ACTORY WEEKLY

Welcome to Actory Weekly! This is your weekly shot of creative fuel — with acting tips, insider tools, resources, and the film/TV/theatre scoop that keeps you one step ahead.

✨ TODAY’S SPOTLIGHT

Hey Actors! Here’s what’s happening this week:

This issue is stacked: we’re breaking down 10 essential acting fundamentals that separate the serious from the surface. Sam Rockwell drops wisdom (and charm) in the podcast booth, while Michael Caine reminds us why stillness on camera speaks volumes. We spotlight a must-watch character study (The Worst Person In The World), serve up a curated film lab via MUBI, and wrap it all with the hottest film, TV, and theater news shaking up the industry. Whether you’re deep in rehearsal or dreaming between gigs—this one’s for you.

🎭 CREATIVE FUEL

🎭 10 Acting Fundamentals Every Serious Actor Should Know

If you feel called to act—not just speak lines, but truly connect, breathe, and create—start with the foundation. Acting isn’t about tricks or talent alone. It’s a craft. And like any meaningful art form, it begins with the basics. Master those, and the rest will come. This is where transformation begins.

This list outlines ten essential fundamentals that form the backbone of serious training. This is where the real work begins.

🎧 1. Show Up Fully Present
Before anything else, you need to be here—fully, honestly, now. Presence isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the heart of the work. Acting lives in the space between you and the moment. If you’re thinking ahead or holding back, you’re missing the magic. Real acting begins when you let go and respond truthfully to what’s right in front of you.

🌍 2. Understand the World of the Play
Great acting starts with facts, not feelings. Where are you? What’s happening? Who are you to the other characters? Knowing the world your character lives in—its rules, relationships, and circumstances—is essential to making bold, grounded choices.

🧠 3. Get Specific About Who You Are
You can’t play a real human if you don’t know who you are. What shaped your character’s worldview? What do they fear? Believe in? What’s their secret?

Good actors ask better questions:

• What’s their upbringing?

• What keeps them up at night?

• How do they see the world?

When the work becomes personal, the performance becomes human.

🎯 4. Know What You Want
Every character wants something—that’s your objective. Without it, your scene has no direction. Objectives create stakes, drive action, and define the rhythm of the performance.

🚧 5. Fight Through the Obstacles
Conflict is the heartbeat of drama. Your character wants something—but what’s stopping them? External rules? Internal guilt? Another person?

Understanding your obstacles—especially emotional ones—deepens tension and authenticity. The more specific the struggle, the more real the performance.

💔 6. Stay Connected Emotionally
Emotion in acting isn’t about feeling hard—it’s about feeling truthfully. Emotional preparation is the self-induced state you bring into the scene, based on imagination, daydream, and connection to circumstances.

Emotional fluidity is a muscle. Train it. The audience always knows when you're faking it.

🧹 7. Break the Scene Into Beats
Scenes aren’t one big emotion—they’re a series of shifts. Each beat marks a change in thought, feeling, or intent.

Identifying beats helps you stay moment-to-moment and creates rhythm, spontaneity, and clarity. Flat performances usually come from actors ignoring the scene’s internal shifts.

🛠️ 8. Use Actions to Get What You Want
Acting is doing. Once you know what your character wants, you need to figure out how they’re going after it. Actions are those tactics: to seduce, to shame, to comfort, to threaten.

The variety of these “doings” is what brings a character to life. Action is the engine behind every line and silence.

❤️‍🔥 9. Pin Down the Relationship
Who are you to the other person in the scene? What’s the emotional history? The subtext? The past?

If you don’t personalize the relationship, the scene becomes hollow. Indifference is death onstage. Good acting is always personal.

🌬️ 10. Trust the Work and Let Go
After all the analysis, preparation, and rehearsal—let go. Put your attention on your partner, not on your performance. That’s where the magic happens.

When you’ve done the work, you can surrender to the moment and let truth take over. That’s freedom. That’s acting.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Mastering the fundamentals isn’t glamorous—but it’s everything.

Serious actors train. They fail, sweat, and repeat. They don’t settle for surface work. They dig for truth, moment by moment.

So if you’re wondering what separates working actors from everyone else, it’s this: they never skip the basics.

Because the basics are the work.

