Alec Baldwin notes on Acting
These are some notes that I learned from working with Alec Baldwin in his scene study class in 2008. I was accepted into his scene study class and had the privilege to study with him for three summers. He is an excellent teacher. He teaches by fire and I like it a lot. I always like to know when I suck and when I don't.
My two favorite notes of advice he gave to us were:
- "You better be good, dam good because this business demands it" And
- "If you can't remember your lines, don't worry, YOUR FIRED!"
Some of his notes:
- You can not give everything an equivalence of value.
- Look at the lines that are hard to say for your character. Every character has them.
- Must show vulnerability in a scene.
- If there is a beat, a pause, that means the character is thinking something. What? Make a choice!
- Make choices as an actor, as real people do.
- When do you talk to yourself and when do you talk to other people?
- More important to be real than loud.
- Keep your body and voice in shape! It is mandatory.