Brad Pitt Talks About Quitting Acting, His Early Frustrations and Doing It All For His Kids

Let’s get the bombshell out of the way since it’s been reported all over the Internet already: in his recent Australian 60 Minutes interview, Brad Pitt revealed that he plans to quit acting in three years when he turns fifty. 

His exact words after interviewer Tara Brown asked the follow-up question “What about after that?” were, “Hell if I know. Hell if I know. I am really enjoying the producing side and development of stories and putting those pieces together. And getting stories to the plate that might have had a tougher time otherwise, so…You know, I have gotten away with a few things in writing and I have been pissed off about a few things.”

Huh.  Not only is that rather disappointing that Pitt, who has turned into a rather fine actor in recent years, is vowing to quit acting, but it also totally contradicts the last interview Pitt did that I posted on last week in which Pitt claimed he has “no aspirations whatsoever” to work on the production end of films, although he did hint at believing that he had a “shelf life.”

But overall Pitt’s interview with 60 Minutes seems to focus on the negatives.  Read more

You Are Your Own Channel – Stay Plugged In!

Written by Anthony Meindl

Start with yourself.

If you start anywhere else, it’s a false start and you’ll just be forced to go back to the starting line and begin again. And again. (Sort of like USAIN BOLT false-starting & being DQ’d at the World Track & Field Championships yesterday.)

Starting with yourself means finding the place within you that is not influenced by outside forces. It’s not affected by what other people say or do. It’s not discouraged by people wanting to stop you. It’s not even concerned with the negative things you say about yourself, which come from the conditioned part of our left brain.

When I was in my 20’s I spent a great amount of time running away from who I was; always trying to be someone else: wanting to be liked, or popular, or cool, or attractive.
But no matter how hard I tried to avoid myself, I kept coming back to me. By my 30’s I realized that who I was – who we all are – is the thing we keep looking for somewhere else.

In someone else.

Our essential Self (which makes each of us unique) is the part of us that is connected to something bigger than our egos. It’s like you are one of those limitless channels, plugged into the TV.   Read more

The Peaceful Artist

Written by Rhonda Musak

I’m in great envy of Winnie the Pooh. 

I’m thinking in particular of the Winnie the Pooh as illuminated by Benjamin Hoff in The Tao of Pooh, that open-hearted, wide-eyed fella who can’t but help land squarely on his feet.  At this moment I’m sitting on my own personal battle line between desire and action… and I am envious.

Like any acting role, all of my blog posts have some part of me in them, but this one in particular goes to the core. 

I have decided to be this personal because I don’t believe that I am alone; I have met comrades in these trenches in many forms: friends, colleagues, and students.  I am speaking here of my personal struggle with finding a place of peace and flow that lies somewhere between the intersection of desire and action.  I recall the words an insightful teacher once said to me during my conservatory days: “Rhonda,” he said “you are like the woman who shows up at a store sale before anyone else in order to buy the place out.”   Read more

Andy Serkis on Motion Capture: “It is a tool that enables you to enter into the world of your character. I think of it as digital makeup”

Andy Serkis has made his name as a motion capture performer, portraying computer-animated yet life-like characters in hit films like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which is due to arrive in theaters this Friday. The 27-year-old waxed philosophic on the art of motion capture for a recent story in the Orlando Sentinel.

“It’s not a genre of acting. It is a tool that enables you to enter into the world of your character. I think of it as digital makeup, really, not as a genre,” Serkis said. “If you want to learn it, want to go down that route, to be able to fully explore, physically, a character and to be able to express that character with every fiber of your being, you can be taught. Most good actors do that anyway.”

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Interview: Acting Coach Michelle Danner

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:27 — 12.1MB)

If you live in LA, I’m sure you’ve heard of the Edgemar Center for the Arts where Michelle Danner is the Artistic Director.

Michelle is an actress, director and renowned acting coach for Penelope Cruz, Michael Pena, Isla Fisher and James Franco to name a few. In 2000, she and Larry Moss founded the Center which houses two huge theatres, an art gallery and is home great workshops taught by Brad Garrett and incredible casting directors like Sarah Finn, Lisa Beach and Sarah Katzman.

Michelle is currently finishing up directing duties on her 2^nd film, Hello Herman.

I talked to Michelle about the film, Edgemar and what it’s like to coach some of the biggest stars around.

Click here for the Edgemar website.

For the full interview, click the audio link above or download it from iTunes

When did you start to realize that you liked coaching actors?

Michelle Danner: I was an actress, and I realized, well, you know, I was coaching actors in New York, then when I came here people kept asking me to work with them ‘cause I had good insight. And, you know, my phone started ringing at some point, off the hook in the 90’s, then I realized I probably, you know, needed to, you know just to take it and do it, so I focused on that for a while.

And then I started to direct, and I started to direct theater and now I’m directing film, and so it was a good, you know, it was a great segue but I continued to teach because my classes are the center of all of a lot of what I do.

What is it about coaching actors that you like?

Michelle Danner: I’ve always been fascinated by what makes a great moment in acting, and of course if you’re able to join the many great moments together then you do come up with a great performance. So I have a fascination with that.  And then individually, I like to work with people trying to get them to give the best of themselves, and I’m also fascinated with process.  And good acting has to do with process, and what kind of process one chooses to give themselves depending on what kind of material their working on, whether it’s a movie or a television show or a play.

Read more

Watch: Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s “Tin Tin” Comic-Con Panel

Here’s another panel I missed at Comic-Con: Two of the greatest directors alive, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, came to Hall H to talking about their new project, Tin Tin.

Just listening to the following clips, I would have loved to have been there.

Some of the highlights of the videos:

Spielberg: “I think that is the secret to great acting. You have to bring your imagination to the party. You gotta have a great imagination. You’ve got to bring it to the day when you’re working.”

Spielberg again: “Tin Tin does not take no for an answer and that has been the story of my life.”

They also talk about the actors working in motion-capture, how they came to the project and tons more.

Check them out below!

Videos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Read more

Boca Raton, Florida: Workshop – Monologues That Win The Part!

MONOLOGUES THAT WIN THE PART

WHAT:  Week-long experiential workshop taught by producer Sunnie Brooks of Elite Retreat Events Co. which produces Star Mitzva! A Show Within a Party Where the Guests are the Entertainment.

WHEN:  August 1-5, 2011 Monday-Friday.
Kids 9 and up: 3-6 p.m.
Adults 6:30-9:30 p.m.

WHO:  For aspiring and seasoned actors. Improvement guaranteed for all levels.

WHERE: The Loft at Congress, Boca Raton, Florida

WHY:   Discover and develop the best audition monologue for you. Learn how to deliver it the way directors and casting agents want it. Avoid pitfalls that trip up even the most seasoned actors on-camera. Learn acting and pre-audition techniques to last a lifetime.

Bonus #1: Each student will receive valuable reel of their performance.

Bonus # 2: One student will be chosen for a paid acting job in an upcoming full- wardrobe STAR MITZVAH production with reel.

COST:  $349 Includes course materials, makeup lesson, reel, refreshments. Class size is limited to provide individual coaching for each student.

Enrollment deadline is Monday, July 25, 2011.

CALL SUNNIE NOW TO ENROLL:  561-389-1990 to avoid disappointment.

Email: sunnie@eliteretreatevents.com
Web: www.EliteRetreatEvents.com

Johnny Depp: “I started out secretly testing characters on (my kids) to see how their reactions would be”

Don’t give the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise an ocean burial just yet. Star Johnny Depp, who plays everybody’s favorite pirate Captain Jack Sparrow in the series, said at the Cannes Film Festival that he wants to reprise his role for at least another installment.

“With Captain Jack I feel like there’s much more to be had…” said Depp after the premiere of the fourth Pirates field, On Stranger Tides, according to the New York Post. “As long as the stories, the scripts are great and you have directors like (Stranger Tides shot-caller) Rob Marshall we’ll be in good shape.”

The latest installment is preceded in the Pirates series by 2003’s The Curse of the Black Pearl, 2006’s Dead Man’s Chest and 2007’s At World’s End.

In making the films, Depp claims to be take inspiration from Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards (who plays Sparrow’s father), Loony Tune skunk Pepe Le Pew and his children. As long as he stays motivated by such disparate sources, there’s no telling how long his Pirates will rule the open sea.

“I started out secretly testing characters on (my kids) to see how their reactions would be,” recalled Depp. “With my daughter we’d be playing Barbies and I’d try out these voices on her and she’d just say ‘stop.’ They came to see the movie and I can tell by their reaction if I did alright. I haven’t been fired by my kids.”

Keira Knightley: “The thing about acting is, it does require life, because you have to have things to draw from”

At the premier of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in L.A.  this weekend, Keira Knightley said that being a part of the first three Pirates, “was an amazing experience, I was 17 when I started and 22 by the time the last one came out. It was a considerable chunk of time. It was extraordinary but I think, what is that, five years of my life?”

The demanding shoot schedule for Pirates 2 and 3 also convinced Knightley she would not continue with the franchise. ”Doing it solidly for two years at that time was definitely enough. And I mostly just wanted to do something else. The thing about acting is, it does require life, because you have to have things to draw from,” she said.

After an impressive number of films,  including The Duchess, Atonement and the Pirates trilogy, Knightley says, ”I very much felt like I’d hit a brick wall and was regurgitating as opposed to actually finding anything new.”

via usatoday.com

Before The Oscars: Natalie Portman

How did this year’s Academy Award nominees begin their acting careers? Find out in The Daily Actor’s “Before The Oscars” special feature.

Natalie Portman

Nominated for “Best Actress In A Leading Role”

Film: Black Swan

Role: Nina Sayers, a young ballerina whose precarious mental state begins to disintegrate when she is cast in the role of the Swan Queen.

How she got started: Born in Jerusalem, Natalie Portman started taking dancing classes when she was four years old. When she turned 10, she auditioned for the Off Broadway show Ruthless and was cast as an understudy with future pop star Britney Spears. In 1993, she made her feature film debut in Luc Besson’s film Léon. In the mid ’90s, Portman became a sci-fi icon after starring in Star Wars prequel, the Phantom Menace. She also had roles in Beautiful Girls, Where The Heart Is, Garden State and Closer, which earned her an Academy Award nomination.

Other notable films: Beautiful Girls, V for Vendetta, Where The Heart Is, Garden State, The Other Boleyn Girl and Closer (Academy Award Nomination)

The 83rd Academy Awards airs on February 27 at 8pm. For a list of nominees, click here.

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