Eastwick’s Sara Rue: “The actual acting part is never hard. It’s the politics and basically everything around the acting that is difficult”

From Movieline:

You have the most sitcom experience of all the leads in Eastwick. Did you have to audition? Would you ever want to carry your own sitcom again?
I didn’t audition for any of the leads but [executive producers] Maggie Friedman and David Nutter offered me the part of Penny. I read the script and liked it and thought it was interesting and I think as an actor, I always try to do stuff that I’ve never done before. I’d never done anything with a supernatural part before. Except for my part in The Ring, but I didn’t have to do anything supernatural. Maggie actually called me up and said, “I promise you that you’re going to have so much to do. I have this great idea for Penny.” She really talked me into it.

But carrying my own show again is exactly what I want to do. I loved my experience on Less Than Perfect so much and I would like something like that again. I love half hour — I feel like it’s where my heart and soul is somehow. It’s the perfect combination of fun and light and extremely challenging. And also I have the elements of dealing with a live audience.

But it’s really what I want to do. The first show I ever did was Grand when I was eleven and that was a half hour. And I loved it and it’s always where I want to go back to.

You’ve guest-starred on both of Chuck Lorre’s series, Two and a Half Men and Big Bang.
I loved those experiences so much. I love Chuck Lorre. I did a little guest spot on Roseanne when I was fourteen. It was a whirlwind experience in a week and I think with Chuck, I had auditioned for him for a couple of other shows of his over the years. And not gotten anything but had gotten really close – down to the final two girls a couple times. I think he appreciated that I came in and did a good job and I was someone he could take to the network to say, “I like this girl” and they’d say “Ick, we don’t.” But he needed someone to bring.

So, after Less Than Perfect was canceled, he called me personally and said “I want to talk to you about doing something on Two and a Half Men, will you come in?” And I said, “Absolutely!” and went into his office where he pitched me the idea for the character, the part of the pregnant daughter. And he was like, “Would you play pregnant?” And I said, “Oh my god, yes!” How fun is that? So we shot that episode and at the end, he said, “Do you want to come back and do another one?” And I said, “Yes!” So we shot another one after she had the baby and she is kind of a little bit of a trashier character which is really fun for me.

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Headshot Photographer Lesley Bohm: “I focus on personality and who you are rather than just surface”

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Lesley Bohm has been my go to photographer for a while now. Yes, I’ve cheated on her with other photographers (it wasn’t my fault! An old manager “suggested” I go elsewhere) but I always go back. Why? Simply because she produces headshots that get results. You can check out one of my headshots here.

She was nice enough to take time out of her busy day to talk to me about how she got her start, how she differs from other photographers and more. Check it out!

So, I guess we’ll begin with the obvious question, how did you get started?
I got started way back when I first came to L.A., I went to art school, and I always knew I liked shooting people rather than things.  And so I always liked to reach into the nitty gritty and figure out how people ticked.  And when I was moving from Vancouver, where I grew up, and it was New York or L.A. and I really did like the weather better in L.A., so I moved to L.A.  And I started taking actor’s headshots.

I’m not sure if this is more of question but a statement.  I hate taking headshots.  It’s just uncomfortable for me, and I’ve shot with tons of people since I’ve been out here.  Nothing really clicked for me, and then I found you through a friend, and I finally got my first great headshot.  And you just have this sort of ease about you – this calm.  And it came through you into me, and then into the picture. You just have this calming presence, and I think that makes for a great session.
I agree with you, and I have a little system and it does include, you know, talking with you and finding out who you are and what makes you tick a little bit and what you like and what you don’t like.  That way I can kind of follow the initial issues of headshots where people are nervous and they’re thinking about what they look like and we can actually get into a position where we can talk about other things and your face can get back to its normal position and life will flow and then you get really good expressions and headshots.  That’s kind of my little secret.  Try to put you at ease as best I can.

Eventually you just kind of start having a conversation and then… you don’t forget you’re taking a headshot, but it’s more like you’re just hanging out.
Exactly.  It’s just my way of getting you to come down to my studio and hang out with me (laughter).  It’s basically the energy I want to share is hanging out with a best friend and we’re just having fun and getting some smiles and getting some serious – changing clothes a few time.  It really should not be a big deal, even though it’s the number one thing actors hate to do, even though it’s the number one thing they have to do.

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Hilary Swank on ‘Amelia Earhart’, playing a real person and immersing herself into characters

From moviefone.com:

You immerse yourself really deeply into your characters; how did you immerse yourself into Amelia?
Well, you know, first of all, there was the physicality of it. Amelia is an icon and this image that we all know very well, so the physicality of it was something that was fun, you know? I cut my hair off, I became blonde. She had freckles. Understanding how she carried herself is a big part of playing Amelia. The cadence in which she spoke, her accent — for eight weeks I studied 16 minutes of newsreel on Amelia, which was really difficult. I think her accent was the most challenging accent that I’ve ever done in my career of accents. It was hard for me to get.

And you took flying lessons?
I did, I took flying lessons. I couldn’t imagine playing Amelia Earhart and not learning how to fly, so it’s pretty great to say, “I learned how to fly to play Amelia Earhart,” because it something I’ve actually always wanted to do. One of the exciting things about my job is that I really get to step in all these different shoes and learn things that I might not have had I not been an actor.

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‘Paranormal Activity’ star Katie Featherston talks about her career

From heatvisionblog.com:

What was your first reaction to being asked to do this film?
I was thrilled. I went in along with a couple hundred other people and auditioned and had so much fun at the audition. And then I had the callback, which is where I met Micah, my co-star, the first time. We got along so well and it was all improvised, and the energy was great. I remember telling my mom, “If I don’t get this role it’s because of some spiritual reason why I shouldn’t,” because I had so much fun that it seemed wrong for me not to get it. I just loved it. So when (writer-director) Oren (Peli) called and said, “Hey, you got the role,” I was beyond thrilled.

