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Seven Lessons From The MC² Actors Studio Masterclass

1. “One of the biggest secrets the artist holds is all the hard work invested in creating something that appears so simple and easy.”

2. “The imagination gives us wings to take flight and journey into the many different colorful worlds that stretch beyond the limiting boundaries adopted by routine civilian everyday ‘normal’ life.”

3. “When you endow the givens so much so that they are deliciously carbonating within your entire being…all your focus-concentration-attention is held within that imaginary world…time and space stops…and you can authentically live in the sweet gap of the unknown of each and every moment.”

4. “True vulnerability is one’s willingness and commitment to really go after wants and needs despite the possible success or failure of those wants and needs being met. When you truly go after something with all your grit, glory, blood sweat and tears, that kind of vulnerability is as powerfully congruent to the most fierce lion in the jungle. That kind vulnerability is pure focused-concentrated strength and courage.”

5. “There is one language we can all understand that surpasses any and all language barriers…and that is the universal language energetically expressed through a broken heart.” 

6. “At the end of the day, it is not your technique or your expertise that makes the difference…it is your humanity. It’s the humanity that you bring to the work that is THE essential ingredient. It’s YOUR HUMANITY that is crucial and necessary in order to interpret the most profound ideas within a given text and then breathe walking authentic active life into them. All roads of our craft and technique lead to that destination. Pure, unapologetic, raw, authentic, messy, unfiltered human life revealed through story…and that kind of work is not for the faint of heart. It is for the full of heart.”

7. “It is not your job to dim your light just because it may be too bright for other people’s eyes. Tell ‘em to wear a pair of sunglasses. You just keep on living your truth and shining brightly. Know like you know like you know that you shine as bright as the most illuminating lighthouse in a storm and that big bright star way up high in the vast sky!”

~Mario A. Campanaro 
Master Teacher 
MC² Actors Studio 
Los Angeles | New York City | London


The Worthiness To Be Witnessed

“One of the greatest tools an actor (or any artists/human for that matter) can possess is his or her compassion and empathy. 

The ability to have an open heart and a willingness to dive into the depths of the human condition is the very foundation for our work and the ability to live moment to unknown moment within extraordinary circumstances. 

We have to be willing to see, hear, feel, taste, understand and experience more than just our own small circle of experiences in order to live the vast highly complex life of characters in unimaginable pain, great struggle and overall high stake circumstances. 

This is ultimately the ‘in’ to every character we will ever play/reveal/live. 

Everyone has struggled.

Everyone has suffered.

Everyone has had trials and tribulations.

Everyone has a story.

Every story has a history that formulates who we are and how we move and function in life and what we strive to get, achieve, be and experience. 

We have to understand that at our very core, we function from survival love received and love unreceived. 

From there, our story unfolds based on what life throws at us. 

This is not just about our technique. 

This is about humanity. 

It is about our humanity  

And every human’s story has within it the worthiness to be witnessed simply because it is part of the essential fabric of this thing we all call ‘Life’.

And this pertains to your own personal story as well.

Sometimes, you may have to walk through your very own Hades in order to get to your very own Utopia.

You may endure a lot. 

You may even find yourself suffering at times. 

But if you keep persevering…

If you keep sight of what you want…

If you keep on believing in what you are doing…

If you simply do not give up…

You might very well find that all that hardship pays it forward by bringing something profoundly fulfilling into your Life. 

You may want to cry at times because it hurts so bad…

And then you may want to laugh until it hurts simply because you got through it when you never thought you would or could. 

And once you make it out of that fire, you will finally see all the beauty hidden within the ashes. 

Each of us has our very own story of strife and struggle. 

And each of us has the potential for our very own deserving and awe-inspiring victory. 

I truly believe that we are way more powerful than we have been led to believe. 

The only way to lose sight of the dream is by simply giving up on it. 

So…

No matter what obstacles show up at our door, all I can say is…

Do. Not. Give. Up!

What you crave is your calling…

What you miss is your mission…

And what you are tested by will inevitably be your greatest personal, artistic and creative testimony.” 

~Mario A. Campanaro 
Master Teacher 
MC² Actors Studio 
Los Angeles | New York City | London


The Resilience Of The Human Spirit

“If there is one thing we must always be aware of as actors, it is the unquestionable resilience of the human spirit and the relentless pursuit toward improved personal circumstances. 

