JAGGER KAYE - Born & raised in NYC's Hell's Kitchen. Jagger is an Actor, Writer, Director, Producer, Coach, Acting Teacher, Independent Casting Director, Rock And Roll Jeopardy Winner and Former Hoodlum. Credits include: Guest role (4 scenes) on NBC's finale of "ED", "THE KNIGHTS OF PROSPERITY" (ABC), national commercials (current - Alka Seltzer) and numerous indy films and off-off's. Jagger is one of the most respected sources for outing acting/model scams and owns/operates the NYC areas most respected FREE casting group - www.ACTORSFIRSTNY.com. Jagger is also an Independent Casting Director & a Career Consultant (over 7 dozen clients).

Interviewed by Kipley Wentz

Congrats on five successful years!

Thanks Kipley & I appreciate having me back for a third time, your interest & support has always been welcoming.

We had our fifth anniversary in April & had an amazing event when top Hollywood director Steven Carr (Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Dr. Doolittle 2, Daddy Day Care, Next Friday & more) came by and did a free event for some lucky students - http://www.cnc-5thanniversary.com. It was a great way to celebrate and having someone like Steven take interest and work with the group was very flattering

Castingsnclasses.com is an accurate description of what you offer. Because it's such a valuable resource, let's start with castings... the ActorsFirstNY group. What is it, why did you start it, and how can actors join it?

Well AFNY or ActorsFirstNY is an 11,800+  member FREE casting group (run through Yahoo Groups). We send out about 400-450 FREE castings a month directly into actors in-boxes. We send everything from student films to Broadway shows & it’s completely FREE & quite a community. Joining is easy, just email ActorsFirstNY-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or go to http://www.CASTINGSnCLASSES.com. 

Now why did I start it? Years back there were a few casting groups on Yahoo that had a few thousand members and shared castings. One discontinued being free & started charging a fee on a website & I wound up moderating the other one until the group owner decided to make it a message board & discontinue the group. I always loved the ease of receiving the notices in your inbox and decided to start my own group called “NYCCasting” and changed it to ActorsFirstNY about a year and a half later. We have grown to levels nobody expected and I cannot be more proud & thankful.

 Jagger, over the past five years you've expanded from a few classes to a full schedule covering a wide range of subjects and styles of acting. For someone who may not have heard about CastingsnClasses.com, what kinds of classes do you offer, and why should actors get involved?

Yep, it used to just be me teaching a class on Sundays struggling to fill them and now we are a pretty hot entity with some amazing instructors. I like to create classes I feel are unique and fill a need. We have unique classes like Voiceover 101, Intro To Meisner, The Art Of Storytelling Scene Class, Intro To Shakespeare, Comedic Acting, etc.

I listen to the community and respond accordingly. I’m ecstatic to say most of our offerings sell-out in advance. It isn’t really “why actors should get involved” but if they see something that interest them, we are an incredibly affordable solution – that is why the classes side is branded http://www.AffordableActingClasses.com

Why do you think your program has been able to grow so quickly in such a short amount of time, and particularly during such difficult economic times?

Because we are unique in what we offer. I have this conversation with my students a lot, I say I’m successful because “I’m the best at what I do”, now that doesn’t mean I’m the best actor or instructor because that is all subject, but I am brutally honest about myself as far as faults & weaknesses as well as things I strive for.

Nobody can do what I do the way that I do it (good or bad) and I base how I run my brands the same way. I don’t focus on other teachers or facilities, I don’t focus on other actors that might be considered “rivals” … it’s petty & I am way too busy. I focus on myself and trying to make everything I do unique in some way and that is a lesson for every actor … a life lesson that took me years to learn.

Now as far as the economy, the downturn actually helped us because now actors are searching for the affordable alternatives. When I first began some looked at my pricing and assumed what we offered was of an inferior quality and now that our reputation grew people seek us out and the weak economy actually helps in a weird way.

I'm absolutely blown away by the huge number of different classes you offer... it's too much to cover in one interview! For someone who is just starting out, they're new to the business but serious about acting, maybe money is tight... what are the first three classes you would recommend they take, and why?