What did Oren ask you to do in the audition?
I remember, all these women were going into the room, and they’d walk out and they all looked kind of disgruntled, they were shaking their heads, and I was like, What’s going on in there? I walked in and sat down, and Oren said, “Why do you think your house is haunted?” And I just had to start telling him. There was no, “Hi, I’m Oren, this is the movie,” or “Can I have your headshot?” It was straight into it. It was all improv. And then the film itself, there is no script. Oren had such a good direction that he wanted the movie to go in. He had it all planned out. But the dialogue in the movie is improvised. We were just kind of living in the moment and taking it scene by scene.

Did you have any specific improv training?
I went to Southern Methodist University, where they have an amazing theater department. Improv was incorporated into a lot that we did there, and then I did have a specific improv class for a semester. But other than that, no Groundlings or anything like that.

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FOX takes a cue from features in the way they cast pilots

From hollywoodreporter.com:

Fox is changing the way it selects actors for pilots.

The network is phasing out traditional in-person network tests, in which finalists for each role audition for network executives who choose a winner.

Taking a page from the feature world, where screen tests are prevalent in casting a role, Fox is opting for taped network tests. After passing live tests for the producing studios, actors’ performances are being filmed and sent to the network for judging.

The network’s three greenlighted projects so far this season — Greg Garcia’s comedy pilot “Keep Hope Alive,” the untitled Mark Brazill comedy pilot and the Matt Nix series “Jack and Dan” — are being cast that way.

To accommodate the change, 20th Century Fox TV, which does a lot of business with Fox, has equipped a special screen-testing suite.

Fox casting head Marcia Shulman said the network has experimented with network tests on tape for the past couple of years.

“The network spends months and months developing a show, and then we have this network test where three actors wait nervously in the hallway, staring at each other and talking on the phone with their agents whether or not to sign the contract,” she said. “Sometimes we can’t cast the right lead for a show because they had a bad moment. Casting is more than 50% of the success of a show, so after spending all that money, why have we been going through that crazy process for so long?”

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Tracy Morgan on NPR: One incredible interview

I’ve always loved Tracy Morgan and I can’t wait to read his book (actually, I’ll listen to his audio version. It’ll keep me occupied in the LA traffic).

If you have the time, you really should listen to this interview he did with NPR he did to promote his new book, I Am The New Black.

He talks about growing up in the ghetto, his dad who died of aids and clarifies the comments he made about Cheri Oteri and Chris Kattan. Oh yeah, and he cries.

Listen here

Johnny Lee Miller: “You don’t have to be outgoing to be an actor”

From philly.com:

“You don’t have to be outgoing to be an actor. I think you have to have the ability to extrovert, but you don’t have to BE an extrovert at all. A lot of the more intense actors are not extroverts. I’m not great . . . in large groups of people but I’m not shy anymore. I like to think of myself as being quite friendly, but I wouldn’t call myself shy.”

Random Quotes: John C. Reilly

From kansascity.com

On his versatile career:
“The key to being allowed to do anything is to keep changing so you don’t get defined as one thing. After I started doing comedies, I got lots of offers to do comedies. But that’s the time to go out and try to do something different.”

On deciding to become an actor:
“When I was a teenager, I worried, ‘What should I be? I should pick a career.’ At some point, in college, I figured out that the only people who get to try their hand at everything — cops, crooks, singers, race car drivers, vampires — are actors.

“You spend six months doing the most exciting parts of whatever occupation it is you’re playing. And then you move on. I turned the fun part of my life into my work.”

On not being recognized:
“That just means I’m doing my job.”

Mailing Labels Updated!

I just did an update on all the Casting and Agent labels yesterday.

Also, all labels are offered in Microsoft Word format.

Check them out here

Adam Goldberg: “I feel very bizarre acting”

Adam Goldberg stars in the new film, Untitled, about a New York City art gallerist (Marley Shelton) who falls for a brooding new music composer (Goldberg).

From Movieline:

You know, the characters in (Untitled) are so immersed in their art that if you dropped them into any other context, they’d look ridiculous — in fact, they almost do already. Do you ever feel that way as an actor, that if your methods and craft were exposed in the light of day, you’d feel bashful?
To be frank with you, I feel the other way around. I feel very bizarre when I’m acting. I think things have just sort of changed for me over the last several years as my interests and passions began to sort of shift. I don’t have a lot of actor friends — anymore, anyway — and I generally just feel like I’m posing as an actor, to be honest.

I think some people are sort of born to do that and immerse themselves in it, and others aren’t. When you find yourself straddling between those two worlds, I feel much more comfortable in reality, and I feel much more comfortable directing actors than experiencing it myself…The older I’ve gotten and the more that I’ve written and the more music stuff that I’ve done, acting has become an occupation. I really value my time not pretending to be something that I’m not, because as an actor, that’s what you’re constantly doing.

As someone who’s directed two independent features before, how does that inform your experience as an actor in one?
It has its positive elements and its negative effects. In the cast of (Untitled), it was a very collaborative thing: Jonathan had directed two films and I had directed two films, and I’ve directed under a very similar set of circumstances. I think it can be really helpful when you have an actor who can view the film as a whole, and a day as part of a schedule. Sometimes, though, it can be too much because I want to give myself over entirely and be there as an actor, and other times you want to jump in and say something. I think that’s true of actors in general, though — I’ve worked with Giovanni Ribisi many times and he has a very strong aesthetic point of view, having not necessarily made any films himself.

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