How the hell do you become and actor anyway?
We have been talking about the need for Muslims in America,
Canada and the
West to use alternative methods to spread the message of Islam. I had decided
that it might be a good idea to learn a little bit about acting. I was not
considering becoming an actor, but I thought it might help in performance
ability for public speaking and specifically for me in delivering the Khutbah.
The Khutbah is the Friday Sermon that Muslim have similar to Christian on
Sunday. The Juma prayers are held in Masjids, and mosques all over the country,
all over the world.
Do I really want to take acting classes or is this going to
be a touchy feely waste of time? Living in Houston Texas is not like the happening Hollywood environment of Los Angeles in California,
or even the glamour of the Big Apple. In both New York
and Hollywood there are all kinds
of acting classes. From beginner, to advanced, and all different forms in
between. You can find acting coaches and trainers who will help you develop
your personal character and performance ability.
I started with a class at a learning annex. In every major
town or city you can find somewhere that teaches acting. If not in an adult
learning center or learning annex, you will find classes at local community
colleges. I started by going to Leisure Learning. They offered an introductory
acting class with a good explanation of the process.
Here is a copy of the ad that they have for the class.
Beginning Acting
Acting calls for
taking challenges and learning about who you really are. You want to act on
stage. You know you could do commercials. You model, but you know you need to
learn how to act to get better jobs. You want to just have fun. This class will
not only give you the basics of drama, but you will grow emotionally and have a
laugh or two. Auditioning, monologues, scene study, script analysis, and
character development will be introduced. Set and stage terminology, career
resources on the Internet, memory/sensory-acting techniques will also be
covered. By the end of this class, if you have the talent, you should have what
it takes to get representation by an agency or audition for a commercial or
film/TV part.
The classes were held for 8 weeks on Wednesday’s. The
location was at a community center in a church. Already there was an issue.
Many Muslims would feel uncomfortable just going to a church. However this was
more of a community center adjoining the church, which appeared to be a
non-denominational set up. So that did not bother me.
The cost of the classes was $160 for 8 two hour classes.
Sounded pretty good. Was I ready for this? I hope I don’t have to go sit in
front of a bunch of people and talk about my feelings!
So the first day of class I got there a little late, typical
for me. MST-Muslim Standard Time. There were about 18-20 people in the class.
The teacher was a black guy with long dreads in his hair. Kinda cool looking.
The students were a mixture of all kinds. There were a few guys, but more women
in the class than men. The first day was typical, talking about your favorite
movies, TV shows, actors and actresses.
I still wondered if this was a good idea or a waste of time.
As the class progressed I started to get a good feeling of how the film and
stage production process really works. I realized what was involved in getting
representation. How you can get into stage productions or focus just on Film.
There was also a lot of work in commercials. Or even voice over work where you
are not on camera but you use your voice.
By the time we got to the last class, there were only about
6-8 students showing up. This is pretty normal; students drop out and give up.
After the teacher assigned monologues to all the students to memorize and
perform, the numbers diminished. This is just part of life. Those that are
serious or have the desire don’t give up. Sometimes just showing up is enough
to become involved or get leaderships positions. Acting requires you to show up
and deliver the goods. So what were the possible problems areas as a Muslim?
Well of course there were the issues of sex. If you had to do a scene where you
were intimate with another person, how would you manage that? Luckily for me, I
did not have that problem. There were some scenes where there was touching
between you and other members of the performance but nothing of a highly sexual
nature.
The main thing you learn from classes is how to communicate
and perform the piece. You will also learn the terminology. What is blocking
for a screenplay. Where upstage and downstage are. Getting the Part is the
hardest part! For that you need to have a good reading ready. Be able to
perform a monologue, or do cold readings with the flare and passions that are necessary.
This is a video trailer of Zaynab a Muslim TV Serial I am currently working on.
If you are interested in getting involved in the industry,
or would like to support projects of Muslims in the entertainment industry,
please contact me.
Saleem Siddiqui
HotConflict@Gmail.com
Acting Out Islam Series
Part 1. Acting out Islam! Communication with Muslim Actors
and Actresses.
Part 2. Acting out Islam: Classes, Instruction on Performance Emotion Stage Presence.
Part 3. Acting out Islam: Monologue Process, Homosexual,
AIDS, Gay Sex!
Part 4. Acting out Islam: Audition, Resumes and Head Shot.
How to Land a Part?
Part 5. Acting out Islam: Short Films produced by Low budget
Hobbyist for Exposure.
Part 6. Acting out Islam: Independent Full Length Feature
Film Movie Production.
Part 7. Acting out Islam: Web Serial TV Episodes Soap Opera
Style Film Production.
Part 8. Acting out Islam: Playhouse Plays Stage Presence and
Cast Crew Construction.
Please check out our other series of articles.
Alternative
Careers for Muslims To Stop Terror and Win the War of Ideology in Islam
Using
Technology Internet Social Networks Trends To Understand People, the World
Saleem Siddiqui is a Political Commentator, Public Speaker, Actor
and Consultant. He is a trained Mediation and Conflict Resolution
Specialist. He conducts sermons and training for various religious and
Nonprofit organizations. Working with effort to increase Muslim and
Islamic awareness in
Communications, Public
Relations (PR), Public Speaking, Political Strategy, Media, Marketing,
and many other fields as they relate to the integration of Muslims in
the United States of America and around the world.
Saleem Siddiqui has undergrad degrees in Arabic and
religion from the Middle East and attended Law School in Houston,Texas.
He has consulted with the FBI and testified on behalf of the District
Attorney of Virginia on cases relating to National Security and “The
War on Terror”.
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