As 2011 became 2012 loads of ‘end of the year’ and ‘new year’ writings materialized — evaluations, reflections, resolutions… I was swept away in reading everything that landed in my inbox… I went from inspired to overwhelmed. I was swimming in what was and what can be… Kind of numbing. (No judgment, quite the opposite, but flooded nonetheless.)

I did find myself, however, getting more emotional as the year rang-in. I had a really good evening with my family – a little Dragon Tattoo and dinner out close to home. Then we watched the New Year land with Dick Clark (who thankfully didn’t stay on camera too long) and Ryan Seacrest. (Is there nobody else?)

When the ball dropped (even though it had happened 3 hours earlier in NY), I was unexpectedly deeply moved. I was filled with a big love… And for the first time I figured out gratitude. I totally got that this journey we’re on, each of us individually, and all of us together, is profound. It’s often challenging, it’s sometimes surprising, it’s intense, it’s powerful… It’s big screen stuff. And it’s communal.

I had the privilege of working with a so many actors this year, teaching, guiding, coaching, and learning more than I ever imagined. In LA, New York, Chicago, Toronto, Memphis, Baton Rouge… with the aid of technology and in small studios, theatres and churches, where we all sweated through shedding and rebirthing our self-expression. Then tried to figure out how to package it, put it in a bottle, label it, and then atomize it into the hearts and minds of the gatekeepers, those who seem to have the key to something we seem to want… badly. Do they? Of course not. They’re looking for it themselves.

I had the absolute joy of creating 99 Actors Day a couple of months ago. (Not sure how the title will evolve but the day will certainly carry on.) It was a kind of happening – experienced by at least 150 actors and other players, individually and collectively. It was transcendent, sort of paranormal.  (And I don’t offer that up easily; those of you who know me well know how hard I am on myself and everything I do.) But it was a rare occurrence for me and in this town, a kind of secret meeting of souls. (99 Actors Day)

And that’s what I think our work has to be. It has to enter the realm of the unknown. It’s mysterious. It shouldn’t be explained or analyzed. It certainly shouldn’t be evaluated before it’s even born. Our creations are in us. They’re distinctive, extraordinary, unique, waiting to be coaxed out of us, even exorcized. Not to be expelled, but to be freed. And looked after. We’re in this life because we have no choice. Because we believe we have both brilliant creations in us as well as indescribable demons. That’s the power of our inner lives and our imaginations. And it’s our work to undo whatever inhibits them. It’s our work to reach in. Deep. And dance wildly in our imperfections. Every chance we get. That is where the great beauty of our creative forces lives. (“Has she been watching too much of this past season’s Dexter,” you wonder? Yes, but that’s another story.) The rest is the music of our souls.

I recently watched the lecture Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine….) delivered to BAFTA Screenwriters this past September. (Thanks Steve B. for sharing.)

Charlie Kaufman BAFTA Screenwriters Full Lecture Here

Charlie Kaufman BAFTAScreenwriters Lecture Highlights Here

If you have a little time, watch it. It’s pretty fabulous. Even though he’s talking about screenwriting it pertains to any of our creative endeavors. Here are a few things he says that reverberate in me… and I hope they do the same for you.

“… I’m just telling you off the bat that I don’t know anything. And if there’s one thing that characterizes my writing it’s that I always start from that realization and I do what I can to keep reminding myself of that during the process. I think we try to be experts because we’re scared, we don’t want to feel foolish or worthless, we want power because power is a great disguise…”

 “… What can be done? Say who you are, really say it in your life and in your work. Tell someone out there who is lost, someone not yet born, someone who won’t be born for 500 years. Your writing will be a record of your time, it can’t help but be. But more importantly if you’re honest about who you are you’ll help that person be less lonely in their world because that person will recognize him or herself in you and that will give them hope. It’s done so for me, and I have to keep rediscovering it, its profound importance in my life. Give that to the world, rather than selling something to the world, don’t allow yourself to be tricked into thinking that the way things are is the way the world must work…”

 “…The obvious solution was not to throw my hands up but try to find myself in a situation where I was doing me, not someone else. Do you. It isn’t easy but it’s essential. It’s not easy because there’s a lot in the way, in many cases a major obstacle is your deeply seated belief that you is not interesting.

