Taylor Kitsch: “I really feel like I am where I’m at because no one will outwork me”

“The Bang, Bang Club” is Taylor Kitsch’s most recent film, and it will premier at the Tribeca Film Festival. In it, Kitsch portrays Pulitzer-prize winning photojournalist Kevin Carter, a member of a four man group who documented South Africa’s first  post-Apartheid free election and the violence that followed. Kitsch says he liked the challenge of playing a manic, tortured soul, and all of the highs and lows that came with the part.

“It was very different for me to come into New York even this morning. It’s a lot of retrospect in the sense of just what you went through to get to this spot. It keeps you quite honest. And as an actor if I’m playing Kev, I’m going to do it the way Kev would have. That’s the way I’ve always done my work. I’m not going to get sad thinking of my dead dog. I think just doing your homework and prepping, that’s what kept me honest. It’s like I got this opportunity, that’s where I’m going to put it all in, into just the time and effort. I really feel like I am where I’m at because no one will outwork me. I will do absolutely anything to get where I need to be. It’s a rare quality now.”

Kevin Carter was not an easy role for Kitsch to simply shed at the end of filming. “By taking time, not just the next day being like what movie is that? Letting go the right way rather than just trying to force something. This one was very hard for me. I still get worked up, it’s quite crazy. It just means so much to me. I think it will always be close to me. You talk to these guys like Greg, you don’t understand, it’s still with me. If you are conscious with it, you are ok,” he says.

via wsj.com

Networking Made Easy

This is a guest post by The Savvy Actor‘s,  Jodie Bentley

Networking. This can be the bane of most actors’ existence. I know it used to be for me. But building relationships is really what this business is all about. I spent a lot of time wanting people to ‘like’ me, but too afraid to let my guard down and be myself…just in case they didn’t. Rather than actually building relationships, I was succumbing to my own ego and fears. What I wasn’t doing was placing my focus on the other person and creating a connection.

Because of fears and negative connotations associated with networking, we’ve decided to take the pressure off and encourage our Savvy Actor clients to “go out and enrich their Support System”. After all, isn’t that precisely what you’re doing when you’re ‘networking’? The important thing to remember is that we all need support! We all need our team of people who we trust and are keeping our best interests in mind. This is why we encourage clients to connect to people in a genuine way.

The key to being a genuine networker, is to become a master at making introductions. By doing this, you’ll build both your own support system as well as those people you are introducing. By mastering the following simple tips, you will draw people to you and make starting conversations a breeze!

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Mad Men’s Aaron Staton Goes Virtual for the New Game from Rockstar – LA Noire

On the set of Mad Men playing account executive Ken Cosgrove, Aaron Staton deals with multiple cameras but probably not 32 at one time. A new venture from Rockstar Games called LA Noire is set to turn the video game world on its collective head with one of the most detailed and most researched games of all time.

The reason for the 32 cameras? He’s starring as a rookie detective for the LAPD in 1947, and every facial expression and mannerism will be caught and transformed to place him in the incredibly accurate world of Los Angeles on the brink of the Golden Age. The actors who are playing the many different characters in this game must actually act, because the smallest move of an eyebrow or a smirk will be used to determine by you the player if a suspect is lying or telling the truth in the interrogation room. The same goes for witnesses on the street, possible corrupt detectives, and the victims themselves.

Take a drive through the streets of Los Angeles in this wonderfully gritty time period. Seven years in the making, LA Noire hits the stores on May 17^th, and don’t be surprised if it’s the coolest game you’ve ever played.

Audition: ‘Newsies’ the Musical in NYC

Premieres at Paper Mill Playhouse September 2011

SEEKING: Males and Females, minimum age 16 (to play 16 – 22), who are great dancers, singers and actors.

EQUITY FEMALES
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
10:00am (Sign-­‐in begins at 9:00am)

EQUITY MALES
Thursday, May 5th, 2011
10:00am (Sign-­‐in begins at 9:00am)

NON-­EQUITY FEMALES
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
2:00pm – 6:00pm (Sign-­‐in begins at 1:00pm)

NON-­EQUITY MALES
Friday, May 6th, 2011
10:00am – 4:00pm (Sign-­‐in begins at 9:00am)

Pearl Studios, 500 8th Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10018

Please come ready to dance for all of the above auditions. You may be asked to sing afterwards, so please bring sheet music in the appropriate key. A contemporary musical theatre song is preferable. An accompanist will be provided.

If you cannot attend any of these auditions, please send a photo and resume to: newsies.casting@gmail.com

An Interview Tip for Actors – Don’t Always Talk About Your Resume

Written by Sean Pratt

During an interview you have an opportunity to show a new or interesting side of your personality, but most actors don’t know where to begin or what to say.

In Michael Shurtleff’s book Audition – Everything an Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part, a must read for every actor, he tells a very interesting story about an interview. He once had a meeting/audition with the film director Jerome Robbins. Jerome was on the phone when he came in so Michael took the time to look around his office. He spotted a painting that hung on the wall behind Jerome’s desk and when he had gotten off the phone he made some remarks about it. They then spent the entire interview chatting about painting and painters. When Michael left the room, Jerome was studying his resume. He got the job…because Michael understood one of the basic ideas of what the interview is all about: knowing the art of conversation and using it to reveal who you really are.

So tell me what you’ve been up to?

That question, coming from a director, agent or producer, can strike fear into the heart of an actor like nothing else. Suddenly, they become tongue-tied and can’t think of a thing to say – quite a feat considering they’re actors! In desperation they begin ticking off a list of their recent credits or work related activities, thinking that this will, at the very least, show the questioner they’ve been busy. What a missed opportunity. You see, what the director or agent, etc., is really looking for is a chance to see another side of their personality or character.
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Chris Colfer – The Busiest 20 Year-Old in the Business

This week, Glee actor Chris Colfer sat with Time Magazine to talk about the nation-wide bullying issue, and how his character is an inspiration to teens across the nation.  Chris told Time: “Its very strange to see how a television show about a bunch of singing and dancing kids, can have such an impact on everyone’s lives.”  The topic was brought to light because he had mentioned it briefly during his Golden Globe acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor earlier this year.

During the interview, he also states that “I’ve tried being other people, but being myself just suits me best.”

Colfer, has definitely made his way into the hearts of America.  The 20 year old actor was just placed into Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People List.  Here he joins the ranks of Hilary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama.

When he’s not singing and dancing on the hit show, he is writing.  Colfer just inked a deal with the Disney Channel for a new pilot he’s writing titled “The Little Leftover Witch.”  The story is based on a hit children’s book about Felina, a witch who is taken in by the Doon family after her broomstick gets busted.

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Robert Pattinson talks about, what else? Elephants

In a recent sit-down with USA Today, Twilight star Robert Pattinson opened up on a variety of subjects, including everything from elephants to the music he’s been listening to lately.

“If I could keep an animal, it would definitely be the elephant,” said Pattinson, who plays the male lead in the film adaptation of Water for Elephants, currently in theatres. “It’s not just a pet, ‘cause you could just lie undernearth it and it’s basically a house, too.” As for his real-life pet, new rescue dog Bear, Pattinson laughed, “The hardest thing to teach my new dog is to not be afraid of doors and not to hold his pee in too long.”

Moving on to matters of his career, Pattinson also addressed rumors that he’ll play guitar hero Jeff Buckley, who died in an accidental drowning at the age of 30 in 1997. “I really like Jeff Buckley. I’m not sure if I’m necessarily the right person to play him. I would love to be able to sing like him and I would love to be able to play guitar like him, but I don’t know.” James Franco is also reportedly a contender to play the musician.

The 24-year-old actor also name-checked friends Marcus Foster, Bobby Long and Sam Bradley, as well as The Pointer Sisters, as those musicians currently filling up his iPod.

Video after the jump.

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Robert Redford Talks “The Conspirator”

With his new film, The Conspirator, director Robert Redford tells the tale a woman on the other side of John Wilkes Booth, who shot and killed President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. in 1865.

“Inside of that frame is the story that very few people know, which is the trial of Mary Surratt,” Redford told interviewer Gilbert Cruz in a “10 Questions” video for Time’s website. Surratt, a co-conspirator in Lincoln’s assassination, was eventually found guilty and gained the dubious distinction of being the first American female to be given the death penalty.

Starring Robin Wright as Surratt, The Conspirator wrapped filming in December 2009 and premiered at last summer’s Toronto International Film Festival. Interestingly, Lincoln’s face is never shown in the movie, a decision which Redford explained.

“His face has been so well-covered…” he said in the video. “If you try to authenticate his face, you’re just never going to win.”

“Sadly,” Redford bemoaned, his latest film, set in a time where the nation’s population was splintered by war, is more relevant today than it should be. “The phrase that Lincoln used to pull the nation together, ‘A nation divided cannot stand,’ I believe that. We saw how hard it was for him to do that we saw what the costs are. Unfortunately, those circumstances haven’t completely gone away with time.”

Video after the jump

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Trailer: ‘Immortals’ starring Henry Cavill, Stephen Dorff, Mickey Rourke, Freida Pinto,

Immortals: As a power-mad king razes ancient Greece in search of a legendary weapon, a heroic young villager rises up against him in a thrilling quest as timeless as it is powerful. The brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his murderous Heraklion army are rampaging across Greece in search of the long lost Bow of Epirus. With the invincible Bow, the king will be able to overthrow the Gods of Olympus and become the undisputed master of his world. With ruthless efficiency, Hyperion and his legions destroy everything in their wake, and it seems nothing will stop the evil king’s mission. As village after village is obliterated, a stonemason named Theseus (Henry Cavill) vows to avenge the death of his mother in one of Hyperion’s raids. When Theseus meets the Sybelline Oracle, Phaedra (Freida Pinto), her disturbing visions of the young man’s future convince her that he is the key to stopping the destruction. With her help, Theseus assembles a small band of followers and embraces his destiny in a final desperate battle for the future of humanity. from trailers.apple.com

Director: Tarsem Singh

Cast: Henry Cavill, Stephen Dorff, Isabel Lucas, Freida Pinto, Luke Evans, Kellan Lutz, John Hurt, Mickey Rourke

Writers: Charles Parlapanides, Vlas Parlapanides

In theaters: November 11th, 2011

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Trailer: ‘X-Men First Class’ starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, January Jones, Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon

X-Men First Class: Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to prevent nuclear Armageddon. In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men. from trailers.apple.com

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon

In theaters: June 3rd, 2011

 

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