Acting: An Education

I love watching people. I always try to be very stealthy in my people-watching, but I am quite positive I have alarmed more than a few people in my day. The things that people do when they think no one is watching fascinates me the most: Why did they make that face? Why are they talking to themselves? I always find myself creating stories about their lives based off of how they hold their coffee cup or smoke their cigarette. I think artists have the amazing capability of looking at almost anything and creating a story, or just noticing specific details about objects or people that most people do not notice. Everything is heightened, given extra value or importance, and I find that beautiful.

I was drawn into acting for these reasons, and it is what continues to fascinate me: as an actor, you delve into the life of another character, you create a human being, you live through the eyes of another. Human beings are incredibly complex, so it fits that the training required for portraying human beings would be complex as well. In addition to reading acting books and plays, I study psychology books and science books on bioenergetics and muscle and emotional memory, so that I will be further educated on how to represent humanity. It always astounds me how people pick up and move to Los Angeles or New York City to pursue acting careers without any sort of training. While I admire their ambition and faith, I have never found acting to be something that could be “picked up” during a weekend course at the Stella Adler Studio, due to the fact that as an actor, there is no end to education or training.

Growing up, I always had a passion for theatre, and I was fortunate enough to have parents that supported my decision to gain an undergraduate degree in theatre from the University of Southern California. As a senior in high school, I vacillated between attending an acting conservatory or a university; I have found that my decision to attend a university has helped me in countless ways in my acting. The people that I met and interacted with, the professors I learned from, the classes I attended that were not theatrically based, have all given me tools and experiences that I would not have gained had I attended a conservatory. I also earned a minor in Communication within the Entertainment Industry, which allowed me to gain further knowledge in theories of mass media and entertainment—this was priceless information for an artist preparing to cultivate a career in a society immersed in mass media and popular culture. However, I was given the opportunity my junior year at USC to audition for the British American Drama Academy conservatory in London. Eight students from USC, including myself, were accepted for their spring semester program. Classes were held everyday from eight in the morning to six at night; while most students were exhausted and mentally tired after the semester, I found myself more invigorated each day as I became more stimulated and challenged than I had ever been before at USC. The more I studied, the more I craved theatre. This video is from my stage combat class--one of the many classes I took at BADA that I have found to be invaluable to my training as an actor.



Note: This is not me in the video. I wish it was haha, but it is my instructor. However, this is the routine that we learned in class. The ending that my partner and I performed was a bit different: instead of stealing away her dagger with my arm, I did it with my leg after she punched me to the ground.

My experience at BADA only reinforced my love for acting, and showed me that my education as an actor is never over. With such a small class size at BADA, I knew that I was surrounded by exceptionally talented actors, and watching their work while simultaneously watching them grow as actors was probably what taught me the most about theatre. Recently I have decided to apply to graduate MFA programs: UCI, UCSD, Old Globe/USD, Calarts, and Yale. Besides the brilliant faculty that these schools offer, their small class sizes ensure that my creativity and passion for theatre will be constantly enhanced due to being in the company of amazing actors. I will also be surrounded by actors similar as me, who are willing to challenge themselves, take risks in their acting, give fully of themselves to their classmates and teachers, and most importantly, are not looking for fame or fortune, but merely the chance to do what they love. Acting is about creating a complex human being, but it is also about conveying humanity and revealing the small details in life that other people might take for granted. It is looking at life through a magnifying glass. It is being private in a very public place.

Perhaps that is why I love people watching—it gives me a peek into someone else’s life, and I glimpse them in a moment of vulnerability when the facades and masks are gone. I think everyone feels lonely and lost, and it is our responsibility as artists to connect with people that we have never met before and show them that they are not alone. My favorite pieces of art are the ones that when I leave, I feel emotionally stirred—I do not feel as lonely or as lost, and I am reminded again that everyone is struggling, searching.