Thanks, I am extremely proud of our schedule and offerings. If someone is just starting out I suggest four classes … Acting For Beginner (self-explanatory), Intro To Shakespeare (every actor should have some knowledge of Shakespeare), Commercial Intensive (commercials are a great way to break in the industry) & Career Help Intensive (which is a marketing, focus and kick in the pants type class)

I noticed that your Acting for Beginners class usually sells out quickly. In your opinion, what are the most important skills for a beginning actor to develop?

It’s been insane, I used to have only three Acting For Beginners classes a year & this year looks to be about 9 sold-out classes. An actor new to the industry needs to be truthful, I always say “acting is about taking risk while telling the truth” and for a lot of people it is tough to look deep inside themselves and see everything good and bad.

Actors don’t play a “role” or a “character” they play that characters' emotions and if an actor is not true with their feelings then they cannot be true to the work. I tell actors that if a straight male needs to play a gay male in a scene, that they do not play a “gay man”, they play that characters emotions and a straight man has the same emotions.

So many people say “I am a great liar so I can be a great actor” & that is a huge misnomer … IT IS ABOUT TRUTH!

There are many different "schools" and methods of acting... for example, Stanislavski, Meisner, Strasberg... is there one particular method that your classes feature over another? If so, which one and why?

Legend TV icon Louise Lasser teaches Meisner for me. The classes I teach are not based in one “method” but more of a roll up your sleeves and get to work blue collar vibe. Like I said earlier my brand is based off me and that is who I am & my experience.

You teach several of the classes yourself... can you talk a bit about how you got started as an actor, and the unique perspective you bring to your classes?

Readers Digest version: I used to be a neighborhood hood and did not want my life to be lived behind bars and I had no real practical work experience but a great work ethic and decided to re-invent myself as an actor and it truly saved my life. Again that is the vibe/energy/mojo I bring to anything I do bc it is what I have and what I lived!

You have a great group of professionals teaching various classes... how do you select the teachers for your classes?

I am very proud of who is affiliated with me and they all came into the fold differently. Louise Lasser saw a reading I directed and loved it and through one of my staff Michael we met & discussed the idea I had for an Intro To Meisner class and Louise was on board.

Diana Lote (VO Manager for CESD) actually contacted me after hearing about what I do and researched me and said she would love to be involved and we had a few meetings and came up with the Voiceover 101 class.

David Vaccari (Telsey & Co.) did a few industry events for me and said how much he liked the energy and spirit of what I do and classes were a logical progression.

Andrew Hurley has a passion for Shakespeare like nobody else I ever met and he has a great knack for breaking it down so new actors understand and appreciate it.

Multi-Award winning director Phil Allocco will soon be teaching a film acting class and a film directing class and those will be huge and I can’t wait and I am also in discussions with CD Roger DelPozo to teach a 3-4 week on-camera commercial class that should be incredible.

Also any teacher that works through me must understand the meaning & spirit of the word “affordable”. Someone like David Vaccari can make more if he taught for someone else but he gets what we do and appreciates the sense of community we are building. Louise Lasser always mentions how much she loves the people I fill my classes with and how much fun the classes are, so she understands and supports the “affordable” solutions we offer. To have all of the above as well as someone like Steven Carr excited to be involved truly vindicates the existence of what we do.

I hear a lot of actors complain that they're not doing anything because they can't afford acting classes. In terms of building a career, why is it important for an aspiring actor to stay involved with classes and events like the ones you offer?

I cannot spend people’s money for them but actors need to be constantly working their acting muscles. If an actor is in tough economic times he/she can still get together with other actors to read a play, a script or do some improv. Actors tend to sit on their butts unless they are in a class or a production and I never understood that.

I'm curious about the Career Help Intensive... what are some of the most common mistake actors make, or the biggest misconceptions you hear about building a career in showbiz?

Actors don’t realize how important the business aspect of “showBIZ” is and also how important it is to have all your ducks in a row before taking the leap with trying to get an agent or have a CD interested in you. First impressions last!

What's next for you and CastingsnClasses.com? Where do you hope this business will be on your Tenth Anniversary?

Closed … lol

I’m exhausted Kipley, and feel (& look) like I aged 5 years in the last 12 months. Five years from now I hope I’m too busy on a series or a slew of films to be doing anything else, but until that time I will work my ass off for the acting community because they deserve it!

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