Tony Awards Interview Wrap-up

The Tony’s are this weekend and I can’t wait! Maybe it’s because, more than any year before, I’ve seen a lot of the shows and actors that are nominated.

Here’s a wrap-up of interviews I did with three fantastic actors (and incredibly nice people).

Montego Glover is currently starring in Memphis. She’s nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. I saw the show and she is absolutely wonderful! The show itself is nominated for Best Musical and 6 other nominations.

Stephen Kunken is nominated for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for his role as Andy Fastow in Enron. The play also has 3 other nominations.

Mary Catherine Garrison can still be seen in the extremely funny Lend Me A Tenor. The show is nominated for Best Revival of a Play and 2 other nominations.

Also, check out The Andy Gram on Sunday. He’ll have live webcasting coverage of the red carpet arrivals starting at 6pm eastern time!

Actors Roundtable: Comedic Actresses

Sophia Vergara, Jane Lynch, Courteney Cox, Felicity Huffman, Wanda Sykes and Patricia Heaton talk about who’s the funniest female comic, do you have to have confidence when you’re doing comedy and more.

My favorite was video 3 where Jane Lynch talks about trying to memorize lines.

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An Evening with Television Casting Directors

SAG presented another great talk with a couple of television (and film) casting directors. Rick Pagano (24) & Paul Weber (Stargate Universe).

These guys are long-time casting directors and have tons of great information to give. This is well worth your time!

Breaking Bad’s RJ Mitte: “You learn so much from your surroundings. It’s like subliminal messaging”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:28 — 8.6MB)

RJ Mitte is currently staring on one of the greatest shows on TV, Breaking Bad. He plays Walt Jr., son on of former chemistry teacher turned meth dealer, Walter (Bryan Cranston).

The show was one of RJ’s his first real acting jobs and from the pilot to his work now, you can how he’s evolved into a really smart actor.  He has teenage-smartass syndrome down to a science.

RJ’s also the national spokesman for I AM PWD, SAG, AFTRA and Equity’s joint program to bring awareness to actors with disabilities.

And, he’s probably always the coolest guy in the room. Read how he got the part on Breaking Bad. I guarantee you would not do the same thing if you found out you booked a series-regular role!

How does it feel to work on one of the best shows on TV?

It’s an amazing feeling.  Any actor is lucky to work on any show.  I’m just one of the very few to work on one of the greats. We have an amazing cast; I couldn’t have gotten any luckier to work with the amazing actors I do. It’s one of the best feelings in the world where you have any role, but especially one of these.

How much of you is in Walt, Jr? Because your character is pretty much a smart ass in the show. Did the writers take anything from you in your life?

Yeah … Well [LAUGHTER]. I would say I’m a smart ass but not too often. We mix it up a little bit. We’ve added some of my life into the character. Like, we changed the room around to be more like my room. Here and there, we’re slowly but surely morphing into a new character.

First of all it’s a fantastic cast you guys have got. You work really well with Bryan; what has he taught you from an acting standpoint?

Not just Bryan, but from everybody, you learn here and there, you learn different things. But this show—I’ve never really worked before on a set—so I’ve learned all different kinds of things. I can’t really say, because you learn so much and you pick up from your surroundings. It’s like subliminal messaging.

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Emmy Awards Watch: Dramatic Actresses

Now it’s the ladies turn to talk.

If you saw the videos I posted the other day with the men discussing their work, here’s another set The Hollywood Reporter did, this time with actresses who have given notable dramatic performances this past year.

Glenn Close, Chloe Sevigny, Elisabeth Moss, Kyra Sedgwick, Claire Danes and Sandra Oh talk about women in television, doing press and more!

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Christopher Walken’s Acting Secret

Watch as Christopher Walken talks about how he approaches a role. He learned it when he was 9  and even after acting school, it’s never changed.

Melissa Leo talks acting, auditioning and preparation

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:14 — 11.2MB)

When Melissa Leo is on stage or you see her in a TV show or film, the project is immediately elevated to a different level. She has an incredible gift of grounding every scene she’s in, making everyone around her better.

