Zoe Kazan: “If you’re basing your whole sense of self-worth about when you get a callback, you’re going to be pretty unhappy”
When you do it all, it’s hard to find balance. Just ask Zoe Kazan, who wrote and starred in the recent indie Ruby Sparks.
Life of Pi’s Suraj Sharma on Acting with a Fake Tiger and Beating Out 3,000 Actors for His Part: “It’s very difficult to believe”
Some considered it a risky move for director Ang Lee to cast an unknown in his adaptation of the celebrated novel, Life of Pi but Suraj Sharma is already winning rave reviews as an Indian boy who is stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger for more than 200 days.
Javier Bardem on Playing a 007 Villain: “It was a great gift of finding myself in a very, very creative process”
It’s not often that such an acclaimed actor as Javier Bardem stars as the villain in a James Bond movie, which is perhaps one of the reasons why Skyfall is the most critically praised 007 films in the series’ fifty-year history.
Bryan Cranston: “Without luck you will not have a successful career”
Few actors have the career trajectory of Bryan Cranston, who, after decades of supporting roles has suddenly, in his mid-fifties, found himself the star of a critically acclaimed television series, Breaking Bad, and roles in several high-profile movies, including Drive and Argo. In a lengthy interview with The Guardian, Cranston talks about the affect Breaking Bad has had on his career and how he looks at his current success.
Ben Whishaw on the Intimidation of Playing the New Q in ‘Skyfall’
Not many actors have to step into a role that was at one time played by an actor in seventeen films previously, so perhaps it’s fair to say that Ben Whishaw has it more difficult than most young actors by appearing as James Bond’s personal armorer Q in Skyfall.
Jack McBrayer: “It was ten short years in the making before I finally got a break where I could eat three meals a day”
Though a long-time supporting player, comedian Jack McBrayer has since broken through with his starring role on 30 Rock over the last few years. He’s also putting his familiar voice to work voicing Fix-It Felix, Jr. in Disney’s latest animated film, the classic arcade game-inspired Wreck-It Ralph.
Watch: ‘The Audition’ a video for “every actor” out there
Here is a wonderful video by Celia Rowlson-Hall called, The Audition.
Katie Finneran: “I’m feeling more pressure about Annie than anything else I’ve done”
Although she’s a Tony Award winning actress, Katie Finneran has had to work tremendously hard on her portrayal of Miss Hannigan in the new Broadway revival of Annie.
23-Year-Old ‘Ben and Kate’ Star Dakota Johnson on Playing a Mother: “It makes me feel old”
Dakota Johnson was definitely able to relate to her role as a sibling in FOX’s sitcom Ben and Kate. She was less ready for portraying a mother.
Annie’s Daddy Warbucks, Anthony Warlow, on Battling Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and How Vocal Quality Can “Touch the Heartstrings”
Despite playing Daddy Warbucks twice already, Anthony Warlow still felt he had a lot to learn in Broadway’s latest revival of Annie.
‘Pushing Daisies’ Anna Friel takes on ‘Uncle Vanya’: “Every single word matters”
Sometimes an actor is faced with the decision of whether to choose a role for the popularity it will bring or to stick with more fulfilling projects. British actress Anna Friel ended up choosing to star in a new production of Anton Chekov’s Uncle Vanya.
Bill Murray on Playing FDR: “Playing a beloved person, that really sets a high bar for your behavior and your acting and what you project”
I got to see Hyde Park on Hudson at the New York Film Festival, and while it’s far from a perfect movie (though it is, in my opinion, a very good one), Bill Murray’s performance as Franklin Delano Roosevelt is among the best roles he has ever done.
Toby Jones said that his role as Alfred Hitchcock in ‘The Girl’ was “unturndownable”
Portraying a real person is nothing new to Toby Jones. He starred as Truman Capote in Infamous (2006), super-agent Swifty Lazar in Frost/Nixon (2008) and Karl Rove in W (also 2008). Now, he’s starring as Alfred Hitchcock in HBO’s The Girl, a job that, he told Collider, was “unturndownable.”
Susan Sarandon’s Tale of the Casting Couch
It’s nearly impossible after decades of a successful career to imagine Susan Sarandon as a fledging actress, but the 66-year-old was once the victim of those infamous casting couch sessions.
Thomas Sadoski on His ‘The Newsroom’ Audition
Thomas Sadoski’s connections to the world of theater helped him land the role of Don Keefer on HBO’s The Newsroom.
Cynthia Nixon on the Challenges of a British Accent and Playing Evil in ‘World Without End’
Sex and the City’s Cynthia Nixon has taken on a whole new world in the upcoming ReelzChannel’s mini-series that has been adapted from the works of author Ken Follett. Entitled World Without End, Nixon has traded in her glamorous life with Carrie Bradshaw and the girls for a more devilish role. In the $46 million dollar production Nixon plays Petranilla, a killer and master manipulator living in the 14th century in the midst of the Hundred Years’ War with Black Death looming in the air.
Laura Linney: “With comedy I find you have to be very, very specific”
Despite being nominated for three Oscars in the last dozen years, The Big C star Laura Linney may not make the strongest initial impression from her roles because she’s often working in subdued roles with much more visible actors, like Jim Carrey in The Truman Show or Bill Murray in
Ian McKellen Seriously Considered Not Returning to Play Gandalf: “The business of getting to know a new character – I was sort of going to be robbed of that”
Believe it or not, Sir Ian McKellen had reservations about returning to his role as Gandalf for The Hobbit movies, which are prequels to the beloved Lord of the Rings films.
Hugo Weaving on Big-Budget Blockbusters and Playing the Red Skull: “I’ve done my dash with that sort of film”
Hugo Weaving is no stranger to big-budget genre films as a key character in both The Matrix trilogy and The Lord of the Rings films (he will reprise his Rings character, the elf lord Elrond, in The Hobbit prequel movies).
Mary Elizabeth Winstead on Needing to Feel “Challenged” and How ‘Smashed’ Changed Her Confidence as an Actor
After landing plum roles in Death Proof and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Mary Elizabeth Winstead became complacent. The 27-year-old actress assumed that more exciting projects would automatically come her way.