True Blood’s Carrie Preston on Broadway, her career and how she got the role of “Arlene”

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Even if you haven’t watched True Blood, you’ve seen Carrie Preston before.

Carrie has the remarkable ability to transform herself – her looks and mannerisms – in each role she does. She’s been in Duplicity and My Best Friends Wedding with Julia Roberts. Doubt, Vicky Christina Barcelona and even an episode of Sex and the City that I totally remem

ber her in. She even played Ben Linus’ (her husband, the great Michael Emerson) mother on an episode of Lost! I could go on but my fingers will get tired from all the typing.

She’s currently filming season 3 of True Blood and she took some time out to talk to me about Broadway, how she prepares for a role and yes, True Blood.

So, you’re from Georgia and you got started doing plays as a kid?
Yeah, I’m one of those, like I like to say I’m a “lifer.”  I’m in it for life.  My brothers also an actor, and we started doing plays in Macon, Georgia community theater when we were pretty young.  My brother, John, his name’s John Preston, he got the first play.  He’s older than me by two years, so I watched him, and I was like, “I want to do what John’s doing.”  And then before we knew it, we were completely ensconced in doing plays growing up.

And then I even started my own street theater company when I was in the 7^th grade with all the neighborhood kids, and I would charge 25 cents.  We would make up skits and sing songs and do it in the front yard.  I mean, that was pretty much… it was very clear that that was what I wanted to do with my life.  I just didn’t know that you could make a living at it.

Was there any one show or one specific moment that you were like, this is it?
I definitely got bitten by the bug, immediately, you know, when I was in the 4^th grade. Just doing the school, the community theater production of some play, it was called, The Lion Who Wouldn’t.  You know how they write those plays for kids and stuff?

The director who was running the community theater, he pulled my mom aside and he said, “Your child’s an actor”, and my mom said, “Oh thank you, she’s having a good time.”  And he said, “No, no, no, no. You’re not hearing me.  Your children are actors.  That’s what they are.”  So he encouraged us at a young age and sort of brought it up to my parents in a way that they had to kind of sit up and listen.  And thankfully my parents were very supportive and never tried to talk us into becoming accountants or anything like that.

Yeah, my mom said that to me more than once.  And I said, mom I can’t even count.
Exactly!  There’s no back up here.  This is it.  This is what we’re doing.

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Christopher Walken on Christopher Walken

Here’s a pretty cool piece on Christopher Walken from the  New York Times.

The first bit he talks about his new show, Martin McDonagh’s play A Behanding in Spokane then it segues into him talking about his life, career and his acting. It’s after the jump!

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“Shutter Island”: Leonardo Dicaprio on his cast mates, character and Scorsese

Leonardo DiCaprio on:

…his cast mates and being specific when researching a character.

…his character

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Secret Handshake Entertainment’s Joe Gressis on Demo Reels: Why you need one, when you need one and more!

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If you’re looking to make a demo reel or have your current one updated, look no further than Joe Gressis at Secret Handshake Entertainment.

Joe has been editing for years and he is the go-to-guy for several big agencies when they want their actors to update their reels.

Why is Joe so great? Because he is also a producer (A Little Help starring Jenna Fischer and Chris O’Donnell will be released soon) and looks at reels from that perspective.

And check below for some reels of well-known actors!

At what point should an actor get a reel?
Pretty quickly. As soon as they’ve got enough material to support it, basically, because so much of casting is now done online and with DVDs. They go through so many people that as soon as you have it the better.  As soon as you have the material to support. And sometimes, you want to make your own material just to have a reel because so much of it is now based on that before they even will bring you in or anything like that they’ll want to see that.

What do you think of the services that offer filming scenes for actors to put on their reels?
Well, some of them are pretty good.  But you definitely don’t want to skimp on that because if it looks made up, then it doesn’t really help that much.

You can tell?
Yeah, you definitely can tell.  But there are some places that have really good-looking scenes where it’s difficult to tell.  And it really does showcase the actor and it could be an indie film.  And it’s shot on some high-quality HD.  As long as it’s done well I think it’s very advantageous, actually.  Things have changed, at one point that was not true, but because HD cameras are so much better now and give such good image quality that yeah you can do it.

