Not only do I appreciate the education you offer us, but also the heart felt way in which you provide it. Often, after one of your videos, I sit and wonder if you are really as kind and as open as you present yourself to be, or if you’re a superb actor. After consideration, I’ve come to the conclusion that you are both. Either way, you are a joy. Thank you.
Community theatres give so many people a chance they'd never have otherwise, and maybe you can help yours in some way, running some workshop on a play months before they produce it, or just having fun. I've coached dozens of actors who've done Community Theare instead of a drama school, and had all the pleasure and made friends, instead of making acting their career, and been happier for it. Maybe there's a play you'd like them to do. JOhn.
Brilliant stuff as always, no surprise Hopkins can bring a lot of subtext to his performance from what I’ve heard he obsesses over the text the moment he receives it
Your guidance has meant the world to me sir. Thank you for being an incredible teacher and a role model. You are absolutely my hero, much love, sir. Best regards, Dio
Thanks for kind words, but all I'm doing is passing on what others have helped me to learn, (and this video is, for some actors, what makes it possible for them to find a character INSIDE themselves, so t's quite important,) and maybe in a few years, you'll be passing your own feelings on to the world, in a performance, or in encouraging others. If we keep on learning, well, in the end, we learn something! Best, John.
Thank you so much!! I’ve just accidentally got an acting job (sort of), and I have no acting experience really! I’ve got it because I’m charismatic and am good with children. It’s like a museum where you have to educate children, dressed as a character, in a fun manner. Thankfully I have a partner who plays a character with most of the lines. So it’s not as daunting as it could be. I’ve been subscribed to you channel for some time bc I’ve found the content interesting, because you’re a great educator and a very fun to learn from. I’ve never planned to actually apply any of the information, but here we are! Life is so funny like that. Anyway, sorry for my rumblings, just wanted to share. Thank you so much, Sir! ! 🙏💖 Sincerely, Lily (Sorry for my English)
Thanks for kind words. Your museum job with children is a GOOD job, because it sounds fun! Your English is fine, so maybe you criticise yourself in other ways too and shouldn't. Having fun is something which actors like Sarah Rafferty and Audra McDonald and all the actors I like seem to be having. Contact me if you want help with any specific problem, but it sounds like you'll manage fine. John
Thanks for kind words. And yes, there's always something "new" - all we need to do is keep working on as many scripts as possible - until we find scripts which "SUIT" us, and then, at last, acting becomes a little easier. So keep at it. Best wishes, John
Sir, this information is priceless... People spend fortunes on the education you're offering. Thank you. 👑 Edit: Also, yes Tennessee Williams had no idea how to write female characters. I laughed hysterically at this. I'm trying to learn in that area because it was such a fault for him.
Well thank you for liking it. Almost every film I watch now, or play, has somebody in it who stands out, who seems to be 'at home' playing their part, and they also seem to have 'something' about their character more fixed, so maybe this really is important. Best wishes back. John
So brilliant! This went straight to my brain cells, I always learn so much from you. And I also love reading your comments to other actors, it is so encouraging and makes me feel like I can do it! Thank you, looking forward to the next one. Nicole
Yes, we must always encourage other actors. By KEEPING at any acting work there's a chance that talent will GROW, and if we feel on our own it's much harder to 'discover' that talent. And you clearly know this, so, best. John
Yes, Edmund is fun, and extremely confident, despite his earlier life, and playing almost any Shakespeare role before playing Edmund will prepare you for him, and make it easier to have the audience wondering if they sympathize with you or not, like your arrogance or not, and manage the lines so well that everyone else in the play pays attention to you! John
Thank you for transmitting your knowledge and understanding, you are truly gifted and I can only aim to act with such ease. What would be your advice for someone who keeps forgetting her line? I have never been that person before but for some unknown reasons, this situation keeps occurring ... Finding my voice became easier when I started acting in English (instead of french), the visual embodiment of my character is obvious, but the lines issue is ruining any progress attempt.
Well, when it's for something important you might come to me for a session, (because I'd then know you better), but 1 find a reason to keep working on your lines more, (like discovering how good a job it is for), & 2. see how your lines CONNECT, so that if your cue is "How are you" and your reply is "I want to talk about my father" you find something about the other actor's line which reminds you of your Dad, maybe the casual way he says the word "you"! Making it hard to say your line, but easier to remember it's what you want to say. John
When learning to do any type of monologue from a film, is it best to not look at the actor doing the monologue since it will get in your head and make you copy the actor doing it? Is it best to just read the script instead, same for monologues from plays is it best to just read the play and the monologue instead of copying or watching the actor do it.
Yes, never watch another actor doing "your" lines. The whole point of people seeing you do a monologue is for them to see YOU being truthful, and it is hard to believe that the monologue is about your own life if you have ever heard anyone else say the lines. This is why many actors do not even like their Director showing them how one line could be said by saying it him or her-self. So find monologues that YOU understand, which you can imagine being YOU, or, of course finding a parallel feeling (like remembering you hate spiders if your speech is about hating men). John.
Question, the character in this musical that I'm doing acts out the "O for a muse of fire" soliloquy on stage from Henry V, who should I be saying the monologue to? Myself, the audience watching the musical or the audience on stage which are the actors reacting to me saying it, because in the monologue it seems as if he's talking to the audience but I'm not sure which one
Hard to answer without working with you, but - although it may sound odd - well it does - I 'd suggest trying it to an IMAGINARY audience, one that doesn't bother you, that are all great fans of yours, and need a leader, filling them with confidence which you have and they don't, to fight for something which AT LAST they can believe in. Just make the lines clear! John
Question, I’m doing footloose the musical on stage soon. Would it be best to watch to movie to see what it’s like? Or should I not watch the movie and only read the script instead so that I don’t copy the way the actor does it in the movie so that I can do it how I would do it instead. Should I watch the movie or not? Because I’ve noticed if I watch famous actors doing my lines on a video Id end up copying how they do it and it doesn’t feel real doing it since Im having to think of what they did in my mind which doesn’t make it feel or look real
Good question. Any sensible coach, director or actor will say 'DON"T" , for the reason you say, that it stops you from being "you" which is what all acting is about. But there should be no fixed rules, and there maybe a few small things which another performer helps you understand in the lines that you've just missed. The ANSWER is to work on it all as much as you can, (none of the people I coach who get work will admit in any interview how much time they spent studying their lines or songs, but they do. The fun of finding some small part of you which suits the part (that you're sometimes arrogant, or occasionally very shy), OR a parallel feeling you have that fits the part (that you don't like spiders, so you can hate certain people), all of this takes practice, time or a good director or coach. Without one of those one is an amateur. John.
Totally welcome. The subtext works best - of course - if the subtext is something which the actors themselves relate to. So the wonderful Molly Parker and Peter Saarsgaard in WORMWOOD both keep the viewer happy by just being worried on a lot of simple lines! John.
Most monologues have a question, which is nearly always rhetorical, the speaker knowing the answer already, and AS WELL AS THAT (if the actor is going to be interesting and different to a thousand others) the speaker may be amused or irritated in what they are saying. So it helps if an actor has actually performed the whole play, and the most experienced actors today often still need a coach. You need to work out why the lines "suit" you in some way. If you want more from me use the CONTACT page on the website shown at the end of this video, or my direct email ( jwcactor@yahoo.com ) or find an experienced coach near to where you live. The most experienced actors need directors to help them, - usually someone who simply knows the writer better than they do. John
It's great that you are looking see how everything we say nearly always has some other meaning, but you'll find that I say - in this video - that Hopkins "nearly always has subtext"". He sometimes seems to have a secret loneliness or a quiet anger, but he's been working at what lines mean it for fifty years, studying some scripts for months, and possibly going to an acting coach even at his age (not to me) to discover what some lines could really mean. John.
Impossible, because all actors are different, each needing to learn different things, and in different ways. I can cover an actors main problems in a coaching session, or find a coach who specializes in what you think you need to work on. If you find anyone with my experience who charges what I do, then GRAB them! John
If you have a talent - perhaps for playing one kind of part - then, yes, it is possible to get work as an actor, but if you don't go to acting classes you need to organize your own shows, maybe readings n a library, but you need to be good at it, and want it so much that you work every day trying to get into small theatre companies and film departments at universities (which often need actors who work for free) and DO some acting all the time. Every job that pays will have others wanting it, and you need to be better than them, so you HAVE to get experience. JOhn
Heavens! No, absolutely don't. Firstly because actors don't usually discuss each others parts so it would make you look weird, and- as you may know - it is generally understood by actors) that we're not allowed to 'comment' on another actors role, or make suggestions, it's considered VERY unprofessional. A director will hopefully comment if somebody is saying their lines in an 'awkward' (odd) way, or, if you really can't stand it that another actor is crying when she asks for a divorce (for example) then ask the director what s/he thinks. Saying lines with depth, if it's a sensible depth, will simply look good to the other actors, and natural. Deciding to play Romeo with a lisp would simply be stupid, and subtexts should FIT in the script. John
BUT - if anoter actors actually asks you why you are saying something in a particular way then you might reply that you don't "really like to talk about your part, but also give them SOME idea of why you are laughing when you are robbing a bank, or singing one of your lines when lying in bed! i.e. Because you just thought it'd be fun! J.
