Acting Classes Los Angeles: How To Choose?
How do you choose the best acting school in Los Angeles? Actually, how do you know which acting school is the “best”? That’s completely subjective and depends on the person taking the classes. The only way to know which acting school is the best is to attend all of them which is unrealistic and impossible.
You could read reviews online to determine which acting school is the best, but how do you know those reviews are real? Some reviews could be paid for, sponsored, or competitors can write negative reviews. Some people judge a school based on how many famous actors attended the school, but is that a fair measurement? Acting schools help actors flourish and bring to life their natural talent. Acting isn’t for everyone and if you’re terrible at acting, there’s no school in the world that can help you.
The Truth About Acting Schools
Acting schools are mostly a guide to help you prepare for what to expect when going out on auditions and how to perform on camera. Even if you’re a great actor, you could panic at your audition and still lose the part.
There’s a lot of things to take into consideration when choosing an acting school. So when asking “what’s the best acting school in Los Angeles”, you must realize that the real question is “what’s the best acting school for YOU.”
So how do you choose acting classes in Los Angeles? Well you first you have to ask yourself a few questions. Why are you taking acting classes? Do you want to become an actor, or just take classes for fun? Are you a complete beginner or experienced actor? Are you a child, teen, adult?
The reason you need to ask yourself these questions is because there are specialty schools for kids, teens, adults, beginners, and experienced actors. For example, there are some schools that will only accept adults 18 and over, you’ll need to have experience, and an acting agent. If you’re a child or a complete beginner, then you’ll need a school for beginners.
How To Find The Perfect Acting Classes
First you have to remember that there are a lot of people that never made it as actors and decided to become an acting coach. There’s nothing wrong with that because becoming a famous actor doesn’t always have to do with your acting skill, it has to do with the way you look too.
With that being said, it’s better to choose a school that has a staff that’s well connected in the acting industry. A well connected school could help pull some strings for you and get you a meeting with the right people if you’re really talented.
Another thing you can do is ask colleagues or friends for recommendations on acting schools. Once again, this is subjective because what one person likes about an acting school another person could hate. A good way to get around this problem is to contact the recommended acting school and find out if they offer a free acting class. This will give you a chance to examine the school and teaching style to determine if you like the classes and teachers.
Some acting studios don’t offer free acting classes because they have a good reputation and don’t need to offer free classes. Another reason some schools don’t offer free classes is because the school would become filled with students that are just hanging out with no real interest in acting with other intentions.
There are some schools that will allow you to pay for a single classes or a week class. If you’re serious about acting, it’s worth the investment to see which acting classes are the best for you. Keep in mind, an acting school that has to offer free classes to get new students probably isn’t a popular acting school. A popular acting school is usually booked with limited seating, so there’s no need to offer free classes to get people interested.
If your friend recommends a school to you, you still need to verify that it’s a good school. Don’t take someones word that the school is good because that person could receiving a referral fee if you sign up, who knows.
Ask your friend for very specific reason why they recommend the school. If they respond with something basic like “it’s cool and I have fun..”, that’s probably not a good reason. Maybe they’re just attending acting classes to have fun, but if you’re serious about your acting career, you might have to seek advice elsewhere.
Classes Separated by Level
There’s different opinions about classes separated by beginners, intermediate, and advanced levels. Some people argue that beginners should be in classes with advanced actors so they can learn faster by being around better actors.
Their are advanced actors that claim they don’t want to be held back by beginners as their are multiple acting techniques. The truth is as an actor, sometimes you’ll have to act in a movie with terrible actors and other times Oscar winners. So it’s good to have the classes mixed up, but that’s just my opinion.
I do think it’s a good idea to mix up the classes based on ages though. For example, I wouldn’t want my five year old daughter in a classes with a 27 year old guy. It’s good to keep the children classes separate from the adult classes. Most kid actors are usually in TV shows with other kids unless you’re a young Dakota Fanning starting out with “A list” actors from day one.
Are The Acting Students Working?
If you’re in acting classes for kids and everyone is a beginner, then there probably aren’t that many working students. But if you’re in an adult acting school, then the people there are more likely taking acting seriously. If you’re in a small classes of 10 – 20 people, then the students should be going out on auditions, booking jobs, or almost booking jobs.
