Director's Interview
Artistic Director, Jeff Alan-Lee talks about life as a child actor & about life as a teacher of child actors.
Jeff Alan-Lee has taught and developed many of today's top talent. Some of his students, past and present...include:
- Scarlett Johansson - Star of Lost in Translation, Horse Whisperer, Girl with the Pearl Earring, The Island, The Prestige, and The Black Dahlia
- Shia LaBeouf - Spielberg's Indiana Jones, Star of Even Stevens, Disney's Holes, True Confessions, The Greatest Game Ever Played, Disturbia, Surf's Up, and the summer blockbuster Transformers
- Cosmo Sher - The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
- Bianca Lopez - Co-star of The Princess Diaries, guest on Odd Man Out, and ER
- Ritu Lal - Guest star on Boston Public and The Agency
- Alexandra Krosney - Guest star on Family Affair, The Guardian, and Without a Trace
- Samantha Mahurin - Starred in The Prestige
- Kevin Shane Cogen - Co-star in Everybody Hates Chris
- David Burrus - recurring role on NBC'S My name is Earl, and Disney's Dinosaur Train
- Maddy Martin - Guest star on CBS' Cold Case, and a pilot for Strike TV
- Nathan Lopez -Star of the feature film: The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros.
- Brandon Salgado - Guest star on the Eleventh Hour on CBS
... among many other actors.
His responses to some of the most commonly asked questions about studying at The Young Actor's Studio!
Q: YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU WERE A CHILD ACTOR YOURSELF...
JAL: Yes. I started acting when I was 7 years old, and I started doing plays. When I was 9, I got my first TV show. It was my first job. I had my own series, in Detroit, on WXYZ, called "Jerry & The Circus" --- it was about an orphan that runs away from the orphanage and adopts a circus as his surrogate parents --- they end up becoming a family. It was a cute show, for kids. I also did about 50 or 60 commercials as a child.
Q: NOW, DID YOU HAVE THIS TYPE OF TRAINING AS A CHILD YOURSELF?
JAL: Absolutely not, which is why I became an acting teacher for children. Which is very interesting.
Q: YES, IT IS...
JAL: I realize now -- as an adult -- that I had a lot of talent --- a lot of raw talent, a lot of good talent -- that got destroyed because I was taught to get the job, to hit the mark, to do what the director wanted, be professional, be "cute." I could stand on the spot for 15 hours while they set the lights. But I did not know anything about acting! And as I got older I was no longer cute and I knew nothing about acting, and that left me completely helpless. I had no training to support me while I went through that transition, of going from a child to a young man. And so it was a very frightening transition for me. And in many ways, very destructive to my self-esteem both as an actor and as a human being. I had to focus hard on re-building my craft and my confidence, for a long time after that.
Q: OKAY...
JAL: And so when I got to college, and I said, "I want to do this as a profession," I realized I did not know one thing about acting! I was representational -- meaning that I pretended that I was crying or laughing or screaming -- I was forced -- I didn't even really know how I felt about things -- I was just very robotic. I had to un-learn all the bad habits that were taught to me as a child actor.
And at college, when I had to re-learn everything I ever knew about acting, I was fascinated by the technique of Stanislavski. I thought back to when I was a child actor and I thought to myself, "I could have learned this. Why wasn't this taught to me as a child? Why did I have to wait until I went to college, and be re-trained, and have to undo everything I had learned? This is not that complicated!" It would have saved me so much time and trouble and heartache and confusion. And so, Lo And Behold, I decided to try teaching this so-called "adult" acting work to kids at a school in Brooklyn, and I saw amazing results start to happen.
Q: SO TELL US ABOUT THE CURRICULUM AT THE STUDIO.
JAL: Okay, the way we divide the day is into two hour intervals. In the first two hours, from 10:00 - 12:00, the students work on production. They work on scenes from film, theater, maybe tv --- and the scenes are specifically written for children and teens. They're not playing mushrooms, or wicked queens or step-mothers; they're playing characters their own age which is beneficial in that they portraying experiences that they're familiar with, or that they can relate to. And each student gets their own scene. We take lunch break for half an hour, and then for two hours, from 12:30 - 2:30, we work on technique. We do a lot of improvisations (which are scenes they make up on the spur of the moment), sensory exercises (which deal with creating the imaginary world of the play through the five senses and the imagination), wants/objectives, past circumstances --- which are some of the actor's tools. And the technique is a lot of fun for them, because we focus on the kids using their own unique qualities to act, rather than imitating somebody they've seen on TV. So the kids become the originators --- which I find very exciting.
