Today I'm feeling really inspired after taking a seminar last night by Acting Coach Joe Palese of The Actor Space in Sherman Oaks. First of all, many thanks to The Casting Director {same company who provided my free headshots} for setting this class up complimentary. It was chock-full of incredibly useful information for the entire 2 hours and I found myself not wanting it to end. Most of the information was a refresher course for me from what I learned as a theatre major at my performing arts high school but it was great to reconnect with what I consider the foundation of acting, i.e. objective, beats, emotional recall, moment before, etc. Beyond that, what really struck a nerve with me was what he said about commitment. He asked us to raise our hands if we were currently studying {sad to say, in a room of 30 only about 5 raised their hands} and wanted to know why the rest of us weren't. My excuse, I mean answer, was that I'm still new to LA. Others were no time, no transportation and the most prevalent one was no money {classes run anywhere from $200 -$400 a month}. The following was his response:

• Acting is like playing sports. If you were awesome years ago but haven't worked those muscles lately you won't be at the top of your game. And in this highly competitive city, you won't book. If you don't use it, you'll lose it.
• If you're not willing to devote 30-40 hours to your craft {both the business side & actual rehearsal/performance} every week, then this is just a hobby and you're still an amateur.
• And finally he gave a simple Walter Mathau quote: "Actors Act." Bottomline.

After that he had 2 of the students read a scene, gave them some great adjustments which they followed very well so that we could get a glimpse into how his classes are usually structured. And on a side note, let me just say how amazed I was when he told us that one of his students recently booked a series and is making- wait for it... $28,000 PER WEEK. {Wow!} I can't even begin to tell you how much I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop and am now looking forward to auditing his class next week.