The Real Life Actor Podcast
Acting training revolutionized. Acting Coach Jeff Seymour, 37 year industry veteran and author of the groundbreaking book, The Real Life Actor, discusses an approach acting and success in the entertainment industry that turns all previous methods on their head. Everything you need to know about being a successful professional actor.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff is directing a feature he wrote, cast entirely from the actors he's trained. He explains what he looks for in the actors he chooses.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff shares a couple of chapters of the upcoming Audiobook version of his book, The Real Life Actor.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff talks about why performing in from of live audience is the best way to improve your acting. He also offers a way for you to do it.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff discusses ways of approaching your work that end up creating more confusion than clarity.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff discusses a long needed change in the way acting is approached and taught.
The Real Life Actor
Here are the details for Jeff's spring 2025 book/teaching tour.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff describes his latest book, The Real Life Actor Scene Study Workbook with 32 original scenes.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff discusses his two new books, Directing Talent and Showing Up Like a Pro. Here is the Amazon link for Showing Up Like a Pro https://shorturl.at/K5x25 and here is the link for Directing Talent http://tiny.cc/6xeyzz
The Real Life Actor
What it means to forget the audience while you're working.
The Real Life Actor
This is how feel what you need to feel in a scene.
The Real Life Actor
The most effective way to use the lines you've diligently memorized.
The Real Life Actor
Here are some great tips on the best way to memorize and "own" your words.
The Real Life Actor
Some helpful hints on what to consider when deciding the best way to play your character.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff explains why it's so important to read the script from a readers point of view first. Familiarize yourself with the story before you start thinking about your character.
The Real Life Actor
Here are some tips for telling the tragic stories you sometimes have to tell when you act.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff explains why working live on stage is so important for the actor's growth and confidence.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff discusses the best way to wrangle self doubt.
The Real Life Actor
Here are some great tips on how to approach staging a play.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff lays out an exciting new training program.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff shares his thoughts on conventional theatre acting and directing and why it needs to change.
The Real Life Actor
What is properly taking direction and why is it an actor's superpower? Jeff explains in detail.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff explains why you'll always come up short if being "real" is your primary focus.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff explains the importance of always being word perfect.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff explains the finer points in dealing with agents, from getting to maintaining.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff explains why live auditions aren't coming back and offers some great tips to get the most out of your self tapes.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff explains the importance of strongly justifying your characters actions.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff explains the importance of self conflict in your scenes.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff gives a great example of a wonderful way to own your words and learn your lines.
The Real Life Actor
Here is the cure for any actor who has ever felt their acting was fake.
The Real Life Actor
Regarding the choices an actor can make for character and scene, Jeff explains the need to consider the overall story and a simple rule to follow.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff explains why it's more important to understand the why of your actions, than it is to focus on how it’ll manifest in your performance.Plus, another great exercise.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff gives you a great way to rehearse a scene that’ll keep you loose and focused.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff breaks down a scene from “The Talented Mr. Ripley” to show how you can use your instincts to better understand a scene.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff has covered this topic before but some lessons bear repeating. He hits it from a slightly different angle in order to drive his point home.
The Real Life Actor
Here are some simple things you can do to make your self tapes look and sound better.
The Real Life Actor
All the things you want to avoid from the moment you get your audition, all the way through to the ride home.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff addresses the actor’s compulsion to make sure the audience gets every little thing and why it’s a huge mistake.
The Real Life Actor
Acting is the definition of this word and it is the single most important ability the actor must have.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff breaks down a scene from The Savages and gives a great demonstration on focusing on the info that will make it much easier for an actor to “own” the material.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff speaks to the frustrations of 3 different actors and reminds them to always trust their instincts.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff answers a listener’s question. What is the best way to handle direction, on the set, when it goes opposite to what you had prepared?
The Real Life Actor
Here is some great advice for any director to become a proper, “actor whisperer."
