One very important point that I always speak of at our studio…
Is that Life will always be the most potent, informative and powerful acting teacher any actor will ever study with…
Life itself gets all the credit and acclaim!…
What we do…
This thing called story-telling (living)…
Is a mirror or reflection of life…
It is there reflecting the human condition from generation to generation…
We will always connect with the things that we relate to…
And those things will always be the stimulus that create story…
Because of present circumstances…
I felt compelled to share a very critical season in my personal life to one of our classes…
And an important lesson that I learned from those circumstances….
Because of severe chronic illness that I fought for many many years (often in secret)…
I almost lost my life a couple of times…
In addition…
I lost friends, family, career…joy, happiness, and even love…
During this time…
The one thing I had to do was basically isolate for 10 years,…
At least as best I could…
To protect myself and my immune system…
YUP!!!…
TEN YEARS!…
That isolation…
That loss of time and life…
Created a craving that I knew was my calling…
Everything I missed out on became my mission…
That long, difficult, horrendous, scary, lonely desperate test became my testimony…
The opportunity I was given during that “downtime” was an opportunity to understand things about people, circumstances and life that I was not able to understand before…
Everything beforehand came easily until it didn’t…
Those circumstances forced me to stop doing what I loved (my career as an actor on stage and screen)…
And gave me the chance to study the thing I loved in a completely new way…
It forced me to witness and understand humanity with a completely new and compassionate lens…
It forced me to slow down…
Ask questions…
Seek answers…
And bear witness to others…
Their circumstances…
And their pain with a bird’s eye view…
And more importantly…
It forced me to relate!…
It completely changed me as a person, actor and teacher…
I was able to begin to see and understand things in story that I never even thought possible…
It deepened my relationship to the work…
And the understanding of characters…
And why they do what they do based on the circumstances they are in…
Why do I bring this up?…
During this crucial time in all of our lives…
It is so important to remember these three simple yet powerful statements …
WHAT YOU CRAVE IS YOUR CALLING…
WHAT YOU MISS IS YOUR MISSION…
AND WHAT YOU ARE TESTED BY WILL BE YOUR TESTIMONY!
What we are experiencing in the world right now is inevitably going to create stories…
Many many very human beautiful complicated layered heartwrenching and also victorious stories…
And EVERYBODY’S story has the right to be heard and witnessed…
Every one of our stories is backed by the pain we have endured and experienced during some season in our lives…
And all of what we have done to try and overcome that pain and suffering to make it through…
Tough times and tough circumstances will always try our most vulnerable point…
And that is a beautiful and very human map as to what needs our attention…
Our awareness…
Our awareness, observation and the exercising of what we learn about ourselves and the human condition inevitably inspires and informs how we live honestly, truthfully and authentically in our work as actors…
And a lot of the time this may feel inconvenient, difficult, tedious and maybe even heart-wrenching work during the process…
During the season…
Especially when there is not an immediate payoff…
But the more we stay on track…
The more we continue to persevere…
The more we continue to align, refine and cultivate our craft…
The more we continue to grow…
And the more the payoff will eventually and inevitably come…
It is about pushing through…
Even during those moments when we feel like we don’t want to push through…
It’s not about going around it…
Or over it…
Or underneath it…
But going through it…
Being religious (meaning disciplined) in our approach to what we want to achieve as artists…
Being focused and disciplined…
And holding ourselves accountable within and throughout the process…
Because we (you) love what we (you) do…
And because we (you) know there is…
Always has been…
And always will be greatness within each of us (you) worthy of doing the work we (you) love with all our (your) heart and soul.
And with that invested, mindful, committed work…
We must remember the word ‘ACT’ means TO DO!..
And the artists perseveres when it may make sense to want to crumble…
The artist perseveres because by the very nature of being an artist is to create…
To move forward…
To give ‘birth’ to something from something…
And because of something…
Our work…
This thing called Acting…
Is not for the faint of heart…
It is not “substance-less”…
It is pregnant with the human condition!…
All of us…
In our darkest times…
Are spending our time being moved by YOU, the actor, in our homes or other venues where our work lives…
This is why we must take our work seriously…
And with responsibility…
Don’t forget what you do…
Why you do it…
And what it serves…
It is a rite!..,
It is responsibility…
It is a gift…
And it (you) matters!…
Our darkest moments will be the greatest inspiration for our most important artistic endeavors!
Stay safe and stay healthy!
