George Grant Actors Workshop

11/01/2025

To my Friends and students - please take a minute to read. 🙂

I just wanted to let you all know that I’m leaving Facebook. There’s no dramatic reason, and I’m not assuming anyone necessarily cares. I just feel it’s another unnecessary distraction that I don’t need at this point in my life. Instagram is a terrific platform that I should be utilizing much more. I can still be contacted through Messenger, which is great.

My email is [email protected]. If I decide to renew my Facebook account in the future I’ll refriend people. I’d love to maintain relationships with you!

If you’d like to stay in touch reach me on Messenger, or text me at (250) 360-6507. In terms of George Grant Actors Studio, or email me. I’m going to advertise upcoming classes on Instagram. I’ll also be starting a YouTube channel where I teach Eric Morris’s acting work. The format is still being worked on. You’ll be able to find it under Acting, Morris Acting, Grant Actors Studio. The first few videos should be online in a month.

I haven’t taught in-studio qcting-classes on a regular basis for a few years, but I realize now that many are still interested and enthusiastic about learning Eric Morris’s deep and comprehensive process. This work is deeply needed in Victoria, Vancouver… well, all over. Some teachers slightly touch on the work, but Eric’s system is comprehensive and truly a life changer inside the work and outside of it. The trend is too skim a little off of ten approaches when learning a craft. This doesn’t result in the actor owning any process.

Eric is well and still teaching; he has been very encouraging and enthusiastic in support of me continuing to spread his work. I will be learning to effectively use Instagram to advertise George Grant Actors Studio classes, and I’m also creating a YouTube channel where I’ll be doing deep dives into Eric’s work - my work.

Love George!

08/29/2025

Actors - The Importance of Leaving Room and Allowing for Possibility

It was reported that the legendary Bruce Lee was once approached by a student who asked him if he could teach the student martial arts. Bruce politely refused. When the disappointed student asked why, Bruce said something to affect of "I cannot teach you because there is too much of you in you, and no room for me." What a fitting parable for teaching acting, and learning how to act. As a teacher of the Eric Morris System, the only comprehensive system that I've ever encountered, Bruce Lee's sentiment made a ton of sense. In many classes there are always a few actors who are there simply to hear what they already know and believe, confirmed back to them. When asked to do a new exercise they invariably resort to doing what they know, leaving the teacher scratching their head. These are often the students who enrol in yet another beginner's class every couple of years.

Eric's work changed the landscape of The Method, in a sense filling the void left by Strasberg. Eric's landmark book No Acting Please was a revelation. Here's the caveat though, to learn any innovative approach, you're best served to rid yourself, even temporarily, of what you know or believe. Now obviously you can’t forget what you know - it’s more like making a decision to stay open, making room, and allowing for possibility - the possibility there might be something new to discover - the possibility that you might expand your horizons - the possibility of a new perspective. Humility and Perspective are everything when it comes to learning. You must jump in with both feet - this is crucial. If after a period of time and commitment you decide it's not for you, then at least you gave it a shot - no time learning is wasted. A good teacher won't be offended, trust me.

When I studied with Sandy Meisner for a year, he insisted, when interviewing students for a coveted spot in his class, that if you wanted to work with him you had to forget what you'd learned and go back to Kindergarten (his words). If you weren't willing to do that, Adios! I'd just graduated from the A.C.T. in San Francisco, and had previously completed a year at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, so I'd have to forget a lot. I made the decision to do so. Sandy, like Bruce, demanded that you left room for him.

As artists our capacity to expand is limitless. We need to have opinions and viewpoints of everything. We need to continually humble ourselves, stay open, and like Ravenous Beasts (my son's favourite book as a child), we need to devour every experience we can. Life teaches us as much as any teacher if we leave room. Best of luck!

