It Requires Intelligence to be an Actor

There is a prevailing belief that actors aren't smart, that actors are the people who failed in school and that's why anyone would choose this profession.  Maybe it is the case for some, but to be a truly amazing actor you have to be intelligent, well-read, and generally a well-rounded person.

This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to take acting classes with two talented and intelligent actors, Ashley Judd and Val Lauren.

One take-away I got from the class with Val was how important it is to study your text and understand every word you say.  He said, "You can never act something better than you understand it."  Sounds like something that should be obvious, but I can't tell you how many times I have been in a play and had the director say, "that's just a throw away line."  I guarantee the writer put that line in there for a reason and this is just an excuse for an actor or director who doesn't know why it is there.  I hear this phrase a lot when it comes to Shakespeare, because you know there's a writer who doesn't know what he's doing. *facepalm*

Val went on to say, "Every play is a puzzle and the words are the pieces."  In well written plays, each word is there for a reason.  It is the actor's job to figure out why those particular words are in that particular order.

Ashley Judd is a big advocate for actors to continually educate themselves and often takes college courses, including a philosophy course she recently took at Oxford.  She recommends actors study both philosophy and psychology to give actors a greater understanding of the characters they are portraying.

If you would like to hear all that Ashley had to say in our class check out my friend, Leigh Ann's wonderful blog post about it: Ashley Judd does PHW.  Leigh Ann says everything I wanted to say, but better.

Actors are asked to portray all kinds of people.  Life experience can help you understand many things, but it is only through expanded knowledge that we can understand the vast spectrum of humanity.

Some Words from Jon Favreau on Filmmaking

I've had a pretty exciting week.  My film, All You Need, was accepted to the Oscar qualifying, LA Shorts Fest, which is going on right now at the Laemmle NoHo 7.  Opening night they gave the Maverick Award to Jon Favreau and he spoke about being an independent filmmaker (and also how he became the director of a little movie called "Iron Man.")

Jon (I've decided I can call him Jon because if he ever met me I am sure we would be besties) has a really inspirational story for any indy filmmaker out there.  He came to LA to be an actor after working on "Rudy," but wasn't getting the opportunities that he wanted so he decided to write his own film.

LESSON #1
That is where "Swingers" came from - the desperation of an out-of-work actor.  He scraped together film scraps and made this movie with his friends.

How many times have I talked about making stuff happen for yourself?  You can't sit around whining that you never get any auditions and think that somehow a job is going to magically fall into your lap.  Do what you can to make the stories you want to act in.  PRODUCE YOUR OWN STUFF!

LESSON #2
When "Swingers" became a hit, Jon thought that his acting career was going to take off - but it didn't.   Instead he started getting meetings to be a writer and a director.

Sometimes life will take you in the direction you are supposed to go, even if it's not the direction you originally planned on going.  I think Jon is really happy with his life as a writer/director.  Yes, he wanted to be an actor, but in doing "Swingers" he found his true calling.  Plus, he gets to act sometimes too.  (I kinda love his character in "Iron Man.")

LESSON #3
When Jon was looking at ways to market "Cowboys and Aliens" he decided to create viral videos.  Instead of doing these himself or through Universal, he decided to ask Freddie Wong because Jon's son would watch Freddie's videos on YouTube and they impressed Jon.  Freddie created this short film: Cowboys & FreddieW featuring Jon Favreau and he got to shoot on the Universal backlot.

You never know who sees what you create.  It is important to maintain an online presence and to create the best things you can.  Jon said, "Everyone gets a shot."  You just have to be prepared when it comes.  Keep working on your craft, so that when your shot comes you are at your absolute best and you don't blow it.

If you want to see my film, All You Need, screen tomorrow night at the Laemmle NoHo 7, you can purchase tickets here: Laemmle Ticketing.