It Takes Most Actors 20 Years To Learn This Lesson - Michael Laskin

BUY THE BOOK - THE AUTHENTIC ACTOR: The Art and Business of Being Yourself
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Michael Laskin has been a working professional actor for over 40 years in film, television, and the theatre - from SEINFELD to BIG LITTLE LIES and a great deal in between. He has worked extensively off-Broadway, and at some of America’s leading regional theatres, including The Guthrie Theatre, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Geffen Playhouse, The Seattle Repertory Theatre, and The Mixed Blood Theatre Company.
Additionally, he was awarded a Fringe First Award at The Edinburgh Festival for playing “Richard Nixon” in TEA WITH DICK AND GERRY, which went on to a successful run at London’s Roundhouse Theatre. Michael also starred in the Canadian premier of the Pulitzer Prize winning drama “Talley’s Folly” and his most recent stage work was the American premiere of the one-person play, ALTMAN’S LAST STAND in Los Angeles. A recipient of a Bush Fellowship with The Guthrie Theatre, he was also awarded a Distinguished Alumnus Award from The University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts.
A graduate of Northwestern University’s theatre department where he received his bachelor’s degree, Michael also has a masters degree in theatre management from The University of Minnesota. Additionally he’s taught acting at USC, UCLA, Queen’s College-Cambridge (UK), The Actors Centre (London), Art Center College of Design, Kennesaw University, the University of Minnesota, the Hawaii International Film Festival, and South Coast Repertory Co.
He’s had the privilege of working with some of the great artists in film and theatre, including Barry Levinson, Stephen Frears, Walter Matthau, John Sayles, Paul Mazursky, Bob Rafelson, Michael Langham, Robert Duvall, Roy Dotrice, and many others.
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[@filmcourage]

The 20 year lesson... 16:46

[@TheJimbo1791]

It takes most actors 16 minutes 46 seconds to find this lesson... so thank you !

[@classicmartini]

Not all heroes wear capes.

[@mintspears6714]

That advice on "flowing into a scene" rather than just action and cut was incredible. Never thought about how difficult it is for actors to make a scene feel natural when they have to just jump into any given situation.

[@1mrdnewman]

@12:00 Instead of yelling "Action", I like when they roll camera and the director goes, "Whenever your ready". Action is more of an obligation.

[@pierbover]

"I'm enough" woah really powerful stuff

[@Opipop]

'You have to kinda make it up' This is especially true in film and TV shoots. You will have your 'sides' but not the full script. It can be a guessing game as to why something is said or done or why something is happening the way it is happening.

[@prince_unplugged]

Michael is so articulate..He is spoken of so many intangibles and abstractions of being an actor so lucidly...I am blown by the simplicity of his profoundness

[@OTOss8]

This is sensational! I can't believe you got Michael Laskin to sit down for a chat with you. He's one of those actors that every time you see him, you say, "Hey! It's *that* guy!" or "Heyyyy, wasn't he also in ___________ ?" His body of work is phenomenal. He's worked on so many shows and films that I absolutely love. Really, I'm stoked to hear him talk about acting. What a treat. He's really thought deeply about this and has some very interesting thoughts to share. Also, the questions he's asked are excellent. They prompt good, thoughtful answers that make this compelling. I looked at the run time of 19:12 and thought there's no way I'm going to watch twenty minutes of acting advice when I'm not an actor yet here I am about to watch this for a second time. Thank you for this video, it's fantastic and if you have a chance to talk to Mr. Laskin, tell him how much I appreciate his thoughtful answers in this interview. Cheers!

[@caseestarr]

I love this and his awareness.

[@fredgalyean]

Fantastic interview! Really resonated with me. I'm also a stage actor who's been transitioning to on camera work these past five years, and it's tricky. The same toolsets are used in preparation, but in a completely different way that has to be learned, and performing in short segments, often out of sequence and with little prep or rehearsal time, is difficult. I think this is where being your true authentic self is most important. Also, I've been working as a coach over the past few years, and sometimes realize I don't follow my own advice, which is something similar to what he stated. Hope I get a chance to work with Michael one of these days.

