Cold Reading Class

Throw a stone in Los Angeles and chances are you will hit a cold

reading class. They're everywhere. You can spot them wherever you

drive: actors standing in front of a building of some kind with 

scenes in their hands, going over their lines. The actors are 

detached from their partners, their bodies in a state of casual 

anxiety as they prepare their cold readings. What's wrong with this 

picture? Well, nothing really. It is what passes for acting training 

in Hollywood. Movie and TV extras are always telling each other that 

all they need is a good cold reading class and that much coveted 

acting career will come along. Their logic makes sense when you 

think about it: show up, do a good "reading", get the part, and then 

finagle your way to stardom. We wish it were that easy. To learn to 

read copy cold only means one thing, it means that you can pick up 

lines off the page with ease, and at the same time look at your 

partner, or whoever you're acting at. Yes, this a necessary skill 

and certainly if all you have is a line or two of dialogue, then a 

cold reading class may be all you need. But consider this, if 

getting a film or TV career involves just reading at someone, would 

there not be millions or billions of actors? What keeps everyone who 

learns to cold read from getting acting work? The answer is simple. 

There are only so many acting jobs and only the very best ACTORS get 

the jobs - actors who train, actors who work at their craft, actors 

who have made acting their lives' work. At The Acting Corps we have 

cold reading classes, but they are more than just learning to pick up 

lines off a page and saying them in someone's direction, we teach 

you acting technique. We teach you fundamental listening and 

answering skills, how to work with actions and objectives, and 

ultimately how to embody all of this. Yes, we also teach you how to 

cold read, but here you learn it in the context of acting technique 

instead of reading skills. We wish you success on your journey to 

whatever fulfills you.

Eugene Buica

Artistic Director and Founder of

The Acting Corps