Reflecting on things I saw in Matthew's class years ago, and watching one of his latest lectures on YouTube, I cannot emphasize strongly enough how unhealthy his approach is.
I wish I had known better and spoken up regarding the emotional trauma he put some of my classmates through years ago, but being younger and a green actor, I didn't have the experience or confidence to do so. Now I do.
The guy's MO is to present himself as a master teacher of acting and observer of human behaviour. He'll give long lectures about how complicated life is and how there's no light without dark, dark without light. And this cuts to the strangest, overly obsessed part of his teaching: He'll encourage you to share your deepest darkest fears/secrets/whatever, and tell you how big and strong that will make you. And I guess a better actor..? He says in his 2019 lecture, speaking specifically about getting people to go to that deepest/darkest place that "it's impossible, you can't break your psyche." Well, "breaking" or not, he's certainly reckless with people's psyches. And he has no psychological training/qualifications on how to create a safe space for any person to drudge up some kind of emotional trauma. It is dangerous. It's sad that he's obviously the same teacher who's destructive methods I saw years ago.
And beyond all that, I can say now through experience in life and as a professional actor, that you can find a class where beautiful, rich, and compelling work is done...free of all this pseudo psychological bs.
Acting by nature will always call on you to draw on your experience and imagination in different capacities...that's part of the fun. Yeah it can be challenging work, but it's fun. And, it's not about YOU. No one cares about what your personal deepest darkest hardships are or aren't, they care about your character--what's your character doing/going through. It's not an esoteric, vocation in the stars. You show up to set, there are a hundred people doing their jobs there to make the story happen, you do your best with your part, and you go home to your life. And make that life beautiful. If you feel like you want to discuss your personal blocks, work through emotional trauma, etc, find a trained professional that can take you through that safely and with actual care. Not with an agenda to make you be as emotionally exposed as THEY think you should be.
Find a class that respects your privacy, challenges you in the context of the craft, not personally, and makes you feel welcome and safe; and accept nothing less. Cheers out there. read more