QUESTION:
I want to be an actor. But I cannot afford to pay for drama school. What would you recommend? Acting lessons? Private acting
lessons? Books? Also know of any good acting teachers in london? One more thing. How would someone outside of the US. Become an actor there?
ANSWER:
Of course, it helps if you can go to acting school, but if you can’t afford it, just start with a once a week group acting class or whatever you can (private acting lessons are usually more expensive and not the best choice at the beginning, since you want to get experience performing in front of others and having scene partners).
If you can’t afford a class at all, do what you can. Audition for community theater and unpaid roles, as well as other castings. You’ll learn a lot by doing and watching others. You can start working on your acting today. Pick a monologue and start simply saying the words, focusing only on getting across the meaning of every word to your audience. The number one rule in acting is not to fake, to be in the moment, “real” and you can start working on this on your own by not forcing any emotions as you learn your first monologue, by just saying the words and letting things come to you. It seems simple but it’s not, it takes a lot of concentration.
You can find free online acting lessons on the website, along with information on different techniques and the books to get for each method you want to give a try. I don’t know about acting teachers in London, but you may want to look into scholarship auditions for an acting school there.
It’s not easy to audition for US productions when you live in another country. Sometimes, American casting directors will reach out to an actor or acting agency in another country for a role, but that’s only for leads and established actors.