I never imagined myself becoming an actor and when I did the audition for an acting school, that was my idea of a fun day out. I did really badly. Two judges against, one for. I was eliminated. I did find out that "Acting is Fun".
The next year after a year of professional theater experience (granted, most of that experience was dancing), I decided to try it again. I actually prepared this time. I got three judges for and was one of the few to be allowed into this school.
I followed one year of acting at this film acting school. I loved it and I hated it. That's a really good sign for me.
I had some of the best teachers imaginable. They seemed to digest years of experience into sometimes just a single word of advice and it just clicked and turned my gears into the right motion. Were we living in different times, I would have shaved my air and offered to become a disciple to any one of them, just so I could learn from them on a daily basis, rather than just school days.
Some teachers, weren't that good. They played favorites blatantly. They digested hours of experience into years of talking. One of them connected with our group of ambitious actors and actresses so well that after a couple of lessons the only way he could get us to do something was to shout or threaten us.
At the end of each semester teachers would evaluate us and ask us for criticism towards them. I spoke my mind. I was honest where others were not.
I just read in another thread that in auditions directors always say that that the actor was good and the one who wrote it at first didn't and found out it was wrong to do it that way. Well I found out I was wrong to do it that way too.
In the end year film I had one of the best performances of our group. One actress said she would have liked to play her role opposite to me instead because then it would be easier to play (and I don't think she was hitting on me
), one teacher told me he thought my performance was better than the one that everybody seemed to love most. I wouldn't know. I liked me.
They didn't allow me into the next year. This made me pretty angry. I guess I never considered sucking up because quality trumps everything. I was wrong.
I'd like to get some honest thoughts about my situation, so I'm also going to add their side of the story, so I'll have to play devil's advocate. I'll repeat their best reasons and arguments that they told me.
Ziyad has to do his year again, because although he displayed brilliant quality of performance, he didn't open himself up to all the lessons. Each new teacher he stepped in with criticism mode on high alert and only when the teacher found a certain click in Ziyad, would he participate in the lesson. Granted, he really dove into those lessons far and deep. But the ones that he didn't deem worthwhile he never did and thus he didn't suck up and absorb the experience of those lessons. Because Ziyad has been doing so despite our warning against this, we feel it's necessary he will do the year again and to experience all the things he's missed because of his emotional wall.
So they want me to come back. I don't know if I will. I'd like your thoughts on this.