David Black interviews Peter Sardi for the Australian Short Film Network Journal
Peter Sardi is the director and an acting teacher at Peter Sardi’s School Of Acting in Melbourne.
Many members of The Australian Short Film Network will be familiar with this name and some have
been trained at his school. Today, I have the pleasure of chatting to Peter.
DB – Hi Peter, thanks for taking the time to chat to me today. Peter Sardi’s School Of Acting is
certainly one of the iconic Melbourne institutions where many actors have learned the craft of acting over many, many years. But you didn’t simply set up an acting school out of the blue. Way back in the ‘70’s, ‘80’s, ‘90’s and beyond, you acted in some of the mainstream TV SHOWS of the day, such as “Keepers,” “Cop Shop”, “Neighbours”, “Skyways”, “Special Squad”, “Henderson Kids”, “Fields Of Fire”, “Embassy”, “Feds”, “Blue Healers”, “Wildside”, “Stingers”, “MDA”, “City Homicide. You also acted in several FEATURE FILMS such as “Mouth To Mouth”, “Moving Out”, “Street Hero”, “Ground Zero”, “Evil Angels”, “Angel Baby”, and more recently “The Legend Of Ben Hall;” And you’ve also worked with The Melbourne Theatre Company as well as The Malthouse Theatre Company. You’ve obviously brought a wealth of experience to your acting school.
What sparked off your desire to teach?
Peter Sardi – It was way back in early 1980 when I had returned home to Melbourne from my very first visit to Los Angeles, having spent a year studying acting full time, I was afraid that over time I was going to forget everything that I had learned over there in L.A. A friend of mine at the time said to me “Why don’t you teach what you learned over there that way it will help you remember the teachings.” I thought that made sense, so sometime in late January of 1980 on the floor of some factory in Richmond I gathered a very small group of close acting friends, three to be precise, and I taught my very first acting class. These weekly classes were FREE at the time, I didn’t see them as ‘acting classes,’ they were simply an opportunity for me to pass on what I had learned in Los Angeles and an opportunity to help me retain and not forget the teachings. Over time the word got out that there was this guy who had returned from Los Angeles teaching acting. I wasn’t long before my initial group of three actors had grown to thirty. At this time someone suggested that I should charge a fee for the classes at which point I did and things just took off from there.
DB – What were your experiences over there in Los Angeles studying acting?
Can you tell us a bit about that?
Peter Sardi – It was a wonderful experience. It opened up a whole new world for me. Remember, it
was 1979 and the world was a lot bigger, no Internet, no mobile phones, no social media and the like, so in some strange way for the year that I was there Australia didn’t exist in that I was very absorbed in the school, very absorbed in the American culture and Australia was a very long, long way away.
I was like a sponge just taking it all in and for that time nothing existed outside of ‘acting’. I also made some close American friends that I still remain in contact with to this day, thanks to social media.
To summarise: I believe my whole American experience ‘opened a door’ to not just ‘acting’ but to something much bigger; you might say it opened a door inside me where something was awoken, and here’s the thing...
After forty years of teaching acting I have learned that the task or job if you will of a good acting teacher/school is to awaken something in the student that he or she already possesses deep inside but which may have gone to sleep, and it’s my job and responsibility as an acting teacher to re-awaken to reignite that creative flame that may have been extinguished years ago. What exactly is it that needs to be re-awakened? Well that’s too long an answer to go into it here, but maybe another time.
Acting School ~ Hollywood Blvd (1979)
DB – There are many members of the Australian Short Film Network that are considering going to an acting school. What can they expect?
Peter Sardi - LISTEN... That’s it in a word, they will firstly learn, if they join our school, how to LISTEN. I can’t speak for other acting schools but in our school the ability to truly listen is the foundation of our teachings. Of course there are many other elements in the craft of acting that we teach however the foundation that everything is built on is this ability to really listen in a deep way. Also: If you are studying at our school you can expect a very safe environment in the classroom.
This is essential due to the nature of the work that we do in our classes. You can also expect to meet some very interesting people from all walks of life, and I have always found this fascinating, how in the same room you can have such a diverse group of people from all sorts of varying backgrounds and cultures. We have had in the same room a High Courtroom judge, a Physicist, a Lawyer, Truck drivers, Plumbers, Bricklayers and the list goes on... yet what unites them all besides their love of ‘acting’ is their common humanity.
What you can expect in our classes is the opportunity to connect to other fellow actors, specifically to connect to each other in a deep way and this is only possible when we can access our own humanity.Finally, you can expect to learn not only ‘how to act’, but WHAT IT IS TO ACT.
DB – Peter, I’ve heard that you are a career maker. Tell us about some of your students that went on to bigger roles?
Peter Sardi – First name that comes to mind is LIAM HEMSWORTH, nice guy, good student, smart,
respectful, quiet.
I remember the last time I saw him in my class was when he was walking out with a reference in hand that I wrote for him just before he took off to Los Angeles. (I still have the reference.) I remember thinking at the time ‘take care over there,’ knowing he was a country boy (actually he grew up on Philip Island in Victoria) and Los Angeles was a very big city. Less than two years later he landed his first major role in “The Last Song” opposite Miley Cyrus, and the rest is history as they say.
There are other past students who went on to bigger roles but Liam was the biggest.
DB – Is there anything special down the track for us to look out for?
What are your plans for the future Peter?
Peter Sardi – I recently finished acting in a short film that is now in postproduction. It was a
wonderful experience with some very talented people involved. I believe it will be released either
sometime later this year or early next year.
ALSO: I am currently writing a PLAY with my wife Sophie. It was conceived from an improvisation with a small group of actors that developed over a period of a little over one year. It was a very interesting process that we explored and we have now arrived at a full-length play that I am in the process of fine-tuning. Unfortunately COVID has delayed any further work on it for now but we are looking forward to the time when we can eventually have a public ‘reading.’ All in all I am just looking forward to the time in 2022 where we can hopefully get back into our acting studio and do what I have been doing for 40 years... teach acting.
DB – Where can our readers find out more about your school, and follow your work?
Peter Sardi - There are a few links, here they are: