Actors on Acting

Acting is living your life, then using those experiences to enable the audience to experience their lives and emotions," quotes acting coach Judy Kerr in her book Acting is Everything. Acting is everything you do, you are, and you have been or hope to be in your life. Actors perform in front of the cameras rather than behind the scenes, but it's important to know about the jobs that actors do-especially, as some very famous ones have become writers, producers, directors, and combinations thereof. It is in fact becoming commonplace for actors to take on multiple roles in a film, both behind and in front of the camera. Actors entertain and communicate with the audience through their interpretation of dramatic or comedic roles. Only a small number achieve a tremendous amount of recognition in motion pictures. Some start out as extras with no lines to deliver, while others are cast in supporting roles or as walk-ons. A feature extra may be used for the same film over and over again, with no lines but a lot of camera time. Stunt people take on the more dangerous work, performing such stunts as driving cars in chase scenes, falling from buildings and other high places, or for fighting scenes, in place of the principle actors. "People think that acting is walking and talking and so they say 'hey, I could do that!'" acting teacher Nina Foch laughs. "But acting is very difficult. The best succeed precisely because they make it look so easy. Maybe if you're an actor your whole life long, you might do one or two scenes completely well." Actors work with their emotions, their experiences, traumas, feelings, and memories Acting begins with vulnerability. For actors to do their best work, they must be willing to be totally open, to experiment and allow all that is inside to be exposed. To accomplish this at the highest levels requires tremendous discipline. Actors work with their emotions, their experiences, traumas, feelings, and memories. Bodies and voices become finely tuned instruments that express and convey the character. Since the actor is the instrument, he or she is in a very different position from the film's other collaborators. The writer projects an inner life onto a piece of paper, the composer uses notes, the producer has contracts, the director a vision. But the actors stand alone. It's not about the work but about them, and it's very personal. If your dream is to live your life as a professional actor, your first tool is your basic acting craft. Good training helps you discover the power, control and confidence to act. Once you have confidence and know how to interpret a script and develop character, then the business side of acting begins. It takes desire, guts, preparation, discipline, talent and luck to have an acting career. According to actor Richard Dreyfuss (Close Encounters of the Third Kind), "an actors job is not to feel things, it is to make the audience feel them." William H. Macy (Fargo) told Backstage West, "I think an actors task is to read the script, figure out the action-the objective- and do that and let everything else go hang. We can never forget that acting is a big fat trick that we play on the audience.

You're standing is a set. It's not real, but it's real enough, and the audience is willing enough to suspend disbelief that there you are in the setting and you're wearing somebody else's clothes that have been designed. So it's the actors job to figure out what his character wants and to do something that's similar to that so that it looks like you're making it up as you go along. The emotions will follow; they will be there as you need them." Acting Classes and School: Learning the Technique There are hundreds of colleges and universities that offer a major in Film/Cinema studies. Some schools offer a broad look into acting, while others focus on specific techniques and skills needed to be successful in the business. What many actors have found is that the need for coaches and teachers to help develop the craft is critical. William A. Ward once said, "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. "Most actors do not rely on one specific teacher to show them all the skills needed to be successful. It takes numerous teachers throughout a career to develop as an actor. Like any profession, there is not one single person who can know all the ins and outs of a business. For example, while one teacher may be an expert on visualization, another may be more helpful in reaction techniques. For those starting out in the business, it is important to know that choosing an acting coach is important, but it is not a matter of life or death whether your first coach is the best or not. It takes time to determine what is beneficial, and therefore it is important to allow time to decide whether you are gaining beneficial knowledge or if time is just being wasted. Many actors that have had great success in the business continue to work with acting coaches on a regular bases. Whether it is for suggestions about a character or help perfecting a certain accent, acting coaches often have the insight that actors, who are switching from one job to another, do not. When accepting her Academy Award for Best Actress in the film As Good As it Gets, Helen Hunt made sure to thank her acting coach for all that she had learned throughout the making of the film. Cherie Franklin (Actress, Acting Coach) has stated that "the value of working with an acting coach on an ongoing basis is this: they can offer a safe environment that can allow you to reveal your fears and bring your work to a place where you can face your truths. This work state will invite you to trust in yourself, creating confidence and steering you clear of self-sabotage throughout your journe y as an actor." Many people entering the business feel that acting is easy, that anyone can do it with or without proper training. Although there are those who enter the business with little or no previous training, most at one point or another in their career will end up working extensively with a teacher or coach.

