Working: An Acting Coach’s Tips for Beginners and Experts

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Tv & Film, Arts, Music

4.2 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2024

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Howard Fine, an acting teacher and coach who instructs both beginners and accomplished movie stars. In the interview, Howard explains why he chose to teach and coach, instead of act. Then he discusses the common problems that his students and clients face, and he explains how actors can protect their mental health, even when they need to go to challenging emotional places. After the interview, Isaac and co-host Ronald Young Jr. discuss the emotional toll that acting can take on performers, and Isaac shares a personal story about his experience as a young actor. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Howard talks about a role he helped Brad Pitt with and how his approach to Pitt’s character differed from the director’s. He also explains how he tailors his coaching to specific actors. Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	One of the greatest misconceptions about acting is the idea of playing a character. Every character we're going to play is the idea of playing a character.
0:13.0	Every character we're going to play is already inside us.
0:17.0	But most people don't know themselves well enough.
0:19.0	And they say, oh, I would never do that.
0:21.0	What would make you do this. What would make you say this?
0:30.0	Welcome back to Working. I'm your host Ronald Young Jr.
0:33.4	And I am your other host Isaac Butler.
0:36.3	Isaac Butler. Here we are again.
0:39.0	Yes. Glad to be here with you.
0:41.1	Thank you. Yes, glad to be here with you. So who was that we heard at the top of the show? That was the
0:46.3	voice of acting teacher and acting coach to the stars Howard Fine.
0:51.5	Ooh.
0:53.0	What made you want to talk to Howard right now?
0:55.0	Well, I have really wanted to interview more acting coaches because it's a somewhat mysterious field,
1:00.0	but actually, you know, there's often acting coaches working with actors on movies
1:03.4	sometimes on set sometimes not and I just thought it would be fun to talk to someone and
1:07.5	since he has a new edition of his book on acting which which is called Fine on Acting,
1:14.2	coming out soon.
1:15.2	I thought this is a pretty good time to chat him up.
1:17.6	This sounds like it's going to be an awesome conversation,
1:20.6	but I'm assuming that you don't have all the fun now. What can our Slate Plus members expect?
1:26.0	Indeed. So there have long been acting coaches, you know, going back to the heydays of the studio system and they have long had a very
	...

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