Doug Warhit's Acting Blog

Actor Robert Forster’s three step program to live by:
1. Accept all things.
2. Deliver Excellence-right now.
3. Never quit.

“The need for perfection can sometimes stop the actor from making strong choices for fear of making mistakes. This can lead to procrastination which can lead to paralysis. You must be willing to take risks and make mistakes in order to achieve success.”
-Travis Quentin Young, Renaissance Man

“The first time I got onstage was when I was about five years old. I had a poem to recite. I had on a little white sailor suit and my nose started bleeding. I went to make my speech and I put one finger up there to stop the bleeding, and said “If you don’t like the look of me, you can look some other way.” I’ve never had stage fright since.”
-Willie Nelson, country western singer.

“I always knew what I was going to accomplish even before I knew how I was going to do it.”
-Ray Romano

Michael Emerson of TV series LOST:
“There’s room for emotional illogic, and it’s amazing how effective it can be with certain types of material. What if you’re emotional about the wrong things and dispassionate about the wrong things? That’s something I do with my role on LOST. I play opposites. Opposites of desire. I think that’s one of the reasons people pay attention to Ben. His emotional system is off.”

“Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.”
-Booker T. Washington

Do not waste your time ruminating over things you can’t control.(i.e. your age) Put your focus on areas you can impact; your choices, focus, effort and ingenuity.

“I’m about the execution-what is the best way to make this scene as funny, touching, disturbing as it can be. Because I think the actual ‘what’ that happens is less important than the ‘how.’”
-Hugh Laurie, Star of TV show “House.”

Human beings are not perfect. They are flawed. That’s what makes them fascinating. What are the flaws in your character? How do those imperfections and weaknesses pervade everything your character is striving for?

Your time in the waiting room is too important to waste checking out your competition. Bring your ipod, find a piece of music that fits your character, close your eyes and fantasize about your characters given circumstances and what he or she really wants to gain or change or fight for.