You're over 30, you've never acted professionally, and you still can't let it go

A three-hour afternoon with Brian Timoney for serious aspiring actors who've been told, by someone else or by themselves, that they've left it too late

Our students have appeared in Dune: Part Two, We Live in Time, Hamnet and The Sandman, and in productions for HBO, NBC Universal and Warner Bros.

Most drama schools are full of 18 to 22 year olds who all look roughly the same and come from roughly the same background. When I started this studio twenty years ago I decided I wasn't going to do that, for one simple reason: that's not what films and plays look like. Not everybody in a story is twenty-one.
And here's the thing, casting directors know it. They keep coming back to my showcases because they rarely get to see actors in their thirties, forties, fifties and sixties who can actually do the work. They're looking for people of all types, and most of the time they can't find them.
So if you're over 30, you've got little or no acting experience, and the acting has never really gone away, I want to talk to you.

If this sounds like you

You've built something solid: a career, a reputation, probably a mortgage, and people who rely on you to be the sensible one. Underneath all of that there's been this thing about acting that won't go away, and it's been there for years, maybe decades.
Maybe you did a bit at school or some amateur dramatics, or maybe you've never set foot on a stage and you just sit watching films thinking, I could do that. Either way, you've probably talked yourself out of it more times than you can count.
The reasons are always the same: it's too late, you'd be the oldest person in a room full of twenty-year-olds, drama school means three years full-time and that's never going to happen with the life you've got, and you wouldn't know where to start with the industry anyway. So it stays in the drawer.
I've heard every one of those reasons from people who are now working actors. They're understandable reasons, they just happen to be wrong, and that's what this afternoon is about.
Here's something I'll tell you straight. The life you've lived is the most valuable thing you'll bring into the room. Twenty years of dealing with people, pressure, responsibility and loss, it's all in there and the camera can see it. What gets in the way is the part of you that's spent those twenty years keeping a lid on it, and that's something you can learn to remove.

Who I am

I'm Brian Timoney, founder and principal of the Brian Timoney Actors Studio and creator of the Timoney Method®. I've been training actors in London for twenty years, and my students have gone on to work in Dune: Part Two, We Live in Time and Hamnet, and in productions for HBO, NBC Universal and Warner Bros.
Every year my Ultimate Acting Programme ends with a showcase at the Century Club in front of agents and casting directors, and they keep coming back because of the standard of work they see, and because they rarely get to see such a range of ages and backgrounds anywhere else.
I also produce and direct short films. They've won nine awards for best director and best film at festivals including the Sweden Film Awards, the New York International Film Awards, the Los Angeles Independent Shorts Awards and the Los Angeles Cinematography Awards, and my lead actors have picked up best actor awards along the way.
So what I'll tell you about this industry comes from twenty years of training actors for it and from working in it myself as a director.

So what is The Second Act?

It's three hours with me, live. I'll take you through what it really takes to become a professional actor when you're starting after 30: the fears that stop you, the advantages you don't know you've got, and the exact steps into the industry.
You'll also get a small taste of the work itself. I don't want you sitting there listening to me talk about the difference between pretending and experiencing, I want you to feel it.

People who started where you are

Let me tell you about a few of my students.

Ruchika Jain
Ruchika Jain spent 25 years in IT software. She'd moved from India to the UK, didn't like her new job, and her husband told her to go for the thing she'd always wanted. She arrived at 45 worried she wasn't talented enough and worried what the other students would think of her. She now has over 40 film and TV credits, including The Sandman and The London Files, and she's won a Best Actress award.
Damien Gerard
Damien Gerard came to me from the British Intelligence Service. When he started, he was trying to perform instead of respond, and his breakthrough came in a scene exercise when he finally stopped planning his reactions. He has since relocated to Los Angeles and is now working across HBO and NBC Universal.
Neither of them came to acting straight from school, and both of them had a career they could easily have stayed in.

What Our Students Say

Discover what students have to say about their experience training with Brian Timoney Actors Studio.

What you'll learn on The Second Act

The fear

  • Why "it's too late for me" is a lie you've been telling yourself, and where it actually came from.
  • The difference between a midlife crisis and a midlife correction, and which one this is.
  • The financial fear that stops most professionals over 30 from even researching this, and why it's based on the wrong maths.
  • Why a late start can mean a faster route to work than starting at eighteen.

What you bring

  • The four things a 30+ actor brings that no drama school graduate has, and why casting directors are hunting for them.
  • Why the skills that made you good at your current job are quietly sabotaging your acting, and what to do instead.
  • How to use your own life experience to release real, authentic emotion.
  • The car crash acting philosophy that stops you faking it.
  • The key to overcoming self-consciousness, even if your career has trained you to suppress what you feel.
  • How to use your old career as the springboard for the new one.

Getting in

  • How to tell an acting class that will actually help you from one that will teach you to fake it.
  • How to position yourself to break into the industry later in life.
  • What actually happens at a first audition, step by step, so it stops being a source of dread.
  • The one piece of paperwork that turns "wanting to act" into "being a professional actor" in the eyes of the industry.
  • How I became an award-winning film director at 52, and what it tells you about starting late.
  • The first steps to take after this afternoon to go from wanting to act to auditioning for real.

