Interviews
Q&A: James Wolk Talks His Guest Star Role on ‘Happy Endings’ and the Cancellation of ‘Lone Star’
James on ‘Lone Star’: “It was a huge learning lesson as a human being which is maybe the most important thing that we do as we go on this journey”
Q&A: Martin Sheen Talks ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ and Why He Changed His Name
Sheen: “My real name is Ramon Estevez and in fact I have never changed it”
Q&A: Lisa Kudrow Talks ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’
Kudrow returns as Host and Executive Producer of NBC’s genealogy show
Click Here For More Interviews!Columns
Acting Auditions – Understanding the Director
Actors are constantly worrying about what is going on in the mind of the director at the audition…they shouldn’t
3 Things To Remember For Your Agent Interview
Remember: Presentation, Passion and Personality
One Quality Every Actor Needs To Become Successful!
Benson Simmonds tells us that quality and more
Want To Read More Columns? Click Here!
Latest News
‘The Taming of the Shrew’ Actress Literally Breaks a Leg on StageFebruary 3, 2012 | 3 Comments
Before British actress Aicha Kossoko took the stage for a recent performance of The Taming of the Shrew at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, someone surely told her to “break a leg,” without actually wishing that one of her limbs would snap in half.
Unfortunately, the long-time pre-performance pleasantry came true for Kossoko, who broke her ankle after catching her shoe on an oversized bedspread during a show last month.
Director Lucy Bailey’s update of William Shakespeare’s classic Taming of the Shrew calls for the theatre’s thrust stage to be converted into a giant bed that includes the one-piece bedspread Kossoko tripped over. The Royal Shakespeare Company rookie, whose resume includes stints of TV shows like EastEnders and Doctors, finished out the night but since been temporary replaced by an substitute actress. Continue »
February 3, 2012 | Leave a Comment
As far as British actor David Harewood is concerned, there’s no point for young British actors to stay in the U.K. when they could be trying to make a name for themselves in America.
“I would encourage, particularly young, black actors, to get to America or to at least try and have that ambition in your back pocket,” the 46-year-old said while promoting the British premiere of hit Showtime series Homeland. “They do seem to embrace a more diverse palette, and I think that’s sad but that’s just a fact. I would encourage people to get there as quickly as they can.”
Harewood recalled a conversation he once had with Idris Elba, a black British actor who was about to get his first break, thanks to HBO drama The Wire. “I can remember talking to Idris years ago about these frustrations and he told me ‘I’m going to America,’ and I kind of thought, ‘What are you doing that for?’” he said. “Look at him now. He’s a huge star.” Continue »
February 3, 2012 | Leave a Comment
written by Benson Simmonds
Yes, there are a few essential qualities that an actor needs to become a star and today we’re going to focus on…. well, let’s just say it’s something permeates every aspect of our culture. It’s everywhere – on billboards, in print, on the streets, in the office, in the home, and of course on TV and film…. did you guess yet?
Yes, it’s sex! It’s not just that sex sells but as my longtime acting teacher and mentor Ivana Chubbuck taught me, a “star” actor can always find the SEX and the HUMOR in their work. We’re not talking about looks here, because there are many beautiful people who just aren’t that sexy. If it were just about looks, then every good -looking actor would make it, but they don’t because it’s about much more than that! Continue »
February 3, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Daniel Radcliffe introduces the opening scene of his new film, The Woman in Black.February 3, 2012 | 2 Comments
While to most of us the world might seem like its going to the dogs, one dog in Tennessee is finally having her day.
A one-year old terrier named Porky had been turned into the Columbia, Tennessee Maury County Animal Shelter last November, and, since she has not yet been adopted, she was sadly scheduled to be euthanized.
Volunteers at the shelter were desperate to find a home for Porky before she was put down and hoped a mass e-mail campaign would find a loving owner. But they never expected that they would receive an e-mail from Broadway veteran Bill Berloni, who received a special Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre Award in 2011 for his decades of training animals for the Broadway stage — including the original production of Annie, the upcoming 20th Anniversary revival, and numerous national tours of the production. Berloni is interested in casting Porky as Sandy in the 35th Anniversary Broadway revival of Annie. Continue »
February 3, 2012 | 1 Comment
After ten years of playing Harry Potter in nine films, Daniel Radcliffe is ready for new challenges. After a successful run on Broadway in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Radcliffe stars in his first post-Potter film, The Woman in Black, a movie from legendary UK studio Hammer Productions.
