Cast It Talent Interview: Acting Is...

by Mario A. Campanaro

Cast It Talent Interview: Acting Is...

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Interview: Cast It Talent Interview: News And Advice For Actors & Directors

Series: Acting Is...

Location: Hollywood, California

Jeff Locker

Guest: Mario A. Campanaro – Director, Playwright, Founder, and Master Acting Teacher at MC² Actors Studio & MC² Repertory Theatre Company

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Host: Okay, you’re an actor — you want to act, you wanna work. So what does that mean in this town (Hollywood)? Does that mean you should stay in class? Or just audition all the time?

If you get an audition, should you hire a coach? Or are you “so good” you don’t need a coach anymore?

Well, that’s what we’re talking about today. We have a very good friend of mine who’s also an amazing acting teacher and acting coach — Mario A. Campanaro. How’re you doing, Mario?

Mario: Hey, Jeff!

Host: How right was I? Once you’re an actor and you’re “good enough,” you never have to go to class again.

Mario: In regards to class, I think everyone should be in and go to class.

It’s about the ability to keep growing, keep expanding. It’s not the type of craft where there’s a finite point — you keep learning.

There’s so much to learn about ourselves and so much to learn about this craft that it’s an injustice to yourself to stop.

Host: What is the value of being in an acting class versus having a coach where you just do one-on-one?

Mario: A really successful coach will always be a teacher at heart. My job as a coach (and as a teacher) is to get you to a place where you know what you’re doing, where you have a craft and a process, and where you trust yourself enough to leave yourself alone and do the work so that you don’t need me.

I think they (coaches) supply an actor with the confidence to ask specific questions that stimulate and excite the actor to do unpredictable work.

Host: So, unpredictable work… what does that mean to you?

Mario: That means fearlessly living in the moment. It means being so grounded in who you are (circumstantially) that you’re not stifled, paralyzed, or afraid of the life that comes at you. It’s about being relaxed, free of unnecessary tension, and completely open and available to whatever the moment brings (circumstantially). And when you truly let go and trust — well, that can be some scary, you-know-what, sometimes.

Host: How do you “live in the moment”? I know that’s a big question… but for actors, how do we apply that?

Mario: A lot of (unskilled and untrained) actors just want to pick up the material once or twice through and just "read" or "memorize" the lines and then just do whatever they would in their civilian everyday life.

No!

An actor should never pick up a script as if it were just a piece of literature. It’s a wonderful skeleton that needs the actor to breathe life into it.

And life doesn’t happen on the line — life happens in between the lines, which gives birth to the line..

When you understand the circumstances in a gut, visceral, personal, intuitive way, then you’re able to drop it and allow yourself to live moment to unknown moment with whoever you’re with.

That means getting away from an "idea" of what you think the moment is "supposed" to be. That means getting away from an "idea" of what you think somebody wants from you. That means getting over an "idea" of what you think you’re "supposed" to be.

That means really inhabiting who you are — your instrument, your being — within the circumstances. Grit and glory. That alone is what keeps you in the moment. And that’s... that’s the moment!

It’s not about creating a "blueprint" of the way you think things are supposed to be, because the "blueprint" whitewashes everything and turns it into a generalization.

It actually does you a disservice because you’re saying an "idea" is more important than you, and your authenticity, and your authentic, instinctual, impulsive response, and your life in relationship to that circumstantial moment.

And that’s absolute bullshit.

Host: Should actors have a coach for all auditions?

Mario: If you feel like you’re getting in your own way, that’s a whisper that says, “I need help to get out of my way.”

But if your instrument is allowing yourself to connect to the circumstances of the material in a visceral way — where you know you’re living fearlessly — go for it!

Host: There you go. This is the reason I had Mario on today. And this is the reason I continue to call him a friend and hit him up for advice whenever I’m feeling a little “actor crazy.”

So, the benefit? Staying in a class, finding a coach that gets you — someone you feel safe with and who challenges you. That’s a huge part of being an actor in L.A.

Thank you so much, Mario. I really appreciate all your wisdom.

Mario: Yeah. Love you, buddy.