🎧LISTENING BOOTH

Podcast of the Week

🎙️ Happy Sad Confused with Josh Horowitz — “Sam Rockwell” 

Why listen: Sam Rockwell brings his chameleonic charm—spanning indie gems to blockbuster fame—to a captivating conversation. He reflects on iconic monologues, celebrates Philip Seymour Hoffman’s influence, and shares what makes him “an actor’s actor”—especially after his breakout turn in The White Lotus.

Listen here → SAM ROCKWELL

📚 THE ACTOR’S BOOKSHELF

Acting Book Of The Week

Acting in Film by Michael Caine is a concise, no-nonsense guide that distills decades of on-camera experience into practical wisdom for actors at any stage of their career. With charm and clarity, Caine breaks down the subtle yet crucial differences between stage and screen acting, emphasizing the power of stillness, listening, and authenticity. Through personal anecdotes and sharp insights, he demystifies the technical aspects of working on set—like hitting marks and working with the camera—while encouraging actors to trust their instincts and stay grounded in truth. It’s a must-read for anyone serious about mastering the craft of film acting.

🎧CHARACTER CLOSE UP

The Worst Person in the World follows Julie, a restless young woman in Oslo, as she navigates love, career, and identity in her search for meaning. Told in twelve chapters, the film blends romance, comedy, and existential drama into a raw, intimate portrait of modern adulthood and the messy beauty of becoming.

🎬 SPOTLIGHT

MUBI – The Streaming Home for Serious Cinephiles

Looking for films that challenge, inspire, and expand your craft? MUBI is the curated streaming platform every actor should know. Each day, one carefully chosen film is added—often global, independent, or auteur-driven. No algorithm noise, just cinema that matters.

Beyond streaming, MUBI is also a distributor, producer, and publisher (Notebook), giving voice to bold filmmakers and deep film discourse. With MUBI GO, subscribers even get a free movie ticket each week to see a curated pick in theaters.

It’s not about quantity—it’s about quality. Think less binge, more study.

Here are some standout films on MUBI every actor should watch:

🎭 Performance Masterclasses

• Portrait of a Lady on Fire – Intimacy and silence. Watch for the eye work alone.

• The Worst Person in the World – A layered, living character study.

• Drive My Car – Acting meets Chekhov. Stillness. Presence.

• Toni Erdmann – Wild, weird, deeply human. Balance humor and heartbreak.

🌍 Global Greatness

• In the Mood for Love – Emotion without touch. A masterclass in restraint.

• Beau Travail – Let the body speak. A study in physical storytelling.

• Memories of Underdevelopment – A cerebral, Cuban gem. History meets isolation.

🌀 Bold & Experimental

• Holy Motors – One actor. Many lives. A range piece if there ever was one.

• Under the Skin – Improvised, haunting, raw.

• The Act of Killing – Where performance and memory collide.

🏆 Festival Favorites & MUBI Originals

• Aftersun – A whisper of a film with devastating impact.

• EO – No dialogue. All feeling.

• Decision to Leave – Noir elegance and sharp emotional beats.

🎥 Why it matters: These films are more than stories—they're acting labs. Tools for your emotional, physical, and technical growth.

💡 Why it’s Actory-worthy:
This is where you watch performances that stay with you. It’s a masterclass in taste.

👉 Explore MUBI

📣 INDUSTRY BUZZ

🎥 FILM:

• Devil Wears Prada 2 first look drops — Anne Hathaway returns as Andy Sachs in a new era of fashion warfare. (Link)

• Daisy Edgar-Jones’ Sense & Sensibility remake grows — six more join the Focus Features period drama. (Link)

• Adria Arjona joins Michael B. Jordan  — in high-stakes remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. (Link)

• Madelyn Cline reveals — Last Summer reshoots changed the film’s entire ending. (Link)

• Marvel’s Fantastic Four ties directly into Avengers — Secret Wars in Phase 6. (Link)

• David Corenswet says his Superman is being “oversimplified” — expects more nuance to come. (Link)

• Billie Eilish teases a 3D concert film — working with James Cameron to redefine the live music experience. (Link)

• Prime Video heats up July — here are the best romance films to stream now. (Link)

• Fantastic Four first reactions praise Pedro Pascal and call it “one of Marvel’s best” — a bold new tone for the MCU. (Link)

• Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman reunite — first clip from Practical Magic 2 drops. (Link)

• Sgt. Rock film moving forward — without Luca Guadagnino at the helm (Link)

• Ari Aster unpacks Eddington's cryptic finale — revealing the data center’s ominous role as a symbol of algorithmic control and societal breakdown. (Link)

• Divine Direction casts big names — Dorian Gregory, Tamala Jones, and Eric Roberts lead the spiritual thriller. (Link)

• Tina Fey and Marc Platt bring John Proctor Is the Villain to the big screen — Universal takes on the Broadway hit. (Link)

• Les Misérables reboot begins filming — Vincent Lindon, Tahar Rahim, and Camille Cottin star under Fred Cavayé’s direction from Bordeaux. (Link)

• Taika Waititi to direct new Judge Dredd film — Drew Pearce onboard as screenwriter. (Link)

• Lena Headey & Robin Tunney lead Divine Blood — the gothic thriller turns dark comedy with two powerhouse performances. (Link)

• Caitríona Balfe and George MacKay join Sense and Sensibility — production now underway. (Link)

📺 TELEVISION:

• Johnny Depp joins Ridley Scott's Hyde — a twisted mechanical cake thriller is on the menu. (Link)

• Tracker loses Eric Graise and Abby McEnany — CBS drama heads into Season 3 with a leaner core cast. (Link)

• Untamed Season 2 finale ends with a bang — Eric Bana’s Netflix drama draws buzz for a possible third season. (Link)

• HBO Max’s best prestige dramas to stream in July — here’s what critics recommend. (Link)

• Mehcad Brooks exits Law & Order — Jalen Shaw’s storyline wraps after a dramatic run. (Link)

• American Classic recasts Len Cariou with Harris Yulin — MGM+ reshapes its lead role. (Link)

• Law & Order: SVU promotes Aimé Donna Kelly to series regular — Captain Renee Curry joins the main cast for Season 27. (Link)

• Peacock’s Crystal Lake dives deep into Jason Voorhees’ origin — prequel series is in development. (Link)

• School Spirits ups two to series regulars — and adds three new faces for Season 3. (Link)

• Netflix sets new K-pop drama — starring Son Ye-jin and Jo Yu-ri in a variety-style format. (Link)

• Poorna Jagannathan leads Apple’s new thriller — cast as FBI Agent Quinn in the Joona Linna adaptation of Lars Kepler’s novels. (Link)

• Odeya Rush joins Fox’s Memory of a Killer — she’ll play Angelo’s daughter alongside Patrick Dempsey in the Alzheimer’s-fueled thriller.
  (Link)

• Ted Lasso Season 4 begins filming — major cast shakeups expected. (Link)

🎭 THEATER:

• Shoshana Bean, Kara Young join ATW advisory committee – new voices in leadership. (Link)

• John Proctor Is the Villain extends – final Broadway run announced. (Link)

• Touring company manager – spotlight on this key behind-the-scenes role. (Link)

• Just In Time with Jonathan Groff – cast album on the way. (Link)

• Matte Martinez takes over as MJ – new lead hits the stage. (Link)

• Christopher Jackson returns – talks Hell’s Kitchen comeback. (Link)

• Nanjiani, Urie, Harris join Jinkx Monsoon – Oh, Mary! expands cast. (Link)

• Yankees celebrate 10 years of Hamilton – Broadway meets baseball. (Link)

• Gypsy with Audra McDonald – sets final performance date. (Link)

• Broadway fan network – announces public launch. (Link)

• A Chorus Line celebration – what to expect at ECF event. (Link)

💼 BIZ NEWS:

• Kevin Feige teases Marvel’s next era — a seven-year plan with Blade and X-Men at its core. (Link)

• Casting Society announces new board and updates Artios Awards timeline — ushering in changes for 2025-2026. (Link)

• Superman and Demon Slayer dominate globally — leading a strong weekend at the international box office. (Link)

• Disney’s Lilo & Stitch live-action remake crosses $1 billion at the global box office — marking a massive win. (Link) 

🎞️ VIDEO VILLAGE

🌟Want to Be Featured?

Are you working on a project? Landed a role? Teaching a class?
We spotlight our community every week.
👉 Submit here to be featured by Actory

☕️ Love what you’re reading? Buy me a coffee to keep this going.