Thursday, 28th March 2024 18:12
Home / Uncategorized / Stepping onstage

After a long stretch of procrastination, I’m pleased to report that I finally took my first acting class. For the last few years it’s been something I really wanted to try, but I kept putting it off. It’s almost like I was strangely embarrassed to admit acting was something I wanted to try – maybe it’s my “Britishness” coming into play. In any case, I got over it and signed up for a twelve-week course. Fortunately, my teacher is being flexible when it comes to my rather hectic schedule and allows me to pick and choose the classes I can attend… and speaking of schedule, I’ve just done Paris for WSOPE, Barcelona for some filming, and now I’m in Isle of Man UKIPT before finally heading to the Masters Classics of Poker in Amsterdam. It’s going to be a crazy month.

So the first lesson was an improv class. We learned the basics of improvisation and did an exercise where one person would come on stage as a certain emotion and the next person had to react to that. One of the early lessons I learned is that you cannot say no to whatever is being offered to you. It’s called “blocking,” and it tends to end the scene quite awkwardly rather than moving it along. I absolutely loved it. It was the most fun three hours I can remember and was so wildly different from what I’m used to so I’m really glad I finally took the plunge. Who knows if I’ll be any good or not but I’m so excited to try.

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At the premiere of World War Z

I wasn’t inclined toward anything thespian when I was younger. In school I actively refused to participate in the plays because I was more interested in science and sports. To be fair, in my last year I did sign up for the school musical (which was combined with the local boys’ school in my sixth form) because I wanted to meet some boys! However, I ended up really enjoying everything about it. I think it was always in me to be onstage; it just took until age 29 for me to draw up the courage to do it. Becoming a bit more aware about the film business also inspired me. I’ve met a lot of actors at the poker table and have always been one to marvel at how cool their job is. Of course, they all turn round and say the same thing to me, but their world is definitely something I want to pursue more of.

For now, I’m going to keep taking classes to see if I continue to enjoy acting as much as I am right now. And if that’s the case, maybe I’ll have to start knocking on some casting agents’ doors!

Liv Boeree is a member of Team PokerStars Pro

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