About Mulholland Academy
The Mulholland Acting and Film Academy is an English language acting studio in Amsterdam, founded in 2010. The international program offers professional training, offering short and long-term classes mostly on evenings and weekends, allowing students to hold down a job and train outside office hours.
We offer well-rounded study providing training for the body, the voice, and the emotional life of the actor.
We expect our students to take their craft seriously. We work with pre-professionals and professionals who want to train or keep training.
by Academy Founder Debra Mulholland
Acting Techniques
Meisner Technique
“Acting is the ability to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” Sanford Meisner
The late Sanford Meisner was an enormously influential acting teacher who taught at New York’s Neighborhood Playhouse for fifty years. One of the original members of the Group Theatre, he was part of a generation of American acting coaches who further developed the work of Russian director Constantin Stanislavski.
Sanford Meisner was co-founder of the Group Theatre, together with Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler. Meisner Training is an interdependent series of training exercises that build on one another. The more complex work supports a command of dramatic text. Students work on a series of progressively complex exercises to develop an ability to first improvise, then to access an emotional life, and finally to bring the spontaneity of improvisation and the richness of personal response to textual work. The technique is used to develop improvisation skills as well as “interpreting a script’, and creating the specific physical characteristics of each character the actor plays.
Throughout his career, Meisner worked with, and taught, students who became well known, such as Sandra Bullock, David Duchovny, James Franco, Michelle Pfeiffer, Naomi Watts, Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Jon Voight, Dylan McDermott, Eileen Fulton, James Caan, Steve McQueen, Robert Duvall,Gregory Peck, Eli Wallach, Jack Lord, Bob Fosse, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, Lee Grant, Peter Falk, Jeff Goldblum, Grace Kelly, James Doohan, Jason Boss, Manu Tupou, Tony Randall and Sydney Pollack. Pollack together with Charles E. Conrad served as Meisner’s senior assistants. The technique is helpful not just for actors, but also for directors, writers, and teachers. A number of directors also studied with him, among them Sidney Lumet and John Frankenheimer, and writers such as Arthur Miller and David Mamet.
Jacques Lecoq
Movement, the actor, space, stage and audience.
“Improvisation is at the heart of the 
educational process and is sometimes confused with expression. Yet a person expressing himself is not necessarily being creative. The ideal, of course, would be for creation and expression to go hand in hand, in perfect harmony. Unfortunately many people enjoy expressing themselves, ‘letting it all hang out’, and forgetting that they must not be the only ones to get pleasure from it: spectators must receive pleasure, too.
The difference between the act of expression and the act of creation is this: in the act of expression one plays for oneself alone rather than for any spectators. I always look for an actor who ‘shines’, who develops a space around himself in which the spectators are also present. Many absorb this space into themselves, excluding spectators, and the experience becomes too private.
The critical comments one makes about the work do not attempt to distinguish the good from the bad, but rather to separate what is accurate and true from what is too long or too brief, what is interesting from what is not. This might appear pretentious but the only thing that interests us is what is accurate and true: an artistic angle, an emotion, even a color combination. All these aesthetic elements can be found in any durable work of art, independent of its historical dimension. They can be sensed by anyone and an audience always knows perfectly well when something is accurate and true. They may not know why, but it is up to us to know, because we are, after all, we are specialists. ” Jacques Lecoq.
Strasberg Technique
The Lee Strasberg Method Acting 
Technique focuses on the internal experiences and not on the expression through speech. It is grounded in the human truth of the moment. It helps actors to become emotionally free enough so that their body, mind, spirit, thoughts and speech are able to be combined in one full and true expression. To create real feelings and thoughts under imaginary circumstances.
To make use of their knowledge of human psychology, the process of conditioning, the interaction between the conscious and the subconscious and the process of creative imagination. It helps actors to get rid of their inhibitions, blockage and to eliminate bad habits of voice and movement, so they will be able to express the uniqueness of their character.
