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
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Sonya Cooke
- Mar 31, 2020
- 3 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, 2020
- 5 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’...
110 views0 comments
Sonya Cooke
- Mar 4, 2020
- 4 min
The Learning Curve
An actor-in-training, in pursuit of learning and eventually mastering her craft, will inevitably confront the learning curve multiple...
143 views0 comments
Sonya Cooke
- Feb 24, 2020
- 4 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...
112 views0 comments
Sonya Cooke
- Sep 29, 2014
- 24 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, 2014
- 6 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, 2014
- 17 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, 2014
- 6 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, 2013
- 4 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, 2013
- 5 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....
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Sonya Cooke
- Nov 25, 2013
- 4 min
WHERE IS THE LOVE?
My first acting coach, Jo Spiller, who began training me when I was sixteen, taught me many incredible lessons. I owe a large part of my...
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Sonya Cooke
- Nov 18, 2013
- 3 min
IMAGINARY CIRCUMSTANCES
We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams;—...
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Sonya Cooke
- Nov 10, 2013
- 4 min
MORE ON THE TRUTH...PUT A LID ON IT
We are not all that honest. Consider your life: How often are you fully candid about how you feel? Are you aware of how you edit your...
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Sonya Cooke
- Nov 4, 2013
- 3 min
THE TRUTH WILL COST YOU
“The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.” ---James A. Garfield Being truthful is an action. Truth demands...
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Sonya Cooke
- Oct 26, 2013
- 4 min
PACK LIGHT
When you are about to perform or audition, pack light. Unburden your brain with the extraneous self-directions we often give ourselves in...
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Sonya Cooke
- Oct 13, 2013
- 4 min
THE PATH OF MOST RESISTANCE
When crafting a role, take The Path of Most Resistance. Yes. The more imposing the obstacle, the more provocative the circumstance, the...
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