For those that have taken Actorium’s Intro and are entering into Foundations:
The first weeks in Foundations are spent working on exercises which invite the actor to express themselves, openly and truthfully. How many of us find it easy to be open and honest in our self expression? It’s … hard to do. We are so good at putting on a mask. Sometimes we’re so good, there is no differentiation between the mask and ourselves. We no longer even know we are covering our self.
Foundations l may take 8 weeks or may longer, depending on the individual. But, when an actor understands how to work truthfully, we move into the second part of Foundations. Foundations ll is “Spotlight”. This is where an actor is asked to put themselves out on the line. The exercises are more tailored to the individual. Here the actor has the opportunity to push the boundaries of their comfort zone. They may end up falling flat on their faces, or they may soar. That’s the feeling. It’s scary to expose the truth in yourself. It’s scary to really show that you are really hurt, really sad… angry, embarrassed. It’s much more comfortable to fake it, just ever so slightly. To quote Phillip Seymour Hoffman “It takes a certain amount of consciousness to commit to taking the risk of remaining in an uncomfortable place.”
Working this way becomes addictive. It feels great to be truthful. It feels great to show yourself to be the fool that you are, to be the beautiful soul that you are, to be the asshole that you are. You know you are all of those things.
Once an actor is comfortable expressing the different parts of themselves, we continue on into, not just being truthful, but initiating truth. Foundations lll. Here we start exploring ’emotional preparation’. Emotional preparation is the study of how to ‘go there’ when we need to ‘go there’… truthfully. Actors learn to trust that they can actually ‘do it’ and don’t need to ‘show it’. Our training is about embodying the feeling until it takes over, and we can’t help but express it.
That is Foundations broken down. Actors move through the program at the speed suited to their capabilities. Once Foundations in completed, it’s on to Activity. Applying the same reality to feeling and being, bring that same reality to “doing”.
We hope you will train with us.
– Michelle Meyrink
actorium.ca