Here's a moment you'll hit in your first audition: nobody in that room cares what your job title used to be, whether you were a lawyer, a banker or a teacher. All they care about is whether something real is happening in front of them, and that's what this afternoon gets you ready for.

RACHEL HASSETT
"Brian takes you from beginner to professional actor, teaching you everything you need to know to go out and be what you've always wanted to be."
Rachel, former yoga teacher, now a full-time professional actor

How the afternoon runs

Part one: why it's not too late, and where the idea that it is actually came from.

Part two: what your career has already given you, and what it's quietly taking away from your acting.

Part three: a short taste of the work itself, done seated and entirely optional.

Part four: how the industry really works, what happens in a first audition, and your first steps, followed by your questions.

Questions you might be asking

I've got no acting experience at all. Is that a problem?

Honestly, that's good. If you've never acted there's nothing to untangle. People who've done years of classes often have more work to do with me, because they've been taught to fake it.

I'm over 50, or over 60. Is this really for me?

Yes. Films and plays need actors of every age, and casting directors come to my showcases precisely because they're looking for people of all ages and types. Ruchika Jain, who I mentioned above, started with me at 45 after 25 years in IT, and she now has over 40 film and TV credits.

Will I have to get up and perform?

No. The taste of the work is done seated and you can just watch if you'd rather. 

Is it online or in person?

In person at the studio. Full details are below.

Let me be straight with you

This isn't an afternoon of drama games, and I'm not going to tell you you're a natural. It's for people who want to know, honestly, what the road looks like and whether they're prepared to walk it. It'll be serious, but you'll enjoy it too, what Daniel Day-Lewis would call serious fun.

If you're over 30, with little or no acting experience, and acting is the thing you keep coming back to, it's for you.

What this afternoon is worth

I could charge a lot more for this afternoon. What you're getting is twenty years of knowing what works for actors who start after 30, and people spend thousands on the wrong classes, the wrong headshots and the wrong advice before anyone tells them how this industry actually works.

I've kept it at £29 because I want to make it easy for you to come and get the right information before you spend money on anything else. And if you decide to carry on training with me afterwards, the full £29 comes off your first course.

If you're between 18 and 30

You're welcome to come, as long as you're serious about acting and about what this afternoon is for, which is finding out what it really takes to become a professional actor and then going out and doing it.

Much of the conversation in the room will come from people over 30 who are making a change in their lives, so come ready to learn from that. If you're serious, you'll get every bit as much out of the afternoon as anyone else there.

 
 

MEET YOUR ACTING COACH — BRIAN TIMONEY

Brian Timoney is one of the world’s leading acting coaches. He has worked in the industry for over 30 years and in every major acting medium conceivable, including TV, Film, Radio and Theatre. He has worked as an actor, director, producer and acting coach and has first-hand experience of every part of the industry, and how to create stand-out performances. He is also the author of – The Ultimate Guide To Method Acting and has worked with leading UK film directors Ken Loach and Danny Boyle.

Brian has trained over 1300 adult beginners and launched acting careers from scratch. His students have appeared in film, TV, West End theatre and more many after attending this very event.

He created the Timoney Method® for one reason:

To give everyday people a clear, professional path into acting without traditional drama school, years of waiting, or second-rate training.

Brian Timoney With Method Acting Legend Al Pacino
Brian Timoney With Method Acting Legend Al Pacino

The details

LONDON

When:Saturday 14th November | 1 PM to 4 PM
Where:Bang Studios, 8 Marylebone Passage, London W1W 8EX
Cost:£29 per person (If you train with us in the future, this fee goes towards any future training fees).
Seats:Limited availability. 

MANCHESTER

When:Sunday 15th November | 1 PM to 4 PM
Where:Holiday Inn, 25 Aytoun Street, Manchester, M1 3AE
Cost:£29 per person (If you train with us in the future, this fee goes towards any future training fees).
Seats:Limited availability. 

📍 WHERE: BANG STUDIOS,
8 MARYLEBONE PASSAGE,
LONDON W1W 8EX

📅 WHEN: SATURDAY 14TH NOVEMBER

⏰ TIME: 1 PM – 4 PM

🎟️ COST: £29 (SEATS LIMITED)

📍 WHERE: HOLIDAY INN,
25 AYTOUN STREET,
MANCHESTER M1 3AE

📅 WHEN: SUNDAY 15TH NOVEMBER

⏰ TIME: 1 PM – 4 PM

🎟️ COST: £29 (SEATS LIMITED)

Do I need any acting experience?

No, this is built primarily for complete beginners.

Do I have to act on the day?

Listen To These 30+ Individuals Who Cracked It.

Brian Timoney

Founder and Principal

Brian Timoney Actors Studio – Est. 2006

P.S. I once had a student who flew in from Australia every single month to train with me. When people are serious about this, they find a way to be in the room.

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