Nicole Gaskell - Coach, Teacher, Actor

Filmed a quick post-class reflection on my stairwell.
Here’s what I did want to say:
If you’re coming to your first Meisner class and looking around at people who’ve been training for years, please remember:…

If it’s your first class, be at your first class. Don’t try to crawl, run, and jump all at once.

This work is a marathon, not a sprint…
Comparison will steal your joy and your presence. The person next to you might have 50 reps under their belt.
Of course they’re going to look different to you. That’s not a problem. Theres where they are and where you are…

The long game is where the magic of this work lies.
Stay with your own process, trust your own timing, and let the work meet you where you are.

If you’re curious to step into this kind of presence work in a mixed space within a different format, The Listening Room, my first workshop with is on Thursday 4–5.30 pm (Oru Space, Sutton site).
90 minutes of presence, deep listening and real human connection, open to actors and non-actors. £10.
🔗 Booking link via my link tree in bio.

TheListeningRoom ActorsOfInstagram OruSpaceSutton

This is for the actors who are giving themselves a hard time in training.

If your work in your class feels more “stretchy”, more emotional, more uncomfortable right now, it doesn’t mean you’re failing. It usually means you’ve stopped playing it safe and you’re going to places you don’t normally go in everyday life – emotionally and behaviourally.

Facing your own anger.
Staying present with a partner’s anger.
Letting real intimacy in.
Letting yourself be fully seen.

Of course that feels excruciating at times.

But this is also the point in the tunnel where most people turn back.
They quit one moment before they hit the gold in their acting.

If you’re in that place, please hear this:
– Your discomfort is information, not a verdict.
– Your care is not the problem, it’s the fuel.
– Staying curious and connected to your partner through the discomfort is the work.

Keep going. Don’t give up right where it feels hardest.
You might be closer to a breakthrough than you realise.