To Conceal or to Reveal? --- How Much Truth Can You Handle?
Acting is a game of negotiating how much to conceal or to reveal. Actors often allow for too much emotional vomit, when withholding how...
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Sonya Cooke
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Sonya Cooke
Jun 1, 20204 min
Compassion = Action: How Acting Craft Can Teach Us How to Transform as Americans
Seven Pillars Acting is not only a technique; it’s a philosophy on personal transformation. And, the cornerstone of that philosophy is...
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Sonya Cooke
May 11, 20204 min
Rest: "Professor Cooke, did you really just say that?"
Actors today rarely know when to take a break. And the moment they do, suffering from FOMO, they thrust themselves into yet more creative...
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Sonya Cooke
Apr 27, 20204 min
Breath, Child!
In acting, breath aligns the actor’s heart and head and grounds him in the present moment.
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Sonya Cooke
Apr 21, 20205 min
Letting Go - A Diatribe on Performance Anxiety
How do you ready yourself for the inimitable moment of public performance?
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Sonya Cooke
Apr 7, 20204 min
Bombs and Banana Peels
I’d like to right a wrong that’s persisted ever since I published my book. I’ve had time to think thoroughly about how to address it, and...
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Sonya Cooke
Mar 31, 20203 min
Human Contact
If you are like me right now, you are craving some human contact. I’ve never gone this long without seeing (really seeing in real time...
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Sonya Cooke
Mar 24, 20205 min
The Issue of Focus in the Social Distancing Era
Acting teachers may disagree about methodology, but they all concur about one thing without question: the quality of acting students’...
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Sonya Cooke
Mar 16, 20205 min
Using Calamity as a Call to Create
Don’t let social distancing become emotional distancing. Use this outbreak to breakout of your current boundaries and limitations by...
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Sonya Cooke
Mar 4, 20204 min
The Learning Curve
An actor-in-training, in pursuit of learning and eventually mastering her craft, will inevitably confront the learning curve multiple...
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Sonya Cooke
Feb 24, 20204 min
You Know Too Much: Unlearning as an Actor
You know too much. The moment you pick up a script, you should immediately realize that you already know more than your character, who...
138 views0 comments
Actor's Studio of Orange County
Jul 2, 20183 min
She Got in Gear and Booked All Year
Here at the Actor's Studio of Orange County, we love our students. Recently, we did a very special interview with Ainah Lagrimas, who, at...
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Seven Pillars Acting Studio
May 10, 20173 min
Interview: Erick McAllister
Erick is a 46 year old actor originally from Northern California, now living in Huntington Beach. He started his training in the...
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Sonya Cooke
Oct 13, 20167 min
Pillar 5: Objective
I'm finally blogging again! The book is written and now we are amping up for publication! More on that to come. I want to pick up where I...
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Sonya Cooke
Sep 29, 201424 min
PILLAR NUMBER FOUR: EMOTIONAL LIFE
The Fourth Pillar, Emotional Life, is the heart of the system. Like a heart, it is the most integral and elaborate of systems, requiring...
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Sonya Cooke
Sep 15, 20146 min
Pillar Number Three : Meaning
The magical thing about human nature is that the same event can happen to two people and it will be received and responded to...
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Sonya Cooke
Apr 15, 201417 min
PILLAR #2: CIRCUMSTANCE
BUILDING A STRUCTURE “If you build it, he will come.” ---Field of Dreams If Contact is the foundation, then Circumstances are the walls...
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Sonya Cooke
Jan 20, 20146 min
CONTACT: THE FIRST PILLAR
My students' constant requests to read more about The Seven Pillars of Acting Technique, is now answered! Over the next several weeks, I...
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Sonya Cooke
Dec 9, 20134 min
I DON'T KNOW...
"The purpose of Art is to lay bare the questions that have been hidden by answers." ---James Baldwin “I don’t know,” can be a powerful...
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Sonya Cooke
Dec 2, 20135 min
HOW TO TALK TO A WALL
It's sad, but true that very often your working relationship with your scene partner is not productive, pleasant, creative, or enjoyable....
224 views0 comments
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