The Four Muscles of Acting | Harry Mastrogeorge

"Acting is a state of mind. It's about priorities" - 4 muscles: 1. Childlike innocence 2. Imagination 3. Vulnerability 4. Concentration You're welcome ;)

this is what i say to get people to totally understand acting and it totally works every time when your in a theater watching a movie and its a good movie and your really absorbed with what's going on in the movie and it gets to a real tear jerking part and you start to mist up or cry THAT'S ACTING in the back of your mind you know nothing sad is happening for real BUT YOUR CRYING FOR REAL because your consciousness is so absorbed by your imagination THAT IT MIGHT AS WELL BE REAL, you are going to REALISTICALLY react, and your date sitting next to you watching you cry will never think your just faking it to fool them THEY KNOW YOU ARE REALLY FEELING THAT EMOTION. they can see that YOUR JUST FEELING A STRONG EMOTION ABOUT SOMETHING TOTALLY IMAGINARY people understand that totally because it's happened to all of us a million times they just never understood that THAT IS ACTING that's it, right there, that's what it is acting is reacting, they say that all the time real reactions to imaginary scenarios the better and stronger your imagination the better an actor you are this point of view also has the benefit of pointing out that the actors and the audience ARE DOING THE SAME THING TOGETHER theater is a SHARED experience a shared IMAGINARY experience and im not even talking about music music is an even more interesting example of the same kinda thing

I believe there is a fifth muscle which is empathy.

God, been studying acting for a while now, but didn't get the courage to try auditioning. This video blew my mind and gave me confidence! This man is great. It's true. Everybody fears the result....and some of us really lose concentration quite easily. Yet, when you're afraid of trying, you need to hear it.

Wow!! Childlike innocence, imagination, vulnerability and concentration. I would also add empathy to it.

This dude is the most down to earth acting coach of all time

I was lucky enough to take Harry’s classes 20 years ago when he was at The Brewery in downtown Los Angeles. He looks exactly the same and hasn’t aged one bit. Though I’m no longer acting, I still remember many wonderful things he said to me along with his affinity for ‘dumb blonde’ jokes. My favorite of his: “How do you get a one-armed blonde out of a tree?”... “Just wave.” 👋🏼

I studied with Harry for about 2 years. It took me a year before I truly grasped what he meant by "doing the work." Thinking about your life as a character and what made them want to say the words they spoke. I stopped acting because at that point I was not willing to "pay the price." But I found my way back to it, or did it find it's way back to me? (lol). This time around I am open vulnerable and was absolutely shocked to find as I went through my first few gigs, that ingrained in my consciousness while I went through a script was Harry's voice coaching from the dim lights of that small theater...Those years in class paid off. Thanks, Harry!

of all my years trying to learn how to act, this video was one of the best acting videos I have been lucky enough to come across

Completely agree. Thx for the comment!

I do short films with my friends for fun Fun in the sense, we are serious about it, we do it like it's our hobby..that's the fun Anyway one of my friend's dad works at theatre..he advised us to think about the character as your guru or mentor He said if we try to imagine ourselves as the character then we'd get obsessed to such a degree that it will cause problem portraing it..but if we get inspiration from that character that will help us more And that did for us..over the years I came up with my own process..i approach a character as a person who was actually real in past..more like biography type..that really helps me to create my own world as the character and then approach the reality as the character's own world..

One of the best lessons i' ve seen in youtube... And i have any interest in acting...

Its so nice to hear your voice again. Beth Draper

I love him. And I love your channel, website and all your social media pages. ❣️🥺

absolutely spot on! while everything he says I agree with from experience, it's interesting as actors how often we forget these things and go very wrong!

When will you post more of his videos? Would love to see more!

OH I miss him So much. Best teacher I ever had.

If there is one thing that I have learned. It’s that there is a tremendous amount of support from actors, for actors. Some of the Best friends that I have made, I have made during rehearsals, or screen tests. Rarely, have I heard an actor trash another actor. We are all in it together. I have been to a lot of channels, and the comment sections are usually brutal. Except, for the acting channels. Or, most channels pertaining to art. This channel being one of them. Everyone here for the most part is super respectful, and just wants to engage and be better at what they do. And for me acting, is about Finding myself in other humans. Other actors, are my tribe. As in perfect as we are. Someone in this thread mentioned empathy possibly being another Muscle. I 100% agree. I think without empathy, our ability to pretend, or become someone else is impossible.

Dude..i study in Lee strasberg and this channel is fucking amazing..you are doing great job..you are really contributing something to this world of art...don't stop doing it..you have great potential and the right talent and perspective..please please make new material, post stuff more frequently. PS: this is my first ever comment on youtube ever. Nothing i ever saw made me comment.

Very insightful yet practical because getting lost in technique complicates scene work.