Can Acting Be Taught Essay

565 Words3 Pages
It is a question that some potential actors and actresses ask themselves, can acting be taught or is it a talent you are born with? The answer varies across the profession. There is no doubt that talent is important to the skill of acting, but acting is just that, a skill. Acting is a skill that must be learnt developed and nurtured over a lifetime. As Dee Cannon and Pierce Brosnan (2012, 12) state “… talent is cheap and I’m afraid it’s not enough to rely on talent alone - the profession is far too competitive for that.” Acting as a skill requires much more than simple talent. It requires technique and discipline that can only be learnt or developed over time. Perhaps more than that it requires the strength and determination that comes with…show more content…
Perhaps talent should be viewed as the building block of the skill set on which an actor must develop and build their skills. Students of other fields are not told that once their education is complete they have nothing left to learn. They are encouraged to develop their own skills and to advance their field. As Uta Hagen (2009, 3) says “I have spent most of my life in the theatre and know that the learning process in art is never over. The possibilities for growth are limitless.” The learning process does not end for an actor as they must be able to develop and adjust themselves to the demands of the roles they play and circumstances affect their lives. An actor can never assume that they have reached the pinnacle of learning. If they do they risk losing roles to an actor that is willing to continue learning and developing as they are required to by a role. A student actor will learn multiple techniques from their teachers and any good acting teacher will encourage their students to combine the techniques they learn into a skill set that suits and works for
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