What’s the perfect length for a reel?
Rule of thumb would be 2-5 minutes, and most people will say keep it shorter.  Although, I will actually say that because of the way a lot of digital media works that the rule of the length of a reel is kind of changing because so many people now look at them online.  Vast majority is now online, and what I’ve seen, because I actually just produced a movie where I saw the casting director and director go through a bunch of reels.  I kind of see the behavior of people who are really actively involved in casting people, and so I really paid attention especially in regards to this side of the business.

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Broadway star Montego Glover on ‘Memphis’, advice and her journey to success

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I think Montego Glover, the star of the hit Broadway show Memphis, can do anything.

Not only is she currently starring on Broadway, but she also displays her talent in video games, commercials, television and voice overs. Ok, a lot of people do that. But do they do it successfully?

Exactly! Seriously, she can do anything.

Currently, she is spending her evenings playing Felecia Farrell, a struggling singer in 1950’s Memphis. She sings, she dances and will break your heart by the end of the show.

I saw Montego when the show was at the La Jolla Playhouse and she was incredible. Once she’s on stage, you can’t take your eyes off of her. She absolutely takes over the stage.

If you get a chance, listen to the audio portion of the interview. You’ll get a chance to hear more questions and listen to her talk.  She has an absolute perfect voice. I could listen to her talk all day.  Listen for a minute, you’ll know what I’m talking about!

I love the actual back story of the show, you and Chad [Kimball] have been with the show for 6 years now I think?
That’s correct.

When you first read the story and heard the music, did you have a feeling about this show?  Obviously there’s no guarantee you’ll end up where you are now.  Did you just have some sort of gut feeling about it?
I did.  I will say my gut feeling however was that this piece was immediately identifiable to me and inclusive of me and that it was special.  I had never read a script like this for Broadway.  And because the concept was new for Broadway and had never been done before and the characters and the location and the ideas were new, it made it all the more interesting.  I responded to it as an artist right away because it was just new and really interesting.  What a great angle from which to tell a story.  And a new story at that.

You guys have such great chemistry, too, you and Chad.  Was that something that happened over time or was it pretty quick?
(She laughs)  I appreciate that, thank you.  It’s helpful every night.  That’s a good thing.

Funny story, actually, we were about to do the first production of Memphis.  First developmental production, and I had been called in to read with some of the guys who were coming in for the roll of Huey Calhoun.  And I remember sitting in the hallway and the casting director came out and said, “Montego this is Chad Kimball.  You guys are going to read together.  Here’s the scene.”  Now, I had not formally met Chad, but we had many, many friends in common and I had seen his work, and he introduced himself, I introduced myself.  We went down the hallway, we read the scene, and it happened to be a scene that involved kissing.  And we read, and we kissed, and it was pretty great.  And we pulled away, and I looked at him, and I said, “Hey.”  And he said, “Hey.”  And I thought, this is the guy.  This is the guy.  And it turns out he was the guy, so we went back into the room (laughs), it went beautifully.  He was charming and it was lovely.  And I just remember the both of us standing there at the end of the read, holding hands and just laughing.  Just laughing.  And we’ve been together ever since (laughing).

What was the opening night of the show like?
Literally a dream come true.  Literally.  How many times as an actor do you read something and go, wow, wouldn’t it be great, this is so special, I respond to this.  Wouldn’t it be great if it could be done well and right with the right amount of time to develop and we could really do it well and do it right, and then there we were, on October the 19^th doing it.  Opening.  It felt like flying.  It felt like – rapturous applause, it felt like chaos.  It felt like the right kind of chaos, you know, just magnetic, kinetic, combustible excitement.  It was just thrilling, absolutely thrilling.  A dream come true.

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The stars of ‘Spartacus: Blood and Sand’ spill the beans on their characters, casting, green screen and nudity

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Spartacus: Blood and Sand is a retelling of the classic story of a Roman Gladiator who eventually rises up to lead a massive slave rebellion. But this is not your Dad’s Spartacus. This is much cooler. Much, much cooler. I’ve seen the first 4 episodes and they rock.

In this exclusive interview, Andy Whitfield (Spartacus), Lucy Lawless (Lucretia) and Executive Producer Steven S. DeKnight talked to me

Spartacus: Blood and Sand premieres this Friday, January 22nd on Starz!