Q: MY CHILD ALREADY WORKS PROFESSIONALLY. SHE IS GIFTED, SHE HAS AN AGENT…IS SHE TOO ADVANCED TO TAKE AN ACTING CLASS?
JAL: Look. The bottom line is this: working professionally does something to a child. You cannot be a child---you have to be an adult. You have to get the take, learn the line, hit the mark, and all very quickly and under an enormous amount of pressure. So the child actor learns very early "tricks" that work. But the technique is for when your "tricks" fail you. When you're on the set, and the director wants you to do this and do that and cry and hit your mark and you don't feel it and it's just not working: what do you do???!! That's where your technique will come in handy. That is where you need technique. So by having a place to work out without huge pressures, and try things that she can't try on the set, she will benefit.
I try to treat acting like music, like dance or any other art form -- if you have a solid technique and are studying on a continuous basis, then when you get into the marketplace you will have a tangible, solid craft that you can use. It's a little like building up a repertory: you can play 'Mary had a little lamb' without a flaw, but then someone throws a Mozart concerto at you, and that's a little tricky. All of a sudden you realize you can't play that, you can only play your one thing! And that's what happens when you work professionally; you begin to specialize in playing one specific thing. We will broaden your range -- your theatrical range -- so you can play other roles.
Q: MY CHILD DOESN'T WANT TO BE AN ACTOR NECESSARILY, BUT I THOUGHT HE MIGHT BENEFIT IN HIS EVERYDAY LIFE IF HE BUILT UP HIS SELF-CONFIDENCE AND CREATIVITY THROUGH AN ACTING CLASS. BUT IS THE YOUNG ACTOR'S STUDIO THE RIGHT PLACE FOR HIM?
JAL: Definitely! You never know how these kids are going to be effected by your class. The first example that comes to mind is a child who was just wonderful, his name was Scott. I taught him in a school in Brooklyn and he was this real spunky Brooklyn kid who had a ton of energy was hyper active, a pain at times, but very talented, and just loaded with energy - and he had done some really wonderful acting and he had studied with me for about a year and a half at this Catholic School in Brooklyn. And I had to take a leave of absence one semester when I was doing a show out of town, so I let the principle -- Sister Dolores -- know that I would be out the following semester, and she said, "I'M SORRY BUT YOU CAN'T GO, IF YOU GO I WILL BREAK BOTH YOUR LEGS!" (she was a tough Brooklyn nun!) -- I said "Why?" And she says, "BECAUSE SCOTT IS DOING FANTASTIC." I said, "What do you mean, Scott's always been fantastic!" And she says, "NO I'M TELLING YOU HE WAS ALWAYS IN DETENTION BEFORE YOU CAME, HIS GRADES WERE AT C'S AND D'S I MEAN HE WAS JUST WILD -- AND I'M TELING YOU HE HAS PULLED HIMSELF AROUND HE IS GETTING B'S, A COUPLE A'S - HE'S RARELY IN DETENTION ANYMORE -- AND IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU"…and I said, "Well that has nothing to do with me." And she said, "I'M TELLING YOU IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU - AND YOU DON'T ARGUE WITH A NUN !" -- So I said, "Ok, thank you."
(laughs)
But seriously -- I thought about it and I thought perhaps because in acting class he was allowed to be his own spunky, rambunctious self and it was in a constructive channel -- acting -- and be accepted, even applauded there, for being himself -- that he felt better - and so he could go out in his regular life and he felt motivated because he was praised for who he was. You're not praised for who you are in life, but on stage you are! So… if I had to say what we're all about -- it's giving the child a place to explore, and express themselves creatvely in a constructive, nurturing environment...and because of that, they will benefit in their "every day" life.
Because it's not about walking the "right" way, being proper, getting good grades, going to bed, getting into a good college -- it's about how they feel about the world, how they see the world!!!! That's what makes them special and acting nurtures what's special and unique about them. And life very rarely does that -- more than often it does not. And so it's by having this creative outlet, it allows them to grow in all aspects of their life.
