Actor Growth

Had quite a busy day today. First up was that I was finishing up the volunteer acting for a student film. It was a cool scene as it revolved around an interrogation where myself and another guy got the living daylights beaten out of us. We had everything like the bloody scars and all. As well, the person that beat us up has this large weapon/gun where I am kind of interested to see how it turns out in the final cut.

Since I was around the area too I attended this free audition class that took place at another acting school here in Vancouver. It was interesting to see the contrast at how different the setup was here compared to the place that I currently train at. Overall, I thought that the place I am currently with is more true to what an actual audition is like.

I also noticed one very interesting thing while attending this school.
Basically, there was a part where the instructor was giving his notes and feedbacks and I was listening. For this instructor he was semi joking that it looked like I was going to say wait for him outside at his car and take him out.

Why was this interesting to me? This seems like such a common theme where whenever I had an acting coach that is not of a visible minority they always seem to make a remark like that. Whereas acting coaches that are of a visible minority don’t make that comment. I mean, I am just listening to them with all my attention when you think about it.

I was then told that this is just an example of stereotypes. Example, if you saw a black guy stare at you one would think he is going to like take out a gun and shoot you. When it comes to an Asian guy you think he is going to fight you in some way. Kind of silly, but that perception is not going away anytime soon.

That was a unique way of saying it I thought. The other day I was listening to an acting coach talking about how there can be a gazillion reasons on why you didn’t get the part and so you shouldn’t think too much of it. Example, they wanted someone taller, a specific ethnicity, etc.

He then used a humorous example of going into an interview for a bank job first where you have to sit in a room with all of the other applicants (Hence the audition). Then, as you are in the interview room imagine that they think you are the perfect candidate skill wise and it sounds like you got the job.

Eventually, they decide they can’t use you as they want a girl to attract more female audience and at the same time they need specific colored person to help with the company’s diversity image. Not only that, since they hired the girl, even though you are qualified to do the job you were shorter than the girl which wasn’t acceptable for them and so they hired another person.

Where else but in the world of acting can hiring someone be this discriminating and judgmental? Everyone was just laughing at that too as we all know that is just the way it works in this field and we just need to learn not to take rejections personally.

Well, that’s it for this particular workshop. The day started out in a very unorthodox fashion where we all had to stand in a circle and go through a routine as a way to open ourselves up to each other. The exercise involved things such as blurting out words without vowels to trying and channel your energy to another person.

Besides that, for the most part the day was the same as other days where we performed a scene and got feedbacks. There was one interesting comment of the day that stuck out for me personally. The acting coach was giving feedbacks to another Asian person and he specifically encouraged him to keep at it even though there aren’t many opportunities for him.

That immediately made me think because I am Asian too, of course, and have been prepared since the beginning knowing that my opportunities will be limited and to try and find ways around that as a result. Speaking of which, I was surprised to see many people doing scenes that they wrote themselves. Afterwards, he talked about his new sessions that were taking place in the future and that was the end of this experience.

Was this worth it overall? Again, I base my value on the results I get in getting auditions/roles and so I can’t judge that yet. But overall my feeling about this particular workshop is that it seems to be more beneficial if you are already out there in the industry such as casting directors being aware of you.

I say this because when it comes to the acting work in this workshop it is definitely very thorough. The coach does a lot in trying to get you to do things a certain way while challenging you to go deeper. So if your goal is to become better at your craft of acting then this would definitely be a top choice in the city I’d say.

However, I know most actors take workshops like these to try and find a way to even get that first opportunity to showcase themselves in the first place. So when you think about it, in that sense these types of workshops may not be right as you would want more focus on audition techniques as well as ways to better promote yourself.

Interesting experience overall. For my next journey into various acting workshops, I have chosen a place that seems to specifically focus on audition techniques while the instructors seem to emphasize that they want to see you get work as a result of taking its workshops. This won’t start until next month, but I will be doing an audit of sort next week.