If you saw her Oscar nominated performance in last year’s Frozen River, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Need more proof? Check out the first 5 seasons of Homicide, 21 Grams and the upcoming Welcome To The Rileys.

She’s currently starring in HBO’s Treme as attorney Toni Bernette. If you haven’t been watching the show, you are missing some great performances. Not only from Melissa, but John Goodman, Khandi Alexander, Wendell Pierce… the list goes on.

I talked to her while she was on set, filming another HBO project, Mildred Pierce.

When I first became aware of you in Homicide, and everything I’ve seen you in since, is that you bring a deep reality to everything you’re in. You keep everyone and everything around you grounded. That’s a big reason that Homicide stunk after you left the show.

Oh my God! I don’t know if I want all that responsibility but that’s quite a compliment. An actor at a festival once handed me a card, and she had written on it “Acting, the art of pretending the truth.” And I use her quote an awful lot, because it is. To me, that’s what it’s about, even when things go into the fantastical realm that they can on stage or in film. That’s an extraordinary compliment. Thank you.

After Frozen River, do you still have to audition now?

The auditioning has waned, some of it by choice. For many years, I recognized that I was used for casting directors to impress directors with their choices, to find out how a difficult part, in fact, can work. So I, as I’ve begun to have work offered to me, have backed away from auditions from time to time.

You seem to take these roles that might be difficult to cast, but you fit them perfectly.

Well, I think that anybody who does any kind of work gets the thing that if you’re going to be working, you might as well be working hard. So, that’s what I do, and I guess my passion and love for it is that acting really is my life. The only other thing really is my son.

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Chuck’s Mark Christopher Lawrence: “You don’t choose acting, acting chooses you”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:04 — 11.8MB)

Mark Christopher Lawrence has an incredible knack for stealing almost any scene that he’s in. Whether he’s got a couple of lines with Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness or yelling at Zachary Levi as Big Mike every week on Chuck – you always remember him.

And he’s not one to sit still and rest on his laurels. He does theater, stand-up, voice over, writing and producing.

He’s a truly multi-talented guy.

You’re currently starring in Chuck. The show has a rabid fan base. Do you get recognized a lot for that?

Yeah, pretty much everyday.

You were in for pilots the year you got Chuck, but Chuck was only a guest star role in that pilot.

Right.

So, was it just a gamble that you took when you got Chuck, that you auditioned for Chuck?

It was no real gamble, it was just one of the things that came across the plate that year. We auditioned for everything that came across. It just happened that Chuck was the only thing I got booked in.

Since it was only a guest star role, did you have a feeling that it could be moved up to a series regular?

No, I didn’t even read it. [LAUGHTER] I actually just read the sides because I was really concentrating on those other pilots, because they were series regular roles. I read the [sides] the night before I went in to audition, and just prepared to go in and get a job. Maybe because I was so relaxed, it wasn’t that important for me.

That happens a lot, when it’s not that important. Boom, you get it.

I think what happened is when you’re at that point—and not that you don’t care because you want to work—but when you’re at that point where it’s not that important, you have this sort of relaxed state that you walk into the room with. That was part of it, being really relaxed. The other was because you know what’s at stake before you go in and read for the network. Because they cut you a deal before you go in, so you know exactly how much money you will or will not get. So, I was just able to really relax and go in and have fun, and go out and concentrate on something else.

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Tony Nominee Stephen Kunken: “Your career is a marathon”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:19 — 16.1MB)

If you got a chance to see the Broadway show, Enron you’ll know that Stephen Kunken was well deserved in getting a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role as Andy Fastow.

I say “got a chance” because the day Stephen found out he was nominated he was also told that the show would be closing later that week.

If that were me, I’d want to jump out a window but Stephen is taking it all in stride.

And why shouldn’t he?  The critics universally praised his work, he and his wife just adopted a baby and he’s such a fantastic actor, the phone is probably already ringing in his agents office.