Much Love,
Mario
“One very important point that I always speak of at our studio…
Is that Life will always be the most potent, informative and powerful acting teacher any actor will ever study with…
Life itself gets all the credit and acclaim!…
What we do, this thing called story-telling (living), is a mirror or reflection of life…
It is there reflecting the human condition from generation to generation…
We will always connect to the things that we relate with…
And those things will always be the stimulus that create story…
Because of present circumstances…
I felt compelled to share a very critical season in my personal life to one of our classes and an important lesson I learned from those circumstances….
Because of severe chronic illness that I fought for many many years (often in secret)..
I almost lost my life a couple of times…
In addition…
I lost friends, family, career…joy, happiness, and even love…
During this time…
The one thing I had to do was basically isolate for 10 years, as best I could, to protect myself and my immune system…
TEN YEARS!…
That isolation…
That loss of time and life…
Created a craving that I knew was my calling…
Everything I missed out on became my mission…
That long, difficult, horrendous, scary, lonely desperate test became my testimony…
The opportunity I was given during that downtime was an opportunity to understand things about people and life that I was not able to understand before…
Everything beforehand came easily until it didn’t…
Those circumstances forced me to stop doing what I loved (my career as an actor on stage and screen) and gave me the chance to study the thing I loved in a completely new way…
It forced me to witness and understand humanity with a completely new and compassionate lens…
It forced me to slow down, ask questions, seek answers, and bear witness to others, their circumstances, and their pain with a bird’s eye view…
And more importantly, it forced me to relate!…
It completely changed me as a person, artist and teacher…
I was able to begin to see and understand things in story that I never even thought possible…
It deepened my relationship to the work and the understanding of characters and why they do what they do based on the circumstances they are in…
Why do I bring this up?…
During this crucial time in all of our lives, it is so important to remember these three simple yet powerful statements …
WHAT YOU CRAVE IS YOUR CALLING…
WHAT YOU MISS IS YOUR MISSION…
AND WHAT YOU ARE TESTED BY WILL BE YOUR TESTIMONY!
What we are experiencing in the world right now is inevitably going to create stories…
Many many very human beautiful complicated layered heartwrenching and also victorious stories…
And EVERYBODY’S story has the right to be heard and witnessed…
Every one of our stories is backed by the pain we have endured and experienced during some season in our lives and all of what we have done to try and overcome that pain and suffering to make it through…
Tough times and tough circumstances will always try our most vulnerable point…
And that is a beautiful and very human map as to what needs our attention…
Our awareness…
Our awareness, observation and the exercising of what we learn about ourselves and the human condition inevitably inspires and informs how we live honestly, truthfully and authentically in our work as actors…
And a lot of the time this may feel inconvenient, difficult, tedious and maybe even heart-wrenching work during the process…
During the season…
Especially when there is not an immediate payoff…
But the more we stay on track…
The more we continue to persevere…
The more we continue to align, refine and cultivate our craft…
The more we continue to grow…
And the more the payoff will eventually and inevitably come…
It is about pushing through…
Even during those moments when we feel like we don’t want to push through…
It’s not about going around it…
Or over it…
Or underneath it…
But going through it…
Being religious (meaning disciplined) in our approach to what we want to achieve as artists…
Being focused and disciplined…
And holding ourselves accountable within and throughout the process…
Because we (you) love what we (you) do…
And because we know there is…
Always has been…
And always will be greatness within each of us worthy of doing the work we (you) love with all our (your) heart and soul.
And with that invested, mindful, committed work…
We must remember the word ‘ACT’ means TO DO!..
And the artists perseveres when it may make sense to want to crumble…
The artist perseveres because by the very nature of being an artist is to create…
To move forward…
To give ‘birth’ to something from something and because of something…
Our work, this thing called Acting, is not for the faint of heart…
It is not ‘substance-less’…
It is pregnant with the human condition!…
All of us, in our darkest times, are spending our time being moved by YOU, the actor, in our homes or other venues where our work lives…
This is why we must take this work seriously and with responsibility…
Don’t forget what you do…
Why you do it…
And what it serves…
It is a rite!..,
It is responsibility…
It is a gift…
And it (you) matters!…
Our darkest moments will be the greatest inspiration for our most important artistic endeavors!”
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For more information on MC² Actors Studio, MC²=Mario Campanaro’s Masterclass & Mario Campanaro For The Actor, please contact our administrative department at assistant.MC2@gmail.com or visit us at www.mariocampanaro.com
