Acting Training:
Some Things You Should Know

Acting Training:

Interview with Acting Teacher Wendy Ward - Part 4

Wendy and Tony Talk About The Importance Of Acting Training

In part 3 of this exclusive interview , Wendy talks about why studying the craft of acting is necessary for a successful acting career.

Tony: I ask a lot of acting industry professionals I interview that same question among others of course and so far they have all emphasized the importance of training. ActingCareerStartUp.com is a resource for people so they will know what it really takes to start an acting career and that if they are really serious and take classes, do research of the industry, find out how to market themselves and just basically as I said above, take the time to be patient and build their careers from the ground up, that they will have a much greater chance for success.

 What’s a shame sometimes is that I know for a fact that there are people, especially young people who desire to become actors and who will surf the internet to try to find auditions or how to get an agent before having any acting training. While they are surfing around, they might run into someone who says what you just said, that acting training is extremely important, but that isn’t what they want to hear. So what do they do? They continue to surf around until they find someone who tells them what they want to hear. Something like: “You don’t need acting training or to take classes. All you need to do is submit a headshot and a resume and try to get an agent.” Or they might say: “All you have to do is pay $500 to take our classes and then we will represent you and help you meet casting directors.” They fall for that crap and then realize that it was all a scam of someone who was selling a dream that never had a chance of coming true or maybe it was someone who doesn’t have that person’s best interest at heart and has created that scheme just to make money.

After that, they realize they made a mistake and they do one of two things. Either they just give up and believe that acting maybe just wasn’t for them. Or they go back to the drawing board so to speak and start over. They come back to sites like ActingCareerStartUp.com or other sites that are really grounded and that try to teach people the importance of really building the career instead of seeing if someone will just give them one and they then begin to make some progress.

Wendy: Yeah, it’s really interesting that you have witnessed that already. We hear these kinds of things all the time.

Tony: I see it and I hear about it all the time. It’s really a shame that there are so many dishonest people out there just preying on these aspiring actors who have big dreams. I find that this happens even more so among younger kids between 15 and 19 years old, but it happens even with some adults.

Wendy: This is interesting that you say that because I just had a guy come to the summer intensive here at the studio, you know, the same one you participated in three years ago? This guy was really good looking, and you could see that he knew it. He had clearly been patted on the back and told that he was so good-looking and so funny and that he should go into acting. I think he had this idea that he could be “discovered.” Tony he was visibly shaken up when he saw what our students were capable of but it was clear he still didn’t want to work to get to where they were.  After a couple of weeks he came to me and said he had no idea ‘it was this much work to become an actor.’

But you know, in the old days the concept of being discovered was probably a little more common than it is today. The pool of actors many years ago was a lot smaller, and also many of those who got discovered were, and still are today, related to other A-list actors. So if you don’t have that advantage, it’s going to be tough.   If you are the best looking girl in New York, you have to realize in LA there will be a thousand beautiful girls just like you.  So when it gets down to the last fifty girls they see for a television show, you have to bring something more to the table. You have to be trained. You have to know how to act really well.

Tony: This conversation we’re having will most definitely be another page on the site. I want my visitors to participate in this discussion and start to think about just how important acting training really is if they want to have long-term success.

End of part 4. In part 5 of this exclusive interview with Ward Acting Studio founder Wendy Ward, she talks about a real experience that one of her students had when she was one of 1,200 girls to audition for a part!

Visit the official website of the Ward Studio.

Here are some other related pages you might find helpful:

Read here about my personal experience at the Ward Studio

Everything you need to know about acting classes.

ActingCareerStartUp.com Acting School Directory

23 Benefits Of Acting Training

How To Choose The Right Acting School

8-Step Guide To Preparing Your Trip To New York To Study Acting

A Guide To Starting A Successful Acting Career

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What you’re doing is great Anthony. Whenever I read the things on your site, the interviews and even your book, I feel like if only everybody got to read this before they got started, they would be so much better off and everybody else (casting directors, agents, directors, etc.) would be so much better off too.
Personal Manager, Ingrid French

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Tony,
I want to say you changed my life. I want to be an actress so bad, but i began losing motivation when I couldn't figure out what to do. And then I found you! Thanks to you, I'm taking my first acting classes next month! Yippee!
Sara, Pasadena, CA

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Hi Tony
I would like to thank you for helping me with the monologue question I asked you. I went to the auditions for a Drama course and I am happy to say that I have been accepted as a first-year student at the Tshwane University of Technology. Please keep on sending me those newsletters and let me know where I can find books that will help me in my acting career. Thank you once more. Have a blessed day.
Sincerely
Edward Thaba -South Africa

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Dear Anthony,
Just wanted to thank you for bringing me in to [audition for the video], meet you and chat this Saturday. I was really excited to hear about your working on actingcareerstartup.com and even took a look at it today - it's awesome! You are very well-spoken, knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and it shows through the work that you do! I hope our paths in the industry will cross again and really enjoyed meeting you. Thanks, again and best wishes with your very important work!
Warmly,
Gretchen, NY, NY

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Hey Tony, thanks for the info, yours by far is the most useful, I am 30 years old, and I myself always (secretly) wanted to be an actress, but I never knew where to begin, so thank you. You have given me hope!
Ana C., Tampa, FL