[@cletusmugane]

I cannot get enough of this channel

[@limlimlimjanice]

I love how his eyes lit up with he talked about how much he admired Tom Cruise!

[@RodCornholio]

Took me decades to figure out that a good actor can be detected pretty simply: the audience believes in the character; that the viewer suspends disbelief, thus believing that what the character does is true in the sense that it is _true TO character_ (THE ACTOR'S* version of the character). Just to clarify what it is NOT (necessarily): it is NOT believing that the character actually exists in this world. _Superman_ doesn't exist, but Christopher Reeve's performance feels correct/appropriate/true for HIS version of Superman. So, it is somewhat recursive. On the other hand as illustrated in a _very interesting_ short video of Robert Oppenheimer (the actual scientist) _portraying himself_ in a video about a real event: the moments before the Trinity test detonation (the first atomic bomb). So, you have _the_ real guy playing a real guy doing a real event that _really_ happened. Yet, it's not believable. It's comically unbelievable. What causes that, I suspect, are the thousands of hours of TV shows and movies that we have been exposed to, _training us to expect a particular STYLE of behavior for us to believe in its truth_ . We've been taught a _language of performance_ . When that language is not used - like Oppenheimer playing himself as, perhaps, he actually was - it is interpreted as a mismatch to what we're accustomed to; we don't believe that character is being true. So, acting "real" does not necessarily make the audience believe in the character. *Case-and-point. Han Solo. Anthony Ingruber apparently can look, talk, and _behave_ like Harrison Ford. He was young enough to star as a young Han Solo. Perfect? No. Because audiences know the difference between an _imitation_ and something _genuine_ . Alden Ehrenreich was given the role and did alright as Han...and those are big shoes to fill.

[@mickeyaugrec7560]

Well stated Cornholio!

[@liquidbraino]

Great acting can't be detected. If you're rehearsing a scene; someone walks up to you and says "Oh... I see you're rehearsing, I'll come back later" - you're doing it wrong. If someone walks up to you while you're rehearsing a scene and you have to tell them "Oh I'm sorry we're rehearsing, can you come back in a minute" and they say "Oh I didn't even realize you were rehearsing" then you're doing it right. Simplicity is the toughest thing to teach an actor. Badly trained actors tend to overthink everything.

[@l.w.paradis2108]

This is the most generous channel I've ever seen --- which is saying a lot! There are some great meditation channels that are truly generous, too.

[@filmcourage]

Doing our best to provide value. Thank you for supporting us L.W.

[@djdollase]

Love this. Just coming to this from watching Sandy Meisner videos.

[@ricomcclinton2982]

Great interview!!

[@thetalesofrozgardthered7740]

Very helpful. Thanks for what you do!

[@exito3317]

I love it!

[@jilldaltonnyc7545]

Love this so much. Thank you.

[@rickmcarthur7265]

Thanks so much. This really resonated with me and I am excited to practice my scenes now.

[@ram2862]

Confident and doubtless character of the hero emanates from the manner the script for him is coined and the goal chosen to be achieved by him through the sequences of actions I love to watch TC always Nice details delineated in this interview with Mr.Michael Laskin. Thanks Film courage

[@azrielmateria8050]

very insightful. and hes from my homestate.

[@sethmober]

Got me with the title. Bought the book. Early Xmas present to myself I guess

[@MichaelLaskinStudio]

Thanks Seth....I hope you enjoy it! Merry Xmas!

[@perriyaniv]

these are FACTS

[@jacksonkerr2095]

This is absolutely fascinating to me, especially the last story about Mr. Warden. Society encourages us to put on a show for others, even when we're not acting. Knowing that God is there to give His grace to those who seek Him gives me hope for this kind of work, if I get the chance to do this kind of work.

