80 Things I Learned in a Graduate Acting Program

I've been writing down/collecting little notes from all my notebooks this summer and reflecting on things I learned during school. Some...

I've been writing down/collecting little notes from all my notebooks this summer and reflecting on things I learned during school. Sometimes time went so quickly that I was unable to really process what I was doing or learning, so it's been helpful to let it digest a bit. Here is a short list of some things that kind of, you know, changed my life and how I view acting and stuff. 
  1. Mediocrity is boring.
  2. I can reinvent the rules; always tempt the edges of what I am doing.
  3. Don’t take things personally.
  4. When I feel off-balance, use it. Don’t fix it. Don’t get my shit together, and then speak.
  5. Silence is powerful, but is deadly if it isn’t filled.
  6. When in doubt, put it on a diagonal.
  7. When in doubt, viewpoint.
  8. I own time and space; I am a warrior of energy and space.
  9. Don’t play the problem, play the solution.
  10. Always ask for what I need.
  11. Don’t piss away my entrance.
  12. Master the art of an elegant apology.
  13. Take it out of my head, and put it into my body.
  14. Punctuation is a guide, not a prison.
  15. The feeling has to go out to the audience, or else who the fuck cares?
  16. Know how I behave, and own it.
  17. I have to be a very large vessel for uncomfortability.
  18. I can never be specific enough. Clear away the clutter. Clarity.
  19. Don’t be collapsed by the emotions, be energized by the emotions.
  20. Let the images change me.
  21. Don’t do acting shit – don’t go into “acting land.”
  22. Act better.
  23. Acting is hard.
  24. Don’t try to be interesting.
    • It is much more interesting to be messy, less organized, and more connected to our true selves.
  25. I will always be connected if I think into my feet and into the ground.
  26. Build resilience through frustration.
  27. Nerves are a good thing.
  28. Don’t get trapped into one point of view.
  29. I need to have a very fine-tuned bullshit meter.
  30. Merry Mary married hairy Harry on a fantastic ferry.
  31. Just try shit out.
  32. Theatre exists to hold a mirror up to society.
  33. Theatre exists to create empathy.
  34. Theatre exists to ask questions. Not answer them.
  35. My job is to tell the truth.
  36. FAIL.
  37. Always choose the positive over the negative.
  38. I am enough.
  39. Stay open.  To everything.
  40. Don’t let my face substitute for a lack of inner connection.
  41. Fuck with the audience.
  42. Don’t be afraid of conflict.
  43. The enemy to being an artist is habit.
  44. Always have fun.
  45. Follow through on impulses.
  46. Don’t play the ending.
  47. Conversation can kill a rehearsal.
  48. Take responsibility for what the audience sees.
  49. Be bold.
  50. Slow. The. Fuck. Down.
  51. Civilization is restraint.
  52. Less can be more.
  53. Always make it about the other person.
  54. If you like it a lot, it’s probably wrong.
  55. No one thinks they are the bad guy.
  56. Love is a form of madness and ecstasy (thx Sarah Kane).
  57. I cannot play emotion, only action.
  58. Nothing is black and white. Most things live in a grey area.
  59. Taking time for myself does not equal being selfish.
  60. Eat well, work out, and get enough sleep.
  61. I cannot act in a vacuum.
  62. And on that note, collaboration is key.
  63. Don’t be a dick. 
  64. Listen. And respond.
  65. Learn to be okay with looking like an idiot.
  66. Vulnerability is everything.
  67. Mind + middle + mouth.
  68. Never stop asking questions.
  69. Characters closest to who I am are the toughest. 
  70. Act before I think.
  71. Don't make it too academic.
  72. Relax to be sensitized, not comfortable.
  73. Language is incredibly visceral if you open yourself to the words and the sounds.
  74. Don't feel the need to be a good student.
  75. huh-huh-mmm-mfa.
  76. What Would James Do?
  77. Flatter + Faster.
  78. Keep a list of roles I want to play. Know what actors are playing those roles. 
  79. Somebody else's success is not my failure.
  80. The Troll Club will probably be the highlight of my acting career. 

[Some of these are direct quotes from class with Anne Bogart, Kristin Linklater, Andrea Haring, Andrei Serban, James Calleri & Gregory Mosher. My deepest gratitude to everyone at Columbia for forcing me to be outside my comfort zone 24/7 for the last 3 years of my life and for introducing me to the best theatre community I could have asked for.]

Brynne is an actress and photographer living in New York City.

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