Summer Acting Program - Angie Elliston - Maggie Flanigan Studio 03

Summer Acting Program - Angie Elliston - Maggie Flanigan Studio 03 Q: What happened during the six weeks that changed your perspective? Was there a particular moment in the exercise? Was there a moment of rehearsal, a personal discovery that changed your view of what it means to train as an actor? Angela: I learned a lot in many different ways in rehearsals and class. In class, I would say that I learned, mostly when I would see Charlie teach the others, like my classmates. When I'm in the scene, I can't see myself. I don't know what I'm doing. I love what he says, and his feedback and I write that down, and I consider them and then everyone else, I see what they're doing. Well, we're all on the same level. We're all making the same mistakes. I learned mostly by looking at everyone else helped me. It worked better because we were an intimate group. We were a small group. We got to know each other better that way. Just seeing everyone grow from day one to now, the last days it's pretty amazing. We're all proud of each other as well. There's no competition or anything. We're all helping each other. Rehearsals, well the first day, Charlie immediately gave us an active partner. It was weird because I didn't know him, but we got to know each other well through the exercises, which is the Meisner of asking each other questions, repetition, and we grew together. I learned a lot just through my partner, helping each other, watering each other like we were plants. That's how I viewed that. I learned a lot through rehearsals, and Charlie says that's where you grow, and it's genuine. You build through repetitions and through seeing other people's mistakes in class, and that's mostly how I think I've grown in this summer. Q: What did you learn about yourself that was a surprise or that changed you? You mentioned a little bit before about suppressed-- Angela: Yes, that's what I was about to say. I was surprised on how certain types of feelings, mostly feelings of intense sadness or-- Something that shocked me, something that I did not know about myself that I learned here was because I didn't know how to stand up for myself. I didn't know that. He said it. I guess everyone noticed, but I had no idea. He speaks through the repetition and the conflict exercises that, this is Meisner training, I wouldn't have to stand up for myself. Here I had my partner just fighting with me, and Charlie's told me to take things personally, take it in because as an actor, you have to take things personally and be comfortable with conflict. How is there going to be any conflict if you don't stand up for yourself? I didn't, I would just let this pass, and I noticed that I just brushed off any insult or conflict that was trying to happen. I didn't want anything to do with it. I realized that I run away from my problems and I don't stand up for myself. Instead, I walk away from it. I finally learned to confront it, and when I did eventually stand up for myself and face my partner on the scene, I was blown away, and I almost had hysteria. I wouldn't stop crying, and it felt so real. Then after we finished, I had to review everything that had just happened because I had forgotten entirely. That's how it felt like to be in the moment and be out of your head and focus on the other person, which is what acting is all about. Q: How would you describe Charlie as a teacher? Angela: Charlie is-- I guess what I liked about him is that he's passionate about his students. He takes everything very seriously, and since day one, he says that you've got to want this. Almost in every class, he always finishes the course with something to take home with, some nice motivation, which was still really lovely. He's harsh. He will challenge you. He doesn't have much patience, but that's only because he has a lot of passion, and he does explain that. That's just how he is. That's important because if you want to be an actor, it is a challenging industry, and no one is going to give you mercy; no one's that nice to you. It's very raw. It's very harsh, and Charlie teaches you that, and he says it from the beginning like this is how it is. He challenges you If you need to want this, and you're going to get so frustrated with yourself, and he will make you frustrated with yourself. That's the point, that's how you grow. Once you finally achieve that stuff, you feel so much-- You build, you feel so much better, and you realize that everything he did, he knows exactly what he's doing. I think that's how I would describe him. He challenges you, and he is super passionate about all of his students and what he teaches. Q: There are a lot of summer intensives in Manhattan, a lot of Meisner summer intensives. Why did you decide Maggie Flanigan Studio was the place for you? Angela: Maggie Flanagan is not trying to sell you the school and the classes or anything. It's all just very genuine and authentic. I think that's what I liked about it. When I did more research on it, and I had heard of other people who studied here, I was intrigued. When I met Charlie, I saw that he was genuine about this. He wasn't trying to sell me anything. Instead, he said, "I want to see if I want to teach you. I want to see if you are passionate about this because you have to be because this is intense. This is real life. This is acting." I guess that was my impression of it. Q: You mentioned before how your class helped you watching the other students and the sense of community since you were a small class. How did that closeness to the other students help you through the six weeks? Angela: I would say that because there were fewer students, there was less competition, more time for one another. More time for my partner and me, and also for the others. It's always like there's more time for one another. You feel closer to Charlie as well. We all realized that we're in this together. I think it's just you feel more intimate. You feel like more closer to them. If there were more people, it wouldn't be the same at all. I like that it was a small group and we all got to know each other better. We all are so different from different places around the United States. The age gaps are enormous, but we're all at the same level, and we were all struggling. At the same time, I felt like we were all holding hands together and we were getting through this. That's what I liked about it. Because it was small, we were closer. 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 twitter.com/MeisnerActing www.facebook.com/MeisnerActing/ https://flic.kr/p/Tsq26y