Acting 101: Ten Tips From Jeffrey Tambor’s SXSW Workshop
by Peter Knegt
You should be president,” someone in the audience said at the end of Jeffrey Tambor’s acting workshop in Austin, Texas yesterday. “I have never felt so inspired… And I don’t even work in the film industry.”
While presidency may be a stretch, it was hard to argue against the inspiration that was Tambor’s 90 minute workshop. Met on stage at the Austin Convention Center by the stars of Bryan Poyser’s “Lovers of Hate” - Chris Doubek and Heather Kafka - Tambor continued an annual tradition at SXSW, by taking two actors from a film at the festival and getting them to reenact a scene from the film. What resulted was a partly hilarious, and at times surprisingly affecting experience for the audience, and for Doubek and Kafka.
“I think there’s one side of you that’s Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms, and the other part is - can you forgive me, it’s gonna get you a little bit - a little cynical,” Tambor said to Kafka at one point - which actually resulted in Kafka breaking down in tears. “I usually find that cynical people have the biggest hearts and they get in trouble with their big hearts.”
Tambor also gave a wide variety of tips on the acting profession, that could honestly be applied to any part of life in most instances. Here’s some highlights:
Try doing it badly.
“Henry Miller said that his teacher said ‘I know how it is when you do it right… when you try to be good. Now try to do it badly.’ And Henry Miller said that’s when he found his voice.”
Learn to love destruction.
“You have to shatter the work to get it. And then pick it up. You have be willing to destroy it. I have four kids at home. I have two five month old twins. I have a three year old and a five year old. That’s why I look this way. And they are willing to build but they are also willing to destroy. They love destruction. And we lose that. We just go ‘Is this good? Is this right? Do they like it?’ Let’s fuck it up first.”
Read the rest of this list HERE.
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