North Carolina Actor Resources
March 4, 2010 by Lance Carter
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Armin Shimerman: “Luck is a huge factor in every career”
December 8, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Interviews
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:29 — 8.0MB)
Armin Shimerman made his name in television - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Seinfeld, Boston Legal (to name a few) – by playing unique, memorable characters. But did you know his true love is theater?
I caught up with Armin at the tail-end of his run of The Seafarer where he was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to talk about theater, how he prepares for a role and much more!
For ticket information on The Seafarer at the San Diego Repertory Theater, click here!
You’re currently starring in The Seafarer. Even though it’s a short run, how do you keep your performance fresh night after night?
How do I do that? How does any actor do that? By being inspired every night by what the other people are doing and finding new things in the play as we go along. Although it’s a rehearsed and performed piece, there’s always something new. That’s the great thing about live theater, you can always find something new and fresh each performance. The audience and the actors give you things.
How do you choose your theatre projects? Do you have a master list of shows or characters that you want to do somewhere?
I tend to prefer classical theater. That is what I’ve been trained in and what I’ve mostly done and what intrigues me the most. However, I saw this particular play in New York when I was visiting a couple years ago, and it was an incredible production directed by the playwright on Broadway. And when I saw it, after I saw it, I was just absolutely enthralled by it and there was a particular part in it that I really wanted to play. That is not the part that I’m playing, but I was really enthralled by the play. And I particularly wanted to play the Devil, but instead the theatre here, very wisely in my opinion, cast me as Richard Harkin which is the host of the party for want of a better term. And I’m just tickled pink. Without doubt it’ll always be one of my favorite character’s that I’ve ever played.
I’ve heard you’re fantastic in the show.
It’s turned out very well. We’ve had a wonderful director. Delisha [Turner Sonnenburg] did a great job directing it. The theatre has done a terrific job of producing it. And it’s an incredible ensemble of actors.
Jersey Boys Travis Cloer: “I left New York to get a job on Broadway”
November 18, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Interviews
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:40 — 6.0MB)
Travis Cloer, who plays Frankie Valli in the Las Vegas production of Jersey Boys, didn’t have anyone hand him his career.
No, as a struggling actor in New York, leaving the city was probably the smartest thing he ever did. Because when he came back, he landed on a Broadway stage.
Check out how he did that, the differences between Broadway and Las Vegas and what it’s like playing an icon.
I saw the show Tuesday at 6:30 and I thought it was fantastic.
Yeah, it’s a fun show.
Yeah, you guys are great. I guess you can call that an early matinee?
Yeah, it’s weird here because everything’s in the evening. Anything in the afternoon is pretty brutal.
You guys were just on fire and cracking.
Those 2 show days are… you know, everybody is pretty high energy throughout the full day.
How long have you been in the show?
I’ve been involved with Jersey Boys since February of 2007. I was in the Broadway company for about a year and a half, and then they moved me out here last September of 2008.
Did you want to come out here?
It was kind of 50/50. I enjoyed being in New York and being on Broadway, but the role of Frankie Valli opened up out here and they offered it to me, so I kind of had to take it you know.
How do you keep it fresh?
That’s a good question, man (laughter). That is a really good question, especially after almost 3 years. You just really have to – well, a lot of it is what the audience is bringing to you that night. You know, if it’s a great house and if it’s a great audience of course you always feel as a performer to give it just that little bit extra, instead of – you don’t always want to coast on auto pilot. But sometimes you know you get tired. But as far as keeping it fresh, you just, with this show, I find I really enjoy singing the music. And the music itself is fresh to me just about every night on its own.
Gene Hackman on the differences between writing & acting and doing push-ups on set
September 29, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Acting Tips, Performing Arts News
Gene Hackman, now retired (how did I miss that), is spending his time writing novels now.
His latest, Escape from Andersonville, is about a prison escape set in the Civil War.
Did you harbor ambitions to write throughout your acting career?
My grandfather had been a newspaper reporter, as was my uncle. They were pretty good writers and so I thought maybe somewhere down the line I would do some writing. Once, I optioned a novel and tried to do a screenplay on it, which was great fun, but I was too respectful. I was only 100 pages into the novel and I had about 90 pages of movie script going. I realized I had a lot to learn…
Is it a novel we would have heard of?
Yeah, Silence of the Lambs. I got busy with another film and gave the rights back to—Orion, I think it was. Kind of a dumb move as it turned out.
What’s easier, acting or writing?
In terms of the stress there’s just no comparison. For me, at least, writing a novel is a great pleasure. There is stress but it’s a different kind of stress: more mental than physical. In a film you’re working nights and 16-hour days. Here I am saying poor me, when I’ve been paid pretty well for that work, but it’s a fact. It doesn’t matter how much you’re being paid. At my age I just feel I don’t want to do that any longer. So, the writing is really a godsend.
How Michael Sheen transforms into his characters
September 23, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Acting Tips, Performing Arts News
Michael Sheen is starring in the UK film, The Damned United about legendary, opinionated football manager Brian Clough, with Timothy Spall as his right hand man, only friend, and crutch Peter Taylor.
The normally reserved Sheen transforms so convincingly into the late soccer firebrand Brian Clough, a man fans loved to hate, it’s almost as if another actor were standing in for him.
But it’s all Sheen, best known on these shores as the dapper actor who played Tony Blair in The Queen and David Frost in Frost/Nixon, two roles he also aced. Clough is his first major sports figure, whom Sheen depicts during 44 tumultuous days in ’74 when he was the outspoken and ultimately turfed coach of Leeds United Football Club.
“It’s just a case of osmosis,” Blair, 40, said last week during the Toronto International Film Festival, where The Damned United had its North American premiere. It opens Friday.
5 Tips to Get Cast Again and Again by the Same Director (One Will Save Your Life)
August 5, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Columns
My 5 Best Tips to Get Cast Again & Again by the Same Director (One Will Save Your Life) by Paul Cram
Paul Cram, a working actor (check out his IMDB profile here), shares his thoughts on getting cast again and again by the same people.
1. Know Your Lines, No More Faking
This seems obvious, but about 30% of actors I’ve worked with didn’t know their stuff before they arrived on-set. Memorize ‘em and you’ll not only come off as a pro, but also have the benefit of taking out all the fakey dramatic pauses that actors do when trying remember their cues.
Using Your High Sensitivity Personality As an Actor
June 1, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Acting Tips, Columns
Using Your High Sensitivity Personality As an Actor is a guest post by Douglas Eby
Everyone has some sensitivity to inner experiences and emotions, to the moods of others, and to many other sensations. But highly sensitive people have unusually strong awareness and reactions.
Artists, including actors, are often highly sensitive and use this personality trait to be more creative and effective.
But since the trait can also lead to being overwhelmed, you need to take care of yourself. It can show up in many ways, and actors have different ways of dealing with their high sensitivity.
Renee Zellweger says when she expresses something, it’s through the filter of her character, so she never feels exposed. She thinks of making movies as “private experiences” and avoids thinking about disappointing people.
Many other actors have identified themselves as highly sensitive, including Ellen Muth; Heath Ledger; Amy Brenneman; Mandy Moore; Alison Pill; Naomi Watts, and Brittany Murphy, who once commented, “I’m a very oversensitive, vulnerable person. You have to be to do this for a living.”
Video: Frank Langella on the soul of a character
January 20, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under Acting Tips, Videos
The great Frank Langella talk about how the creation of a character’s soul makes for a much more interesting character.