I got a chance to talk to him while he was sitting in his car about to take a well deserved break.

Congratulations on your nomination.

Thank you so much.

How did you find out about it?

I was watching, because I knew it was important to find out about the longevity of our show – Enron. With how expensive the show was, if it didn’t get nominated, I knew it would probably be a rough road for us. I was curious and watching for a couple of minutes. Then, they let it go and I watched it online. I sort of saw it all happening in rapid succession. They did the 5 big categories first on TV and then they ended it. So I thought that I had missed my category. I was like, “Damn, I can’t believe it!” But then they actually went back to it.

What’s that feeling like, to be one of the top five actors nominated?

It’s crazy. I don’t know that it’s sunk in yet. I was just talking to my wife about it. It’s such an incredible honor and its a thing that you always dream about as an actor, I think. Especially as a New York theatre actor who grew up on the Tony’s and grew up coming to see Broadway shows. I went to Julliard in the city, which is an institution for theatre.

I remember my first Broadway show, right before I went on, saying “Wow, as soon as the first word comes out of my mouth, I’m going to have done a Broadway show.” It was an incredible, huge threshold to walk across. It hasn’t even really sunk in yet to be considered a part of the community in a performance that was noteworthy in this season of incredible actors and performances. It’s kind of mind-boggling. It’s thrilling. It’s such a huge honor. I know these are all the things that everyone always says, but it’s so true. You actually really do feel awed by the attention and awed by people actually caring. There’s nothing that I just said that’s new or exciting, but it’s totally true. It puts all of that work into perspective for a moment. It’s a milestone in your career that you can look back and you can say, ‘Oh, my God, I actually put together a little body of work.’ It’s quite cool.

Is it true that now you can get better seats in a restaurant?

I don’t know. If I won the award, I could walk in with the statue and I still think I would lose instantly to anyone who’s been on a TV show or in a film. Maybe at Angus McIndoe across the street they might say “Hey!” but I think other than that, that’s the beauty of the theatre that unless you saw it, you don’t really know it.

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Performer Track’s Brian Vermeire: “If you don’t treat this like a business, it’ll be treated like a hobby”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:29 — 27.8MB)

Performer Track is an online tool for actors to track their career. Not only does it give you organizational tools but it also help you track your auditions, workshops, submissions and so much more.

I talked with Brian Vermeire, one of the main guys behind Performer Track. He loves his product and from talking to the people who use it, they love it as well.

We talked for a good while so this is only part of the interview but Brian has a lot of good information to give. Click on the audio portion (or download it off iTunes) above for more.

For more details, go to performertrack.com. And as a bonus, if you use code: FRLC9 you’ll get 2 months off your first year!

You started the company?

Brian Vermeire: Yeah, it started about 10 years ago. It all came out of a need. I was the “typical performer.” Every time I got called by my agent, by my manager, by a random casting director who could get a hold of me directly I would quickly grab a sheet of paper, a scrap piece of paper, or a sticky note—whatever I could write on—and I would quickly jot down where I’m going. When it came to going to the audition, I would lose the information, I would have to call my agent, “Where am I going again? Who am I meeting with? Okay, okay.”

And it never mattered to me. What mattered to me was being the best performer. I’d go in there and give it my all and then just forget about it. I did Meisner for a couple of years, and I was told by other acting teachers that I had to just go audition and then forget about it, which is a huge disservice to your business as a performer. And it’s an awful thing to do for your business. In realizing I was doing everything completely wrong, without ever understanding that it was wrong, I just thought, “No, I don’t want to be bogged down with that information. I’ll just go do it and if I get it, I get it. That’s all I need to know.

I was watching my friend at the time, and every time she got called by her representation, she would always get out the same college ruled notebook and pull it open, she would rattle off  the same questions, have everything in her mind and ask the questions in a very succinct, rhythmic order. And she would put everything in one spot. And I thought that was genius, that’s great, I should do that. So I made myself one and we were carrying those around and it didn’t take too long before our friends started asking us “Hey, how do I get one?”

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