The Maggie Flanigan Meisner Intensive trains professional actors based on the teaching and work of Sanford Meisner. In this interview, Tashima Evans discusses with Katie how the Meisner Intensive was different than she expected and how she has redefined for herself what it means to be real and authentic. Q: Tashima, what did you think training as an actor before you started the six-week Meisner intensive? A: Well, to be very honest, I’m just going to talk about my introduction into the studio and what my anticipation was in coming into studying here for the summer. I looked at it as it would be another class that I would take. I would learn a little something, add it to my resume, and then move forward. That’s kind of how I looked coming into, studying at the studio, that’s how I looked at my experience. I was like, “I’ll do this. I’ll study a little bit, I’ll add it to my resume and boom, I’ll be good.” Q: What do you think actor training is now that you’re in your last week of the six-week program? A: It’s been, for me, incredibly life-changing. I’ve seen it help me grow as far as my artistry, and I feel like coming into it, I had the respect for acting as an art. I’m an artist. I always say, “I’m not just an actor, I’m an artist.” I’ve had a profound respect for artistry, but I don’t think I saw how deeply flawed I was in my view of my art and how I put limitations on what I did with my art. I feel like being in the class with Charlie has been mind-blowing. It's impacted my personal life. I find myself hearing Charlie's voice in my head when I'm out and about. If something is going on that I want to do, I'm thinking, "What's more important, what this person is doing or what you need and want?" It's helped me to be more clear about what I wanted in my life, and there's no turning back, I feel like now. It is no way for me to go back to whatever I was doing before as an actor. It's completely transformed how I view training. Q: Was there something specific that happened over the course of the six weeks that changed your point of view on the training? A: Wow. There were so many moments, not even just for myself, but watching other people work, but I'll say there was one moment where I was doing an activity, and I used a very personal experience. I wept in a way that I've never wept in front of anyone. No one in my life, my family, friends that I'm close to that I know has ever seen that part of me. I was choosing to use that as my motivation. It was something I've done privately by myself, but never in front of people. To me, that feeling is very addicting. It also it showed me that's what I want to share more as an actor. I want to expose more of my private moments. When I'm by myself, when I'm my thoughts, when I'm in the car, whatever that is, I want to showcase that. I feel like that opened my eyes to what I've been-- a wall that's been up for myself. It's been like, "I can be strong, and I'll do this little part of myself but this private moment, feelings, and emotions that I share, I don't want to share that." I feel like that was the moment where it opened it up for me, and I was like, "Hey, just do whatever you feel what's real." To learn more about the acting programs at the Maggie Flanigan Studio, including the Meisner Intensive, visit the acting programs and registration pages on the studio website URL. Interested students should contact the studio during business hours to schedule an admissions interview. Call (917) 789-1599. Maggie Flanigan Studio 153 W 27th St #803 New York, New York 10001 +1 917-789-1599 www.maggieflaniganstudio.com/ goo.gl/maps/oxqqExybwL32 plus.google.com/112291205845820496849 https://flic.kr/p/2bGuumv
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