A Valuable Lesson I Learned From Coach Roy London That I Teach Every Day

Throughout the years, I often find myself wondering if I am giving my actors what I received from my coach, the late Roy London. I think often about the unbelievable acting lessons I received from Roy, and I realize that he taught so much more than acting. Many have said that one year with a great coach is like a decade of therapy. I agree. Roy was that kind of coach, and I hope and aim to be the same.

There are many correlations between great acting and living a great life. If I had to reduce it to just one idea, it would be this: have a clear objective.

At the studio, when actors finish the first work of a scene, they are all asked the same question: “Where did you feel on, and where did you feel off?” Believe it or not, it is much more difficult to answer than it sounds. In short, it simply means this: where in the scene did the actor feel committed to the beats and actions they chose, all in the hope of getting their character closer to their scene objective and, ultimately, their overall objective?

Having an objective is the single lesson Roy London gave me that I still teach every day, in acting and in life. I studied with Roy in Los Angeles in the early nineties, back when his classroom felt like the center of the acting world. However, it was not his star-studded roster of students that changed me. It was one simple question he asked over and over: what does your character want, and what are they willing to do to get it? Of course, there are other elements that factor into a scene, such as the obstacles in the way and how the character is feeling, along with the myriad other tools actors use to make the scene believable.

The Lesson From Roy London's Classroom

Roy demanded clarity. In every scene, he would stop an actor cold and ask what the objective was. Consequently, actors who walked in improvising and unprepared usually were not that compelling, but they walked out of class knowing they needed a plan.

I did not fully understand how much that lesson would shape me. I also did not expect it to contribute so much to my life and become the backbone of how I run my studio, write my screenplays, and even raise my family.

Why an Objective Changes Everything

An actor without an objective wanders. They react instead of pursue. However, the moment you give a student a clear objective, something shifts. Their eyes sharpen. Their choices get specific. Suddenly, they are not performing sadness; they are trying to win someone back, and that pursuit is what an audience actually connects to.

This is the foundation of all the scene study we teach at the studio.

Turning That Same Lesson Into a Life Practice

This is where Roy's lesson stopped being about acting and started being about living. In life, just like on stage, most of our frustration comes from chasing a want without a real plan behind it. We say we want a healthier body, a stronger business, a better relationship. However, we rarely sit down and ask what we are actually willing to do to get there.

An objective tells you where you are going. A plan tells you how you will get there. Without both, you are simply hoping, and hope is not a strategy. Worst of all is when an actor has no objective and no plan. That is the recipe for a stagnant and unhappy existence. The idea of “I will wait and see what happens” makes me bristle. It is better to try to make something happen. If it does not, you will always learn something, and it will get you closer to what you actually want, both as a person and as a character.

Building Your Own Plan, On Set and Off

So here is what I ask my students, and what I ask myself: What do you want, specifically, not vaguely? What are you willing to do this week to move toward it? Write both down. An objective without a written plan tends to stay a daydream.

Roy London passed away decades ago, but his voice is still in my head every time I walk into a classroom or sit down to write a scene. Consequently, I pass that same question on to every actor who walks through my door, because it changed the way I work, and it can change the way you work too.

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