Interviews
Interview: American Idiot’s Trent Saunders Talks Life on the Road, St. Jimmy and Belting Out Green Day Songs
Trent also talks about how he got the part and audience craziness
Q & A: Anne Heche on Her New Religious-Themed Comedy, ‘Save Me’
Anne also talks about trying to quit acting when she was younger and more!
Q&A: Scott Foley talks ‘The Goodwin Games’ and Why He Loves Working in Television
Scott: “My job as an actor is to find the real moments of the characters”
Click Here For More Interviews!Acting Advice
Fail Boldly
Make the choices that you are scared of. Experiment. Play. Fail!
Keep the Drama on the Stage: How to Get Along with Your Fellow Actors
Ego and competition! 3 Steps to get along with your actor friends
The Actor’s Guide to the Twitter-verse
There’s a right way and a wrong way to tweet. Dallas shares 2 easy tips to help you make the most out of your tweets
Want To Read More Columns? Click Here!
Latest News
SAG Members: Get 10% Your AT&T Bill!April 22, 2009 | 3 Comments
I just found this out. SAG members get 10% off your AT&T bill plus savings on cell phones and accessories!
This might be the incentive I need to finally get a iPhone. But if you’re going to switch just because of that, I would wait till this summer when a new iPhone is supposed to come out.
Click here for the UnionPlus website
The Union Plus AT&T Wireless Difference:
- Only unionized wireless service company — “Proud to be Union”
- 10% discount off regular monthly rate for all AT&T wireless individual or family plans*
- Union member-only savings on AT&T cell phones and cell phone accessories**
- Unique labor union member advocate program that helps you with AT&T wireless customer service
- Shop online, download a coupon or call 1-800-897-7046 and reference FAN number: 00113662.
April 22, 2009 | 1 Comment
I’ve never heard or seen anything like this before. These New Moon actors actually needed papers of their heritage in order to be cast for the film.
It took a couple of months and thousands of hopefuls to find a quartet that fits the requirements for New Moon‘s wolf pack.
No. 1 on the list: Native American or First Nation ancestry, because their characters belong to the Quileute tribe, based in La Push, Wash., both in the book and in real life.
“They had to have papers that proved their heritage,” says director Chris Weitz, who was the one who insisted on hiring within the community. “And they had to be in good physical shape.”
The Twilight sequel is filming now, and between takes, the actors usually are working out with barbells, doing push-ups or chowing down on steak, Weitz says. “They went through wolf camp together, and they are in constant training. It paid off as a bonding thing for them and helped them to get to know one another. They drove each other to get more buff.”
No amount of weightlifting, however, would allow them to act out the wolf portion of their performances; the beasts are about the size of horses and race around on all fours.
April 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment
This story falls into the “Duh” category.
From Reuters:
The movie and TV industry contributed 2.5 million jobs and $41.1 billion in wages to the U.S. economy in 2007, according to a Motion Picture Association of America report.
That’s up from more than 1.3 million jobs and $30.2 billion in 2005, as reported by the Hollywood trade group in its inaugural economic impact report a couple of years ago.
In another key finding, there has been a shift of top production states beyond the traditional entertainment powerhouses of California and New York. Illinois, Texas and Florida are among those that have become more important industry hubs, while Nevada, Arizona and Montana are among those that have lost some luster.
The impact study, most of whose data is for 2007 despite the inclusion of some 2008 figures, shows that more than 285,000 people were employed in the core business of producing, marketing, manufacturing and distributing films and TV shows. The average salary of employees in the core production-related space came in just below $75,000 for 2007, 75 percent higher than the average salary nationwide, the MPAA found. For 2005, the average pay of $73,000 was nearly 80 percent above the U.S. average.
Overall, there are more than 115,000 entertainment firms in the 50 U.S. states — and 81 percent of them employ fewer than 10 people.
More than 478,000 work in industry functions in related businesses, such as movie theaters, video rental firms, broadcasters, cable operators and online ventures like Hulu.com and TV.com. The motion picture and TV industry also supports an additional 1.7 million jobs indirectly, up from nearly 1 million in 2005, at companies doing business with Hollywood players, such as apparel retailers, car rental firms, caterers, dry cleaners, transportation companies and lumber and hardware suppliers.
The industry also boosts the cash in state and federal coffers — a key argument in debates over the value of production tax incentives. Taxes paid by film and TV workers in 2007 and sales taxes on goods and services amounted to $13 billion, up $3 billion from 2005.
Of course, what would the industry be without actors. Thanks for screwing us out of our share AMPTP.
April 22, 2009 | 1 Comment
Hugh Jackman was just immortalized at the Grauman’s Chinese theater.
