Chicago Actor Resources
March 4, 2010 by Lance Carter
Filed under Actor News
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Headshot Photographers
February 3, 2010 by Lance Carter
Filed under Actor News
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Chelcie Ross, ‘Mad Men’s’ Conrad Hilton: “In a script, I don’t want to know what other characters are doing”
November 20, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Actor News
From chicagotribune.com:
Q. You and your character seemed to fit right in from the start on “Mad Men.” What was it like to work on the show?
A. There are places you go to work where you’re immediately made to feel at home and everybody’s there because they want to be there. Nobody’s just putting in time. That’s the atmosphere on “Mad Men.”
In my considered opinion, (the tone is set) from the top. And the director and producers of “Mad Men” couldn’t be nicer. That’s always been one of the things that has made an experience exceptional –— when the director absolutely believes in what he’s doing and he’s filled up with the prospect of bringing this (story) to life and making it as real for everybody else as it is for him. I used to work with a director named David H. Bell at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. He had that same kind of infectious quality about him, (the attitude that) nothing is small about what we’re doing if we don’t belittle it and (if we) believe in what we’re doing.
Jon Hamm is truly a down-to-earth Missouri guy, he brings his dog Cora to the set most days. I had a great time with Robert Morse, he’s fun and he’s so good and his resume is jaw-dropping. He’s really an actor’s actor. It’s a good group. I’m glad that it looked like I belonged there because I’d like to go back.
David Koechner on improvising, working just to work and Anchorman 2
September 30, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Actor News
You’ve accrued a lot of television, film and stand-up experience. In addition to Hank, what kind of work excites you most?
Look, anyone who has a job in show business. as far as I’m concerned. should be grateful and I certainly am. Sometimes you have a particular goal in mind and every actor is probably different in what they think they’re going to get. There have been times in my life where I’ve said “I just want to work.” And it just happens and I work. And then there have been other times when I’m looking around and I have a wife and four children. The number one thing I need to do is provide and so other opportunities come this way or that way. And I’m so fortunate that sometimes I have choices while other times I have only what is in front of me.
And right now, with Hank in particular, working on a four-camera sitcom is the best job in show business, it really is. This one in particular happens to be eight minutes from my house. [Just take the] freeway and an off-ramp and boom, I’m in the studio. I have four kids, I need to share my life with them, I can drop them off at school and I can pick them up and it’s a great job. So look, I’m very blessed to have this opportunity. I’ve never had a regular role on a series. I’ve done different guest spots or had an arc on a series years ago.
Plus, to get to work with Kelsey Grammer. So this is just another beautiful step, you never know where it’s going to take you. Wow, what a great trip. I get to do this one and that one. Look at all the great guys I’ve gotten to work with and going all the way back to Chicago, with all the people I worked with back there. And dude, here’s the thing I’ve realized about my path is that I will always get to work with a bunch of different great people and that’s the fun of it.
I imagine that the days are shorter than doing single-camera stuff.
That’s right.
Robert Knepper, from ‘Prison Break’ to ‘Heroes’
September 14, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Actor News
Robert Knepper, a career actor who cut his teeth on the theatrical stage in his hometown of Fremont, Ohio before majoring in drama at Chicago’s Northwestern University, is often typecast as a villain, but he approaches each new role as if he were playing the sweetest person in the world.
Lessons from Prison Break:
“Prison Break taught me that the writers have to break the story. They ponder it, they wrestle with it and all of a sudden they figure it out. What I realized, week after week after week of doing Prison Break, is that you do the same thing as an actor. You break the story from that character’s point of view. You break that scene down and go, `Ah-a, I get it.’ It’s kind of like a slow- moving river that’s coming to a waterfall, and all of a sudden the water starts to flow. You can’t just memorize a scene without knowing what the scene’s about. If the writing’s not good, I can’t memorize it at all. I’m like, `Damn, why won’t these words stick in my head?’ Once I break the scene, like the writers do, then it flows.”
On Heroes:
“I have a good vibe for Heroes, because I’m pulling my hair out trying to discover that character. The difference between now and Prison Break is that Prison Break put me on the map. With Heroes – it’s weird, but I haven’t talked about this before – it’s almost as if I feel the audience will be watching me develop the character as I’m developing it. I haven’t got it all developed ahead of time. I’m still fiddling with it. We’ll get to see what happens with it from one week to the next. For the audience, it’s like the theatre. It’s like watching a live performance unfold that happens to be on film.”
Read more
Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig talk their careers and “A Steady Rain”
September 10, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Actor News
On the show, A Steady Rain:
The gritty account of two Chicago policemen whose lives are upended by shattering events, some inspired by a real-life case, marks Craig’s Broadway debut.
Daniel Craig: “I just was fascinated by this great piece of writing, very emotional and disturbing but quite funny at points.”
Hugh Jackman: “It’s very raw — there are not many plays like it on Broadway.”
On Their Roles and careers:
Jackman: “I suppose the roles are different from others we’ve done, but that’s what you want. To be remembered for different things is something that motivates both of us.”
Craig: “We both come from places where the movie industry isn’t something you can walk straight into.”
Jackman: “Or make a living in.”
