We have found 21,023 posts across 4 actor forums:
Do Limitations Make Us More Creative? by Suzanne Bronson • last post Jun 17th
Actors,
RB's blog this week is about the quiet power of the contained story. I would love to know what you think.
Do contained stories create stronger performance opportunities?
Have you been in a vertical drama? Share your experience.
What challenges come with performing in projects with limited locations and cash?
Actors Act. You do what you do to keep working. by James Woodland • last post Jun 17th
https://youtu.be/8NshH8grXD4
Disney Cruise Line Shipboard Performers by whoupsingingtheysong • last post Jun 17th
Fireside - A Christmas Story by SheUsedToBePie • last post Jun 16th
Zach Theatre - A Christmas Carol '26 by SheUsedToBePie • last post Jun 16th
On-Set Etiquette for Actors: How to Work With the Crew, Not Around Them by Laura Hammer • last post Jun 16th
What is the most valuable thing you have learned from a crew member on set — and how has working closely with the crew changed the way you approach your own performance?
The best actors on any set are not just good at their craft — they are good collaborators. A film or television production is a complex, precisely coordinated machine, and every crew member from the Assistant Director to the production assistant to the wardrobe team has a specific role that keeps it moving. Actors who understand this and operate accordingly — arriving early, knowing their lines cold, keeping their phones away, and staying out of the eyelines of the camera and the director — earn a reputation that follows them from project to project. The golden rule on set is simple: if you are not early, you are late. Everything that happens before the camera rolls is preparation, and preparation is a form of respect for everyone else's time.
On set, silence and spatial awareness are professional currencies. Film sets demand intense focus from every department, and noise travels further than most actors realize — both on the floor and backstage. Staying out of the crew's way during setups, keeping backstage conversations to a whisper, and never touching equipment or props that are not yours are small habits that signal a big-picture understanding of how productions work. The same applies to wardrobe and makeup — treating your costume as something the wardrobe team worked hard to prepare, hanging it up at the end of the day, and avoiding food and drink while wearing it are courtesies that build trust with the people who make you look your best on camera.
The most underrated skill an actor can develop on set is the ability to learn names. Knowing the names of the grips, the PAs, the camera operators, and the stagehands communicates genuine respect for the collaborative nature of the work — and that respect builds the kind of creative environment where everyone performs better. The chain of command on a professional set runs through the Assistant Director and the department heads, and working within that structure rather than around it is what separates the actors who get called back from the ones who do not. Collaboration is not a soft skill. On a working set, it is a professional requirement.
Every experienced actor has a story about something they learned from a crew member — a grip who explained why a certain shot was not working, a wardrobe supervisor who caught something that would have read badly on camera, a PA who quietly redirected them to where they needed to be. Those moments of collaboration shape how actors understand the craft from the other side of the lens.
Did I audition wrong? by Doug Kayne • last post Jun 16th
I remember many, many moons ago (it was in the 1990s! gasp!), I was interning at a casting director/producer's office with an acting studio associated with it. As such, I had remarkable access to those casting directors who would come in and hold casting workshops -- essentially a pay-to-be-seen type of situation, but at the time, i wasn't getting a lot of auditions, and this helped. I remember being called in by the casting directors for Friends, MAD TV, Just Shoot Me, and more. And, while I didn't land any of the roles I went out on, I was grateful for the opportunities.
The scenes we got to read in the workshops were sides from the shows they worked on. I remember, for example, reading a scene from Friends (I read Ross' part) where he and Rachel were arguing -- I still remember one of the lines: "First of all, it was Professor Pitain, and second, he was able to prove that dinosaur had wings, but could not fly!"
One of the workshops involved a casting director for a show that was currently on (I will name neither the CD nor the show), where I had just seen the episode the sides were from just a week prior. I happened to mention it as I was given the sides. Now, for the record, I would never have been called in for this particular role -- he was very much a leading man type and, more so then, I was definitely more like Ross -- not the romantic lead, but more of the quirky, sidekick character.
