Supporting resilience and vulnerability in rehearsal & performance
Photo: Manon Bourgeois
Philosophy
When an actors' vulnerability meets their characters' psychological and emotional complexity their creative journey goes beyond what the skills of an acting coach can offer, is not necessarily a therapist’s domain and, is not the responsibility of an Intimacy Coordinator. It's in this psychologically and emotionally vulnerable space where my work begins. I journey vicariously with the actor and meet them at their point of need. I support both personal and artistic challenges in the context of portraying a character.
Guiding Principles
Actor Care® is informed by ACES (Actualizing Characters by Expanding Self-awareness), a trauma-informed approach to character development. I developed ACES as a response to international research conducted on the impact of portraying emotionally distressed characters on the actors' mental health.
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Engage personal strengths
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Maintain actor/character clarity
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Safely access vulnerability
Process artistic & personal development.
Robert Parson, Toronto
(Transplant, The Detectives)
"Alan worked with me not only to stay safe, to handle difficult themes or experiences, but helped develop a way as an actor so that I can grasp and play/work with those themes and experiences. They still remain challenging but not only will I remain stable and professional but I'll be able to access those challenging feelings and moments as I need to on any given shoot day".
Sacharissa Claxton, London
(Sybil, Coronation Street, Avenue 5, Sandman)
“It 100% worked! When dealing with traumatic themes you never know what you’re going to find when you start digging into a character. Alan set up clear guidelines and created a safe space to work with raw and challenging material. It enhanced not only my own prep but my performance too. Actor Care® sessions connected my prep work to my emotional capacity as an actor to me stepping onto set. ”
Oliver Devoti, London
(Game of Thrones, Silent Witness)
"It was lovely to acknowledge my strengths and to explore my relationship to them and the purpose of those strengths and how they can serve me. I thought that was quite liberating really. To look at myself in that way and to view myself in that way from a personal development perspective and a self-awareness perspective. That was really good."