Q: MY DAUGHTER IS PAINFULLY SHY. WOULD ACTING CLASS HELP HER COME OUT OF HER SHELL?
JAL: If a child is shy I'll have them play a shy character. And that immediately teaches them that it's OKAY to be shy and that these emotions are normal, and even interesting, and people will pay money -- and I will pay money -- to see it on stage, or on screen. Because it's interesting to me! And then when the student realizes that being herself is acceptable on stage -- well not just acceptable, but remarkable -- then she'll gain a confidence, which is the first step: FEARLESSNESS. Then in the following semester, if they're feeling light and happy because they conquered that fear, then we'll give her a light and happy character and gradually they start wanting to try different roles and that is what puts them on the road to becoming an actor, a wonderful actor, a good actor with many dimensions, a broad range.
Q: I WANT MY CHILD TO BE ABLE TO EXPLORE AND EXPRESS AND CREATE BUT WITHOUT ANY PRESSURE? IS THE YOUNG ACTOR'S STUDIO THE RIGHT PLACE?
JAL: Yes it is. It's a wonderful place, we have so much fun with these kids. They get a chance to do creative movement, voice, singing, to explore, to express -- I mean -- it's really their show. We even ask them "what are the roles you'd like to play? Would you like to play someone mean, or someone angry or shy or happy or crazy or wacky?" I mean we give them full rein even to choose some of the parts they'd like to do and for that I think that sets us off from the rest, because if they can, you know they become very excited and they want to work. Because we're excited. I mean Kerry and I are like two kids ourselves. And it's so funny to me because they really are learning acting technique and real serious tools but on the other hand they act like "oh wow that was so much fun" because in actuality, the work - the technique - if you want to get real serious about it - is a hell of a lot of fun!
Q: YOUR PROGRAM SOUNDS GREAT, BUT I'M CONSIDERING ENROLLING MY SON INTO A COMMERCIAL CLASS INSTEAD. I JUST THINK IT MIGHT BE MORE PRACTICAL.
JAL: With commercial acting you've got to be careful -- both as a parent and as a child…. For a parent - I mean the commercial acting is a lot of money - and a lot of times the parents become - I probably shouldn't say this - but a lot of times the parents become geared towards their kids' booking jobs and making money on commercials, and all that's fine and well if you simply want to learn how to do commercials, which is a technical skill of… and I've got to be honest -- if you're looking for that for your child, I know that you can sock away a lot of money for their college fund, and I applaud you if you can do it -- but the problem with the commercial acting in and of itself is that it doesn't teach children ACTING. It's not acting, it's about selling the product, it's about selling the can of coke -- but it's not about your kid. ACTING IS ABOUT YOUR CHILD. Acting is about the actor, the performer, the individual; commercials are about the Hershey's bar, about the product.
Q: MY CHILD IS MORE INTO MUSICAL THEATER, SO I'M NOT SURE SHE NEEDS TO STUDY THIS TYPE OF SERIOUS, "REALISTIC" ACTING.
JAL: Well they go hand in hand, acting and musical theater. Okay let's take OLIVER. That's a musical about a little boy who's an orphan and who's depressed as heck and because he asks for more food he's thrown out and made for sale, like a slave. That's a lot of emotion! And if you notice the boy who did the role in the movie is crying when he sang the song, "Where Is Love." You can tell when it's real, and the point is that if there's an emotion behind the musicals, they're gonna love it. And even for wacky crazy comedy -- I did SNOOPY on National Tour, I played Linus, and I figured what made my character so neurotic is because he's mad at his sister and he doesn't like Lucy because Lucy is a loudmouth and always bosses him around… and there's a whole bunch of acting stuff to do with musicals, and we teach them how to act the song -- as well as how to sing it.
Q: CAN YOU GET MY CHILD AN AGENT?
JAL: Casting directors and agents have asked us for referrals and have seen some of our kids' work, and have taken on our kids. Because the child actor who is well-trained and who is able to be spontaneous and real and natural on stage -- they'll be noticed. And that's what we're all about. We're not about cold readings and tricks and stock characters and quick results. We're not about that. No one else is like your child. Because your child's an individual, that is what is bankable and that is what -- as a director or an audience member -- that is what I would want to hire; that is what I'd pay money to see.