05/15/2025

HERE ON GILLIGAN’S ISLAND

(Thursday Musings)

These days, acting in many cases, has devolved (playing fast and loose with the term "acting"), into to a "look at me", exercise, spitting out self-absorbed dilletantes who are often submerged in the yellow-grey bubbles of their own vacuous whirlpool bath. Everyone in the world still wants to be a movie star (even your Grandmother), but now they're taking the scenic route (no pun intended). Word has it that roles, these days, are often cast with Instagram popularity as a factor in terms of who gets seen, who doesn't, and ultimately who gets booked; I refuse to believe that the bar is now that low, but maybe it is. I guess it's an agreed upon set of circumstances - a warped one, but there you have it. An actor's work used to sell them. As someone who is convicted to the idea that acting should be the numero uno priority in casting, I say "What the hell?" This is not the same as the old man saying "Get off my front lawn." - that would be a false equivalency. Part of the issue is that there are now seven million platforms with all forms of skits, skats, and skoots that require the use of "actors" - TIK TOK, YouTube, Instagram, being a few of them - the bar is now limbo-proof. There are now eight-week courses called "From Line to Lead" (I s**t you not).

I dare anyone to argue that thespians these days are as qualified today as they were back when the burger was the priority on your plate, as opposed to the fries and garnish. If an actor so much as farts these days, they announce it on Facebook. "I want everyone to know that I just passed a beautiful cloud of gas, but I'm not allowed to talk about it." This comment is then followed by the GRATITUDE emoji... Oy Vey. The "likes" are abundant, and other members of the clan reluctantly chime in with their "I'm so pleased for you", as they jam the pin an inch deeper into the voodoo doll. Ah...actors! If acting is an art-form, which to ten percent of actors it may be, then why is it any different than the other esteemed artforms i.e. ballet dancing, singing, playing an instrument? You can't bulls**t your way into singing at the Vancouver Opera or any other profession venue, nor can you fake your way as a dancer, no matter how popular you are; you'd stick out like an unqualified nepo-baby in professional sports - think Bronny James as a Los Angeles Laker. Acting may be it's own thing, but it can still be an artform. You should aim to tackle the lead role in a well-written play, not a one-liner in the latest and greatest Hallmark dreck.

The following excerpt from Broadcast News seems to sum up the industry, these days:
AARON: What do you think the Devil is going to look like if he's around? Nobody is going to be taken in if he has a long, red, pointy tail. No. I'm semi-serious here. He will look attractive and he will be nice and helpful and he will get a job where he influences a great God-fearing nation and he will never do an evil thing...he will just bit by little bit lower standards where they are important. Just coax along flash over substance... Just a tiny bit. And he will talk about all of us really being salesmen. And he'll get all the great women.

Work hard. Find a system of work that takes you from A-Z. Make the work your daily practice. Find a teacher you've researched, and with whom you have a great working connection, and buckle down. Grab a few monologue books and when something resonates with you, learn it and use it as a work tool. Don't dabble. Make the work your discipline. Most importantly, HAVE FUN. I'm always available to help or field questions about the work, or my upcoming classes. I teach the Eric Morris System. I'd love to tell you all about it!
You can leave me a message at [email protected], on my page or text me at (250) 360-6507.

05/14/2025

Keep it Simple:

(The following is not to be confused with a character having a complex inner-life)

Regarding choosing a monologue as an audition piece, more than a couple times I've heard casting directors and agents say that it's important to choose pieces that incorporate a wide myriad of emotions - a cornucopia of "feels", as Gen-Z puts it. This can be a bit of a trap, set unintentionally perhaps, but a snare, nonetheless, and requesting such may be the hallmark of an amateur. Let's assume for example that finding truth in the piece is sacrosanct to the actor (ultra rare in today's actors). Most great monologues, like cucina povera, have two or three simple, yet integral ingredients. Too many notes is not only decadent, it's bad writing unless of course the character is utterly insane, bouncing the emotional ball around like a Harlem Globe Trotter. Asking an actor to juggle more than two or three emotions in one piece is asking them to "act", to manufacture truth as opposed to being an experiential artist, tackling a truthful human scenario.