Thank you very much for responding, that's useful to know, it makes sense the director should be our go-between as it were! I really appreciate your work and look forward to your videos to come @@NewYorkActingCoach 😃
I fear so. The events which his female characters experience were new to plays at the time,, and he had famous actors, mostly male, playing male roles so no surprise that the plays got attention. But the 'female events' were already known about by women all over the world, (just not talked about much), and TW described them n very short scenes. If female actors bring their OWN experience of life to the roles, (not an easy thing to do) then hidden depths may become interesting, - especially if irony is involved, - but T.W. knew nothing about all that. It is not in the plays anyway. And people are either scared to say it or see it! His scenes are cliches when watched by women. Ask them. John Windsor-Cunningham
Thanks for wondering, but no, I've 20 years of work to do still, so no time to die, though I imagine an enjoyable passing at the end of a reasonably performance somewhere, maybe doing Lear - if I'm offered it - which might possibly kill me, but otherwise I'm as active as a shark, and have better videos planned. Trusting that you've got a good number of years planned too, John.
Not only do I appreciate the education you offer us, but also the heart felt way in which you provide it.
Often, after one of your videos, I sit and wonder if you are really as kind and as open as you present yourself to be, or if you’re a superb actor.
After consideration, I’ve come to the conclusion that you are both.
Either way, you are a joy. Thank you.
Ain't he the bomb 💣
Watching this right before I go to our community theatre for opening night. Bravo, John! Thanks so much.
Community theatres give so many people a chance they'd never have otherwise, and maybe you can help yours in some way, running some workshop on a play months before they produce it, or just having fun. I've coached dozens of actors who've done Community Theare instead of a drama school, and had all the pleasure and made friends, instead of making acting their career, and been happier for it. Maybe there's a play you'd like them to do. JOhn.
Welcome back! I started watching your videos when I first became an actor 5 years ago, and I'm glad you're still active.
Thanks, and 20 working years left, so better things to come hopefully! There are is ALWAYS the chance of getting better! John.
Brilliant stuff as always, no surprise Hopkins can bring a lot of subtext to his performance from what I’ve heard he obsesses over the text the moment he receives it
Your guidance has meant the world to me sir. Thank you for being an incredible teacher and a role model. You are absolutely my hero, much love, sir.
Best regards, Dio
Thanks for kind words, but all I'm doing is passing on what others have helped me to learn, (and this video is, for some actors, what makes it possible for them to find a character INSIDE themselves, so t's quite important,) and maybe in a few years, you'll be passing your own feelings on to the world, in a performance, or in encouraging others. If we keep on learning, well, in the end, we learn something! Best, John.
Thank you so much!! I’ve just accidentally got an acting job (sort of), and I have no acting experience really! I’ve got it because I’m charismatic and am good with children. It’s like a museum where you have to educate children, dressed as a character, in a fun manner. Thankfully I have a partner who plays a character with most of the lines. So it’s not as daunting as it could be.
I’ve been subscribed to you channel for some time bc I’ve found the content interesting, because you’re a great educator and a very fun to learn from. I’ve never planned to actually apply any of the information, but here we are! Life is so funny like that.
Anyway, sorry for my rumblings, just wanted to share.
Thank you so much, Sir! ! 🙏💖
Sincerely, Lily
(Sorry for my English)
Thanks for kind words. Your museum job with children is a GOOD job, because it sounds fun! Your English is fine, so maybe you criticise yourself in other ways too and shouldn't. Having fun is something which actors like Sarah Rafferty and Audra McDonald and all the actors I like seem to be having. Contact me if you want help with any specific problem, but it sounds like you'll manage fine. John
your work is priceless and Nobel...thanks for sharing with us.
Damnit! Is there a 'Nobel' prize for coaching? If not can someone put me up for the Peace one? No? OK.
Amazing video like always!
Thank you Mr. Windsor-Cunningham. ✨I always learn something new from your videos 👌
Thanks for kind words. And yes, there's always something "new" - all we need to do is keep working on as many scripts as possible - until we find scripts which "SUIT" us, and then, at last, acting becomes a little easier. So keep at it. Best wishes, John
Thanks, Mr. Windsor-Cunningham! Those are some very good points.
