My first audiobook review, from the leading industry magazine…

“[Edoardo Ballerini] carefully crafts identities… an eclectic mix of characters… all come to life… a creative narration.”

Read the full review

Listen to a sample

My next title, “Un Amico Italiano” for Penguin, is due out in May.

As an actor, my words are often not my own, of course, but I can choose to accept or decline a part depending on how I feel about the character and what he says and does.  More often than not, I accept even if I have minor reservations about what I’ll be voicing.  (I, too, have bills to pay.)

What would not be agreeable to me, however, would be to voice words, even in character, whose sole purpose were for the telling of falsehoods or meant to harm others.  Right Speech, in my line of work, should not stop at the sound stage door simply for the sake of money.

But you can do Shakespeare and say some pretty nasty stuff about the world, and I’m guessing that wouldn’t show up on anybody’s radar as a bad thing to be doing.  The best of our work edifies, and often we have to depict the unseemly side of humanity in order to do so.  It’s up to the individual to make the determination as to whether the speech in question is meant to harm or instruct, though some jobs are obviously without merit when it comes to Right Speech.

The other legitimate area of exploration in regards to Right Speech is in the commentary that goes on off set.  I have engaged in more than a few diatribes about how awful the industry is, how stupid people are, and how useless most of the people in the business can be.  And this needs to change.

As with Right Intention, I can’t help but think that while I’ve committed to the principle in daily life (though I still stumble, occasionally at inopportune moments) I’ve not made this commitment when it comes to work related matters.  As if somehow it’s okay to speak harshly about a production, but not of the guy blocking the subway door.  Why the division?

Happily for me, I’ve shifted my focus towards the work I want to do, and work more regularly with people I respect and want to work with, so a good deal of “wrong speech” has ebbed away simply for lack of fodder.  But I know there is still a lot of road ahead.

This is turning out to be a good exercise.  I highly recommend.  Tomorrow we’ll look at Right Action.

There’s a “B” side to this single, however.  These proactive creatures tend to be the neediest.  So much so that when the teacher asks, “Does anybody want to say how they feel right now?” arms shoot up to the sky in a way that would make even Stalin blush.  And the answers are off-point to an alarming degree.

A reasonable assumption is that comments should be restricted to how a person felt about, say, the voice work just now completed, but stories of health insurance, struggles with the subway system, and workplace conflicts are offered with abandon.  I tend to be the quiet one.  Taking up time to discuss my relationship with my parents in a voice class cuts into my learning about… voice.  I’m simple that way.

But these might be very unhappy people.  If our happiness lies in the happiness of others (and I believe it does) then self-indulgence like this serves only to further our misery.  It’s no different than a drug, really.  The “hit” is bad for you, even if it feels good for a few minutes.

My skills as an actor leapt to a new level this past year.  I haven’t had the right vehicle to show it yet, but I can feel it in my bones.  And it arose from the simple premise that anything I do on stage or screen is about other people.  Try it.  Work with it.  It’s a beautiful thing.  And your voice will get stronger.

For the Mineralava Musings, this is Edoardo Ballerini.

Granted, I work in film and television, where you can whisper your way through any performance, and I’m rarely called upon to make the guy at the end of the block hear me, but still… fundamentals are fundamentals, and I felt a fool.  So, months later, I have taken it upon myself to study voice.

And it is a marvelous experience.

No, I have not simply fallen in love with my mellifluous tones, but rather I’ve discovered something remarkable, and shockingly basic: there’s a whole new world for me to use in performance.  It’s as if I suddenly turned around and realized that the room I’m standing in is twice as big as I’d thought.  And very well decorated.

Who knew?  Actually, many people.  And many of them had told me this very thing for years.  Train your voice, and you will become a better actor.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I replied.  A good haircut and some teeth whitening trays are what’s really needed.  Just look around.

Well, that may be true for some, and true for a part of this industry, but it’s not where I want to live.  Or how I want to live.  I want a voice that can hit the back of the biggest halls, night after night.  Even if I never have to speak above a hush.

The journey continues.  For the Mineralava Musings, this is Edoardo Ballerini.