If you saw Freakier Friday (and if not, what the heck are you waiting for?), then you have seen the fruits of acting coach Kimberly Bigsby.
The longtime coach of child star-turned-teen star Julia Butters, Bigsby actually became integral to the production of the hit sequel. Not only was she brought on to help newcomer Sophia Hammons, she also worked with stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan so that the four actresses could better understand each other’s physicality, thus improving everyone’s performance as Curtis and Hammons played each other, as did Lohan and Butters.
The results are stunning, with the two younger actresses stealing the movie from their more experienced — and in one instance, Oscar-winning — costars.
Bigsby is a working actor as well as a coach, with credits like Succession, Better Call Saul, Waco and The West Wing, and also had a small role in Freakier Friday. As a coach, she is constantly in demand, with upcoming projects as varied as Tron: Ares, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Whalefall. She spoke to us about her teaching and her craft from Atlanta, where she’s on location working on another project for Disney.
Insights From Kimberly Bigsby
- Actors should continuously explore and combine different acting techniques to develop a personalized skill set that keeps their work fresh and adaptable.
- Use imagination-based character work to create detailed backstories and emotional experiences, enabling deeper connection and authenticity in any role.
- Treat acting classes as consistent practice, embracing discomfort and failure to sharpen skills and build confidence for auditions and performances.
Why don’t we start with how you got into becoming an acting coach?
Well, I’m also an actor, and was taking classes and studying at Warner Loughlin Studios in Los Angeles for many years. That organically turned into teaching classes, which organically turned into taking private clients and private coaching, and the train just kept moving in that direction. I’ve been doing it ever since, and I am also currently still an actor, so I bounce back and forth between doing the thing and coaching the thing.
I love it because it keeps me very connected and fresh. I’m continuously learning things, and that allows me to teach my clients and coach, and really see people for where they’re at and go from there.
Do you ever find, when you’re acting, that you sometimes have a hard time turning off the teaching part of you while you’re working?
No, I don’t, actually. I think that, especially in the way that I work, it all starts with creative people and artists getting together and workshopping something and working it out. That’s what a good acting class is, in general.
With experience, you get really fast and good and creative with script analysis and character relationships and plot twists and things like that, and emotional arcs and things that you study as an actor in class.
I think that time in class is incredibly valuable for any actor, just because it does allow you to play a million different types of characters, some of which you wouldn’t necessarily be cast as in real life. It allows you to really have control over the types of things that you’re working on and studying, and then having that sharpness and experience to follow you into your working life.
I was wondering from a more tactile perspective, wanting to work with a scene partner.
I don’t necessarily think that is separate from someone who is an acting coach or teacher, to a very talented actor who might be in front of someone who’s like, “Oh, I wish that they would do this so that I could do that.”
If those are the thoughts that you’re having within the scene, then we’re not necessarily present in it, so finding ways to work with your costar and allowing those moments to be very genuine and spontaneous, then you might have those thoughts after they yell, “Cut.” Then again, it’s a collaborative process, and it’s that creative sort of workshopping that allows everybody to be involved.
Do you have a particular mode or philosophy that you teach? By that I mean, do you subscribe to a particular discipline, or is it more of an à la carte approach?
I think the à la carte sort of expression is good. As an actor, you try on all these different types of hats, you go to lots of different studios, you study under many different teachers, and you figure out what fits for you, because what fits for me or someone else might not fit for the next person.
By allowing yourself to learn all of it, you can take bits and pieces, or you can create your own technique, or you can say, “Oh, my goodness, this particular thing is me, and this works,” and that becomes the regular skill set.
Being open to learning new things and trying new things is really important as an actor, because you don’t want to feel stale when a challenge comes and you only have this certain skill set, [where you do not] necessarily reach into other places and want to figure out a different way in.
Does that mean your work with your clients is more contextual? Each to their own needs, rather than trying to fit into a specific discipline?
