For the past several weeks, Laurel Busby has not been herself during the lunchtime hour.
Instead, she has been a jilted lover, an estate planning daughter and even a nuclear scientist. When she steps through the doors of the Bruin Collaborative at UCLA Downtown, that is her chance to slip into character and exercise her acting chops at the inaugural Actors Weekly Workout. The eight-week pilot is the first course of any kind offered in the newly opened downtown space.
“As a child I really enjoyed acting, but as an adult I became a little more self-conscious,” said Busby, who edits a local newspaper and is writing a novel. “Lately, I’m at home writing by myself often, and this is a great excuse to act again and also interact with other people in a fun way.”
The Bruin Collaborative is far from a normal UCLA classroom in Westwood. The building it resides in is a historic art deco construction, and the sixth-floor space features high ceilings, skylight windows, exposed brick and expansive room to really move around.
“It’s fun to be somewhere different and in a different part of L.A.,” Busby said. “It’s a little bit like stepping back in time, while still keeping yourself rooted in the modern.”
The class is intentionally intimate, with about a half-dozen students attending each week. Instructor David Martel leads them in warmups, acting exercises, cold readings, monologues and scene work.
“The idea is to refresh your performance readiness through warmups and exercises that build confidence and energy,” he said.
Over the next several academic quarters, UCLA Extension will launch more courses downtown in topics including entertainment, math, AI and art. For the Winter Quarter, Entertainment Studies will offer Making Your First Short Film, as a way to build on the success of the acting pilot.
“The space is so big and open and raw. I think it’s a fantastic space for creativity,” said Erin Kaufman Gabrieloff, Entertainment Studies portfolio director. “I’m really proud of the role the arts, filmmaking and entertainment can play in the activation of UCLA Downtown.”
Martel has taught Acting for Camera at UCLA Extension since 2022 and was excited when he got the call to pilot a course downtown.
“There is the potential for UCLA Extension to grow a whole new culture on this side of town, a whole new community,” he said. “The openness of this space and the way natural light fills it throughout the day make it especially inviting. It’s also a far more flexible environment for filming.”
Students came to the pilot with all levels of experience – from those ready for their next audition off Sunset to those who have not considered acting since their high school play.
“I admire how people are stepping outside their comfort zones to try something new,” Martel said. “It’s a privilege to help launch this space, and I hope people continue to spread the word.”
For Busby, she last took an acting class 20 years ago. Two years ago, she helped send her son off to college, so this seemed like the perfect time to pick acting back up, and see where it goes.
“I don’t have a grand plan, per se, but I think I’m going to experiment in the next few weeks with some acting jobs, like extra work or independent films, just to see what I think of it,” she said.
