The Challenges of Acting
There are many different acting challenges, but I wanted to work though some of those that I have faced everyday as an actor and a teacher. Each of us are blessed with strengths. Some actors...