Film Courage: Why do you say that desire cannot be taught?
Michael Laskin, Actor, Acting Coach, Author: Desire for success is different than desire to be great, to be an artist, to be outstanding at what you do is very different than the desire for success. There are people who are just inordinately ambitious right out of the shoot, they just are. But I don’t think it can be taught. I’ve always said this and I think it’s true, I can’t teach talent (we’ve talked about). I can’t teach desire but what I really teach is a strategy for the scene you’re working on right now, for the project that’s a part of your career and for your life (I don’t want to get two life coach-y about this), it’s kind of all the same. It’s understanding that your innate talent and desire is just there or it’s not. I have run across people who are very talented and don’t have the fire in the belly to be successful. They don’t care about it, they’re perfectly willing to be just in the mix. The first time I ever taught anything, this was at the Hawaii International Film Festival a long time ago, and it was a fantastic gig because you got to spend two weeks in Hawaii and I taught a week-long workshop for actors. There were a number of actors who lived there. There was an older gentleman who was auditing. He wasn’t part of the actual workshop. We had people who were auditing and all that just to hang out and be and see it and observe it. At the end of the week he came up to me with some questions. He said I was an actor. I said Oh yeah and I said You were very familiar looking so I probably have seen you and He said I was an actor. I did some TV and a little bit of movies. He was older and I guess had retired and he said…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BUY THE BOOK – THE AUTHENTIC ACTOR: The Art and Business of Being Yourself
BIO:
Michael Laskin has been a working professional actor for over 40 years in film, television, and the theatre – from SEINFELD to BIG LITTLE LIES and a great deal in between. He has worked extensively off-Broadway, and at some of America’s leading regional theatres, including The Guthrie Theatre, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Geffen Playhouse, The Seattle Repertory Theatre, and The Mixed Blood Theatre Company.
Additionally, he was awarded a Fringe First Award at The Edinburgh Festival for playing “Richard Nixon” in TEA WITH DICK AND GERRY, which went on to a successful run at London’s Roundhouse Theatre. Michael also starred in the Canadian premier of the Pulitzer Prize winning drama “Talley’s Folly” and his most recent stage work was the American premiere of the one-person play, ALTMAN’S LAST STAND in Los Angeles. A recipient of a Bush Fellowship with The Guthrie Theatre, he was also awarded a Distinguished Alumnus Award from The University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts.
A graduate of Northwestern University’s theatre department where he received his bachelor’s degree, Michael also has a masters degree in theatre management from The University of Minnesota. Additionally he’s taught acting at USC, UCLA, Queen’s College-Cambridge (UK), The Actors Centre (London), Art Center College of Design, Kennesaw University, the University of Minnesota, the Hawaii International Film Festival, and South Coast Repertory Co. He’s had the privilege of working with some of the great artists in film and theatre, including Barry Levinson, Stephen Frears, Walter Matthau, John Sayles, Paul Mazursky, Bob Rafelson, Michael Langham, Robert Duvall, Roy Dotrice, and many others.
CONNECT WITH MICHAEL LASKIN
MORE MICHAEL WIESE PRODUCTIONS AUTHORS
Advertisement – contains affiliate links
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
More affiliates:
Camera we use for interviews – https://buff.ly/3rWqrra
Sound we use for interviews – https://amzn.to/2tbFlM9
Writers, try Final Draft free for 30-days – https://ow.ly/Gz4w30rDSKt
Other books on Amazon that Film Courage recommends – https://buff.ly/3o0oE5o
