Acting

You're welcome, Aaron Marcus. You're right. And even when it didn't work out, I still learned things by trying.

I'm with you Maurice Vaughan The greatest difficulty I have is tuning out my mother's voice, who told me all my life "Why are you even bothering? It's a waste of time. Don't you know how hard it is to get published, produced, whatever? You can't make a living out of that."

I took a deep breath, went for a long walk, then ignored her and continued to try anyway. The thing is, you don't know if you will succeed unless you try. The worst thing anyone can say is "No" and then you can move on. Keep creating, keep trying, you never know when opportunities will come.

Aaron Marcus thanks for this great video. I'm glad you did believe in yourself and try. As a psychotherapist I can also understand the people who don't want to try for fear of disappointment and rejection. Sometimes this fear is not even in their awareness. I even notice the subtle ways my own fear of disappointment can discourage me from trying. Mostly I catch it though and try anyway. Your video inspires me to keep doing so.

Unsolicited advice is meddling. If I did not ask you, I do not care about your opinion on how I should live my life. So to tell me to not try or not to bother, really is your issue not mine.

Also, failure is a lesson too. We can learn so much by what we tried and didn't and take that knowledge and apply it to try again. Just because it didn't work out doesn't mean it was a failure. Saying something was a waste of time, discounts all that I learned.

Thank you for sharing Aaron Marcus

Wow, thank you all for all of your incredible comments. This is why I share these videos here. The industry, whether it is screenwriting, producing, acting or directing, we all have to deal with very similar issues. I am told no on a daily basis. It took many years to understand, these are not personal statements about me, just business decisions.

Can't thank you enough for sharing your wonderful insights. If there are ant topics you want me to cover in a future video, please let me know. Can't guarantee I can create a video on your topic, but would love to hear your thoughts.

Thank you all again.

I can't wait to see The Running Man, Pat Alexander! I remember watching the original growing up. I think Glen Powell is the perfect choice for the role. He did great in Twisters! I still need to see Hit Man.

Likewise Maurice Vaughan it looks like it's gonna be awesome and I love Glen Powell!

I just watched Hit Man, Pat Alexander. Glen did incredible! It can't be easy playing two characters.

Super grateful Penelope Ann Miller for the time and care and hard-earned insight you've shared with all of us. And I share your appreciation of period dramas - one of my first memories of watching TV (even as a child growing up in communist Romania) was being glued to episodes of Poldark! the 1975 version... :)

Cool, Sebastian. I've just begun watching the newer Poldark and am liking it a lot.

Thank you very much Penelope Ann Miller for your answers which are so thoughtful and so generous in spirit. Truly appreciated.

Congrats on your achievements Penelope Ann Miller. I wanted to know if I become an actor, how do I get into the industry of it.

oh, that's great Pamela Jaye Smith - will have to check it out!

Suzanne Bronson Appreciate this. I dug in and it looks like the third Knives Out filmed in London because the UK’s new Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit gives a net 25.5% cash rebate on UK spend, which reportedly shaved about $41m off the budget by doubling London for NYC. NY’s credit is strong (30%, with up to 40% in certain counties), but that extra bump only kicks in if you do >50% of principal photography days in those counties—so it’s not apples to apples. Add in UK studio/stage incentives and the director’s comfort shooting in London, and the UK won on both cost and logistics. Can't help feeling a little victorious although I appreciate it is potentially not good news for US actors so I also empathise

Sebastian Tudores haha true! It makes me wonder so many Brits have such good US accents. Is it training, willingness to learn out of necessity, or being exposed to a lot of US films. Do you think U.S. actors could (or should) be taught to do the same the other way round?

Absolutely Alexandra Stevens accents are part of any acting training. If you go to a conservatory they teach standard stage speech and the phonetic alphabet. You can learn any accent from there. I did have to learn a cockney accent once. I don't remember for what show. From my understanding, an American accent is harder to do than British or Australian.

Suzanne Bronson ooh look forward to hearing your cockney accent :)

hey Alexandra Stevens ! yeah - for sure, all actors looking to broaden their craft should at least 'attempt' accents. And that is offered as part of most professional programs. Of course, I don't think nowadays, with access to productions globally, having the ability to do foreign accents is as much of a factor, but accents are also regional, right? :)

Hi, Tony Fisher. Stage 32 has a webinar called "Actors: Tools and Techniques to Help You Memorize Your Lines." www.stage32.com/education/products/actors-tools-and-techniques-to-help-y...

Bricks I am laying this week----I am making a point to jump into the A&P Lounge twice a week.

Maurice Vaughan congrats, I guess you are even further along by now.

Suzanne Bronson are you working on a piece of writing at the moment?

Thanks, Alexandra Stevens. I'm on page 82 now.