Yesterday was the second last day of the actors workshop. This time the class focused on doing a scene that was more quirky and far fetched in a serious type of way. Since everything kind of required a British accent too it was definitely an out of place scene for me. However, I decided to do it without focusing on the accent.

For the most part I believe I did what I wanted to do. There was one moment where my character gives a subtle flick of the eyebrow to tell this girl not to do something and the whole class reacted to it which was great. Even the reader told me she was shocked by it as it was so fast but it definitely made her think in context to the scene.

The acting coach made a comment in the end how it seems like all my acting around the facial expressions is all great and fits so well. The main complaint is that it’s mainly my body motions that don’t have the same type of expressions and so he was trying to think of a way to get me to improve on that.

He also commented that all of the relaxation techniques in the world such as Yoga isn’t going to help it seems and that I need something else. I then made a comment to him during the break that a big reason for this is because I came from a theatre background where you often can over exaggerate your moves and be more free. However, once I studied film you are taught to not do that.

It then registered for him quickly about the issue as he said he understand perfectly as after film training you are always second guessing yourself about your movements and so you tend to do nothing. I then asked him if there was a scene that specifically focuses on the characters moving a lot and he mentioned he would try to find one.

In the end of the day though, I was late and he just handed everyone scripts. He gave me one that seems along the lines of an X-files type of show. Don’t think there is anything that would force me to use more movement though.

He did throw in a comment asking if it was okay to give me this as it has a lot of technical stuff and he felt that I would understand this type of thing. Hence, he was worried about the stereotype where I might object to reading for something like that. I said it didn’t matter though. So I guess I this will be my last scene though as next week is the last day in training with this coach.

Today I saw that documentary called The Slanted Screen that dealt with Asians in the film business and the type of struggles and stereotypes one has to go through. I saw it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJwAwH93Yhg

While obviously this one focused on Asian talent, it was so interesting to see the type of real politics that happen behind the scene. Example, certain films that wanted to replace actors simply because of their ethnicity to help draw in more acceptability. The comment towards the end too was pretty true where the bottom line it comes down to the money in terms of getting acceptance and more opportunities.

I mentioned before that my experiences have been pretty good so far when it comes to the independent circuit. I believe a big reason for this is that a lot of the younger generation of actors and filmmakers are used to growing up in a multicultural environment. Therefore, it’s more about who has the right skill and look.

Although, I will admit that for bigger budget items it is still hard. But realistically, it’s tough for everyone. Just like a business, the person funding the project wants a return on investment and so that’s just a challenge that you need to adapt with as they simply want to go with what is more likely to generate a return.

So tomorrow I will be acting in a short film and was given a script not too long ago. It is going to be a comedy and I am going to play one of the lead characters that by the sounds of it is the type of person that gets dissed/demeaned by his friends all the time.

I don’t mind it too much as it is for fun and when it comes to acting it’s always interesting to play different types of role. The interesting thing is that most of the roles I have played are usually very dramatic or over the top comedy. Why that is interesting is because most people have told me that I would be stereotyped to death during my initial years as an actor.

I haven’t found that to be the case actually and this role is the first I would say that would fall in that lines of a stereotype as a lot of Asian actors I see are usually stuck playing the role of like say the geek that can’t get the girl. I’m guessing the stereotypical reason for that is that a lot of Asians are into things like computers and Anime.

One of my goals in acting from day one ever since I was encouraged to enter the field has always been to try and break a stereotype that an Asian can only play the stereotypical roles or can’t act good enough to be a lead for more demanding roles. With that in mind, I do indeed become a little more sensitive in terms of the types of roles that I accept.

Of course, one thing that crosses my mind from a professional point of view is that I am not exactly in a position to really be too picky about the type of roles I do as the experience and growth is really beneficial. It is one of those challenges though where I try to do things that will help me grow in the industry while aiding me in my personal professional goals as well.