It’s about, “Where are they at?” If it’s someone that I’ve worked with for a very long time, there’s a comfort in the collaboration and the workshop of it all, but I come personally from an imagination-based technique. The possibilities are infinite, and if you’re coming from other worlds of substitution or method or things like that, that feels to me like I can get stopped up in the amount of creativity that I’m able to have.
I sometimes feel like I’m in a box, or I haven’t had that experience in real life, so I don’t know how to translate that. Your imagination can go anywhere and create anything, so I do guide my clients in that way.
If I’m called on to a project and I’m stepping onto a set with an actor that I’ve never worked with before, and they have me there for support, then I will have the conversation of, “How do you work? What is the best way in for you?” Let’s figure out how to do that, and I’m happy to help them within those steps that are familiar to them, to guide them into the performance that they want to give and that the production is hoping for.
A lot of it is script analysis, just going through your script, line by line, literally, sentence by sentence, figuring out why this is the thing that’s being said. What’s happening here? What are they feeling underneath that? Why is all of this? What do you need to feel grounded and connected in this moment?
I think the importance of being able to work with all different kinds of artists and letting them know that you’re there as a resource and as a support for them is what’s most important, and then allowing yourself to be part of that collaboration, to have everyone get to the goal.
How would you then break down what the imagination technique is?
It’s grounded in creating the life of this character from childhood all the way to the present day, and allowing you to create specific memories for that character as they have grown to this moment. Who have they had to be and what have they had to go through in order to arrive here?
It doesn’t have to be based on experiences and memories that are personal to that actor. Bring that history to the moment of this character.
When you’re using an imagination-based technique, you really can just create an entire life and give your character experiences and memories and things that have happened to shape who they are, to move them into the moment that they’re in. You can really sink into visualizing and emotionally experiencing things that you’ve created in your mind in order to place you into the present moment, and allow that history to tether you to who that human really was at every turn.
What is the target? There are people at a higher level, like Julia, and others who will never be working actors; and yet, they’re still going to get something from you.
The goal is feeling comfortable and confident in your craft, and feeling connected to the characters that you’re working to bring forward.
When I’m teaching classes, it’s the exercise of character, and every week, or every two weeks, you’re picking up a different scene, you’re playing a different character, you’re doing the homework and you’re creating the the life of that character. It’s the repetitive nature of those skills that allows, when auditions come through or when jobs are booked, that you’re sharp.
I know that it’s been said a million times before, but it very much is like being an athlete. When you’re not at the game, you’re at practice, and when you’re in class, that’s the goal. Let’s be in practice. Let’s challenge each other. Let’s fail. Let’s be uncomfortable. Let’s try things that are outside of ourselves.
Do you find that your teachings are transferable to life outside of acting?
Yes, because it’s our job to be investigators of the human condition. To really think about the way that we as humans are feeling and reacting, but also looking at other people and removing our judgment, because I think it’s so important not to be judgmental of others.
It’s important to understand where they’re coming from and why that might be, and I think that you can look at the world around you and all of the other humans and go, “Maybe I shouldn’t be angry at this person in this moment or be aghast at their behavior. Maybe they’re dealing with something really, really big that’s behind all of this, and I’m just going to give them some grace, because life is hard, no matter where you sit.”
Hopefully, it makes everybody a little bit more peaceful when you’re just not mad at everybody that’s around you, and you can lean in to understand.
Final Takeaways
Starting as an actor can feel overwhelming, but focusing on the right habits early on makes all the difference. Kimberly Bigsby’s approach highlights the importance of creativity, collaboration and continuous learning. Here are some simple steps new actors can take to build a strong foundation in their craft.
- Embrace different acting techniques to discover what works best for you and keep your approach flexible.
- Use your imagination to create detailed character backstories that help you connect emotionally with each role.
- Treat every class and rehearsal like practice for a game. Push yourself to take risks and learn from failure.
- Collaborate openly with scene partners, focusing on genuine moments rather than overthinking during scenes.
- Study your script line by line to uncover the character’s true feelings and motivations beneath the words.
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