He told a story about his first trip to the theater with his wife, saying it was the first Hollywood landmark he visited in Los Angeles, and while there he put his hands into the prints of late comedian Peter Sellers.
“Here we are, 12 years later. It’s a very humbling moment as an actor to be here. You look down at the names, from Fred Astaire to Cary Grant, Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, Steve McQueen, John Wayne, and to think that those people have been immortalized and pretty soon I’ll be putting my hands in wet cement,” he said, before placing his hands in the cement.
April 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Amy Lyndon has just released her first book, The 15 Guideline Map To Booking, and I’m happy to report that it’s excellent. You know how when you read something a friend wrote and you’re afraid its going to stink? Not so here (full disclosure, if you’ve read this site for any length of time, you know that Amy has written several popular columns) and I promise I’m not blowing smoke. This is a solid, practical, concise guide on how to break down a scene.
Why should you read this book? Because Amy is an actress like you and me. She knows what its like and knows what we go through as actors day to day. She’s not someone who has stopped acting and became a teacher – you know who I mean.
I’m sure you’ve read acting books that are hundreds of pages long and takes forever just get to the point. This book is all meat and no fluff. It starts from page one and doesn’t stop spilling out insightful information. And best of all, it clocks in at a sleek 58 pages.
The “guidelines” are what Amy has been teaching for years. All of them, from Guideline 7: Every Line Is A Separate Thought to Guideline 14: Why Are You In The Script teaches you the details you need to properly break down a scene and be remembered by casting directors.
I obviously won’t go through all the guidelines but I will tell you my favorite, Guideline #3: What Is The Character’s Emotional State Of Mind (at the top of the scene). She says, “If your opening emotion is strong, nothing else will bother you. 90% of your work is done before you walk in the door.” So true! If you’re stumbling out of the gate all you do the rest of the scene is to try and find your footing. If you absolutely know what your beginning emotion is nothing can stop you. Amy even says it herself, “If you don’t know what you’re doing, then you will appear insecure in the room. Knowing what you are doing will give you the confidence you need to go after the job.”
Yes, Amy writes, these guidelines are not an easy thing to learn but once you do, breaking down a scene will never be easier. “Every script you pick up is like a puzzle,” she says. ” The clues to your character are in each and every line.”
She likes to say, Be in your heart, not in your head.” This book will definitely lead you there.
To order The 15 Guideline Map To Booking, click here.
April 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment
| FRIDAY Ursula Burton Ghost Whisperer 8pm on CBS April 24th |
 FRIDAYChristopher Leabu The Bride and The Grooms Playing in select cities April 24th |
April 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Tom Hanks has been pretty vocal about his desire for SAG to accept the AMPTP‘s offer. Well, this woman has heard him and now she’s responding.
April 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Idris Elba is on a roll right now with his 6 episode stint on The Office and his upcoming movie, Obsessed, with Beyonce.
Did you watch him on The Wire? Freakin incredible!
You recently said during an NPR interview that you haven’t seen many episodes of “The Wire.” Is that true?
I saw some of Season 1. I didn’t see any of Season 2. I saw the last scene, where I die, in that episode of Season 3. So I haven’t seen [most of] “The Wire.” Understand that because of the authenticity of the show, it’s like I lived it. I don’t really need to see it. It’s kind of like a memory or something that really happened. I don’t really watch anything I’ve done. I’ve been doing six episodes of “The Office.” I’ve seen the first one, but I haven’t seen any of the others. I’m hypercritical about my work, so I try not to torture myself.
Speaking of “The Office,” I’m curious: which member of that show’s cast raised your game the most when you were shooting?
It was actually a combination of Steve Carell and John Krasinski.
[Krasinski] hazed me, okay? While we were doing scenes, especially scenes where I would be in front of the whole team and telling them orders and such, he would always throw jabs at me and see if I’d crack. A few times, I got him. Because when the camera was on him, I’d be exactly the same way and be a complete goofball and he just wasn’t expecting that from me. Because he’s like: “Oh my God. Stringer Bell’s funny.”
And Steve Carell is unbelievably funny and crazy. I mean, he’s so good at the improvisation. And never cracks up. Ever.
April 20, 2009 | 1 Comment
I found this picture on Variety‘s website and couldn’t resist putting it up.
I mean, of all the hundreds of pictures Variety has of actors picketing, they choose this poor guy? He’s probably got a great headshot sitting in the backseat of his car and Variety screws him.
April 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Here’s two news stories on this weekends SAG/AMPTP contract. They have Ned Vaughn, Scott Wilson and Alan Rosenberg giving the take on the contract.
For some reason, the first one cuts out at the end.