Nothing I am going to share Alexandra Stevens

Suzanne Bronson do you mean the Beyond Therapy clip? I love your bold acting choices in it and it is hilarious! Good on you for getting it out there. Interested to hear more about your process with it some time

Glad you found the video helpful. Jamie is such a sweet and loving pup. He and my wife volunteer for Pets On Wheels. They go into senior centers so the clients can talk and pet the pups.

Thank you. Yes Alexandra Stevens the whole reel is scenes. I also did The Hours, and A Trip To Bountiful.

Aaron Marcus, you're right. Acting reals are very helpful. Of course, famous actors don't submit actor reals -- especially actors who are on a TV series that everybody watches.

Well known actors will have parts written with them in mind. But, for most of us regular actors, they are crucial. Thank you so much for sharing,

That's great, Brandon Keeton. I've written scripts, made pitch material, given script feedback, etc. for free for friends. As long as I'm available to do something free for a friend, I will.

Great questions, Chikaima Uwakwe!

For me, it's all about the given circumstances and the dialogue. Those are the two things that you can't change. Then I break it down from there.

What I wish writers knew about actors work? Give us as much as possible. Write well, don't use cliches. It is very difficult to play a character with "nothing to do." I come from the theater where every character has a purpose. Every character drives the plot forward. I take that mentality to television and some shows like Law and Order are experts at making every count. It is like watching a stage play. Billions is another great example. But some TV shows....as a viewer who is an actor, sometimes I ask myself, "why are they there?" It's the old Star Trek joke. Whenever a new crew member suddenly appears, you know they're going to die.

First, I'd like to say actors are at different stages in development: Beginner, intermediate and advanced. Our education is everything from drop in acting classes to acting degrees from universities to community playhouses that offer onstage experience. And more options exist. I say this because there are methods and processes for actors to work through to develop their approach to bringing words to life. You get in front of people and deliver lines. Your instructor gives you notes. You are asked/taught to decipher a scene by answering questions like: What is the scene about; what are the qualities of your character; what qualities of the character can you relate too? Like a writer takes notes, learns structure, tells a coherent story and brings the characters to life. The work of the actor is always aided by the casting directors talent in matching them to the right character. Then during auditions there is input by instructors, coaches, the writers, the directors. The collaborative process requires a trained actor to connect with their character, but to enable that to happen, the actor for years must try, fail, learn, listen, give, risk it all and do so much more. It's like jumping out of a plane with a parachute, yet knowing everything about the plane, the parachute, the air speed, wind currents, the landing spot, the optional landing spot, the emergency parachute. When you are on stage or on set you have control of your physical and emotional self. You earned the booking, you have rehearsed the lines, and understand the character better than the writer and the director. That is a snapshot anyway. -- My ask of writers (I'm learning that craft myself) is to take two months of scene study and two months of improv classes. Step through the veil to learn our language. You may be happily surprised by the overlap between the two disciplines. Bringing the words, and therefor the character and story, to life, will be more evident, and hopefully closer to the results you are hoping for.

Really good questions Chikaima Uwakwe For me it's about reading the whole script and seeing how the character fits into the script. More specifically, what the function of the character is to the script, what the writer wanted to convey through the character. I then also look at everything the character says and everything others say about them to get as full a picture as possible of them.

for me it's about the circumstance and I also try to study that character ( the emotions, dialogue, storyline and character motivation)

Neil Jaye love your question! Personally i like scripts where the characters have a lot of depth and nuance and quirkiness and are not just driven by the plot. For example the characters in Mike Leigh films. I also relish scripts which are about the relationship between characters and how individuals go about getting their needs and wants met by others.

It's simple Neil Jaye good writing. The script is everything.

I personally don't find self tapes hard. I also, wouldn't say something is hard because if you think it is, then it is.

The Ring series

Suzanne Bronson that was the first movie I was cast in! (the American ring) but it was for a really quick scene that flashes worms that turn into people (I would have been covered in goop wearing nothing but a g string slithering over other people so my dad wouldn't let me in the end lol)

Japanese horror films are creepy AF

Um, now that Halloween has passed, I have to say I don't have a favorite. Jaws and Alien cured me of enjoying horror. Still, any horror I might attempt to watch has to have comedy to it. Those little bit of moments to shake off the tension. One of my friends made a good one, A Halloween Feast (Guile Branco writer/actor/producer). It's as it sounds, people eating people. But, it's hilarious. Which is a good thing since he is a friend and I had to attend his premiere. He even gave me one of the prop ears. Looks good, but it's an ear. Ugh.

Brittany Christine hope you enjoyed your horror movie binge. What did you end up watching? A bit late to the party but i prefer horrors that are more of the psychological genre. An oldy but a goody was The Blair Witch Project