They become actors with interesting behavior and imagination. It helps the actors to go beyond the writers words and intentions, so that they can elevate the material and make it their own, giving it their own color. It allows their impulses to surface, to have an inner life and subtext, to trust their instinct and to allow their silences.
The actors will learn how to interpret life in all its facets, so that their experiences can be called upon in the expression of art.
Among the actors who practice Lee’s technique are, Daniel Day-Lewis, Adrien Brody, Al Pacino, Robert de Niro, Johnny Depp, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie, Matthew McConaughey and many more.
“Strasberg meant that what is called “Method Acting” is nothing new, but rather as old as Western Civilization itself. For centuries, cultures used different words and phrases to describe “good” acting: Romantic Acting, Emotional Acting, Divine Inspiration, The Muses, Feeling the Role. These terms merely described an organic process of creativity that talented actors used, often times unconsciously, to accomplish what audiences experienced as a moving performance. This was the (re)experiencing of life by the actor within the fiction of the story as if it were true and happening now. Aristotle said that the secret to moving the passions in others is to be moved oneself, and that moving oneself is made possible by bringing to the fore “visions” of experiences from life that are no longer present. Aristotle was stating the core principle of The Lee Strasberg Method™ — the creative play of the affective memory in the actor’s imagination as the foundation for (re)experiencing on stage.
Credit: from http://newyork.methodactingstrasberg.com/what-is-method-acting/
This idea was first called the ‘System’ by Konstantin Stanislavsky, and later, as further developed by Lee Strasberg (at the Group Theatre, the Actors Studio and then at the Institute). The Lee Strasberg Method™ trains actors to use their imagination, senses and emotions to conceive of characters with unique and original behavior, creating performances grounded in the human truth of the moment.”
ReFocusMethod
Getting out of the head and into the presence
ReFocusMethod removes psychological complexity from acting, making it simpler, more joyful, and clearer. Performance will be more consistent and convincing, particularly when preparation time for a scene or take is limited.
Focus and relaxation are essential for portraying the truth, moving with the truth, and delivering text and emotions as truth. The actor must be aware of muscular tensions, mental and physical habits. With ReFocusMethod, actors are able to develop a sixth sense, which allows them to identify and use the right amount of body tension, be precise about where the attention and energy are directed, and so be fully present.
As emotions are a physical response to outside stimuli, or to a mental process (thinking), actors can consciously explore facial expressions, breathing, and posture to access, control, and feel real emotions within a short time of preparation, and also let go of them on demand. Actors create the truth in relations, text, emotion, and movement through their focus on their physical experience and their attention to other character(s) or the environment.
Actor self and Character self
To let a character live its own life the actor must leave it alone, striving to give up control of the character.ReFocusMethod creates a clear distinction between an actor’s self and the self of the character. It helps actors create the courage and trust to not controlling the process and not having to show or pretend stuff (to act). Let the character be in the moment. As a result, the actor will get in to a mental state of flow, allowing the character to surprise the actor.
Once they learned the ReFocusMethod actors can continue to explore and develop their instrument in daily life, based on the exercises and experiences they had in class.
History
Its roots can be traced back to the Swedish National Acting Academy of the 1960s, where Andris Blekte (1923-2007) taught for more than 30 years and became well known for his relaxation and body awareness techniques.
Tony Grahn became a professional actor in 1986. In 1991, he graduated from the Swedish National Acting Academy. As a student of Andris Blekte’s classes, he experienced a powerful change that inspired him to further develop his technique. After graduating from Drama Studio London in 1996, he worked as a director for several years. Tony began teaching the method at The Actors Centre London in 1999. Since then, he has developed it further through his teaching experience and studying the nature of human behavior.
The Stanislavski System
The Stanislavski System is at the core, more or less, one way or another, of nearly everything we do at Mulholland Academy
The Stanislavski System of Acting as distilled by renowned American stage and film actor Morris Carnovsky.
Morris Carnovsky worked closely with his friend Michael Chekov and his community of actors, writers, and directors at The Group Theatre in New York City in the 1930’s, to explore the vast writings of the Russian character actor Konstantin Stanislavski.
