debor009

It's that time of year again when I update my headshots.  Conventional wisdom and advice from the experts has it that actors should stick to simple clothes in solid colors, wear minimal makeup and jewelry, and leave the background blank or very soft.  I have generally followed that advice for the past three years while I was trying to figure out what my "type" was, but I find it too limiting.  For one thing, sticking to "rules" tends to homogenize actors into a bland sameness.  The idea is to stand out in that auditor's stack of headshots, not blend in.  For another, with me at least, it often makes me look like a soccer mom, and that's too young and not my type. This year I went to Ken Arnold over in Baltimore.  Ken is a talented and busy actor who does headshots and demo reels on the side.  He didn't pose me (which makes me tense) and he let me wear whatever I felt was right for me and that I felt comfortable in.  My "type," as I'm f...

Aha! I no sooner post on networking than theatrical producer John Essay publishes a column in Backstage that underscores what I said. Here's the money quote: "You need to be available for discovery. A buried treasure is hard to discover unless you know to look in the general vicinity it is located. Make yourself available. Go to plays, movies, and industry parties. Taking classes will allow you to be seen by others who may be helpful to you on your way to success." Mr. Essay doesn't give it all away (be wants to guide people to his website  after all). You'll find more detail in my post below.  Still, it's nice to see someone make the same point. Stand out in the crowd By the way, I went to a workshop last night presented by a famous acting coach. Of the 60 or so actors in the audience, only three were wearing what I would call a signature look. Everyone else was dressed in dark colors and jeans, and half of them (men and women) were wearing similar dark-fra...

I've been watching Directors: Life Behind the Camera , made in cooperation with the American Film Institute. The producers interviewed a long list of big name directors who talk about the art of filmmaking and their own careers in film. The first section is "you have to start somewhere," and what jumped out at me is how few of them said that they first went to film school to learn to direct. Not that there's anything wrong with going to film school, a good film school is terrific for teaching young filmmakers what they need to know, it's just that most of them started out on a different career path altogether. Then they fell into some aspect of filmmaking on the periphery and then....they met someone! And that meeting put them on the path to making movies. What it underscored for me is the importance of getting out where you can meet others in the business and where they can actually see you and talk to you (which they can't do on Facebook or LinkedIn no matte...

Finally saw a cut of The Story of Bella, which I did with Nora Achrati and Stephen Rutledge for R.M. and Jonathan Robinson (The Robinson Brothers' Indiego Blue Studio ) in Baltimore more than a year ago. It's still only for private viewing, but they gave it a very imaginative treatment as part of a feature called The Shadows of Strangers , a compilation of short stories about the love, jealousy, revenge, and betrayal (all the good stuff.) These are talented guys (which reminds me that I need to start a list of up-and-coming young filmmakers, because I've seen quite a few.)  Anyway, here's a screenshot and what I look like with no make-up and harsh lighting on the third day of filming in an airless Baltimore rowhouse in 90-degree heat. Kathryn Browning and Stephen Rutledge in The Story of Bella

God, I hate this: 132 actors, each with exactly two minutes to convince 45 casting agents, directors, and producers that they're worth a second look. Everyone's nerves are on edge.  Some actors pace.  Some mouth their monologue and gesture to the wall. The veterans lean back in their chairs and close their eyes and hope their hearts stop pounding. A few years ago when they staged a revival of A Chorus Line on Broadway, they put out an open call for cast.  More than 3,000 actors showed up in a line that stretched for blocks.  The auditions went on for months as the director winnowed the applicants down.  The actors kept coming back and coming back and giving it their all.  I caught that show. It was fantastic. But for all they went through, I can't recall the name of a single member of the cast.  Another reason it's tough to work on Broadway. This line was not that long. They took us in in groups of 20 or so, all types, all ages. In my group there was ...

There's a full-page ad for Keira Knightley's Anna Karenina in today's New York Times.  I never cared for Tolstoy's story.  I remember reading it years ago and thinking the title character was a foolish addle-brain who was married to a perfectly decent man, blamed everyone else for the muddle she made of her life, and took far too long to finally throw herself under the train.  I somehow doubt that this version is going to change my mind. a.k.a. One Woman's Story But I saw a 1949 British film on television some time back that was a new and much more satisfying twist on the same story.  I was so enchanted I bought it.  The film is called The Passionate Friends and was released in the United States under the title One Woman's Story .  It stars Claude Rains as the husband and  Ann Todd as the silly wife, straddling the fence between a secure if predictable life and a marvelous romance (that exists largely in her head as it turns out) with a professor,...

I'm off today to a gem and jewelry show and an elegant lunch at a posh hotel....a rare treat.  But before I go I want to mention a terrific article in today's New York Times on Daniel Day-Lewis and his role in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln , which was shot down in Richmond, Virginia, last fall. (Being neither male nor petite, I had not the slimmest chance at a part, but a few of my actor friends had roles.) Daniel Day-Lewis The article is "Abe Lincoln as You've Never Heard Him," and it reveals Day-Lewis' total immersion technique for getting in character.  It is fascinating.  He begins with a ton of reading to develop a foundation for the role, particularly if it's a biographical film, as this one is.  But then he works to become so in-character that he can allow himself to believe for a time that he is, in fact, that person.  He doesn't go out of character during the many weeks of filming, and sometimes for a period afterward. If any actor has the...

David Suchet quoting Stanislavsky: If you speak any lines or do anything mechanically without fully realizing who you are, where you come from, why, what you want , where you are going, and what you will do when you get there you will be acting without imagination. Or, what is your motivation. You must listen to the words and understand the feelings of other characters. Be specific. Understand where the emotion is coming from.  Make your response fresh. I am watching this evening John Barton and the Royal Shakespeare Company in Playing Shakespeare , a set of four 1984 DVDs available through Netflix, which I have just put on my Wish List for Christmas.  It's wonderful just listening to the discussion and watching such incredible actors - Ben Kingsley, Ian McKellan, Judi Dench, Patrick Stewart, Suchet, and a host of others - in a workshop that I could never afford to attend in person. An actor is learning his craft constantly.  But you can spend hundreds – no, thousand...