What can I do to become a great actor than I am now?

Question

Well I'm taking Theater Arts at my school and we do a lot of acting and making up scripts of our own. I'm a very good actor but I want to become way better than I am now. Like today at school,me and my two Latino friends we had to do a scene where a girl had gotten drunk and got raped and I had to play that part. We did really good but sometimes I have a hard time getting to the point and making it good and a girl yelled out "just say it" because I was trying to make it sound good,but in the end we got a big applause and I was proud of us. So what can I do to bring my skills up in the classroom and on the stage and what are some things I can just remember when I go up? Also what can I do to produce tears a faster way? I try to think of something sad,but I was kind of nervous so I couldn't. I did everything else pretty good because we didn't have a script we just acted out how we would in real life.

Answer 1

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE AT THE POINT WHERE YOU NEED TO WORK WITH A PRIVATE ACTING COACH. I DON'T KNOW WHAT CITY YOU ARE IN BUT MAYBE YOUR THEATER ARTS TEACHER AT SCHOOL COULD SUGGEST SOMEONE. EVERY ACTOR HAS DIFFERENT STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES AND A COACH WILL BE ABLE TO ZONE IN ON YOURS AND HELP YOU GET TO THE NEXT LEVEL WHERE YOU CAN PRODUCE REAL TEARS EASILY AND BELIEVABLY.  ALSO, IF SOMEONE HAS A VIDEO CAMERA AND YOU CAN TAPE YOUR SCENES AND WATCH THEM LATER - IT WILL HELP YOU LEARN WHAT YOU NEED TO WORK ON. IS YOUR BODY RELAXED? OR ARE YOU STANDING KIND OF STIFFLY? ARE YOU REALLY LISTENING  AND REACTING TO THE OTHER ACTOR OR JUST WAITING FOR YOUR CUE?  DO YOU HAVE A SENSE OF A REAL RELATIONSHIP TO THE OTHER ACTOR?  THIS MAY HELP YOU A LOT. DON'T GET OBSESSED ABOUT THE WAY YOU LOOK - YOU ARE NOT "YOU" WHEN YOU ARE PLAYING ANOTHER CHARACTER - YOUR CHARACTER MAY BE LESS ATTRACTIVE OR CONFIDENT THEN YOU ARE AND LOOKING "BAD" MIGHT REALLY BE A GREAT THING FOR THAT PARTICULAR ROLE.

I APPLAUD YOU FOR WANTING TO LEARN AND GROW AS AN ACTOR - GOOD WORK - KEEP AT IT!

GOOD LUCK!