Side note: This was a much longer interview but about halfway during the call, I noticed my cat chewing the cord that I use to record the audio. I quickly replaced the cord but missed a lot of great questions. You can thank my cat for that. And if you listen to the audio of the call, you’ll be able to hear her “meowing” in the background. Ah… the pleasures of working at home.

Let’s pick up the action…

[My question was: How do you get mentally prepared for a long shoot like this?]
Andy:  stay present and go, what do I have to achieve today and collaborate with some of the most amazing people I’ve ever worked with.  It’s achievable.  It does take its toll at the end.  Everyone needs a big rest, but even on the last day, everyone was there, the crew were there, and you could just feel how proud and how excited and how exhilarated everyone was.  You almost could feel like they could have two weeks off and start again.

Do you guys both still get nervous before a big scene?
Andy:  Lucy?
Lucy:  If I’m naked, yeah probably (laughter).  I don’t know.  Now that there’s such a relationship of trust between the actors and you’ve got directors that are really just fantastic –
Andy:  Yeah, I think, I mean I think that is true.  I think, you know, from what we have achieved – that gives you a lot of confidence.  But I also am conscious that there is always a necessary amount of fear just to have everything sharp.  You know, it’s that thing, no pressure, no diamond.  And I think you just sort of get used to it and accept that it will always be there.

For example, if I had to audition for something tomorrow, I would be as nervous as I was before.  And I’d spent nine months doing the best training for acting I could possibly ever have.  And I think that’s appropriate.  I think that you just accept that that’s gonna be there.  And just trust it’s gonna go away it’ll go away the second you commit to what is there.

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Matthew Goode on ‘Leap Year’, accents and ‘A Single Man’

From movieline:

Had you met Amy Adams before shooting?
Before shooting, yes, because I had to get the job. She had a part in the casting so I went in and read. I wasn’t the only chap; she’s quite a big actress these days.

You’ve done several accents in your films. Was it tricky getting this one?
I have to say it really was because Anand wasn’t quite sure where he wanted me to come from for a while then he made the decision that it would be Dingle and the County Kerry accent would be a good one. Luckily I had one of the best vocal coaches in the world, Gerry Grennell — he worked with Johnny Depp and other people — he’s fabulous and he lives in Dublin so it was perfect. The first day Anand said, “Well, everyone in the crew seems to think you sound alright, it’s just that I can’t understand a bloody word.” It was a bit thick, which is good in the west of Ireland, very, very strong accents in certain parts. You can barely understand a bloody word yourself. So it was definitely blood, sweat and tears [sighs] but it worked out.

Is there any sort of character you’d really like to play?
I’ve always wanted to play a detective in a thriller with another guy, I think. Two guys trying to find out something, that would be fun, private detectives or something. I’d really enjoy that … or not, as the case may be.

But you’d like to try.
Absolutely, as long as the script isn’t a floating turd. “I’m going to do my dream! A dream of playing a detective! But the script is f***ing shit!” That would be hell.

Is there any actor whose career you’d like to emulate?
Yeah, sure, there’s so many really. People like Billy Crudup and Sam Rockwell; they have very tremendous range, doing theater and cinema. There are heroes of mine, like Michael Caine … I loved Peter O’Toole. Maybe O’Toole and [Richard] Burton and those boys, but without the alcoholism.

So how was it working with Colin Firth and Tom Ford on ‘A Single Man?’
I loved it; bearing in mind that the film was shot in 21 days, I wasn’t there for terribly long. Colin was one of the reasons I wanted to do it; I knew he was going to smash his part out of the park, and Julianne [Moore] was involved. Great cast. And Tom’s Tom. It was a bit intimidating to meet him at first, but after a couple of drinks in Claridges, we went through what his vision was, he’s very, very passionate, and it was kind of a love poem to his own partner Richard. Why wouldn’t I want to be involved with that? It’s a great book and quite important story.

It’s great that it’s getting so much recognition.
Yes, and Colin’s become a chum; I’m terribly fond of him.

He seems like a really solid guy.
He’s so solid. He’s fab, really, really fab. Give him a good vodka martini with a twist and sparks can fly.

Neil Flynn on ‘The Middle’, ‘Scrubs’ and improv

I met Neil Flynn when I was on The Middle a couple months ago. I had a scene with him and Atticus Shaffer and he couldn’t have been nicer.