There should be some activity to report at that level of acting because most of those people have probably been acting for a while. At the very least, people should be going out on auditions. Once again, it depends on your goal for attending an acting school. If you really want to become an actor, then make sure that you’re attending a school that’s helping their students move forward and land jobs. You want a school that is trying to create success stories, not just sell acting classes.
Successful Acting Students
They are many acting studios that have pictures on the wall of all their success stories, but does that mean it’s a great acting school? It’s hard to tell. Maybe there’s just a lot of really talented people that attended the school. Just because you attend an amazing school doesn’t mean you’re going to be amazing too.
As mentioned earlier in this article, the acting school is just a vessel and if you have the talent, you’ll shine above the rest. Let’s be realistic, there’s some people that can take all the acting classes in the world and they’ll still be a terrible actor. This isn’t the schools fault, acting just isn’t in the cards for that particular person.
Anybody (skilled or not) can take an acting class, so the students success or failure isn’t 100% the responsibility of the school. Some acting students complain that they aren’t being taught by the lead director of the school (the famous well known person who’s name is probably on the door of the school.) Well keep in mind that most people aren’t ready to be taught one-on-one by the “big dog.”
You could pay for private classes to be taught be the lead director, but if you’re not ready then it’s probably a waste of money at that time. For example, you could take an acting classes taught by all Oscar winning actors, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to become an actor. Becoming an actor is HARD even if you have the perfect face and your acting skills are flawless.
If you want to become a successful actor, you can’t give up, blame your failure on schools, or think because the school is taught by Kevin Spacey it guarantees your success because that’s just silly. The success stories on the wall at an acting school is for motivation to show you what’s possible.
Really think about it; if there was some magic school that just pumped out super successful actors and guaranteed fame, people would be selling everything they had to attend the school. To become a famous actor, it depends on your look, skill level, and a little bit a of luck. The entire point of the acting school is to help you improve on your skill. An acting school can’t change your face, and an acting school is not a lucky charm. Even a well connected school can only do so much.
Let’s say for example I was shooting a new movie and I was directly connected with 5 acting school and agents. The only thing those schools and agents could do is send me their students so they can audition for the role.
The actor could blow the audition, show up late, not show up at all, mess up all the lines, might not have the right look, might be too short, too tall, too old, too young; there’s a lot of reasons why a person might not book a job which is no reflection on the acting school. To book an acting role is a combination of having the correct look for the role, getting the audition perfect, and the chemistry between you and the person hosting the audition.
Here’s the most important thing that nobody says, but I will. You can be an terrible actor and book many jobs just because you have a pretty face or a certain body type..FACT. So if you already have the look and also improve your skill and become an amazing actor, then doors will start to open and the lead director of the acting school will take you under their wing because you have a greater chance of making it in the industry.
If you turn out to be nothing but a pretty face and you can’t remember the lines of a script to save your life, then it doesn’t matter which acting school you attend or how many success stories the acting school has because you’re not going to make it very far.
So What’s The Best Acting School in Los Angeles?
Totally subjective. The Playground acting school has had very good success stories, but not all of our students attend classes to become actors. Some of the parents enroll their kids to give them something to do on the weekend.
Other people drive almost an hour to get here because they’re serious about acting. The people that are serious about acting have a much better chance than the students that are just hanging out having fun.
We also have students that have agents and have been actively going to auditions for years, so they have more experience and are familiar with the process. These more experienced actors don’t get as nervous and their confidence level is high. A confident actor is more relaxed and can deliver their lines with precision at auditions.
You should attend an acting school that you feel comfortable with, but also challenges you. You should attend an acting school that produces working actors. You should attend an acting school with smaller classes because each student gets more attention.
Attend acting classes that fit your age. For example their are schools that specialize in acting classes for kids, acting classes for teens, and acting classes for adults. These are different levels of acting that require different styles and different teachers. Don’t spend hours on the internet reading reviews and articles. The only way to find the best acting school is to visit each school you’re interested in and make a decision based on what feels right for you.
Contact us to learn more about our acting programs. The Playground has acting studios in Los Angeles and Orange County. We have acting classes for kids, teens, and young adults. Call us or fill out of contact form for more information.
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