When we begin to understand that, we begin to understand the origin of the true nature of personal wants and needs…

And when we begin to understand the origin of the true nature of personal wants and needs, we also begin to understand the profound weight obstacles hold as they stand in the way of those wants and needs…

And once we begin to understand the profound weight obstacles hold standing in the way of wants and needs, we then begin to understand the motivation behind the true nature of actions taken to overcome all of the obstacles standing in the way of wants and needs…

And once we begin to truly understand how all actions hold the intention to overcome obstacles standing in the way of wants and needs, we then begin to understand the true nature of human listening and how it is always being filtered in mind, body and spirit, by if we are or are not fulfilling our wants and needs by the actions taken to overcome all the obstacles standing in the way of our wants and needs… 

And when we begin to understand all this about human nature, we begin to understand the true nature of authentic moment to moment impulse, reaction, response and emotion (MC²=Energy In Motion) that naturally occurs from the equal endowment of objective and obstacle and the success or failure of our wants and needs being met or not.

At the end of the day, the human spirit is driven by love received, love unreceived and survival…

Everything else branches off from those three roots.

When all this is put into words, it seems very equational…

So, as always, look for it in Life…

Life is the actor’s infinite masterclass…

To put it all a bit more simply…

Look at Life…You will begin to understand the Craft of Acting.”

~Mario A. Campanaro 
Master Teacher 
MC² Actors Studio 
Los Angeles | New York City | London


Impatient-Patience & Sweet Surrender

“Your greatest successes will inevitably come when your active intention marries your sweet surrender all the while maintaining your overall peace without clutching onto what an end result looks like. 

When you plant the seed of your heart’s intention, and you nurture that intention with passion, joy, active dedication, tenacity, hard-work, accountability, responsibility, skill, impatient-patience, a healthy amount of sweat-equity, trust, perseverance, faith, more joy and that sweet surrender, the universe unfailingly pays it forward by rewarding you with the fruits of your purposeful mission popping up all around you. 

There may be struggles along the way…

But the artist warrior in you knows not to give up.

The master craftsperson in you knows never to give up.

Admit the struggle.

Confront the struggle.

Don’t walk/run away, around, over or under the struggle.

Walk through it.

The actor warrior in you knows deep down that on the other side of the struggle is something well worth its weight in gold.

And for that, we persevere.

We work…

We work hard with the intention of getting the dream out of the dream-state…

And making it our own personal fulfilling reality.”

~Mario A. Campanaro 
Master Teacher 
MC² Actors Studio 
Los Angeles | New York City | London


That’s What Craft Does!

“When we truly begin to understand the craft of acting in a visceral, practical, tangible, executable, HUMAN way…

And how it mirrors the way we humans live in this beautifully complex thing we can LIFE

We begin to experience the delicious breath of freedom it provides. 

Craft is meant to free the actor so he, she, they can truly live moment to unknown moment circumstantially

The craft of acting provides the ability to be CONSISTENT in the work.

That consistency supports the actor’s ability to truly listen through the filter of the character’s wants and needs and therefore have stimulatedjustifiedcircumstantial, responses, reactions, instincts, impulses and spontaneity within the gap of the moment.

Craft allows for the actor’s talent to be married to skill.

The actor’s skill makes it possible for his, her, their instrument to experience the freedom of living the character’s life as it unfolds moment to unknown moment…

As oppose to their hope white knuckling onto luck that it will all go well and the magic might happen.

The craft of acting provides the backbone of confidence for the actor to know like they know like they know that it will go well each and every night or each and every take…

Because the actor’s endowed skill fully supports the work and provides the security that the actor can truly live moment unknown moment as a given story and its circumstances unfold.

When we really experience that kind of freedom in the work…

That initial passion, love, inner joy and smile that attracted all of us to this glorious art form…

The Craft Of Acting…

 Inevitably grows stronger and brighter.

That’s what craft does.

But it is a craft.

It is a skill. 

It is a profession.

One that demands constant learning, exploration, discovery, experience, growth and evolution…

Just as this beautifully complex thing we call LIFE does.” 

~Mario Campanaro
Master Teacher
MC² Actors Studio
Los Angeles | New York City | London


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