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APRIL 2021
Serve the story in every role—pick one TV series to study Co-Star, Guest Star, Series Regular, and Lead roles.
Work your audition and performance muscles according to the nuances and needs of each TV role type. Make choices rooted in the script and lean into your natural instincts as a storyteller.
This class is a 4-week marathon in confidence building! We’ll study all types of TV roles—co-star, guest star, series regular, and lead—and you’ll come away with tools to apply to any TV audition or performance scenario. Each role serves the story in a different way, so let’s get specific about what those nuances are.
TIME COMMITMENT
You will need to plan for homework time to research your assignment, prepare your materials, and practice your self-tape set-ups. All studio classes are designed to stretch and support your complete prep process as an actor for self-tapes and in-person auditions. The more you put into the class, the more you get out of it!
WORKING WITH GUEST TEACHERS
Artists teaching artists is the inspiration for bringing Guest Teachers to the studio. This class is intended to expand your process as an actor and to reinforce your skills, confidence, and natural talent.
Athena Colón is a bilingual, native New York actress, teaching artist, and acting coach.
Athena Colón is a bilingual, native New York actress, teaching artist and acting Coach. Athena has worked as an independent teacher and coach in New York City for 10+ years. She has trained with former Telsey + Company casting director Heidi Marshall as a coach and joyfully prepares actors for screen tests and auditions. She is the recipient of the BRIO Grant from the Bronx Council of the Arts. While earning her BFA in Theatre from Long Island University–C.W. Post, she co-created a Suzuki-based performance, Third Child, which toured Italy, the Czech Republic, and New York City. Her recent TV credits include: NEW AMSTERDAM, BULL, Martin Scorsese’s VINYL, JESSICA JONES, and LAW & ORDER: SVU. When she’s not acting on stage or film, Athena facilitates acting classes and conducts theatre workshops in NYC. She proudly collaborates with Heidi Marshall Studio and DreamYard.
HEIDI’S ENDORSEMENT
Athena is a super strong coach who will draw out your confidence and (re)energize your work. Heidi includes Athena in the prep process for actors in screen tests and role prep (i.e.Hallie Bailey is starring as Disney’s live-action Little Mermaid!) Actors just adore her laser-focused, energetic coaching! Athena‘s classes are totally invigorating. They’re also super fun and incredibly informative—she gives ALL the insider, behind-the-scenes knowledge you’ll really want to know when you head to set! Athena has been around the block on so many TV sets. I really, really love for working artists to teach each other.
What was a difficult challenge for you as an actor?
Trusting my instincts on camera.
What was a crazy or silly moment on set?
My knee pads story! This was when I realized an actor can always ask for what they need on set to get the work done.
What is the most important quality or skill for an actor in the audition room?
Authenticity. Be yourself! Everyone else is taken.
What is the main thing you wish you knew then but that you only understand now?
There is no right way to do a scene.
What frustrates you as an actor in the current climate of filmmaking or of the business at large? How has this affected you directly?
Not enough roles for actors of color. We need diverse characters of different abilities, genders, orientations, and nationalities. The lack of opportunity has often discouraged me and kept me “small.”
What moment or experience as an artist do you feel most proud of?
The ah-ha moments! Like every time I help an actor break through a scene, or every time I work and can see a genuine connection to the character and circumstances.
Who do you really look up to in your field and why?
I look up to my resilient friends in the business. They are the people you’ll sit next to on the subway, and you don’t know their names, but they are incredibly gifted storytellers who never give up. They’re the artists who decide to keep going despite the odds.
Full disclosure—please note that we do not guarantee that actors in these workshops will be hired for any project that we might direct or cast. We do guarantee my supportive honesty and my open sharing of knowledge. We teach and coach because we enjoy supporting actors as they develop their process of working within the audition room. We seek to build their knowledge about the business of auditioning.