Sir, this information is priceless...
People spend fortunes on the education you're offering. Thank you. 👑
Edit: Also, yes Tennessee Williams had no idea how to write female characters. I laughed hysterically at this. I'm trying to learn in that area because it was such a fault for him.
Well thank you for liking it. Almost every film I watch now, or play, has somebody in it who stands out, who seems to be 'at home' playing their part, and they also seem to have 'something' about their character more fixed, so maybe this really is important. Best wishes back. John
So brilliant! This went straight to my brain cells, I always learn so much from you. And I also love reading your comments to other actors, it is so encouraging and makes me feel like I can do it! Thank you, looking forward to the next one. Nicole
Yes, we must always encourage other actors. By KEEPING at any acting work there's a chance that talent will GROW, and if we feel on our own it's much harder to 'discover' that talent. And you clearly know this, so, best. John
Someday, I wish to play the Edmond to your Lear.
Thank you for your work
Yes, Edmund is fun, and extremely confident, despite his earlier life, and playing almost any Shakespeare role before playing Edmund will prepare you for him, and make it easier to have the audience wondering if they sympathize with you or not, like your arrogance or not, and manage the lines so well that everyone else in the play pays attention to you! John
Best actor on the web
Thanks for kind words! All we have to do is keep trying. That's about it! Best, John Windsor-Cunningham
Thank you for transmitting your knowledge and understanding, you are truly gifted and I can only aim to act with such ease.
What would be your advice for someone who keeps forgetting her line? I have never been that person before but for some unknown reasons, this situation keeps occurring ...
Finding my voice became easier when I started acting in English (instead of french), the visual embodiment of my character is obvious, but the lines issue is ruining any progress attempt.
Well, when it's for something important you might come to me for a session, (because I'd then know you better), but 1 find a reason to keep working on your lines more, (like discovering how good a job it is for), & 2. see how your lines CONNECT, so that if your cue is "How are you" and your reply is "I want to talk about my father" you find something about the other actor's line which reminds you of your Dad, maybe the casual way he says the word "you"! Making it hard to say your line, but easier to remember it's what you want to say. John
When learning to do any type of monologue from a film, is it best to not look at the actor doing the monologue since it will get in your head and make you copy the actor doing it? Is it best to just read the script instead, same for monologues from plays is it best to just read the play and the monologue instead of copying or watching the actor do it.
Yes, never watch another actor doing "your" lines. The whole point of people seeing you do a monologue is for them to see YOU being truthful, and it is hard to believe that the monologue is about your own life if you have ever heard anyone else say the lines. This is why many actors do not even like their Director showing them how one line could be said by saying it him or her-self. So find monologues that YOU understand, which you can imagine being YOU, or, of course finding a parallel feeling (like remembering you hate spiders if your speech is about hating men). John.
Thank you😊
Awesome! Thank you sir!
Question, the character in this musical that I'm doing acts out the "O for a muse of fire" soliloquy on stage from Henry V, who should I be saying the monologue to? Myself, the audience watching the musical or the audience on stage which are the actors reacting to me saying it, because in the monologue it seems as if he's talking to the audience but I'm not sure which one
Hard to answer without working with you, but - although it may sound odd - well it does - I 'd suggest trying it to an IMAGINARY audience, one that doesn't bother you, that are all great fans of yours, and need a leader, filling them with confidence which you have and they don't, to fight for something which AT LAST they can believe in. Just make the lines clear! John
Question, I’m doing footloose the musical on stage soon. Would it be best to watch to movie to see what it’s like? Or should I not watch the movie and only read the script instead so that I don’t copy the way the actor does it in the movie so that I can do it how I would do it instead. Should I watch the movie or not? Because I’ve noticed if I watch famous actors doing my lines on a video Id end up copying how they do it and it doesn’t feel real doing it since Im having to think of what they did in my mind which doesn’t make it feel or look real
Good question. Any sensible coach, director or actor will say 'DON"T" , for the reason you say, that it stops you from being "you" which is what all acting is about. But there should be no fixed rules, and there maybe a few small things which another performer helps you understand in the lines that you've just missed. The ANSWER is to work on it all as much as you can, (none of the people I coach who get work will admit in any interview how much time they spent studying their lines or songs, but they do. The fun of finding some small part of you which suits the part (that you're sometimes arrogant, or occasionally very shy), OR a parallel feeling you have that fits the part (that you don't like spiders, so you can hate certain people), all of this takes practice, time or a good director or coach. Without one of those one is an amateur. John.
