To Go or Not To Go to Acting Class?
- Jo Kelly
- Sep 1
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 2
You have probably asked yourself this question at some point: should you go to acting class? Perhaps you feel torn, because on the one hand, everyone around you seems to believe that a “real actor” must go through formal training, while on the other, something in you resists.
Let me be clear. I am not here to dismiss acting schools or classes. What I am here to question is the very idea of education as it is commonly practiced. Education, as society offers it to you, is not about drawing out who you are. It is about authority. Someone above you, someone who “knows,” tells you how to think, how to feel, how to behave. You are asked to obey, to submit, to believe that the teacher has the truth and you do not.
Do you see the problem? The very structure of this exchange creates inequality. It positions you as someone incomplete, waiting to be filled. But you are not empty. You are already a whole human being.
Real education is not about someone pouring their truth into you. It is about what comes out of you. It is your curiosity, your longing, your unique genius unfolding. It is your voice, your rhythm, your way of moving, your way of feeling. It is your truth.
When you enter an acting class that tells you how to perform, how to emote, how to “be real” through a method or technique, you inevitably lose your freedom. You are programmed to obey, to imitate, to adjust yourself to someone else’s idea of what is right. And slowly, you lose touch with your own voice. You lose the joy of discovering how you would do it.
Think about it: how can you impact an audience if you are not standing in your own truth? How can you feel fulfilled if what you are offering is not truly yours? No method, no recipe, no set of steps can replace your presence, your freedom, your authentic experience.
That is why, when you step into our community, we often invite you to pause your classes. Not forever, but long enough to hear yourself again. To feel what you feel. To think what you think. To rediscover how you move, how you breathe, how you express. Only then can you return to the stage as yourself—not as a replica of what someone once told you was good.
The work we do is not about teaching. I am not your teacher, not your coach. I accompany you. I walk with you as you undo the programming that has kept you obedient, silenced, and disconnected from your own power.
If this resonates with you, I invite you to taste our work. We live in a gift economy, and you can join us for five days to experience what it feels like to reclaim your truth, your freedom, your voice. Simply type the word taster and we will send you the link.
Meanwhile, here is the training we just explored together. May it bring you closer to yourself.
After you watch the training
I’d love for you to join in the conversation happening in our private Facebook Group THE INSTINCTIVE ACTORS’ SOCIETY. You can get answers for your specific situation directly from me and connect with THOUSANDS of like-minded actors across the globe, so we can move things forward faster together.
See you there!
Jo Kelly
Creator, The Reset Journey From Resistance to Freedom
✨ Want to taste this work?
If something in you stirs as you read this — if you know you are ready to stop pretending and start experiencing yourself — I invite you to come taste the work.
The Reset Taster is a 5-day introduction to our full 33-Day Reset Journey — our immersive process for actors, artists, and humans who are ready to reclaim their truth.
You’ll begin to:
Undo the internalised pressure to “get it right.”
Meet your feelings without trying to fix them.
Reconnect with your instinct and presence.
Experience the relief of not needing to improve, but simply to be.
It is pay what you can. Truly. We work inside the gift economy, which means you join at the level that honours both your reality and this work.
👇
You don’t need to add anything to yourself.
You just need to undo what was never yours to begin with.
Come back to you.
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