Jesse Eisenberg on ‘Zombieland’, OCD & not having “natural” talent

From Movieline:

So what’s your mood as we approach Zombieland’s opening day?
My obsessive-compulsive disorder is out of control right now.

How does that manifest itself?
Well, I touch the tips of my fingers in a weird way; I don’t step on cracks; if I’m going onto a new surface — be it carpet to concrete, or concrete to wood, or wood to concrete, any new surface — I have to make sure all parts of my feet touch equally the ground before I touch that new thing. So I’ll often hesitate before walking into a new room. You know what I mean?

That’s just a manifestation of anxiety?
Yeah.

It’s not partially superstition, is it?
No, no. I don’t think anything’s going to happen.

Has that ever been a problem for you on set?
Um…It’s…Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I’ll put my hand down to touch something during a scene. It’s distracting. It’s terrible, just terrible.

Did a director ever point it out to you?
Um…no. I just play anxious people, so it becomes OK.

Zombieland seems quite a departure from the kinds of indie coming-of-age films you’ve done until now.
It’s a bigger movie. It’s a character-driven, verbal, funny, specific movie with well-rounded characters. I don’t think it necessarily compromises any of those elements that you liked about my previous movies.

So you haven’t “gone zombie” on us.
[Laughs] Um, no. It’s a really funny movie. There are only four characters in the movie, and each character is not only played by an amazing actor — there’s two Academy Award nominees out of the four of us…not me — but the characters are funny, well-rounded and interesting people.

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David Koechner on improvising, working just to work and Anchorman 2

From Movieline:

You’ve accrued a lot of television, film and stand-up experience. In addition to Hank, what kind of work excites you most?
Look, anyone who has a job in show business. as far as I’m concerned. should be grateful and I certainly am. Sometimes you have a particular goal in mind and every actor is probably different in what they think they’re going to get. There have been times in my life where I’ve said “I just want to work.” And it just happens and I work. And then there have been other times when I’m looking around and I have a wife and four children. The number one thing I need to do is provide and so other opportunities come this way or that way. And I’m so fortunate that sometimes I have choices while other times I have only what is in front of me.

And right now, with Hank in particular, working on a four-camera sitcom is the best job in show business, it really is. This one in particular happens to be eight minutes from my house. [Just take the] freeway and an off-ramp and boom, I’m in the studio. I have four kids, I need to share my life with them, I can drop them off at school and I can pick them up and it’s a great job. So look, I’m very blessed to have this opportunity. I’ve never had a regular role on a series. I’ve done different guest spots or had an arc on a series years ago.

Plus, to get to work with Kelsey Grammer. So this is just another beautiful step, you never know where it’s going to take you. Wow, what a great trip. I get to do this one and that one. Look at all the great guys I’ve gotten to work with and going all the way back to Chicago, with all the people I worked with back there. And dude, here’s the thing I’ve realized about my path is that I will always get to work with a bunch of different great people and that’s the fun of it.

I imagine that the days are shorter than doing single-camera stuff.
That’s right.

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Do you need Casting Director and Agent Mailing Labels?

If you haven’t yet noticed, Casting Director and Agent mailing labels are now on sale!

Check them out here

These labels will always be the latest, most up-to-date address labels available.

The casting labels are shows and films that are currently in production (or about to be).

If you have any questions or comments about them, feel free to email me.

True Blood, the sitcom

This is pretty funny for the first couple minutes but it gets old pretty quick.

90210′s Shenae Grimes: “A character that’s one-note is the most boring character to play, and it was very frustrating for me”

From Movieline:

It’s no secret that 90210 went through a lot of retooling last season. How much input did you have in that?
Last year, I was really nervous as to where my character was going because it didn’t feel like she was going very far. Like I said, a character that’s one-note is the most boring character to play, and it was very frustrating for me — I think Rebecca could sense that and could see it in my eyes. My instincts were to play up the emotion, and oftentimes we would get notes like, “OK, we have to do it more network,” or “We have to be more smiley,” or “Don’t get too upset, because that’s not what people want to see from Annie.” People got annoyed with seeing Annie smiling all the time!

So Rebecca picked up on that and I picked up on it, and I think both of us were dying for a change. Everything seemed a little one-note until that [season one] finale, which kind of kicked me in the ass. I was like, “All right, here we go!” Like, I’ve been asking for it, so how do I deal with this huge challenge? How do I make the audience buy it? Rebecca’s big thing is subtlety, realism, character development. Annie’s not been falling 24/7, she’s not always devastated and distraught, it’s something she’s processing and going through internally. Her behavior’s demonstrating what she’s going through on the inside, but it’s not thrown in your face like the drama was last year, because that’s not realistic. Nobody is that upfront with their shit. [Laughs]

Was the network OK with Annie’s transformation this year?
I think so. You know, when I say “network,” I don’t really know who that is — I’m hearing it through the director’s voice. Old producers, new writers, old writers…I think everyone’s opinions got a little bit muddy, you know? This year, Rebecca came in with a clear vision of what she wanted, and she made sure she had a team together that was ready to make this vision come to fruition. The network, I think, was really excited about it, and once they saw that material cut together, I think they really appreciated what Rebecca did.