It's like watching the actor who impresses the house-dogs by laughing then instantly crying then laughing then crying, ad nauseam - to me this is a cheap party trick and doesn't occur when "living truthfully" - I would get a refund for my ticket to that play. Too many actors audition with ultra showy monologues - trying to display their full emotional palate. The smart money says to find monologues with honest through-lines that deviate two times, maybe three. It's more organic, authentic and will allow you to find more truth in your choices. That said, if they ask for theatrical Jambalaya, have at it. Joaquin Phoenix party-tricked his way to the Oscar in Joker. Eric Morris Actors Workshop

06/23/2024

An artist is an artist 24 hours as day!!!

05/21/2024

There are four spots left. If you have any questions about this approach to the work, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Class starts soon!

05/15/2024

Eric Morris Actors Workshop

From Actor to Artist - Inspired by my teacher and friend, Eric Morris

You are the secret ingredient. It’s beautiful to witness an actor, or any other individual in the creative arts, begin to work from a foundation of personal truth. It can feel as if they’ve handed Charon, the ferryman, a coin to take them across the river Styx, but instead of taking them from the land of the living to Hades, a wasteland, absent of life, Charon is escorting them back to the living world; the world that many of us gradually depart in our early years as we begin to succumb to societal norms and acceptable behaviors. When an actor makes the decision in their craft (and it is a decision), to no longer be a courtesan, or a snail-oil salesman hawking their wares, selling a bag of tricks, or merely representing or presenting ideas or concepts, the transformation from chrysalis to butterfly has begun. They’ve decided to not be stripped of themselves, but instead to be stripped down to themselves – their instrument: mind, body, voice and emotions, are now a conduit from which anything is possible, and anything is possible. This is when the actor becomes the artist, and no longer a merchant. — George Grant

05/15/2024

From Actor to Artist - Inspired by my teacher and friend, Eric Morris

You are the secret ingredient. It’s beautiful to witness an actor, or any other individual in the creative arts, begin to work from a foundation of personal truth. It can feel as if they’ve handed Charon, the ferryman, a coin to take them across the river Styx, but instead of taking them from the land of the living to Hades, a wasteland, absent of life, Charon is escorting them back to the living world; the world that many of us gradually depart in our early years as we begin to succumb to societal norms and acceptable behaviors. When an actor makes the decision in their craft (and it is a decision), to no longer be a courtesan, or a snail-oil salesman hawking their wares, selling a bag of tricks, or merely representing or presenting ideas or concepts, the transformation from chrysalis to butterfly has begun. They’ve decided to not be stripped of themselves, but instead to be stripped down to themselves – their instrument: mind, body, voice and emotions, are now a conduit from which anything is possible, and anything is possible. This is when the actor becomes the artist, and no longer a merchant. — George Grant

05/11/2024

Class starts soon!

04/30/2024

ERIC MORRIS WORKSHOP – Facilitated by George Grant

Thank you to everyone who attended my Eric Morris workshop, at Theatre SKAM, on April 28th. It was a packed house, full of brave, curious, and generous actors, eager to breathe in new perspectives, concepts and principles, around our work. Eric’s system never fails to deliver. Although the four-hours were barely enough time to skim the surface of the technique, the consensus was that most folks left enriched, and were very eager to further dive into this career changing work. Eric Morris’s system is as deep as the Mariana Trench. It’s been comprehensively developed over sixty years, and Eric isn’t finished, yet.

I’m now organizing classes for Spring and Summer. They will take place at Theatre SKAM and will be on Monday nights from 6 pm – 9:30 pm. Each block will be eight weeks in duration, with the intent to eventually have an ongoing studio. Dates and Pricing TBA. Reserve your spot, today.

Please feel free contact me at
[email protected]
or at (250) 360-6507