Radcliffe stars as Arthur Kipps, a lawyer who is tasked with settling the affairs of a recently deceased woman… but he finds himself entangled in the supernatural affairs of what appears to be a ghost.
Radcliffe admits that though he’s grateful for his Harry Potter success, he is ready to show that as an actor he is capable of so much more — which is why he chose to star in The Woman in Black. He explains, “I’m very, very proud of Potter. But I now have to prove to people that I’m serious about acting, and I think the way to do that is to select interesting material. This fit that bill – it was a great script and a great story – unsettling and frightening.” Continue »
February 3, 2012 | 1 Comment
Melanie Lynskey, despite being best known at the moment for her role on TV’s Two and a Half Men, has amassed an impressive list of acting credits since first appearing in Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures at 16. She also has appeared in the Oscar-nominated Flags of Out Fathers and Up in the Air and independent films like Win Win and Hello, I Must Be Going, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Lynskey talks about how she built her career to Interview Magazine.
While Lynskey had the ambition to be an actor and admits it wasn’t difficult getting his first role in Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures, she does explain that it was difficult landing future roles, saying, “I always wanted to be an actor, but I had this whole plan to go to a good drama school and do it that way. I wasn’t trying to get into movies; someone came to my high school and auditioned some girls, so it was a complete accident. I lived in a pretty small, provincial town in New Zealand; there weren’t agents or anything like that, so I just had no way of going about it. I just thought ‘All right, I’ll carry on with that plan that I had to go to drama school.’ So yeah, there was a good straight year where I wasn’t working as an actor but it didn’t seem like such a crazy thing, I didn’t really have a fear of not being able to make it happen, because it seemed so impossible anyway.” Continue »
February 2, 2012 | 2 Comments
Modern Family‘s Eric Stonestreet stars in this Funny Or Die video take off of the popular Shit [insert name here] Says meme.
And keep a lookout for another Emmy winning actor towards the end.
Check it out below. Continue »
February 2, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Carol Channing, known as the ‘First Lady of the American Musical Theatre’, is probably one of the most recognized and impersonated entertainers in around today.
At 90 years old, when many people would be happy to accept accolades for past career achievements, Channing made the conscious decision to remove the diamonds, set aside the lashes and discard the wigs in order to dedicate the rest of her life to restore the arts back in our America’s public schools.
In the new documentary, Carol Channing: Larger than Life (which opens this weekend in New York and San Fransisco), director Dori Berinstein (ShowBusiness, Gotta Dance), follows Channing both onstage and off…past and present.
The film is both an intimate love story and a rarefied journey inside Broadway’s most glamorous era. It is, above all, a look at an inspiring, incomparable and always entertaining American legend.
In this Q&A, she talks about the documentary, what performers she admires and what continues to motivate her.
February 2, 2012 | Leave a Comment
I’m incredibly curious to see how this is going to turn out.
MCC Theater just premiered a fully re-worked production of the the famous flop, Carrie.
Based on Stephen King‘s bestselling novel, the musical of Carrie hasn’t been seen since its legendary 1988 Broadway production.
Now, the show’s original authors have joined with director Stafford Arima (Altar Boyz) and MCC Theater for a newly reworked and fully re-imagined vision of this gripping tale. Set today, in the small town of Chamberlain, Maine, Carrie features a book by Lawrence D. Cohen (screenwriter of the classic film), music by Academy Award winner Michael Gore (Fame, Terms of Endearment), and lyrics by Academy Award winner Dean Pitchford (Fame, Footloose). The cast will feature Tony Award nominee Marin Mazzie (Next to Normal, Kiss Me Kate) as Carrie’s evangelical mother, Margaret White, and Molly Ranson (Jerusalem, August: Osage County) as the lonely, vengeful, yet fragile girl at the center of it all.
The show is currently in previews and will open March 1st at The Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street).
Broadway World went to the first preview (which was sold out) and talked to the cast and production team about the show and even has some snippets of the show. Continue »