It was great to watch Neil do a scene. Each time he did something different and it was a blast to be able to act with him.

From Movieline:

Coming from an improv background, what are your thoughts on this new form of comedy in television, based on the awkward situation. In The Office or Parks and Recreation, the actor’s reactions or awkward silences are sometimes funnier than the lines themselves. Does that ever seem like cheating for an improv actor?
No, I don’t think so. I like it. It did not really occur to me that it was based on awkward or discomfort until I read it somewhere and I agree with that. I guess that is true. I don’t classify it as comedy based on awkwardness or anything. It’s just a particular sense of humor. I like it though.

I read that a lot of your lines on Scrubs were improvised and at one point, the writers just started typing “Whatever Neil says” on the script next to your character’s name. Is that accurate?
That happened just twice I think. Knowing that the scene was open-ended and being on the show as long as we had, they knew that we’d be able to come up with something on the set. Especially scenes I had with Zach Braff. Very early on, we were comfortable altering the dialogue a little bit. Bill Lawrence, the creator, was all for it. He joked that if it was funnier, he’d get the credit.

And Scrubs was famously supposed to end after its eighth season before ABC decided to order another season. Did the entire cast have the option of coming back or did producers know that they wanted to take it in a new direction immediately?
Well, they would have had everyone back if everyone was available. We aired a series finale so the show was done. No one was under contract or anything and so a few of us headed out and tried to get our next jobs. It turned out that ABC was going to do more with Scrubs so there’s no hard feelings of any kind either way. It just so happened that I got a different job so they asked me to do the first episode of Scrubs [this season] to explain why my character would no longer be there. But they tell me that they’re keeping a spot open for me should I ever feel like coming back and I’d love to.

Do you get as much room to improvise on The Middle?
No, it’s a different set-up. On Scrubs, I played a very unusual character who pretty much was defined by saying and doing strange things so it was easy to improvise around that. This is much more of a based-in-reality show. It’s just a different kind of comedy that does not really call for improvisation. The comedy is a little cleaner and it is intended for families to be able to watch together. While The Middle is still funny for adults to watch, there aren’t sex jokes. And I’m fine with that. I like the idea that my nieces and nephews can watch it without their parents.

Jane Lynch on Glee, comedy and her new-found success

From guardian.co.uk:

Jane Lynch was part of her High School’s Glee Club:
She found a home in her school’s Glee club – the choir – where she stayed for four years. But despite a longstanding dream to be an actor, Lynch walked away from her first role out of fear and was subsequently banished from acting in school plays. “I got so scared because I knew this was what I wanted to do with my life,” she says. “I got a reputation as a quitter, so I didn’t get cast in anything in high school; it was terrible.”

After spending 10 years at Steppenwolf Theater Company and touring with The Second City, she finally decided to move to LA.
She was 33 by the time she decided to try her hand in Hollywood, but started getting jobs immediately – theatre, sitcoms, commercials and voiceover work. There were occasional dry spells, she admits, but, she says, “I felt successful all the time – even though nobody knew who I was.”

On playing the Sue Sylvester:
“I’m accessing a part of myself without judgment; and that is the mean part of myself. Every once in a while I’ll be walking down the hall making an exit, and I’ll just grab one of the kids and put ‘em in a headlock and throw ‘em against the locker. She has no filter; whatever heinous thought comes into her mind comes right out of her mouth.”

On her new found success:
“Being the workaday actor that I have been – and will always be, if this goes away – can be thankless. There’s a part of us that wants recognition. And it’s easier when you get the affirmation and you’re making more money and people ask you what you think.”

On comedy:
“Making people laugh is a really fabulous thing because it means you’re getting deep inside somebody, into their psyche, and their ability to look at themselves. You have to get through a lot of ego to get there. You have to get through a lot of self-protection that says, ‘I’m cool’, to get down to the stuff that says, ‘I’m just a goof.’ “

On being an openly-gay actor:
“I think if I were an ingénue – if I were Kate Winslet – it probably would hurt my career, but because I’m Jane Lynch and I’m a character actor, the world isn’t projecting their romantic fantasies on me.”

Peter Sarsgaard on ‘An Education’

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