Posts by Brian Timoney

The next woman who takes me on is gonna light up like a pinball machine and pay off in silver dollars Randle P. McMurphy (played by Jack Nicholson) One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest There are very few actors who could pull off this line with such enigmatic charisma as Jack Nicholson. He is, of…

I got this email the other day. Now, it was a long (but interesting) email, so I have cherry picked the nub of the issue: “Many of your emails celebrate the genius and greatness of actors such as Brando and McQueen and how by learning the Method and studying hard any actor could potentially reach…

Now, last week I talked about how Steve McQueen took lines out of scripts and how Marlon Brando didn’t learn lines at all. Well, Marlon had another approach he used on set that no one knew about. When he walked on set, he would look at the crew, the director and the actors and think…

At the weekend, I was talking to one of my former Ultimate Acting students who is now a pro actor. He said he was working on a job and a crew member asked if he was a method man. He said he was. The reply that came back shocked him. “How long do you method?”…

I don’t particularly like the word “awesome”. Overused and a tad American. Not that I have anything against the Americans. In fact, the opposite is true. I love them. They believe they can do anything Which is why I used the word. You are awesome because I truly believe you are capable of achieving anything…

Mark Rylance (probably the best stage actor ever) had this to say about how Shakespeare is done today in the UK: “It’s too reverent. It is like taking a rap song in 400 years from now that we think is really wonderful and deciding it should be said slowly, so all the lovers of rap…

Now and again, I will get an email from a mush cookie saying that I’m not being fair. It’s usually when I say that acting is not for everyone and definitely not for those that need their tummies tickled on a regular basis. They then say, “But Bri, it’s your job as a teacher to…

What are dreams? Here are some definitions from the dictionary: 1. A series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep. 2. A cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal. 3. An unrealistic or self-deluding fantasy. I don’t particularly like any of these; at least not in relation to achieving something I want.…

One of my favourite film baddies of all time is General Zod. He appears in Superman II and tries to take over the world much to Superman’s chagrin. During the film, Zod makes everyone he can find kneel before him in submission. He gives them a – do as I say or you’re toast look…