Good Acting Classes in Los Angeles: Ambition Versus Ego

Understanding “Fire”

There is a fundamental truth about acting that has been expressed again and again on these pages and in any truly good acting classes in Los Angeles: success depends upon an inner fire that rages within you and compels you to throw yourself headlong into one of the most competitive and unforgiving fields you could possibly choose. You must be aware of the long odds and determined to defy them. If you have that nuclear core, you will have no choice but to do so; without it, you are lost before you step foot behind the camera.

And having heard this truth, you may consider yourself the preeminent candidate for success. After all, you’re destined for greatness! You don’t need anybody to fan the fires of your ambition, they consume your every waking moment. The actor, however, must be relentless in self-examination. Just because you obsess over the image of your name in lights does not mean you have what it takes. Ego is the fool’s gold of ambition.

The True Student

Good acting classes in Los Angeles should be approached like a chemistry class or history class: you arrive prepared to learn and to demonstrate your learning. It is difficult to imagine a chemistry student walking into a classroom and announcing:

“I have no doubt that I have what it takes to be among the greatest chemists of all time. It’s all I ever wanted! So please stand aside while I invent cold fusion. Hand me the tongs, please!”

Ambition is what drives your nose to the grindstone, not the camera. What you will find in good acting classes in Los Angeles is that true mastery dictates there are no “big scenes.” If you can dedicate the same effort to Caesar blowing his nose as you can to his death, then you have a good idea of the importance of true ambition vs. ego.

Destiny vs. Drive

It is a disservice to great artists to use the phrase “destined for greatness”. A better, more accurate phrase would be “determined for goodness; projected for greatness.” For all of its mysteries, success is still a chart-able trajectory. It may be unpredictable in speed and form, but the source remains the same: latent talent driven by fire.

Good Before Great

This is a fire seen in the eyes of the student quietly determined to master a difficulty with a minor posture problem, or silently wielding a perfect command of his three-line role. These students understand the purpose of good acting classes in Los Angeles. Obscurity will not shadow them for long, but in the end, recognition will be nothing more than a welcome side effect to the true reward: the journey from good to great.