Special Skills as Actors
Jency Hogan, acting coach and owner of Love Acting, always encourages actors to find their special skills and continue to hone them as they develop their acting career. Jency was once cast in a film, Inside Out, where she fought Triple H, the famous WWE wrestler. Most of the other actresses auditioning didn’t know how to fight, but she’d had a lot of combat experience through her college studies and other fight training classes. That is one examples of honing a skill that led to a role where she got to play a villain that kicks some butt. Here is the clip:
Actors have lots of talents who make them who they are and make them unique. Actors don’t realize that their special skills/talents can greatly enhance their acting career. Taking dance, karate, voice lessons, swimming, boxing… the list goes on forever. Movies are made about people with special skills, and as actors, although they are quick learners and can jump into any role, it’s nice when you already have a skill that enhances the role. On every resume that an actor creates, at the bottom they ask you to list your special skills. Having at least five to seven things that you can do confidently— things that make you interesting as a person— is important. It could be speaking a foreign language or something as basic as jogging. It’s good to practice things that stretch our minds and our bodies. Because the coordination that it takes to do physical skills help us as actors over time.
There’s a new tv show that just came out called Étolie that features multiple dancers. Many of the actors were cast based on their ability to dance. It’s so beautiful to watch dance on screen, and this is an example of actors working because of their special skills. The lead actress, Lou de Laâge, is French, and she learned English and dance for the lead role. It was amazing to watch her take her special skills and really rock the character, Chayenne Tousaint.
Jency loves learning about actors and what their special skills are. She says, “When someone tells me they play the piano, I think that’s wonderful, maybe you’ll get to play the piano in a movie someday. So find a special skill that you really love, and dive into it. Become an expert so that it will enhance your acting career.”
Dancers in the show Étolie
Karate