Actor Growth

Today we did another round of cold reads. It was kind of surprising for most as people thought we would be doing scenes where we would get one night to prepare it in an effort to pretend that this is an audition for a role that you are seriously being considered for.

I read a scene from the show Fringe. There was about three pages worth of dialogue too which was a lot considering this was a last minute kind of thing. So, I did my thing based on my interpretation of it. It was kind of funny as I messed up the lines a lot but still I kept going pretending that I didn’t make an error.

Now the interesting thing for me came in the comments. The main point the coach wanted me to take away from this session was that he couldn’t understand why I was moving my head around during some of my conversations. He mentioned how when I was sitting there listening to his comments that I am perfectly still which he loves. He then made a comment that my movement was based on nervousness as he had his own quirks too.

Technically I can see that point and how it can be distracting and there is nothing to really debate about there. However, what I personally didn’t agree with 100% was that it was due to a performer’s nervousness as oppose to my direction and interpretation of the scene. Cause I can tell you that I didn’t feel nervous at all.

I was doing a self evaluation on my way home thinking of the times when I naturally move my head specifically like that. The bottom line, it comes to down to if I don’t fully trust the person then I am always second guessing on what their true intentions are or if I am trying to find the subtext behind the words they are saying. Hence, the eye movements, head tilts, etc.

To me that was a light bulb moment too as I guess I self realized the direction that I need to think of to avoid that. Example, in that scene my interpretation was that I was this individual who was a bit confused and suspicious about these two colleagues as I thought they actually had something to do with the incident and why they were here. However, after the feedback it sounded like the person was more about relaying a message and that they fully trusted each other. Therefore, I figured this was more about direction and making the right choices.

Someone in the class disagreed with that point though by saying how in the first scene I did for that Reaper script he noticed the same thing and therefore he agreed with the coach that it was more about something along the lines of nervousness. After thinking about it though, again I thought it was the same thing where for that scene there was a lot of distrust between the characters and those are the type of gestures I naturally make as choices in those incidents. It’s not due to nervousness though I’d say for that particular gesture as oppose to direction.

So with my personal theory and solution, since I know myself best, is that since I was requested to do this scene again I will change the direction where the character is more trusting about the environment and the people he is talking to. If I still get that comment then I know it is due to an external factor such as the nervousness that was mentioned. However, if it is not there after then it is indeed more likely to be a result of my personal choices.

I know that was one of the comments a past coach made to me too where when I get to read and fully understand the entire script I seem to do so well. However, when I get just small portions of it like some sides for an audition I tend to over think the situation and make more out of it than it really is. Example, like this whole trust issue in the scene. That was actually one of the reasons I chose an audition based workshop too this time around.

As well, again a past advice I have received from different coach mentions that I should feel free to move myself more and not be rigid. However, this coach is saying stay still mostly as it is better. So, that is what I will do. I’m starting to think that in a real setting it is more about knowing who you are auditioning for too to determine which style to go with. Let’s see how this goes.

Recently while working on set it was a pretty small group of people. One thing that happened was that the scene was potentially a physically demanding one where the performer could possibly get an upgrade as a result of it. Usually in these types of situations the director would say randomly pick someone on the spot.

It was interesting as the person that was in charge of managing us was saying quietly with another group of people on how she wanted to strategically place them in the scene in certain spots in hopes that they would get a better chance of being upgraded. That just made me think how it’s all about who you know many times as like in this case it wasn’t so much about who is more qualified or has the more ideal look but rather who the person in charge liked more personally.

In many ways you can say that’s just business too as this type of thing happens in virtually every industry. I thinking the film business it plays even a larger role.

It was a small class today again with three people. However, there was one new student as another lady was on vacation. So regularly I guess we can expect about four people. The focus today was on cold reads where we had absolutely no time to prepare for a scene as we were just given some sides and then expected to perform it as if it was a last minute audition.

The first scene I was given was a side for Stargate Universe. Overall it was a pretty serious tone type of scene. I was a little worried about this as I made a comment on how these are the types of audition roles that I don’t think I would even get a callback for normally. Reason being was that it was a military esque type of role and I didn’t think that I could come up with anything creative enough to get pass the fact that I don’t have the Hollywood military guy look.