The Real Life Actor
Wrapping up a year that seemed to go by for too quickly and why that probably is. Getting more done in 2019 by slowing things down.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff answers a listener's question. Here is the best way to keep your performance from getting stale or becoming robotic.
The Real Life Actor
It’s a common mistake. Actors focus too much on the medium and not enough on the message.
The Real Life Actor
We've all heard it. It's that sage advice casting directors love to offer, "make interesting choices, be unique, dare to be different." But how? what does it all mean?
The Real Life Actor
Backstories are very important but the actor needs to know the difference between what is playable and what is not. Here is a good explanation.
The Real Life Actor
How to remain healthy and sensitive in a generally insensitive business.
The Real Life Actor
You've heard the phrase, but what exactly does it mean and what is your best course of action?
The Real Life Actor
Some ideas bear repeating.
The Real Life Actor
Don't waste your time trying to justify your commitment to an action in a scene. Just accept it. It's simply what you do and who you are.
The Real Life Actor
Two weeks of teaching 2 classes a day in Toronto lead to these observations and to one of the most astonishing break throughs I've ever seen.
The Real Life Actor
Known for her incredible, award winning performance as Katie Benedetto, in The Fall, Aisling talks about her, "lucky" career. It's the type of lucky that usually accompanies major talent and Aisling is a major talent. She's also delightfully humble.
The Real Life Actor
Here is a very useful tool, to use when needed, in order to get a deeper, more visceral understanding of your scene.
The Real Life Actor
The winning attitude, grace and on set manners that make a set run smoother and enhance creativity.
The Real Life Actor
What are the benefits of continuing to train even if you're currently managing to work on a fairly regular basis? Are there any?
The Real Life Actor
In his continuing effort to bring about change in the way acting is taught, Jeff offers up an acting experiment.
The Real Life Actor
Once again, Jeff shows how he coaches an actor in an audition scene without ever discussing acting, just real life.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff explains the difference between trying to get your scene "right," and honestly pursuing the truth.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff talks about the importance of not complaining about how hard the industry is to break into. It's supposed to be hard. And if you do make it, stop talking about it. It's bad form.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff offers up a challenge. If you really want to improve your skills and you're enjoying these podcasts, shouldn't you want to see the approach in practice, live?
The Real Life Actor
Once again, Jeff uses a recent audition coaching to give a great example of how to better understand and fully comprehend a scene. He reads through the scene, taking you step by step through the thought process.
The Real Life Actor
All the acting classes that make you blindly follow the leader through a myriad of nonsense acting exercises that cram you further down the rabbit hole of bullshit. BUYER BEWARE!
The Real Life Actor
Constantly honing and refining your acting skills is the best way to get where you want to go. It'll also keep you centered and confident. Remember; we are students for life.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff explains why substitution, like many old school methods, ends up disempowering the actor.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff addresses the tricky business of delivering the written script as though it was what you were going to say anyway. It's a simple change in perspective and easier than you think.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff continues to chip away at traditional training nonsense and presents a solid case for the freedom and power you achieve in using The Real Life Actor approach. Word, indeed.
The Real Life Actor
The actor's quest to conjure the appropriate feelings when needed is far easier than you think. Ultimately, it's lightening fast and super easy. Just like in real life.
The Real Life Actor
Jeff dispels the myth of that final moment when we, "get into character." It's just another bullshit belief that suckers actors into getting far too deep into their heads.
The Real Life Actor
Once again, Jeff uses a recent training session with one of his students to offer a great example of the best way to approach and own your scene.
The Real Life Actor
Here is a great example taken from a recent Skype lesson with a student. The things actors worry about and shouldn't and the things actors don't think about and should.
The Real Life Actor
Those classes that challenge the actor's commitment by seeing who will make out the hardest and tell their deepest darkest secrets. It's a bullshit lure to keep you in the class. How is this getting you to improve as an actor?
The Real Life Actor
Jeff offers up some great insight as to what we're really after when we share tragic stories. He also answers questions from Carla in Paris and Kieren in the UK.
