Actor Growth

Session started in the morning today which was a semi surprise as the coach had to attend an event. It was kind of an interesting day as I did the very serious scene. As it turned out, I kind of accidentally went too deep into the scene where I got a bit emotional after the take. Usually when you do that as an actor you always end up saying “Oops, that didn’t come out right.”

The coach was saying though that you shouldn’t ever hold back magical moments like that and he emphasized how he wished that I would have just allowed it to all go during the take. He was even saying too where at first if I was a girl he would have probably just said “breathe it off” or something. But since I’m a guy it’s not an everyday thing you see and at first he thought that I just say had something in my eye. lol. It was actually the reader at first who noticed it and had a concerned look on his face.

I don’t know. It just didn’t feel right though in context of the scene. But I guess for people watching it things like this are more engrossing to see. It was kind of funny now that I look back at it as one person used an accent for the character which I thought made it interesting and would help to make you stand out in an audition.

I then asked the coach what I could do to make it more interesting and for the most part during the first take he said that he liked it the way it was. Then low and behold this happens unexpectedly during the second take.

Afterwards, we taped another scene for my demo reel and it looks like I should be working with the coach tomorrow to start submitting my portfolio. Hopefully that will go through as planned.

Off topic….It’s snowing in Vancouver

Looks like this month there is a small class due to a lot of people being on vacation. The audition side this week revolved around a police officer who recently lost his wife and child. At the same time, he was mad at a colleague for doing a sloppy job. It was an interesting situation where the coach told me that the way I preformed the scene is probably how the majority of other actors would have done it where I was simply very angry and direct.

Therefore, he said that it would have been more interesting if I was more timid, so to speak, where it’s like one of those situations where the guy is scarier if he is quiet. The twist to that is in context of the show as a whole it could make more sense where the guy is emotionally mad. Whereas since this is an audition you want to try and stand out from everyone else. So it can be a tricky situation.

After class the coach and I had a long talk about my career direction too. A big part of it was because I was not sure if I would be returning to next month’s workshop. I must say, he is truly going above and beyond in trying to get me more deeply into the biz as he invited me to go to an event this week and is going to try hook me up with some other things to help me achieve that goal.

One thing that might conflict with this is that in the day of the event I am booked for some work. So, hopefully it will work out where it will be a very early call and so I can then attend the event at night.

Was kind of a funny build up to the workshop today. At first the acting coach texted me yesterday saying he had difficulties finding myself and another person a scene to do. Basically, he wanted to challenge us but said that we both usually take direction very well.

Actually, the first thought in my mind was if he got that e-mail that I sent last week where as you all may remember I didn’t get a response. Essentially, he was going to help me with my reel and all to help me prepare for my next career move and planning. And this was the text message he replied back with:

Hilarious. lol. He eventually did find a scene and today I did it as usual. Again, he mentioned that I took direction extremely well. I also learned that virtually half of the other actors won’t be attending next month due to vacations or needing to save money. At this rate, there is a possibility that there will only be like five of us in the class.

I was also asked if I was coming back next month and January 2010 as a lot of them mentioned they will be back in the new years. I mentioned that I would be returning. Although, a big reason why I am returning next month is because the acting coach told me that he is going to be assisting me in my career growth when it comes to the business side of things.

There is actually no workshop for next week and he told me to come in that day as he wants me to do completely new scenes for my demo reel with sides/work that are more recent. As explained last week, he mentioned to me that when people like casting directors see you performing work that has recently been out there it gets them thinking if you do a really good job as they then subconsciously compare it to the people they did bring into the room.

At this point I want to finish the demo reel by this month and then use the month of December to see if things are working out. If I don’t accomplish my specific milestone goal by the end of December or if say I don’t seem to be getting the support to help me accomplish my goals then there is a high chance I won’t be continuing with this workshop in the new years. In my mind, if this doesn’t help me then I have to try something new.

How does that saying go? Something like the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I don’t mind acting insane when it comes to a character role, but I am not on camera right now.

It was another pretty standard day in terms of what we did. There was one thing interesting though. The sides that we got dealt with some kind of thief that was orchestrating a robbery as it was his job to scout the place out for a few days. In the process he meets this girl that he kind of falls in love with. Therefore, in the midst of the robbery he decides he wants to try to change his life and to make sure this girl doesn’t get shot in the process by the other people.

Based on what I read I first interpreted it as the girl was dumbfounded about the situation and as the thief confessed about his background she just thought it was a joke and persisted that it is one. As the script indicates, it’s not until further in the conversation that she starts to fear for her life.