Craig: “In drama school, we’d have one day a term where someone brought a camera in, and we’d film each other mucking about. That was it, basically. People say that acting in theater and film are different disciplines, but I can’t agree completely. The only thing that matters in acting is truth. It’s all about making the audience believe you.”
The importance of working with a great actor:
Craig: “I don’t know how much smoke I should blow up his a—, but Hugh’s tremendously talented. When you’re on stage, you want to be looking at someone who’s intelligent and who’s got your back. It makes my job that much easier, lazy actor that I am.”
First look at Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman in the Broadway play 'A Steady Rain'
August 26, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Actor News
I think I might need to take a trip to NYC to see this show. Who’s with me?
“Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman star in the most anticipated theatrical event of the season: A Steady Rain. This new American play by Keith Huff tells the story of two Chicago cops who are lifelong friends and whose differing accounts of a few harrowing days change their lives forever. Directing is John Crowley.” (via asteadyrainonbroadway.com)
The show runs from September 10 through December 6th.
Click here for the website and ticket information
Book Review: "The Chris Farley Show"
August 13, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Columns
The Chris Farley Show is the biography of the brilliant, late comedian Chris Farley.
I remember watching him on Saturday Night Live in those first couple of episodes when you had no idea who he was and he had only one or two lines in a sketch. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. He had this energy that radiated off screen.
Through motivational speaker Matt Foley, the Chippendale’s dancer and Tommy Boy, he created characters that will live on in our memory for years to come.
The book has Chris Farley’s friends and family reminiscing and recounting his life as they remember it. From David Spade, Tim Meadows, Chris Rock, Alec Baldwin, Norm MacDonald and Lorne Michaels, this book is equally funny as it is heart-breaking.
It’s divided into three acts. Act 1 is his early years in Wisconsin and Chicago. Act 2 his SNL days and Act 3… well, I’m sure you can figure where the book veers off at that point.
Jack Black and Michael Cera talk about working together
June 16, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Actor News
I’m still not sure about this movie. I love Harold Ramis (the director) and Jack Black and Michael Cera are usually but nothing has really grabbed me about it yet.
What do you think?
From Movieline:
You obviously couldn’t follow cavemen around to prepare for this role … so who did you follow around?
Michael Cera: Well the answer to that is simple. Nobody. I didn’t follow anyone around, I just drove around L.A. and did some deep thinking, and then spoke on the phone with [director Harold Ramis], and then next thing I knew we were shooting.
Jack Black: I guess it was De Niro who started the whole “follow people around before you do the movie.” And I’d never done that. I mean, I tried a little bit and it doesn’t work for me, it’s not my thing.
What was your least favorite part about working with each other?
Black: My least favorite thing about Michael Cera? He is just a pompous ass. Thinks he’s so f***ing great … and his breath.
Cera: Well, I was going to say, saying goodbye. I think I need to rethink that. But check his breath, too. It’s disgusting to me.
What was your favorite thing about working with each other?
Cera: His breath [laughs]. It was fun, the fun of it, I love fun. I have a soft spot for fun, and Jack’s a lot of fun.
Black: My favorite thing about working with Michael, just the talent. Just watching another actor do his thing. Very funny. Coming up with funny lines on the fly. Making me giggle and laugh. The same thing that I like about watching Michael’s movies or television shows is the same thing I liked about working with him. I’m watching in the wings as a fan … It’s pretty obvious. Good guy. And I get a little bit extra, because I get to watch him in between takes working it up, thinking about it, talking about it, getting some direction, laughing it up.
How much improv did you guys get to do on the movie?
Cera: If we improvised it would just have been, you know, little jokes or just kind of straying from dialogue. But it wasn’t improv, it wasn’t like a Christopher Guest movie where you have the direction to go in and you just get there. It was very formally scripted with distinct jokes and beats so we didn’t stray too much from it.
Black: Yeah, it was all there. But I would say 5 percent improv.
SAG Press Release from last night
June 10, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Actor News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Screen Actors Guild Members Overwhelmingly Ratify TV/Theatrical Agreements
Los Angeles, (June 9, 2009) – Screen Actors Guild announced today that members have voted overwhelmingly to approve its TV/Theatrical contracts by a vote of 78 percent to 22 percent.
The two-year successor agreement covers film and digital television programs, motion pictures and new media productions. The pact becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. June 10, 2009 and expires June 30, 2011.
The contracts provide more than $105 million in wages, increased pension contributions, and other gains and establishes a template for SAG coverage of new media formats.
Approximately 110,000 SAG members received ballots of which 35.26 percent returned them – a return that is above average compared with typical referenda on Screen Actors Guild contracts. Integrity Voting Systems of Everett, WA, provided election services and tonight certified the final vote tally upon completion of the tabulation.
The vote count in the Hollywood Division was 70.70 percent to 29.30 percent in favor. In the New York Division, the vote count was 85.74 percent to 14.26 percent in favor. And in the Regional Branch Division, the vote count was 89.06 percent to 10.94 percent in favor.
Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg said, “The membership has spoken and has decided to work under the terms of this contract that many of us, who have been involved in these negotiations from the beginning, believe to be devastatingly unsatisfactory. Tomorrow morning I will be contacting the elected leadership of the other talent unions with the hope of beginning a series of pre-negotiation summit meetings in preparation for 2011. I call upon all SAG members to begin to ready themselves for the battle ahead,” Rosenberg added.
