| They might be multi-millionaires now but once | | | | is trying to achieve then the moment won't be |
| they were delivering mail, collecting debt and | | | | believable." |
| sawing wood to make ends meet. Major movie | | | | That doesn't mean though that a background in |
| stars like Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore and Harrison | | | | Stanislavski and a love of Method Acting are all |
| Ford all had to start somewhere but clearly not | | | | you need to win the breakthrough parts. |
| every struggling actor or Los Angeles waitress | | | | According to Eliot, it's just not enough these days |
| ends up in Beverly Hills with their name in lights | | | | for an actor to have only one way of bringing a |
| and a closet full of Oscars. | | | | character to life. "No actor can be confined to just |
| So what does it take to be one of the lucky few | | | | one of the older methods in today's acting world," |
| who move from celebrity wannabe to red carpet | | | | she advises on her website. Instead, Elisa teaches |
| regular? | | | | a blend of all the different acting approaches so |
| According to Elisa Eliot, an acting Coach in Los | | | | that actors can choose the methods that work |
| Angeles who has helped budding starlets land roles | | | | best for them. |
| on major TV shows including CSI, Nip/Tuck and | | | | So the right looks help, it seems, and solid acting |
| The Office, while looks can be important in | | | | skills certainly count for something. But there's |
| making the cut, even the most attractive actor | | | | one more ingredient that any actor with ambition |
| won't be cast if he or she doesn't have the acting | | | | needs: an objective opinion to tell them where |
| ability to turn a script into a convincing | | | | they're going wrong and how to improve it... |
| performance. | | | | before the casting director does. Even the most |
| And for Eliot, who learned her acting skills at Yale | | | | talented actor can struggle with the stress of an |
| University's drama school, that means rising stars | | | | audition and nervous habits like shifting from one |
| have to leave the day job behind them when | | | | foot to the other can kill chances faster than a |
| they make it to the audition. | | | | fluffed line. |
| "I'm always telling my students to make the | | | | For many stars in the making, that means |
| stakes higher in their acting, which means | | | | exchanging poses in the mirror for personal |
| committing to each moment," she says. "If an | | | | training if they want to swap their uniform for an |
| actor is not totally committed to what he or she | | | | Oscar dress. |