Michael Fassbender on Early Auditions, Directors and Acting: “I take my work seriously but I can’t take myself too seriously”

Michael Fassbender is an actor who most people weren’t aware of in 2010, but by the end of 2011 his name and his naked body were the talk of the town.  

In a revealing interview with GQ, Fassbender talks about his early experiences breaking into acting and how he has coped with his fame post-Shame.

Fassbender explains that he more-or-less fell into acting while he was looking for a way to express himself.  He says, “As a teenager, you’re searching for something that fits for you. I was pretty average at most things. I was just looking for something that I could relate to and perhaps excel in myself.”

His professional career started with a number of lows.  After being cast in the HBO World War II mini-series Band of Brothers, the film shoot lasted for nine months.  Those nine months, however, did not amount to much screen time for Fassbender, who says,”Blink and you’ll miss me.” 

He lived in Los Angeles during the following months and struggled in his auditions.  He says, “I wasn’t blowing them away in the audition room, that’s for sure.  I just didn’t feel settled or comfortable or confident.” Read more

John Cusack on his Darker Roles, Jungian Shadow Exercises for Acting and Losing 30 Pounds for ‘The Raven’

While The Raven has performed poorly at the box office after receiving very negative reviews, John Cusack is still talking about playing Edgar Alan Poe. 

In a lengthy interview with New York Magazine, Cusack talks about how playing Poe affected him both mentally and physically, exploring his dark side, and a little about why he stars in films with both small and huge budgets.

In previous interviews, Cusack has alluded to how uncomfortable it was playing Poe, a man well know for his struggle with addictions and traumatic personal losses.  In this interview he elaborates on that, saying, “It’s just it’s not a nice head-space to stay in, but it’s kind of an exhilarating head-space because there’s something kind of romantic toying with the abyss, you know. But it’s a nice place to be able to leave. I mean, I understand why he died early and everything.”  Read more

James Van Der Beek Talks ‘Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23′: “I auditioned against six other James Van Der Beeks for this role”

James Van Der Beek is finally back on TV in ABC’s Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23—and he’s come a long way from playing Dawson Leary on Dawson’s Creek. 

In an interview with NBC New York, Van Der Beek said, “I auditioned against six other James Van Der Beeks for this role.  I was lucky that four of them were not actors, and two of them didn’t speak English so by default, it was me.  No, this has been the most fun I think I’ve ever had doing anything. We came up with this character.  By Episode 3, I thought it bore, you know, less and less resemblance to me, which just made it even more fun…I had done some Funny or Die stuff and just had some fun and kind of realized if you tell a joke at a party, you always get more laughs if it’s a self-deprecating joke as opposed to a self-aggrandizing one.” Read more

‘Breaking Bad’ Henchman Bill Burr: “I watched Bryan [Cranston] and Bob [Odenkirk] do a scene in the law office and I felt like I was watching 10 years of acting class”

While AMC’s Breaking Bad is often given praise for its leading man Bryan Cranston, the show truly comes together because of the strengths of the supporting cast. 

One stand-out is actor Bill Burr who plays Sal Goodman’s henchman, Kuby.  Burr was previously best known for his standup acts.  In an interview with AMC, he said he learned a great deal about acting in a drama.  Burr said, “I hung around the set as long as I could.  I watched Bryan [Cranston] and Bob [Odenkirk] do a scene in the law office and I felt like I was watching 10 years of acting class.  Watching the adjustments they made—they make it look easy.” Read more

Mark Ruffalo Talks About Playing The Hulk: “I was channeling my 10-year-old son”

When the world goes to see The Avengers on May 4 (and there is a good chance that it’ll be more popular than The Hunger Games), one of the Marvel superheroes will look a bit different: The Hulk. 

But by now audiences should be used to seeing the Hulk’s human alter ego, Dr. Bruce Banner, look differently.  After all, Mark Ruffalo, who plays Banner in The Avengers, is the third actor in ten years to take on the role after Eric Bana (2003′s Hulk) and Ed Norton (2008′s The Incredible Hulk).

At The Avengers premiere, Ruffalo talked about how he managed stepping into the Hulk’s purple pants. Read more

Trailer: ‘House at the End of the Street’ starring Elisabeth Shue, Jennifer Lawrence & Max Thieriot

House at the End of the Street: Seeking a fresh start, newly divorced Sarah (Oscar(R)-nominee Elisabeth Shue; Leaving Las Vegas, Piranha 3D) and her daughter Elissa (Oscar(R)-nominee Jennifer Lawrence; X-Men: First Class, Winter’s Bone) find the house of their dreams in a small, upscale, rural town. But when startling and unexplainable events begin to happen, Sarah and Elissa learn the town is in the shadows of a chilling secret. Years earlier, in the house next door, a daughter killed her parents in their beds, and disappeared – leaving only a brother, Ryan (Max Thieriot, My Soul to Take), as the sole survivor. Against Sarah’s wishes, Elissa begins a relationship with the reclusive Ryan – and the closer they get, the deeper they’re all pulled into a mystery more dangerous than they ever imagined.

Director: Mark Tonderai
Cast: Elisabeth Shue, Jennifer Lawrence, Max Thieriot, Gil Bellows
Writers: David Loucka

In Theaters: September, 21st Read more

One Redhead per Show – An Important Audition Lesson

Written by Sean Pratt

One good way to explain the casting process to actors is the concept of GOOD vs. USEFUL

This a process a director uses to see if the “good” actor can be “useful” for their project. Understanding the difference between being “good” and “useful”, and how it relates to whether or not you get the part, is one of the most important ideas you can grasp, as it relates to auditioning. Let’s explore it in a more detail.

Good vs. Bad

To start with, children are rewarded for being good and an adult is rewarded for being useful. What this means is, if a child follows the rules and does what they are told, they will usually be rewarded. The child learns that this can be relied upon in most situations dealing with an authority figure. Generally speaking, until you leave school for the working world, you have been functioning under this system. Read more

WonderCon Interview: Brit Marling & Director Zal Batmanglij Talk ‘Sound of My Voice,’ Writing Together and Filming Without a Permit

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:22 — 9.2MB)

Brit Marling (Another Earth) wrote and stars in the time-travel drama, Sound of My Voice. The film is about a couple (Christopher Denham and Nicole Vicius) who go undercover in a cult in an attempt to refute the claims that its leader, Maggie (Marling), is from the future. The two quickly find out that they may be in for far much more than they bargained for.

Brit is hands down a perfect example of the mantra, create your own work. I talked to her last year for Another Earth, when she was just starting to get on everyone’s radar. After Sound of My Voice is released, she’ll be seen in Arbitrage with Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon, The Company You Keep with Robert Redford and Shia LaBeouf and East, another film she wrote and will star in.

I talked to Brit and co-writer/director Zal Batmanglij at WonderCon about how they came up with the idea for the film, filming without a permit and how the two work together as writers. Read more

Kelli O’Hara: “I can’t sing a song unless I absolutely connect with what I’m saying. I’m on a mission to make it all make sense”

After starring in South Pacific on Broadway for nearly two years, actress Kelli O’Hara thought about starring in a different type of role. But as she tells Time Out New York, she doesn’t feel like she’s ready to star in older, more subdued roles — especially since she’s only thirty-five.  So O’Hara decided on starring in another fun, flirty role. 

“I wanna do something fun, but I don’t want to do the ingenue again,” she says.  So O’Hara is appearing on Broadway in Nice Work If You Can Get It, a new musical farce utilizing the Gershwin songbook with co-star Matthew Broderick.

Even though she was initially looking for a more serious role, O’Hara came to terms with starring in a musical comedy.  She explains, “I could say, Oh, nobody’s dying in this one, and it’s not dark and actory.  But the comedy and pacing and this rich music—on some levels, it’s just as difficult. The difference is, you’re laughing more than you’re crying.” Read more

Wes Bentley on the One Big Difference Between ‘The Hunger Games’ and Acting

Actor Wes Bentley was best known for his role in the Oscar-winning film American Beauty.  Since then he dropped out of the spotlight and has recovered from a heroin addiction.  He’s currently jumping back into the Hollywood scene as Seneca Crane in the wildly popular Hunger Games movie.

In an interview with Vulture, Bentley noted the similarities between the merciless movie business and The Hunger Games.  The 33 year-old said, “It’s a competitive business.  But there’s one big difference: I’m choosing to be here and I’m choosing to go through this, whereas those kids aren’t, in the movie or in the books.  It is difficult as an actor to be an artist and be competitive.  If you’re just competing to make more money or to be the biggest name out there, it can be kind of devastating.  You have to be careful.  What kind of ‘competitive’ are you being?  Are you trying to be a better actor?  That’s fine.  Or are you trying to be a bigger star?  That’s not helping anybody but yourself.” Read more

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