So my direction was to do it in a very serious way where the character is trying to tell her he is dead serious and is telling her this because he doesn’t want her to get hurt. Guess it’s like a guy saying he is in a crazy gang that is about to destroy the place where you just laugh at the idea and it’s not until he keeps talking about it with some very detailed information that you start to realize he is dead serious.

So in the first round the coach was saying the intensity level was definitely there. Except he started to say that the guy was supposed to be extremely remorseful about admitting his professions to the lady and in order to convince her to follow him to safety he needed to be more empathetic I guess you can say. So in my mind, that meant that this character was extremely weaker than what I thought.

I debated about the choices and direction for awhile as some of them seemed like it was more about a directional choice. But, as a challenge of an actor I think the key to an audition is that you need to be adaptable to take direction and so I did. I re-did the scene with all the feedbacks and direction.

Afterwards, the coach said that I nailed it and just like from a previous class where he thought my performance was amazing he said that I achieved that same level with this. I was thinking even more and it seems like at this point of my training and the feedback that I have been getting is that acting is not an issue at all when it comes to the audition process but rather trying to get the interpretation right the first time. That is such a subjective thing too.

On a side note I learned that one of my classmates landed a role in that feature film the A Team. While that is great news, even he was joking about it as before he was saying that he wanted to grow his hair as he feels that he could get more auditions that way. Wouldn’t you know it, this role that he landed requires him to shave his hair and go bald. Funny how things work in life sometimes.

Today was kind of funny for me. The scene that was given was extremely awkward when it came time to perform it. The idea of the audition side revolved around a law firm where there was an older female lawyer who hires a younger paralegal to help her out. While reading the sides, there were sections such as the paralegal asking the lawyer to reveal her “stuff” as if she did it he would help her finish her work faster. Basically, sexual tension. From what I read, the lady was married too.

My choice was based on all this information the scene was all about a power sparring match where the young guy thinks he can charm the lady very easily and vice versa she is a lady that uses sex to get what she wants in life. Example, she married her husband for money using sex appeal and has no real reserve in cheating with others as everyone is just a way to gain something.

Although, there was one part I was a bit unsure about as there was a part in the script where they talked about her trying to get pregnant where the husband was just dumbfounded on why they can’ conceive. Right after it talked about how she begins to pop so many pills at night too. So my first assumption is she was trying to avoid becoming pregnant which kind of matched with persona I had of the character I would be talking to.

Turns out, that wasn’t the case as at all. You see, usually when you walk into an audition you can ask the casting director questions about the scene to help you make the best decisions in your performance. Of course in class the acting coach is acting as the casting director. I asked him about the lady character and the scenario was completely different. Basically, she was trying to get pregnant. And the character that I would be reading for was basically kind of like a Viagra for her, I guess you can say, where she gets turned on from younger men who find her attractive.

It definitely pretty much destroyed what I had planned before as my vision was that this was going to be a really subtle yet powerful scene where two characters are trying to outdo the other. Instead, it’s more cheeky I guess you can say. That completely threw me off. So that was an interesting experience and it’s a good thing I experienced that in class as oppose to a real audition.

It’s was funny too as he asked me what my decisions were before and I explained it. He was just floored at how I was able to come up with so much stuff based on those five pages. One person in class said that when I make strong choices I sure make strong choices. Another comment was that I might be watching too much sci-fi stuff. lol. Although, I haven’t really watched too much sci-fi….have just been working on Sci-Fi shows a lot.

Wasn’t sure if there was going to be a class today since it is Thanksgiving holiday week here and many people have left for a long weekend vacation. But, it did happen as enough people were around still. It was fairly the same routine today where we got a script ahead of time and then auditioned it.

For some reason today I don’t think I really learned too much compared to the other days as it felt more like a staying on top of your game day. Basically, it’s like exercising where you are just doing the same thing to build certain strengths. I guess that is good and bad depending on how you look at it.

There was one discussion that came up where one actor asked if it was appropriate to ask your agent about your career growth and what projects they have submitted you for. The coach said that many times when you ask agents this they will respond in an apprehensive way where they interpret it as you are questioning them if they are doing their job or not.

Another person mentions that his agent gives him like a submission breakdown every two weeks and it is great. He then came up with a point where if the agent is submitting you and all then there is no reason for them to be apprehensive over this. That is what I learned personally in school before too and so did this guy. Interestingly enough, the coach said that is not the norm though which kind of surprised me.

If anything I guess it was more about learning some different perspectives of the business side of the industry today. I’m still kind of surprised at that response to that question.