“And since convincing yourself that you are interesting is probably not going to happen, take it off the table. Agree, ‘Perhaps I’m not interesting but I am the only thing I have to offer, and I want to offer something. And by offering myself in a true way I am doing a great service to the world, because it is rare and it will help’.”

 “…I now step into this area blindly. I do not know what the wound is, I do know that it is old, I do know that it is a hole in my being. I do know it is tender. I do believe that it is unknowable, or at least inarticuable.

“I do believe you have a wound too, I do believe it is both specific to you and common to everyone. I do believe it is the thing about you that must be hidden and protected, it is the thing that must be tap danced over five shows a day, it is the thing that won’t be interesting to other people if revealed. It is the thing that makes you weak and pathetic, it is the thing that truly, truly, truly makes loving you impossible. It is your secret, even from yourself. But it is the thing that wants to live. It is the thing from which your art, your painting, your dance, your composition, your philosophical treatise, your screenplay is born…”

 “… Movies share so much with dreams which, of course, only deal with interior lives. Your brain is wired to turn emotional states into movies. Your dreams are very well written. I know this, without knowing any of you. People turn anxieties, crises and longing, love, regret and guilt into beautiful rich stories in their dreams. What is it that allows us the creative freedoms in our dreams that we don’t have in our waking lives? I don’t know, but I suspect part of it is that in our dreams we are not constricted by worry about how we will appear to others. It’s a private conversation with ourselves, and if we’re worried about it, this becomes part of the dream. I think if we were better able to approach our work this way the results would be different.”

Isn’t that true? I love that.

There’s a great thing in having our craft, our skill. It’s useful. But we can’t allow it to get in the way. It mustn’t complicate our fundamental humanness. It mustn’t scar the wounds. It needs to be of service to what we came here to do. We have to be “willing to be naked,” as Charlie Kaufman says. We have to dream aloud. To be brave enough to expose ourselves and to honor that we are each who we are. Nobody is like each of us. That’s our truth. Our authenticity. And that’s our legitimacy. It’s the key to that secret place we’ve been trying to penetrate; it’s our most vulnerable self. It’s right here. It’s all that matters.

Wherever you are in these early days of 2012… Remember that we’re on this peculiar quest together – we humans, creators, storytellers – a journey that’s often solitary and hopefully sometimes in good company. I thank you for sharing your stunningly wounded selves with me, for getting naked, and for providing me with outstanding company along the way…

Charlie Kaufman On Screenwriting and Other Things

Leah Costello

Leah has both the soul to pull you in and the heart to disarm you. She has an idiosyncratic beauty that lights up a room and the screen.  Leah has continued to work with us in an ongoing class where she’s been doing some gorgeous work.  From there, I brought her in for a role in Masters of Sex, a series I’m casting for Showtime. She booked the role and shot it last week, working with Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan. Her work was once again superb. Everyone on the show took time to let her know that she was special.

Leah graduated top of her class from University of Miami’s Theater Program and has already toured with numerous theater companies before relocating to Los Angeles.  She has been compared to having the looks of Liv Tyler with the sensibility of a mix between Zooey Deschanel and Patti Smith, according to some folks.

I just say that she’s an uniquely gifted actress and I’m so excited to watch her bloom!

Leah Costello

PICS/RES: http://resumes.breakdownexpress.com/690512-2448627   

We are in process. As artists we are always creating the work and ourselves. We don’t have to suffer extra hard… we suffer enough. Our individual lives are rich with feelings and personal interpretations, experiences that inform our creative journey. Unique to us and powerful in what we bring to the world. It’s what we do with the pain and the pleasure of our experiences that both impact our personal expression and feeds the collective.  Everything we do, feel, undergo (and as creative beings we sense it all deeply) contributes to the complexity of our lives. The wounds become breathtaking scars. The failures become triumphs. The labor builds works of art. 

We cannot be perfect. We can, however, be whole. And, how we endure the “extreme heat and pressure” of any coal compression will reveal the diamond within. Diamonds aren’t perfect. They have brilliance – brightness, symmetry, and reflection. They reflect the color of the truth around them. They hold their power. With certainty. So, in that, what we really want to do is make space for the diamond to glow. Give it space, time, and respect. And do whatever we have to do to honor our brillance. 

As actors, do the work. It will expose you – your exceptional  gift, energy, character. It will move you from coal to diamond. And in the engagement of our passion our brilliance is revealed.