The coach then made a comment on how I can’t really think of it that way as in real life I could easily say that I am in the military. As well, being me was unique in itself as no one else necessarily has the same look. True enough and I did the scene. The coach thought I did well and made a comment how I was perfectly believable as a military guy and that he would have saluted me. That was kind of a good challenge I thought.

The second scene was completely different as I was reading as a busboy for a project called The Troop. My personal interpretation of the scene was that it was a comedy and so I played it in a “douche” type of way. In some ways I was holding back too as I wasn’t sure if this was the right direction. However, in the end the room was laughing and the coach mentioned that he has seen hundreds of people do that scene and that my interpretation of it was so unique that everyone in the actual audition room would have been cracking up.

There was another coach there too today and he was saying how it’s all about bringing something unique. Basically, in the audition room the casting director sees so many people and for the most part everyone does it the exact same way. Doing something different will make you stand out from the rest. He made a comment about mines where it’s kind of like they expect everyone to make chili, but it’s adding those different spices to it to make it your own. He said I basically made chili and threw some corn in there. lol.

Afterwards I was talking to the coach in the end and the topic revolved around what he realized was a key in his success before things started to take off for him. It came down to his personality in the audition room. Example, walking into the room where people would like him as an individual and seeming like a great person who you would like to work with.

I mentioned too how this was a kind of poplar opposite advice I received from the last coach as he basically implied to me that you have to be dead serious as you are a professional and all. Interesting day though and was a nice change of pace from the stuff that I normally do.

You may remember a few weeks back I went for an audition that I thought went very well. Today, I got an e-mail from the producer asking me to phone him back. I assumed that was good news as in most cases people wouldn’t bother to contact you if they weren’t interested in any way.

While talking to him on the phone, he told me that they auditioned a lot of people and they decided that I could pull off a different character quite nicely other than the one I read for. Therefore, either way I got a role in this independent feature film.

I’m actually excited about this as resource and commitment wise these guys seem like they are dead serious in creating a film that has a high production value quality. At the same time, it is so true in this scenario where doing great and trying to stand out individually can result in the production saying something along the lines of “Okay, we like this guy…….what can we put him in” even though you may not be the ideal person for the particular role you read for.

Recently I was asked by my agency if I wanted to do some simple background work for an upcoming movie. It would be pretty demanding too as they wanted people for about 2 full weeks. The hours were pretty gruesome it seemed such as some of them starting at like 4am and the travel time would take about 40 minutes with a car. As well, some of the scenes required some physically demanding stuff.

However, unfortunately I was told that the pay scale would be the minimum bottom of the barrel pay and therefore it simply wasn’t worth it and I turned it down. My reasons were pretty simple as not only did I have to sacrifice a lot potentially to be there for minimum pay, but opportunity wise it’s not like this was anything that would greatly help my acting ambitions.

So the bottom line, if I don’t feel it is something that I would be passionate in doing with the opportunity being more “I just need bodies” type of arrangement, it comes down to the money as that is the only real reason why I would do the work. Even I have my personal limitations.

Unless you were living under a rock I’m sure you have heard about the death of Michael Jackson on June 25. During this period, there was a photo taken of the singer where it looked like he was already passed away as medical officials wheeled him away. Just recently, apparently some magazine called “OK Weekly” bought the rights to the picture reportedly for $500,000.

This of course raised a lot of controversy in terms of the ethics of doing something like that as one should give a deceased person some privacy in these matters. However, I have also read a bunch of other comments how when you are a celebrity there is no such thing as privacy and that this is the type of stuff you signed up for.

The acting coach was telling me just yesterday too how when he first entered the business as an actor he wanted all of the fame and glory. However, seeing how you pretty much get stalked by a herd of camera men throughout your daily life made him glad that his life wasn’t like that.

For me this is actually the only person I can think of in my lifetime where someone that has this much global stardom where his death would cause so much news. It sure reminds you as an actor too where even if you don’t reach the status of people like this in the entertainment industry, are you prepared for things like this?