At that time in my training (and I still believe it now), you should always put your own spin on the character. When I first auditioned for the acting studio, I was given a scene from L.A. Law (I was reading the Harry Hamlin role). It was a courtroom scene, and I made it my own, changing the Michael Kuzak character from Hamlin's portrayal to one that has a bit more of a sarcastic, smart-ass bent. I made it my own. So...I did the same thing with the role I was reading for in this particular casting director session.
After my scene partner and I performed our scene, the CD kind of berated me (in front of the rest of the workshop participants), essentially saying that my performance was "wrong", and that I should have known better since I just saw the episode! Needless to say, I have never been called in by this CD to read for them since.
Did I do the wrong thing? Should I have basically given a carbon-copy performance of the guy who had already gotten the role? My gut still tells me no, that I gave the performance I would have given if I was in the role...and I didn't fit that demographic. I still insist (and clearly it still baffles me) that I made the right call, and that the CD was wrong. Now, I also recognize that it was in the 1990s, and there are wider portrayals of lead characters than the stereotypical type the CD wanted me to be (which I'm still not!).
What are your thoughts? Am I right or (equally possible) horribly misguided?
Why Actors Should Never Try to Get Rid of Audition Nerves by Aaron Marcus • last post Jun 16th
Why Actors Should Never Try to Get Rid of Audition Nerves
https://youtu.be/6rKgCmsFqkE
LET'S TALK IN THE COMMENTS
Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed by nerves before an audition? What did you do? Share your experience below and on the channel. Your story will help a fellow actor. I read and respond to every comment.
Actors Playhouse in Coral Gables by Goodmorningbirds • last post Jun 16th
https://www.fiverr.com/s/2K3dgZ8 by Neet Patel • last post Jun 13th
Check out this page!
Other Desert Cities covers by Maria79 • last post Jun 12th
Dream performer. by Jason Raymaker • last post Jun 11th
Who is your dream performer you would like to work with? Living or dead.
Bypassing the Audition Bottleneck: Structuring Talent for Active Corporate Slates by Mark Winton • last post Jun 11th
My desk is currently locking in upcoming creative slates and managing portfolio allocations within the TPS corporate network for this quarterly cycle. We are looking for highly disciplined, cross-functional talent who understand how to treat their brand like a commercial business asset. Our private matching tiers are designed to place vetted profiles directly onto the desks of active equity financiers, producers, and directors who hold actual greenlight authority.
If you are ready to stop chasing random auditions and want to know how our offline onboarding channels work, let’s connect. Message me directly to move this over to our secure executive network.
Mastering the art of self-discipline by Richard Antie • last post Jun 11th
Martial arts isn't just about fighting—it's about discipline, confidence, and becoming stronger every day. Every training session teaches patience, focus, and resilience. The journey is challenging, but growth comes from pushing beyond limits.
Challenging Role by Suzanne Bronson • last post Jun 10th
What has been your most challenging role you have played so far?
The California "Work For Hire" Trap: How Production Companies Steal Your IP and Labor (And How to Stop Them) by Catherine James • last post Jun 9th
A quick warning for all the local musicians, designers, models, and gig entertainers in our community.
Right now, local companies and agencies are handing out "1099 contracts" that include a sneaky clause called "Work Made for Hire."
They are trying to get the limitless upside of your creativity while dodging other employment laws. But under California law, they legally cannot have it both ways. See why: https://thecatherinejames.com/creatives-corner/f/the-california-work-for...
Your content and your labor are the most valuable assets in the room. Stop letting predatory contracts steal them.
As a local attorney, I just published a full legal breakdown of how this trap works and how to protect yourself.
Your Voice Is a Passport — Here Is How Actors Learn Accents That Actually Land by Laura Hammer • last post Jun 9th
Mastering an accent is not about mimicking sounds — it is about rebuilding the physical architecture of how you speak. Professional actors approach dialect work by starting with voice placement and oral posture: where does the voice resonate in the mouth, where does the tongue rest, how much tension lives in the jaw? From there, the focus moves to prosody — the music of the dialect, its rhythm, its melody, its stress patterns — before a single word is spoken in the target accent. Practicing the cadence of a dialect using nonsense syllables before adding real language is one of the most effective techniques available because it trains your ear and your body simultaneously, separating the physical habit from the intellectual work of remembering lines.
The daily practice that separates actors who can do an accent from actors who can hold one under pressure is a combination of deep listening, recording, and comparison. Immersing yourself in native speech through regional media, podcasts, and unscripted interviews trains your ear to catch the specific sounds that mark a dialect as authentic rather than approximated. Recording yourself reading the same passage in your natural voice and in the target dialect — then playing them back side by side — reveals exactly where you slip and what muscle memory still needs work. Marking your script to flag vowel shifts and dropped consonants keeps the specific technical demands visible on the page rather than held entirely in memory, which reduces the cognitive load when you are also performing.
The reason accent work matters for a working actor goes beyond casting range. An accent roots a character in a specific culture, upbringing, and rhythm — it shapes how a character thinks and moves and opens emotional doors that a generalized performance cannot reach. Actors who invest in dialect training are not just expanding the roles they can audition for. They are deepening the instrument they bring to every role.
How do you approach learning a new accent — and is there a specific technique or resource that has made the biggest difference for you?
JEKYLL & HYDE (Actors Playhouse) by Tommy98 • last post Jun 8th
"You know, sometimes I amaze even myself." by Doug Kayne • last post Jun 8th
The above quote by Han Solo from STAR WARS struck me today, as far as acting goes. And, strangely, it goes hand-in-hand with imposter syndrome (I've named mine "Izzy".) Izzy has led me to look with a highly critical eye at an acting performance I'm in the process of doing, and think, "If they ever find out I can't act, then I'm done for."
And then...there are those moments when I am taken aback with how good I actually can be. And, there's no ego there (okay, maybe a little...), but it's these moments when Izzy retreats into a corner and lets me bask in the notion that I actually can do this craft I enjoy so much.
I'll give an example:
I was in a dramatic improv class years ago (side note, I will never stop extolling the benefits of improv, but that's for another time), and was performing a scene where I was a surgeon who had just lost a patient on the operating table, and was wrestling with how I was going to tell the parents their son died. My scene partner was the Chief of Medicine who was reminding me it was not my fault, and that I shouldn't feel guilty that my son was okay, while my friend's was gone. Now, comedy is usually my bread-and-butter, especially improv-wise. I couldn't even begin to tell you what was going through my mind, but I was incredibly dialed in. Izzy was on an extended lunch break. Somehow, I delivered a performance that I still recall fondly to this day (along with the instructor and my scene partner). Truth be told, I surprised even myself -- in a good way!
So...now's the time to toot your own horn. Shout it out from the rooftops. Let us celebrate your acting victories and breakthroughs with you. Tell me a time when you not only knocked a performance out of the park, but surprised yourself with how good you really are. Don't be shy, be proud of your talent, hard work, and dedication to your craft!
The Rocberti Writer's Festival by John Snell • last post Jun 8th
Hi everyone. I wanted to share a link for this years Rocberti Writer's Festival. One writer will also have the opportunity to win a FULL SCHOLARSHIP to attend The Rocaberti Writers' Festival.
DEADLINE: Monday, June 15th, 2026, 12 midnight Pacific Time. Good luck! https://click-149601.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=30519384&msgid=781976&act=ZME6&c=149601&pid=3546155&destination=https%3A%2F%2Frocabertiwriters.com%2Fscholarships&cf=2307&v=50fd95dcd9422689832a615bbb475afb3e39b6fcbeac0fa0a78ff88897ed9274