Meet Jo Kelly | Acting Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jo Kelly and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jo, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?

Absolutely. The traditional approach to acting is that it needs to be learned, with method, technique. So the traditional approach is that acting must be taught because there is one way to doit and that is the right way.

I come from the OPPOSITE perspective: NO ART CAN BE TAUGHT. NO MASTERPIECE COMES FROM A METHOD, OR A TECHNIQUE.
Art INEVITABLY happens when one has been liberated from their conditioning. So what I do is that I guide people back to their pre-conditioned self. I help them UNLEARN everything that has been shoved down their throat during childhood ( we have all been told what to feel, what to think, how to behave, what to learn, etc) so they can just BE instead of act.
Then actors can show up fully truthful, fully alive, fully present and free. There is no mask, no pretend, no fake, no production, just pure being and truth and that is the only thing that can be fulfilling for the actor, the story and the audience. So everybody wins!

What should our readers know about your business?
“For more than 20 years, I have guided actors to undo all social and emotional conditioning so that they can be reminded how to BE (and not act) in full authenticity and freedom, in order to deliver incredibly alive, raw, and truthful performances. After having worked with some of the hottest actors, directors and other artists all around the world, I have guided and coached thousands of pro actors (like Carlos Leal, Ajarae Coleman, Brittany Daniel or Karen Strassman, among others) to land roles with the biggest studios like Netflix, HBO, Disney, Showtime, ABC studios, and more.

I have always been committed about being an acting coach and not an acting teacher. I do not believe that one can be taught how to act but certainly can be reminded how to BE and can muscle that—like any pro.

As for my education, I have an MBA in business & human resource and mastered in systemic psychology and attended performance schools in Brussels, Paris, Madrid and the US.”

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

I think the biggest exploration to be enjoyed is within ourselves. There is no fancy travel that can truly be experienced or even appreciated if one is not fully present, able to really see, sense, feel and really take it in.
So I would first and foremost take my best friend to my LA psychedelic community so they can sit with medecine and experience journeying with themself.
I have been exploring consciousness with psychedelics for quite a bit now and i remember when I sat with Ayahuasca for the first time -12 years ago- I felt like I had not even lived before, it was the single most incredible experience of my entire life and I had already given birth to my first child.. so that tells you the intensity of the experience.
I remember thinking that everyone in the world had to experience this truth because not being able to dip your toes in what you truly deeply are, really keeps you away from experiencing anything at all. Bliss actually comes from within and cannot be fed to us.

THEN, once my friend would be totally opened and ready to receive, we would go to Joshua tree for some hikes and some silence, then we would go to the beach to jump in the ocean and eat at Gjiusta and then we would come back home and eat at Miz Lala in west Adams which is amazing Israeli food.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Eckhart Tolle

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

Sam Rabon who is an amazing trainer and ex Moulin rouge TOP dancer sam@samrabon.com

Website: www.tobeornottoact.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tobeornottoact_jokelly/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOBEORNOTTOACT

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2044518392502710

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0iHxQ3hjK2O6UAYU0P2zCA