Lehman David-Film Acting Coach

Although I don’t think he ever personally liked me too much… (I’m one to question when I feel someone’s teaching is unclear or not successfully conveyed instead of readily assume I might just be stupid… do you blame me? ha ha !!) I guess he didn’t see my struggle –to understand his instruction– and probably interpreted it as just my being difficult, rebellious or trying to somehow prove I knew better… which is all hogwash, I was just trying to «get» something that I’m now fully convinced he struggles to communicate/​convey in a simple and effective way.
So, in this important aspect of what he does, this makes him a just OK acting coach. I actually believe he fully understands what he’s trying to teach… he’s just not good at communicating or conveying it effectively; (he stares at you with a smile a lot. as if you’ve been already exposed to and revealed the «mystery» of that essential something you’re still unable to infuse into your performance…) This was not just my view, we used to complain about this endlessly with other students who would vent their frustrations and debate as to whether it was they «not getting it» or whether an important link was actually «missing» somewhere in his teaching.
After a while and a lot of self-​seeking and analysis, what I basically concluded was that he was trying to instill the –don’t act– philosophy (especially in film acting) but to trust your source of whatever was happening emotionally within a given premise (and use that and/​or go with that…). It took sometime to «relax» into that: «I don’t have to do anything. I don’t have to push some character…» kind of state.
If you accept the premise, circumstances, conditions given by a scene situation (through focus and imagination) you can start by following the ‘feel’ it gives you and/​or the feelings that may naturally arise from it. The probable and most common mistake is fearing that you are just going to stand there and have no emotional foundation from where to extract some «acting» inspiration. So you start «pushing» or «forcing» something which to the viewer may look self-​conscious because the focus and attention is on the wrong thing (how you look or some idea of what you’re supposed to be doing) instead of what you’re feeling (real).
I’d define the meaning of «Energy, energy, energy !’ as Lehman used to shout… as the attention and connection with your source reality without judgment. If you judge your source you’re in your head and self-​conscious. but when you honor it, when you are patient with yourself and open to it fully, you are an instrument played by your talent. A tricky balancing act, that will challenge your courage to trust yourself and to be truthful and willing to leap into the unknown.