Where’s the distinction between pride and arrogance? It’s one that we performers have to finesse all the time. And one that were constantly in danger of getting wrong. Read more…
An interesting point was raised by Ron Van Lieu in class yesterday at The Actors Center. After offering some notes on a scene from “A Doll House,” the work started up again. After the second go around, Ron noted that the actress had taken his notes and veered straight into “character,” nearly forsaking the content of the “scene.” What she did was certainly entertaining, but it neglected something fundamental. Read more…
The snow was falling hard and fast, and by the time I reached the entrance to the Actors Studio I could have been mistaken for a snowman. I’ve been circling back to the places I first started, and no single place looms larger for me than the Studio. Years ago, I was an “observer,” exchanging volunteer hours cleaning up the place for the chance to watch sessions and soak up some knowledge. Read more…
I saw an actor at an audition the other day I’d not seen in many, many years. He’s older than I, and it took me a second to place him. His face was gaunt, his shoulders hunched, and he looked like he hadn’t slept, bathed or eaten in a week. Poor soul, I thought, he’s had some tough times…
After a moment, a second actor, cut from the same cloth, sauntered over. The two recognized each other, greeted a fond hello and started in on some idle chatter that soon turned into a litany of complaints, laced with profanities and full of bile. It was uncomfortable for anybody within earshot. Endless moans about part time bar jobs, unemployment and getting old. Read more…
Karl Malden was once asked about being a “Method Actor.” Presumably the question was asked of him because he was a member of The Actor’s Studio, which had produced a system of training and preparation based on the idea that an actor must dig deep into his psyche to produce “real” emotions. Malden replied that his method was “whatever worked.” This is my belief as well. There is no one way, and over the years I’ve developed my own method of creating characters that can involve research in the library, choosing music to listen to, wearing certain shoes, copying somebody else’s body language, whatever. I’m happy to toss in the kitchen sink if I think it will help. I don’t feel any allegiance to any one school of thought. Read more…
Listen to full episode: “Self-Help”
I was at an audition yesterday, slinking around the waiting area, as you do. There was a group of older women there, as well as a few of us scattered males. The women looked to be in their 50s, and all were very beautiful. They were clearly models, the type of women that caused traffic accidents in their 20s but now go largely ignored because their hair is gray and they have wrinkles around the eyes, which is a shame. Not that they should still be causing accidents, but that we don’t prize beauty beyond the age of 30. At any rate, I was perfectly content to stay in that room for a few minutes and enjoy the scenery, though I was dismayed to see that nearly all of these women were doing little more than gossiping and chatting with each other. Once a model, always a model, I suppose. But across from me there was this one, lone woman reading a book. A book of the “self-help” variety, something with a title like, “Racing to Catch Up,” which most of her compatriots would surely ridicule, if they could in fact read the title. Read more…
Listen to full episode: “Let It Be”
Once again it seems my spiritual practice is dovetailing with my professional life. I study meditation. That may sound strange. What is there to study? You just sit there and do nothing, right? It’s a little more complicated than that. At any rate, I do study, and I have a wonderful teacher, who last week raised the distinction between “letting go” and “letting be.” It’s subtle, but important. “Letting go” can often lead to further frustration, if, in fact, the thing in question – anger, fear, resentment, whatever it is – isn’t let go of. Now you’re stuck with the original thorn in your side, only it has been twisted. “Letting be,” on the other hand asks only that you accept that the anger, fear, resentment is allowed to exist. That’s all. It just… is. I’m frustrated, I’m angry, I’m afraid. So be it. It’s just a feeling. It will work it’s way off on its own, as you simply observe it. In fact, you might even try to befriend it. Stop me if I’m moving to fast. But try it. You’ll see.
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