International Acting Coach Ivana Chubbuck

CF Blog | June 26

"We go to the movies, watch TV, and go to the theater to see not the ordinary or dull but the extraordinary people, how a person dealing with pain and trauma overcomes and wins by using that pain as a fuel. This is what I teach." –Ivana Chubbuck

Ivana Chubbuck boasts a 30-plus year career of coaching actors and many regard her technique as the leading-edge of acting in the twenty-first century. Her long list of impressive clients includes Academy Award winners and nominees Halle Berry, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jared Leto, Charlize Theron, Djimon Hounsou, Brad Pitt, and Elisabeth Shue. She's the founder and director of the Ivana Chubbuck Studio and author of the book The Power of the Actor which has been translated into 18 different languages.

Ivana considers herself a survivor and insists, "It was either that or die." Her painful childhood revolved around her mentally ill and hoarding mother who abused Ivana both physically and emotionally. Ivana uses her traumatic history to benefit actors by guiding them to explore their own pain, struggles, and fears. "I'm not just an acting coach, and I'm not a celebrity whisperer…but I bond with people by giving my truth, my stuff, my insecurities, my fears, my neurosis. I'm a screwed-up person and I probably could compete with some of the most screwed-up people on the planet…but I share that and I say, 'Let's together as a team try to overcome and evolve as human beings together. I'm not telling you what to do, I'm saying let's do this together.'" She can use tough love with actors, but she asserts, "You need to go there, but I need to go there too."

When Sylvester Stallone was to star in Creed, he approached Chubbuck saying he was terrified to take on the role of Rocky Balboa at the age of 69. He admitted that he felt his acting skills had atrophied. Also, the part presented a much more tragic storyline than the triumphant plots he was used to exploring. As Stallone once shared on NPR, "[Chubbuck] right away got into really subliminal, exploratory personal chambers that I wanted to keep closed. Like my son's death. I said, 'I really don't want to go there, I really don't want to talk about that.' She said, 'Well, that's what needs to come out. You need to express that. This is what this character is dealing with, that kind of loss, that kind of grief.'" With Chubbuck's guidance, Stallone soon came to feel safe enough to zero in on his deepest heartache. Indeed, he went on to win a Golden Globe and receive an Oscar nomination for his Creed performance. "It was very very cathartic to say the least," Stallone said of working with Chubbuck.

The One Thing It Takes To Be A Great Artist

CF Blog | June 23 | By: Michelle Danner

The start of a new year inevitably brings with it a list of goals: taking new photos, editing your reel, signing up for scene study and on-camera classes, sharpening your improv skills, finding new representation, going on more auditions.

The list can go on and on (and on), and every single one of those things is a good, tangible intention to set.

But amidst all the practical, proactive goals you'll set out to accomplish, there is one thing you can't forget, one thing that needs to drive you through all of it: You have to want to reach that excellence in yourself. If you don't truly want it with all of your heart and soul, that list won't mean anything, even if every single box gets checked.

Ask yourself: What does it take to be a great artist? How far do you have to push yourself? How does genius flourish? Do you have to bleed in order to hit your potential? How far do you need to go to be the best that you can be? What will motivate you to get there? Should you look for a teacher or a mentor that will stop at nothing to get to excellence in you? What does it mean to push yourself and work hard in acting? What is it that you truly have to do? How many hours do you have put in to succeed? What material do you have to work on to soar?

You have to feel like you have no choice, that your love and passion for the work is a conduit, a driving force. You have to crank up the desire to do the best work you are capable of and let yourself feel that ambition. You have to stay determined to succeed even when the going gets rough, even when all you're hearing is rejection. Let yourself get up time and time again because you know your potential, and you know you have it in you to deliver the goods.

Make the promise to yourself not to betray what you know you can accomplish and put yourself in the position to do the work. Give it every ounce of creative energy in you. Once you've made that resolution, don't back down or let anything stop you in the pursuit of that. You will aspire to nothing less than your biggest dreams and you will not settle.