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Gene Hackman on the differences between writing & acting and doing push-ups on set

Gene Hackman, now retired (how did I miss that), is spending his time writing novels now.

His latest, Escape from Andersonville, is about a prison escape set in the Civil War.

From thedailybeast.com:

Did you harbor ambitions to write throughout your acting career?

My grandfather had been a newspaper reporter, as was my uncle. They were pretty good writers and so I thought maybe somewhere down the line I would do some writing. Once, I optioned a novel and tried to do a screenplay on it, which was great fun, but I was too respectful. I was only 100 pages into the novel and I had about 90 pages of movie script going. I realized I had a lot to learn…

Is it a novel we would have heard of?

Yeah, Silence of the Lambs. I got busy with another film and gave the rights back to—Orion, I think it was. Kind of a dumb move as it turned out.

What’s easier, acting or writing?

In terms of the stress there’s just no comparison. For me, at least, writing a novel is a great pleasure. There is stress but it’s a different kind of stress: more mental than physical. In a film you’re working nights and 16-hour days. Here I am saying poor me, when I’ve been paid pretty well for that work, but it’s a fact. It doesn’t matter how much you’re being paid. At my age I just feel I don’t want to do that any longer. So, the writing is really a godsend.

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Video: Hugh Jackman & Daniel Craig go off book

I know you’ve probably seen Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig go all improv on this audience member but I wanted to post this anyway.

My thoughts.

1. I really want to see this show.
2. How can you get yelled at by Hugh Jackman in front of a packed audience only to later have your phone ring again! This is Wolverine and Bond, jackass. Turn off your phone!
3. How come no one is asking about the guy who recorded this? Who records a Broadway show? Should I be looking on torrents for shows?

Michael C. Hall & John Lithgow talk ‘Dexter’ and how the Trinity killer is like a “3rd Rock From The Sun” character

From nytimes.com:

Q. John, what was your reaction when you were approached to portray a madman who kills in multiples of three?

MR. LITHGOW I felt like, “Oh, yeah. I know how to play this.” The fascination — which is the fascination of the whole series — is: How can a person outwardly so ordinary, almost bland, have such a baroque and bizarre secret life? I’m usually hired for my blandness. [He laughs.] I love the idea of shocking people. I thought it was high time I did that again.

Q. Here’s your essay question: Compare and contrast your individual serial killer characters.

MR. HALL Well, they’re obviously both saddled with a compulsion. They’re different seeds from very different trees. For Dexter’s part, I think it’s an awareness that Trinity does what he does, and it makes him compelling the way no one has ever been to him — other than perhaps his brother.

MR. LITHGOW [Long pause.] This would be so much more fun if we could talk about this.

Q. How far does the production go to keep the story lines of “Dexter” secret?

MR. LITHGOW We’ve had some very good directors who, ironically enough, don’t know the story. We have to sort of take them aside and tell them, “You know what’s happening here, don’t you?”

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Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki on memorizing lines and feeling the love of fans

From Movieline:

How does it feel to star in one of the most beloved sitcoms today?
It is really — I can’t even believe it but it’s really thanks to our fans and the critics. They’ve just been so great for us. It’s funny because actors always feel like the television critics are the enemies but they’ve been really behind us.

I talked to Jim Parsons about his intense, seven step system he for memorizing lines. How do you remember all of that physics vocabulary?
I tried to establish early on that Jim is better with that stuff than I am. We just deal with it. It does help to write the lines out in longhand. I think both of us do that.

And when there’s a line change and all of a sudden you have to learn new vocabulary in front of the audience?
Even with the audience there, I say, “Give me 30 seconds” and write it out in longhand.

Charles S. Dutton on “Fame” and acting

Charles S. Dutton stars as the drama coach in the new Fame remake.

From BaltimoreSun.com:

“The fun in this film,” he says, “was the chance to put on screen the motivational aspect of teaching acting.” Asked whether his scenes resembled moments from his career and life, he laughs and says, “I couldn’t get around that fact if I tried or wanted to.”

Playing the drama coach in “Fame” allowed him to pay tribute, sometimes humorously, to her and his more celebrated mentors, most notably Paul Berman from Towson University and Earle Gister and Lloyd Richards at the Yale School of Drama. “All the acting teachers I ever had,” he said, “were halfway between drill sergeants and tyrants.”

When Dutton accepted the part in “Fame,” he hoped he could concentrate on qualities not reflected in the title.

“Fame and fortune are icing on the cake: An artist should go into something with a sense of purpose, so that somehow through the work you can advance civilization.”

What he hopes to convey to the young actors he tutors in “Fame” as well as the ones he mentors in real life, is that “an artist has got to be fearless, absolutely fearless, whether you’re a dancer making a leap or a singer trying to hit that very difficult high note. You live dangerously as an artist – that’s what I was taught and what I wanted to convey in my character.”

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