Taking an acting class isn’t your traditional type of therapy, but it can dramatically boost your self-confidence. The great thing about acting classes is that they give you permission to expand the emotional boundaries of your personality, and you discover that you aren’t as limited as you thought.
Acting teacher Sanford Meisner described acting as “Living truthfully under imaginary circumstances”. When you learn to act, you confront those areas of your life where you’re inhibited, holding back, and living in-authentically. You also get permission to go into areas where your personality normally wouldn’t go, and realize that there are other authentic roles in life that you could play than the one you’ve been playing up till now.
Acting is particularly good at affirming your emotional nature as a human being. If you normally hold back on expressing how you feel, an acting class will snap you out of it. Even just being in an environment with creative people whose lifeblood depends on the ability to feel and express emotion is liberating.
If you want to meet women, an acting class is a great place to do it. You’ll work together on scripts and scenes where they’ll get to see a side of you that you probably don’t often show and may not even be aware of at the moment. Women love vulnerability in a man, and quickly fall for men with the confidence to show it. The women you’ll meet in acting class are also generally more attractive than average too. When professional models get bored of strutting up and down the catwalk, they often decide to try their hand at acting and turn up at acting class.
Advantages:
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Tremendous for boosting confidence
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Validating of all human experience
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You learn to express emotions authentically
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You meet interesting people
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Get feedback on how you’re really acting on stage, and in the world
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Great for meeting women
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A lot more fun than talking to a therapist
Disadvantages:
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Some actors (and acting teachers) have pretty poor relationships in the real world
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What’s good for drama on stage isn’t necessarily how you want to live your life
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Some acting schools and techniques have a cult-like quality
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Not necessarily the right environment for airing your emotional baggage
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Can be extremely confronting
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It’s not therapy, really
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1 Comment
Matt · March 6, 2012 at 6:49 am
If you’re going to take on an acting class then, you’re right, you do have to be willing to face a few confronting circumstances. The very nature of what they’re doing there is pushing people out of their comfort zones and most will do so with a fairly vigerous shove.
If you’ve JUST begun your journey toward establishing and uncovering your inner self confidence, I would probably advice to start with a few baby steps prior to signing up to an acting class. When you’re ready, the experience will benefit you to no end, but if you venture in too soon, you may just be scared straight back into your shell.
Matt.