The Group Theatre stated that they were committing themselves to American plays with a social purpose, preferably those that would mirror and suggest the possible amelioration of their lives as a people.
Morris Carnovsky studied the whole of Stanislavski’s writings and distilled these works down to three simple components: Self, Object, and Action. This formula helps the actor to look at their work from a greater perspective. The whole thing in a nutshell: Self and Object combined by given circumstances and propelled by Action. Everything that happens onstage can be reduced to the unit of the Moment which consists of these three elements. What happens between the Self and the Object it encounters creates the excitement of the Moment. Action pulses back and forth between the Self and the Objects it encounters in the mind’s eye.
As Stanislavski wrote, the actor’s Will propels you onstage, and one of the uses of the Will is to encourage any impediments to achieving deep, internal relaxation to leave your body. This allows the Self to declare itself freely and connect with its Objects creating the Action in each Moment.
It is the lifelong job of any actor or artist to get down to the simplest and most honest aspect of themself…recognizing, accepting, and then using this sense of Self in their work. The Self is the fullest person you are capable of being. The use of the Self is a way for you to discover your authentic way of doing things while still taking into account what the director or author may intend. Your unique Self is your power. No one can take it away from you. That’s what you bring to your work on the stage.
The formula of Stanislavski is, “Truth in the midst of given circumstances.” This is the job of the actor, and the only truth the actor can really hope to command is their own truth.
Stanislavski also wrote of the importance of finding the “Spine” of the character you are playing. He said, “The Spine is an invitation to the imagination.” A properly chosen Spine through the process of rehearsal, should stimulate many impulses to Action throughout the play. The Spine, simply defined, is the reason for all your Actions.
Why do we call this the Stanislavski technique? Because it’s conscious. It’s something we can learn to do. We don’t act carelessly onstage or screen…we look, we perceive, and we connect deliberately. Everything that the eye of the mind or the physical eye encounters is an Object. The Objects the actor chooses, stimulate the entire performance.
“The very examination of our capabilities as actors in The Group Theatre was an act of love. And fundamentally, that’s how I still think about everything that an actor does with all their truth and depth. An act of love.”
~ Morris Carnovsky
VOICE: a brief History
If actors can be heard and not understood, their whole act can be taken as a failure. If they cannot even be heard; a dismal fail. Their entire act depends on communicating the words that the writer wrote. The context of performance remains unique to that particular situation; meaning the actor needs to be vocally adaptable in all situations.
The evolution of voice in the West reflects broad cultural shifts and artistic movements. Voice remains a powerful tool for storytelling and character expression. Techniques continue to evolve and the importance of voice in conveying human experience endures, despite the advent of AI.
Greek and Roman theatre understood the power of rhetoric, public speaking, and oratorical skills. The Medieval theatre of morality plays and mysteries changed the modulation and cadence of their past into a more chant-like formal vocal style. The Renaissance in turn brought a revival of interest in classical theatre; using rhetoric as a basis for a more emotional and dynamic range of vocality. Think of Shakespeare and all of his contemporaries as well as commedia del arte.
Of course Shakespeare et al didn’t go to acting schools but they would have trained their voices to deliver prose, or verse, or our highest expression of voice: song. The Restoration and the rise of European theatre saw a large scale emergence of professionalism, and a focus on vocal clarity and elocution. French influence emphasised articulation and a stylised expressiveness.
The 19thC witnessed the rise of melodrama, which relied on channeling strong emotions. the rise of ‘bel canto’ and its refined vocal techniques; concentrating on breath control and resonance.
The 20thC provided new areas of technological development with the rise of radio, film, and TV. A simultaneous understanding of speech pathologies & speech arose; as did the development of an International Phonetic Alphabet.
The 21stC witnesses a dynamic evolution in voice techniques in theatre, characterized by technological advancements, a focus on inclusivity, and an integration of diverse methodologies. Voice remains a powerful medium for expression, storytelling, and social engagement, reflecting the complexities of contemporary life.