Thank You, So much!
Totally welcome. The subtext works best - of course - if the subtext is something which the actors themselves relate to. So the wonderful Molly Parker and Peter Saarsgaard in WORMWOOD both keep the viewer happy by just being worried on a lot of simple lines! John.
@@NewYorkActingCoach Can there be subtext in monologues as well, or no matter what there is always subtext in dialogue and monologues?
Most monologues have a question, which is nearly always rhetorical, the speaker knowing the answer already, and AS WELL AS THAT (if the actor is going to be interesting and different to a thousand others) the speaker may be amused or irritated in what they are saying. So it helps if an actor has actually performed the whole play, and the most experienced actors today often still need a coach. You need to work out why the lines "suit" you in some way. If you want more from me use the CONTACT page on the website shown at the end of this video, or my direct email ( jwcactor@yahoo.com ) or find an experienced coach near to where you live. The most experienced actors need directors to help them, - usually someone who simply knows the writer better than they do. John
thank you
You mentioned Anthony Hopkins
Wat scene does he apply subtext
It's great that you are looking see how everything we say nearly always has some other meaning, but you'll find that I say - in this video - that Hopkins "nearly always has subtext"". He sometimes seems to have a secret loneliness or a quiet anger, but he's been working at what lines mean it for fifty years, studying some scripts for months, and possibly going to an acting coach even at his age (not to me) to discover what some lines could really mean. John.
hi sir, can you please upload a video on acting master class from start to the end please sir
Impossible, because all actors are different, each needing to learn different things, and in different ways. I can cover an actors main problems in a coaching session, or find a coach who specializes in what you think you need to work on. If you find anyone with my experience who charges what I do, then GRAB them! John
then what must I do? as I have financial problems as well as i m from Nepal. is it necessary to go to acting school
I need your guidance sir
If you have a talent - perhaps for playing one kind of part - then, yes, it is possible to get work as an actor, but if you don't go to acting classes you need to organize your own shows, maybe readings n a library, but you need to be good at it, and want it so much that you work every day trying to get into small theatre companies and film departments at universities (which often need actors who work for free) and DO some acting all the time. Every job that pays will have others wanting it, and you need to be better than them, so you HAVE to get experience. JOhn
@@NewYorkActingCoach thank you sir that means a lot
Do you notify other actors of your subtext or hope they pick it up while your rehearsing?
Heavens! No, absolutely don't. Firstly because actors don't usually discuss each others parts so it would make you look weird, and- as you may know - it is generally understood by actors) that we're not allowed to 'comment' on another actors role, or make suggestions, it's considered VERY unprofessional. A director will hopefully comment if somebody is saying their lines in an 'awkward' (odd) way, or, if you really can't stand it that another actor is crying when she asks for a divorce (for example) then ask the director what s/he thinks. Saying lines with depth, if it's a sensible depth, will simply look good to the other actors, and natural. Deciding to play Romeo with a lisp would simply be stupid, and subtexts should FIT in the script. John
BUT - if anoter actors actually asks you why you are saying something in a particular way then you might reply that you don't "really like to talk about your part, but also give them SOME idea of why you are laughing when you are robbing a bank, or singing one of your lines when lying in bed! i.e. Because you just thought it'd be fun! J.
Thank you very much for responding, that's useful to know, it makes sense the director should be our go-between as it were! I really appreciate your work and look forward to your videos to come @@NewYorkActingCoach 😃
Tenesee Williams does not understand women???
I fear so. The events which his female characters experience were new to plays at the time,, and he had famous actors, mostly male, playing male roles so no surprise that the plays got attention. But the 'female events' were already known about by women all over the world, (just not talked about much), and TW described them n very short scenes. If female actors bring their OWN experience of life to the roles, (not an easy thing to do) then hidden depths may become interesting, - especially if irony is involved, - but T.W. knew nothing about all that. It is not in the plays anyway. And people are either scared to say it or see it! His scenes are cliches when watched by women. Ask them. John Windsor-Cunningham
I thought you are dead. Gosh, now answer me for my sake.
Thanks for wondering, but no, I've 20 years of work to do still, so no time to die, though I imagine an enjoyable passing at the end of a reasonably performance somewhere, maybe doing Lear - if I'm offered it - which might possibly kill me, but otherwise I'm as active as a shark, and have better videos planned. Trusting that you've got a good number of years planned too, John.
Omg thank you, I was thinking the same thing. I wad getting worried too
Oh, Aryan, we were worried you were dead as well. Glad you're alive and well.