ACTORS

Elizabeth Rodriguez on Rehearsals

June 27, 2017 By Respiro E Movimento · Follow us: Facebook · Twitter · Instagram · YouTube

In your career, I imagine you’re either offered things or offered to audition for a ton of roles. What are the big things that you look for in a role? You play a lot of really strong women.

Elizabeth Rodriguez: I look for something I understand and that impassions me. People say, “Oh, this person is in it,” or “that person is doing it.” And that’s all kind of fantastic for a second, but it’s not gonna make you want to show up, especially 8-times a week when it comes to plays.

And I guess, I try to ask questions about, which I never used to, who the players are, who the director is? Is it an actor’s director? I think ultimately, I want to do work that speaks to me and it has to be realistic. I need to feel like the people I’m surrounded with are artists and want to do it for the sake of working, not for the celebrity of things. I don’t have a lot of patience for that.

I feel like, because I’m with a theatre company, I’ve been so blessed with being surrounded by so many talented people and being directed by really talented people and being inspired by them. And so, that’s what feeds me.

I think who we are as actors, we can’t have an objective perspective. When you’re directed by someone who is incredible, they have the ability to see it and explain it and bring you to it. It’s kind of amazing. Your brain almost snaps open and you hit a different level of consciousness within the character of understanding things. And that’s what I want to strive for because I don’t think anyone can get there on their own.

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Ben Platt on How He Found Himself

June 23, 2017 By Respiro E Movimento · Follow us: Facebook · Twitter · Instagram · YouTube

“It’s a daily thing that I’m still figuring out. What we all look for as actors are pieces that we want to throw ourselves into and make us want to give everything to, and I’m so in love with this piece of theater — I’ve obviously had four years to fall in love with it, but I mean, I couldn’t believe in it any more, and characters like this do not come around ever, where you get to use all the tools on your belt and really feel this synergy between you and the character. I feel a deep responsibility, as the person who’s administering the story every night, to give it at the same level each night. But I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that I’m a human being and that days are different and that there are some days I feel better than others. It’s the kind of role that has taken over my whole life — as I’ve alluded to earlier, I have very strict regimens, as far as eating and sleeping and therapy and all that. It is a sacrifice, but the experience is all the sweeter because you’re making it, earning every last drop of it.”

Making the Transition from Acting Training to Working!

June 20, 2017 By Respiro E Movimento · Follow us: Facebook · Twitter · Instagram · YouTube

Here are 6 guidelines that will help take the mystery out of launching your career:

CHOOSE YOUR STRONGEST TALENT. Match that to the market that would provide the best opportunity.
INVEST in yourself! Get the best photos, resume, demo reel and website. Get advice on your type and castability before shooting. Know the roles you can play and show that in your photos.
TAKE CLASSES first in the areas in which you haven’t yet trained and are the most practical.
SEEK A MENTOR TO GUIDE YOU. This could be a Marketing Mentor, Career coach, a Casting Director or an acting teacher with knowledge of marketing.
MAKE A MARKETING PLAN. Research and create a list of all agents, casting directors, and current Prime Time, Daytime shows and Films in production. Do a Google search and set goals.
MEET THE INDUSTRY when you’re ready. It’s best to wait until your marketing tools are up-to-speed and then get a referral to an agent.

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Val Kilmer on Breaking into Hollywood

June 13, 2017 By Respiro E Movimento · Follow us: Facebook · Twitter · Instagram · YouTube

“Work till you cry yourself to sleep every night for months on end. Work so hard you pass out and wake up crying. Become a world class athlete. Read Shakespeare every day to learn about human nature. EVERY DAY. FOR DECADES. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever take a day off. And never complain. It’s the best job on earth and worth it when you break through. They say Dustin Hoffman couldn’t act his way out of a paper bag, and I knew Kevin Spacey since he was like 15 and he was sooooooooooo bad it used to hurt my eyes. But boy did he work hard and deserves all his awards.”

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Oscar Isaac on Acting

June 9, 2017 By Respiro E Movimento · Follow us: Facebook · Twitter · Instagram · YouTube

When asked how preparing for this role is different than his other performances, Isaac says, “You allow yourself to let go of the responsibility of having to hit anything. It’s a scary thing to do but you know what? If you’re trying to get a scene right it just might not happen. We might all be up here on a mountain and it won’t be worth filming what comes out. Once you allow that it takes the pressure off and you can be a little more honest in your process. I read a lot about the events portrayed in the film and listened to the stories of survivors who saw grandmothers bayoneted, dead babies left under trees, mass rapes and people being marched out into the desert to their execution. Hearing them describe these horrors first hand was humbling. So, when you’re in that moment in the scene you don’t have to try so hard to imagine what these people suffered. On the day I had to stay easy and loose but also concentrated. It’s a very different experience to shooting X-Men: Apocalypse.”

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Michaela Watkins on her Role in ‘Casual’

June 8, 2017 By Respiro E Movimento · Follow us: Facebook · Twitter · Instagram · YouTube

“When Casual came about and I auditioned for it, and I found out I got it, I was so thrilled, because it was exactly what I wanted to do next. It was like the exact thing I wanted. I love all the work I do, the opportunities, and those are all wonderful, and I get to do some really fun roles. But that’s it. They’re fun roles that sort of pop in, give some information, and then the story continues, and then they leave. I felt like I really want to chew the meat. I just really want to get to know somebody in a consistent way.”

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Katherine Waterston on the Tough Times

June 5, 2017 By Respiro E Movimento · Follow us: Facebook · Twitter · Instagram · YouTube

When asked if she knows why she doesn’t receive more recognition for her work, Waterston points to her early days a struggling actress in New York and how some things haven’t changed in terms of her attitude toward her work. She says, “Self-promotion is not my strong suit, for sure. I don’t look down on it; I just don’t understand how to do it. All those years working and not working in New York—sure, it was painful, but it was also such a personal process for me because no one was paying attention. Obviously, that was difficult financially, but I’m grateful I was left alone with my work for a number of years. It’s more pleasant not to have to defend or explain yourself so much. A lot of what we do is hard to put into words. And I find that I come up short or disappoint myself in trying to even talk about it. There’s an attitude in Hollywood that those are the tough years, and these are the breezy, easy years, but it’s actually a little more complicated than that. The hell of rejection and panicking about whether you’ve really fucked it all up by pursuing a life in the arts, that stuff’s tough, but there’s also a wonderful solace in it. You get to be alone with your work.”

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