“The seed of your next art work lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece.” (David Bayles)

Diamond Planet spotted Oct 2012

MAC FYFE is an actor who I had the pleasure of directing in Canada in The Con Artist, a feature film.  He walked into the room to read for the role of Dean and he owned it (after a rather frustrating day of seeing actors acting too much or doing nothing at all).   

On Set with Mac & Rossif (& me)

He showed up. He was alive, loose, strong, specific, engaging, daring, funny. He had all of the intensity of the character and yet the work seemed effortless – not work at all.  And, might I add, that the role was conceived for an older character guy; Mac made it his.

Mac and I had a wonderful collaboration and I became a fan for life. I recently saw him at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, as part of VideoCab’s Production of The War of 1812 The History of the Village of the Small Huts: 1812-1815, written & directed by Michael Hollingsworth. It was a magical, wild production. Mac’s work (or rather, play) was impeccable. The War of 1812 Vid Cab at Stratford  

Video Cab 

What I love about Mac is that he’s drawn to the best work, not the most commercial. He’ll commit to a play over a dull role in a TV show any day. He loves the theatre and is faithful to deeply exploring roles that challenge him. He completely commits (with ease) to any role, transforms himself, and emerges electrically alive on stage or screen. He’s also very sexy; an actress recently described him to me as “hot and dewy”. 

Tidbit: Mac’s mom is the amazing Canadian actress, Nancy Beatty.

Mac Fyfe on IMDB

Mac Fyfe, Chameleon actor

 I look forward to whatever Mac does next; it’ll certainly be provocative, innovative, and spirited. 

 

Mac & Rossif

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mac & Rossif Sutherland improvising in our film, The Con Artist.

What I love about Francis (Ford Coppola) is that he always did what was intuitive for him, rather than what was the norm. Casting The Outsiders his way (with the help of the great eye of Fred Roos, casting maven and producer, and the amazing casting team of Janet Hirshenson & Jane Jenkins) is what brought such truthful, real performances and soon-to-be stars to his films. I’m reminded that we have to trust our instincts in the process to get the best out of our actors, our team. I’m inspired.

And here are 2 more clips of -

The Making of The Outsiders part 1

The Making of the Outsiders part 2

- told by some of the actors and the DP, Stephen Burum.

What is acting anyway? We think we have to show ourselves and that’s true, we do. But trusting that the “showing” can be simply revealing is the challenge. It’s a longer discussion but plainly said, to me, it’s a human being experiencing something strong, deep, crazy, glorious, with another human being or alone (always in relation to another human being), and allowing the camera or an audience in. Truthfully. Personally. That’s where it lives.

But we often don’t trust that. We try to create something. To “perform” it. Or to demonstrate it. Maybe we don’t believe the experiencing it is enough. Maybe it doesn’t feel like work. And isn’t that the goal? For it to feel like life… Effortless. Fluid. And our very own, even private, intimate. And messy and unpredictable… If it’s alive, it can be anything. This experience should transport you, give you a “high”. (And us too; don’t keep that high to yourself.) It’s why you’re doing it, why you’re compelled to live it. Why someone wrote it. Why we’re engaged, hopefully fully captivated.

It’s a ludicrous thing, this acting. It takes a little bit of madness, sometimes a lot. To surrender to those parts of ourselves. And to reveal them. To tell a story with our full beings. Our human experiences are extraordinary and deserve our fullest commitment. Whatever genre, however long or short, whatever the story. It’s ours to play a part in.

This clip of Anna Magnani, from The Fugitive Kind (1959), brings us into her very personal world with such truthfulness. Her pain and her ecstasy are palpable.

And BTW, she’s gorgeous, isn’t she? In today’s Hollywood would she be recognized as attractive? Who cares. Her ownership of her beauty, her sexuality, her experience, is stunning. And her strength, her desperate desire to encounter her pain and reach through it for happiness, is what pulls us in.

Thank you, John Ruskin, for sharing this with me a while back. I woke up with this in my head (have no idea why) and watched it again. Fell into it. And I wanted to share it with all of the actors with whom I’ve been working recently who have such enormous life in you. You have to take risks, and in that, trust that bringing your life to the “story” truthfully, personally, and bravely, is what will bring you into our hearts. Ain’t that what it’s all about?

Experience Anna Magnani. That’s acting, ladies and gentlemen. (And the other guy’s pretty good too.) 

