DMF Episode 345 — Tom Draper: Michael Chekhov, Sanford Meisner & Why Actors Need to Train Every Day

Welcome to The DMF — Discovering Meaning in Film and Acting. I'm Justin Younts, and in this episode I sit down with acting coach Tom Draper, who has worked with actors including Shea Whigham and Eric André and trained across Michael Chekhov, Sanford Meisner and more.

Tom grew up in Studio City with the industry all around him and had no interest in acting. He was a sports guy. Then a college fine arts class and a shy kid with a stutter led him to audition for The Rivals, and by the end of that summer he'd decided to be an actor. He finished his philosophy degree at Gonzaga taking every acting class he could, then skipped the MFA and built his own program in Los Angeles, studying with Meisner, Jeff Corey, Jose Quintero and George Shdanoff, Michael Chekhov's closest collaborator.

We talk about the movies that shaped him, from early Woody Allen to Alec Guinness, and about Orson Welles as an actor. We get into whether dogma gets in the way of actors finding what works, why Tom doesn't like calling his classes master classes, and the Marlon Brando acting class that was taped and never released. Then we get into the working actor's questions: self-tapes, the audition where the actor brought a horse, being off-book, why so many actors don't train every day, and why Tom thinks script analysis is the biggest obstacle actors face right now.

We close on Chekhov's technique, the body knowing more than the mind, atmosphere, and how to read a script out loud.

In this episode we discuss:

How Tom went from not wanting to act to building his own training in LAChekhov, Meisner, Jeff Corey and finding the technique that works for youOrson Welles, Alec Guinness and the movies that shaped himThe Acting Project and why Tom drops the "master class" labelSelf-tapes, the horse audition and what casting directors actually wantWhy actors need to train every dayScript analysis, atmosphere and reading scripts out loudThe Marlon Brando class and Kubrick stories

Tom Draper Acting Project: https://www.tomdraperacting.com

00:00:00 - Introduction 00:00:31 - Growing Up in Los Angeles 00:01:48 - No Interest in Acting as a Kid 00:02:37 - "No Such Thing as Boring Acting, Just Boring Actors" 00:03:38 - A College Acting Class and The Rivals 00:05:21 - Gonzaga University and Philosophy 00:05:47 - Favorite Movies: Woody Allen, Scorsese, Keaton & Chaplin 00:08:13 - Alec Guinness 00:09:03 - De Niro and "Doing Nothing" in Acting 00:10:00 - What Attracted Tom to Acting 00:11:03 - Orson Welles as an Actor 00:13:14 - Why Michael Chekhov 00:14:51 - Skipping the MFA and Building His Own Training 00:17:12 - Lightness and Ease 00:19:30 - Playing Tense Characters Without Being Tense 00:20:28 - Does Dogma Get in the Way? Jeff Corey and Finding Your Own Technique 00:23:59 - The Acting Project 00:25:15 - Mixing Beginners and Seasoned Actors 00:27:53 - Why Tom Doesn't Say "Master Class" 00:30:14 - How Tom Got Into Teaching 00:31:21 - Marlon Brando's Acting Class 00:34:19 - Kubrick, Harvey Keitel & Full Metal Jacket 00:36:06 - Is There a Magic Pill to Getting Cast? 00:38:43 - The Horse Self-Tape 00:40:49 - Self-Tapes and Actors as Filmmakers 00:42:19 - Casting Directors, Props & the Josh Brolin Audition 00:43:55 - Being Off-Book and Memorizing Sides 00:46:24 - How to Get Noticed: Real Thoughts, Listening & Fire 00:47:50 - Why Actors Don't Train Every Day 00:51:04 - Social Media and the Myth That Acting Is Easy 00:52:53 - Naturals, Beginners & Child Actors 00:54:57 - Famous Actors Who Don't Know What They're Doing 00:58:29 - The Biggest Obstacle for Actors: Script Analysis 01:01:55 - Why Actors Don't Read 01:03:11 - The Body Knows More Than the Mind 01:06:01 - Rehearsal and Prep Work at Home 01:07:24 - Natural Acting and Playing Bigger 01:09:39 - Are We Losing Characters? 01:10:57 - What Chekhov Would Think of Acting Today 01:12:05 - Atmosphere 01:14:15 - Reading Scripts Out Loud: Table Reads & Cold Reads 01:18:03 - Wrap-Up