[@gaurav_bhardwaj]

That conviction is admirable in Tom Cruise... until you see him like that towards scientology

[@scottbarkley496]

Christianity origin story is even funnier

[@scottbarkley496]

@Marcus bill burr says so & I agree

[@liquidbraino]

@@scottbarkley496 Yeah, god SPOKE the entire universe into existence but still needed dirt to create Adam? Still needed to borrow a rib from Adam to create Eve? Couldn't just create a world without "original sin"? If he spoke the entire universe into existence then why didn't he just SAY "Let there be Adam and Eve and a garden without goddamn snakes in it"?

[@Rlrlrl1962]

Stop bringing that up will you? He’s the best actor of our time and there are people in Hollywood that have done worse than just be a Scientology follower. Tom Cruise doesn’t even talk about Scientology anymore so you shouldn’t

[@gaurav_bhardwaj]

@@Rlrlrl1962 I'm not criticizing him or scientology. I'm just pointing out that when he gets into something, he really gets into it! That trait works for him when getting into character, which makes him a good actor.

[@MikeGeorge392]

Any advice to create your own technique?

[@neilvaughan6675]

Robert Duvall said the same thing after watching Brando, it was just talking and listening like when they were off camera, there never seemed to be a start or action and any perceived effort

[@Rlrlrl1962]

Tom Cruise is greatest actor of our time he’s a great actor people overlook that because of all the other things he’s great at like stunts. He also inspired me to pursue acting so I understand what you mean.

[@deltacos3187]

No he’s not lol. Cruise is a movie star and a face, not a dramatic actor with range. He’s not Daniel Day Lewis, Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, etc. You should be ashamed for saying that clown shit! What delusional world do you live in?

[@l.w.paradis2108]

​@@deltacos3187I agree with you, but why continue to hurdle the mean words? They don't add anything to your content.

[@christianthompson1473]

Everything is vanity!

[@liquidbraino]

Sure, if you trained with Stella Adler.

[@liquidbraino]

Sanford Meisner said that it takes twenty years to become an actor. I think what he meant is that it takes twenty years to become a master of your craft.

[@simeonshelton]

He never said that. He said it takes twenty year for a lot of actors to learn this skill.

[@liquidbraino]

@@simeonshelton You don't know what the fuck you're talking about. There are several different famous actors and directors who quoted him as having said those exact words. You aren't even an actor or you would know this. Watch "Theaters Best Kept Secret" and see for yourself. It's a documentary; made BY Columbia Pictures about Sanford Meisner and the first place it was EVER uploaded to the Internet is *my* own channel. The others stole it from my channel and re-uploaded it - check the dates. I literally go to school at the last place where Sandy taught before he died; you can't tell me *shit* about Sandy. My teachers knew him; the owner of the school is Jeff Goldblum. YOU have one single IMDb credit and it's not even as an actor; you were a production assistant on ONE single *short film* so quit trying to act like you know ANYTHING about acting.

[@liquidbraino]

@@simeonshelton He said EXACTLY those words. Apparently you've never seen "Theaters Best Kept Secret".

[@simeonshelton]

@@liquidbraino lol ok sassy.

[@djn48]

Thanks for making me realise why I hate Tom Cruise. Absolute certainty is the core of stupidity and egotism.

[@Rlrlrl1962]

Don’t be jealous. Tom Cruise is admirable. He’s doing much better than you he’s made a lot of jobs and successful movies and has play a variety of characters. So you’re the one who sounds stupid here.

[@johnrobinson4445]

83. Come back later to see how many likes have accrued to this excellent discussion.

[@dominicbyrne7954]

There must be something wrong with me, because I think Tom Cruise is one of the worst actors I've ever seen. Every movie I have seen him in, to me he's merely Tom Cruise, not the character he's meant to be.

[@scottbarkley496]

TOM CRUISE is the GOAT

[@renegademax]

Tom Cruise is one the most underrated actors. If you watch his performances, he transition from acting to being, most actors do not.

[@marialupu7770]

@@MarcusSjolanderexactly!

[@renegademax]

@Marcus Incorrect; being is when the actor transitions from acting the character, to inhabiting the character; eg, being the character. Thus, from acting to being.

[@liquidbraino]

@Marcus Being is not acting. Being is being. Acting is the ability to live truthfully under the given imaginary circumstances.