JIM CALDER
"What I teach, what I always teach - is Sex and Faith, exploring how each individual can enlarge their repertoire of desire with in a scene and tease out a deeper belief in the given circumstances. It is the physical sensation of desire and belief, not the words which all too often allow us to think we have done the work when we have only named the work to be done. The most common phrase we hear is "yeah, I'm too much in my head", but unless one has trained to supplant that familiar self reproach nothing changes but the inner dialogue of failure. Above all the work is fun, it is difficult, but full of life and meaning and joy,...Sex & Faith."
Jim Calder has quite infamously simplified acting in this way - “you have to want something, and you have to believe in something”. Jim calls this the sex and faith method.
Jim is currently the head of movement at the prestigious NYU Graduate Acting Program. In his 30+ years at NYU Grad Acting, he has taught dozens of well-known actors, including Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali, Tony-winner Nina Arianda, Emmy-winner Sterling K. Brown, Andre Holland, Golden Globe-nominee Taylor Schilling, Corey Stoll, Deborah Messing, Rainn Wilson, Karen Pittman, Michael C. Hall, Danai Gurira, Dina Shihabi, Emily Swallow, and many others.
Jim has a unique diagnostic ability and will work with each student one-on-one to chip away at habits and patterns. He has a rare gift for guiding students beyond the boundaries they have consciously or unconsciously set for themselves. Where have you implemented 'rules' in your acting that are limiting your capacity to surprise yourself and express fully?
