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A Very Fine Acting School
FilmInk quizzed renowned US acting coach Howard Fine about his training techniques and methods, which will no doubt be on show at the studio he has just opened down under...
"They mentioned me on an episode of Entourage," a chuffed Howard Fine tells FilmInk down the phone line when the famed acting coach was recently in Melbourne. "Kevin Dillon's character [Johnny "Drama" Chase] mentions that he studied with me. My nieces and nephews thought that I was cool for the first time!" Being name-dropped on the hit US television series reveals just how renowned Fine has become, having built a reputation as one of the most gifted acting teachers in the biz. During his 30-year teaching career, Fine has personally coached such Hollywood stars as Brad Pitt, Michelle Williams, Jennifer Connelly and Aussie Simon Baker.
From humble beginnings, Fine first began coaching students in his living room in the mid-eighties, but soon had to expand to accommodate his growing classes, and now oversees the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Hollywood, which is regarded as the first port of call for actors and agents who know Fine's direction can help define careers. And now Fine has brought his studio to Melbourne with a range of classes and courses that offer the same hands-on training. "I'm so excited to have this whole new world of talent," he says. "My studios in LA are very jealous. There's a rumour floating around in LA that I'm moving here, which I haven't quashed just yet..."
You've done some directing, but did you originally want to be an actor? Was that the starting point?
That has to be the starting point. I trained as an actor through high school and college, but I knew early on that my stronger skill was as a coach and director. I was one of the few people on the planet who chose to teach. It's the same way in sport. Very rarely are the star athletes the best coaches because they can never get past their own ego. They're always thinking about how they would do it. You have to know the technical side of acting in order to teach it, but I'm always looking at the student and trying to bring out what they have rather than imposing what I think it should be.
Your approach is about getting to know who the actor is and their individual style...
My approach is the truthful use of the self. For example, how many characters do you play in the course of a day? I bet there's many - you're different with parents, siblings, romantically, as a friend, as a customer. All the different roles we play are still us. My teaching is founded in the idea that every character that you play is within you and it's learning how to connect with it.
So often I see an interesting, creative talented person get up on stage and this fake cover goes over them, and in their minds they're trying to figure out how to show the audience things. I teach them that if they really connect to what's going on inside the character and bring that, they are already a unique individual. Laurence Olivier once said, ‘Don't ask who I become to play the character, ask who the character becomes because I play it.'
What have you found are the biggest pre-conceptions about the craft?
The biggest thing is that people think great acting looks effortless, but it isn't. Everyone thinks that they can do it but what I like to say is that if acting is easy, everyone would be good at it and is everyone good at it? Definitely not! So there's a craft, but the craft is invisible.
How would you distinguish the Howard Fine Acting Studio from other acting schools?
My mentor was Uta Hagen and my work is derivative of her. What Hagen was all about was not being the guru teacher and I tried to be the same way. We don't try to create neurotic dependencies. I try to empower actors. When I'm teaching, I don't direct the scenes or give all the answers; I try to stimulate the actor's creativity and point to a few key things that they need to work on, which will then enable them to find the rest of the answers on their own. Then the actor begins to gain confidence. A number of acting teachers have mood disorders and they enjoy creating neurotic dependencies!
When you look back at all the students you've taught and coached - and there are some huge names on the list - are there any that particularly stand out to you?
Chris Pine is a good example. Chris was already a working actor, but he wanted to come back to my studio and take a foundations course. He did that and was then cast in a play by Neil Labute called Fat Pig in LA and I worked with him on that. Then the people who cast Star Trek saw him in the play and his career changed in warp speed! What I find is that the truly talented are always humble and working on their craft and the ungifted think they're terrific and don't need any help.
Do you find that some of the actors who've been in the business for a while can become complacent?
Yes, but not the people who respect this as a craft. The day you think you know it all is the day to hang it up. Actors come for coaching because they're going to get an honest opinion. What can happen when someone starts to succeed is that they get surrounded by "Yes" people. The series Entourage actually has some truth to it - you do get surrounded by people that hang onto you. The coach relationship is the honest one, and the only one that's going to call you on your BS! [Laughs]
Does the work ethic here in Australia differ much from the US?
The star syndrome is different. I don't see it here so much. In LA, there are so many people drawn to this idea of being famous and looking for the fast food approach to fame. But here [in Australia], there's a stronger desire to be good and that's what you want as a teacher: people hungry to learn. I find Australians to be hard working, open and talented but without ego.
Applications are now open for 2012 courses at the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Melbourne. For more information, visit the school's website here.