For more on Anna Magnani:

Anna Magnani at MSN

Anna Magnani at Yahoo Movies

]]> http://risabg.com/2012/08/18/anna-magniani/feed/ 0 http://risabg.com/2012/07/15/keonmohajeri/ http://risabg.com/2012/07/15/keonmohajeri/#comments Mon, 16 Jul 2012 05:08:06 +0000 Risa http://risabg.com/?p=2693 A talented actor or other such artist who’s recently grabbed my attention:

Keon Mohajeri came to my attention this past spring when he came down to LA from Toronto as one of 4 actors selected as TIFF (Toronto Film Festival)’s Rising Stars of Canada. He was introduced to me via Larissa Giroux, who runs The CFC’s Actors Conservatory (Canadian Film Centre) and has an amazing eye for talent.  On that visit Keon read for me on a SYFY pilot I was casting, “Rewind”, and surprised the hell out of me. He was exactly right and so good. After an intense audition process over several weeks Keon won the role of “Charlie” as a Series Regular in the pilot. 

Keon has a really fascinating combination of great looks, charm, smarts, and sensitivity, while also bringing a sharp edge to his roles. He grabs the screen and goes deep. 

Keon Mohajeri, Rising Star in Canada

This is Keon’s bio via TIFF’s Rising Stars of Canada:

Keon Mohajeri began his career on stage in Philadelphia and off-Broadway in New York. Now he’s back in Canada and appearing in film and television productions.

Austin Highsmith came to my attention a year or so ago when I was casting the pilot for A Gifted Man (CBS). She was recommended by Zach Book who was an intern at the time and couldn’t stop raving about her. Her audition was breathtaking. No, she didn’t get the role, but she did make a lasting impression as one of the most present and emotionally available actors I’d seen in a very long time.

Austin and I have spent time in my Master Classes, digging in, getting dirty, figuring it out. She also introduced me to John Ruskin and his Theatre and Ruskin School of Acting and I’ve been thrilled to get involved with the work he’s doing.

Austin has done extensive film, television and stage work. She’s hugely committed to the evolution of her craft and has both dedication and drive. She’s also one of the most generous and sensitive artists I’ve known and that’s a great gift. She’s in the zone and on track for pretty amazing things.

Austin on IMDB

Meisner - The Neighborhood Playhouse -1957

Grabbing this from John Ruskin  - an intimate look at Sanford Meisner through a documentary in 7 parts. John is a wonderful teacher and someone who was fortunate to have been chosen to be Sandy Meisner’s first apprentice, then taught at the Neighborhood Playhouse; now John runs the Ruskin School and Theatre, its LA representative.

John’s bio can be found here:  John Ruskin

I never studied “Meisner” but I feel a deep connection with the work and carry the inspiration. I wish I’d have known Sandy as John and so many great actors, directors and writers did. He speaks to me so clearly, so truthfully. And that’s what we aim to achieve in our work on stage and screen alike. Telling the truth, sharing our personal and collective human experience, in the most spontaneous, immediate, and authentic way. Being wholly in the moment, and mastering the art of listening… something that serves us in our creative collaborations as well as in our lives altogether.

I share this with you, courtesy of John Ruskin (& the Ruskin School of Acting) and in the spirit of Sandy Meisner…

Here’s the Meisner page on John Ruskin’s site – with the documentary that I encourage… no, implore you to watch: Sanford Meisner - The Theater’s Best Kept Secret — A documentary in 7 parts.  Produced by Sydney Pollack – Directed by Nick Doob.

click here and scroll down on the page:

Ruskin School/Sanford Meisner

Act Before You Think

                – Sanford Meisner

Gabriel Luna

Gabe came to my attention very recently in casting the Syfy TV pilot, Rewind. He seemed to come out of nowhere and blew us all away. He’s from Austin, Texas and starred in a film, Dance with the One, out of Texas, directed by actor/director, Mike Dolan. Gabriel has the rare combination of confidence and humility. He’s deeply soulful. He’s a pure artist. He’s one of those actors who just gets it, settles into the role, and lives it. Watching him work is inspiring. He’s incredibly gifted.

Have a read — wrote this for Backstage this week.

“… We’re hoping for and needing you to show up completely in control, self-possessed, fully who you are, ready, and eager to work. We want to see you. We want to know who you are in this role. If you bring your most authentic self to the character, if you can go on a journey for a few minutes and take us along, we’re hooked…”