A Natural Born Actor
Born a Ham and Love it!
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Were you born to act? I believe acting must have been in my genes!
by Neva J. Howell
Suggested Reading:
What is Subtext?
Need a New Monologue?
Why you may need an acting coach
I've been acting since I was a child, although I didn't get paid for it then. In fact, folks may have paid me to go away and stop being such a ham! I have video of myself at about age 11 or 12, shoving myself in front of my sister (Sorry, Deb) to be on the video at Christmas. I made up MTV videos to songs before there was an MTV.
I remember being a purple flower in the first grade play and also mortifying experiences singing in talent shows. I got terrible stagefright when singing but it was a way to perform so I'd do it anyway, though my passion was and is with acting. These days, I do a lot with MPTV. Don't know what that is? Check out original characters for web series and my favorite original so far ...
One of those years, so long ago, I went to college and got into every play during the two years I was there. Near graduation, my acting teacher told me about a summer acting class in New York. I auditioned and was accepted. It was an amazing summer! Saw Lily Tomlin on Broadway, and Cats! Learned that I am not a method actor. Learned that someone else's acting technique, however good, wasn't mine and that, while it was a great exercise in flexibility to try on other people's ideas, ultimately, I was responsible for my own craft.
After New York
I didn't like how cold, rushed and scary New York was so I decided to try a warmer clime for my exploration of becoming a paid actor. I went to Los Angeles. That first time was truly a horrible time. No money. You just don't ever need to be in L.A. with no money. Riding busses to auditions, etc. Yuck. Went back two more times. The third time was sort of a charm in that I had money, I got an agent, I was getting auditions and I was getting cast. However, I was also miserable due to the constant, horrific traffic.
Traffic eventually did what rude cd's and bitter disappointments at losing roles and bad acting a classes and having no money couldn't do. Traffic literally broke my dream of living in Los Angeles and working as a actor. The realization to leave came at a peak moment. I remember it vividly. I was sitting completely still, in bumper to bumper traffic. My car had just crawled past the big billboard that counts off the number of deaths due to smoking. I called my Mom and said "Mom, it's taken me an hour and a half to go 18 miles. I'm coming home."
So, I came back south and actually got some work here and there. I taught acting at the same community college I attended, at local high schools and other places. Over time I developed some kind of feel for what works for me as an actor and while I know that my technique is not anyone elses, in the interest of flexible training, I offer a free online acting class that features excercises and lessons that have been helpful to me as an actor.
Resource from my favorite acting guru, Michael Chekhov. I first learned about the Chekhov technique when I lived in Los Angeles and took classes with Lisa Dalton, of the Chekhov Connection. Unlike other classes, that felt a lot like work, Lisa's classes were major fun and also resulted in some very effective acting skillss. What I love most about Chekhov's acting exercises were that they employed imagination and right-brain thinking far more than left-brain analysis. No need to count beats or substitute some painful personal memory to reach the truth of an emotional scene. Love this stuff! Check out the chekhov technique for a fun approach to the craft!