For an actor it is important to be in a class so that your instrume nt stays flexible and focused. "Whether you are one of the three tenors, a member of the Bolshoi Ballet, an iron man in baseball, an Olympic swimmer, or a waiter at Denny's, you have a coach and a trainer who warms you up, guides you and prepares you for the physical and emotional struggle that lies ahead that day. For an actor it is important to be in a class so that your instrument stays flexible and focused. Unlike a violinist who plays an instrument, you the actor are the instrument you play. It is as wrong to mistreat your body with alcohol and smoke as it is to deny this same instrument the opportunity to be nurtured by exposure to good writing, risk taking and the emotional communion that happens with other artists in a safe landscape. Class offers you the opportunity to share your losses and gains with others who will understand. Compliments or criticism from fellow artist you trust is the highest form of support and sharing," Stated Terrance Hines, an acting coach and personal manager. There are however, many successful people in the business that initially had no formal training. Quentin Tarantino worked at a video rental store before writing, directing and staring in his first film, the cult-classic Pulp Fiction. Woody Allen was a stand- up comedian before he began acting, which later lead to writing and directing and acting in his own films. People can be discovered anywhere and at any time. Actress Natalie Portman (Starwars Episode 1) was in a breakfast shop with her family when a model scout approached her. When asked if she was interested in modeling, she responded that she'd really like to act, and thus began her career as an up and coming super-star. Entering the Business Although a few actors and actresses find parts in feature films straight out of drama school, most spend many years supporting themselves by working at jobs inside or outside the industry. To learn the ropes, some actors and actresses have obtained jobs at talent agencies or casting companies. Here they learn the process of setting up auditions and casting for commercials, film, and television. Simply speaking, an acting career consists of three components: the acting, the business, and your dream. Actress Joan Darling explained what she feels it takes to be successful in the acting business, "there are two things you have to make a delineation between. One is to succeed in the business, which takes one set of skills, and the other is to succeed for yourself as an artist, which is the another kettle of fish all together. To succeed in the business, you have to come where the business is happening, which is either New York or Los Angeles. Go to all the open calls and start to get used to auditioning; work breeds work. If you can't get in the door anywhere, then get together a little showcase, rent a theater and invite as many people as you can. Start networking. Learn everything you don't

know; study body movement, voice and speech. The more skills you have, the more chances you have to succeed." It is important to know that as an actor, you are unrestricted until you join a union. Contrary to what many people believe, there are numerous jobs available for those non- union workers. These jobs will generally pay much less than union jobs, but they are a great opportunity to gain experience in the business before you join a union and are limited to union-only jobs. There are of course requirements to join a union such as the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). SAG in particular covers motion pictures, filmed television and not commercials. There are various ways in which one may become eligible to join SAG. The first is by presenting a letter from a SAG producer stating that the actor is wanted for a principal or speaking role for a particular project. An actor may also be eligible for SAG if they accumulate three days of employment as an extra on a SAG project and have a SAG voucher. In either case, once eligible, the actor must then pay the $1,200 SAG joining fee. Other unions include The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), and The Actors Equity Association (AEA or Equity), each union having its own standards and joining fees. In general, if a person is dead-set on making acting their career, it is essential at some point to join a union. When an actor is hired for a role in a SAG film, they must then join the union or there is the potential of them loosing the part. In this case, there is somewhat of a catch 22. You will have to be in the union to get a job, and to get into the union, you must first have a job. Unions do of course provide many benefits including standard pay rates. For an actor, one of the most important steps in starting out a career is signing with an agent. Law in California protects agents, and they are the only ones who can legally solicit employment and negotiate actor's fees. The unions franchise agents. Generally agents are restricted under union guidelines to only accept union actors, although exceptions have been made. The smaller agencies are able to provide close personal attention to each of their clients The talent agent wields much power in the motion picture industry today. The agent plays a pivotal role for everyone involved from producers to directors to actors. Generally, without the services of an agent, few pictures are put together today. The talent agent is privy to specialized information about what is happening, where it is happening, and who is making it happen. The heads of the motion picture departments of the major talent agencies- International Creative Management (ICM), the William Morris Agency, TRIAD, and Creative Artists Agency (CAA)through their relationships with the top echelon of studio executives and independent producers, are the most potent force in Hollywood in getting pictures made. Other than the major agencies, there are smaller talent agencies that provide unique opportunities to their clients as well. Generally, the smaller agencies are able to provide close personal attention to each of their clients. It is difficult to say whether a large or a small agency is more beneficial to an actor.

Basically, the particular needs of an actor should govern the decision of whether to choose a small agency or large one. Actors are known to change agencies frequently throughout the course of their careers for one reason or another. There are numerous reasons for this, including an agent leaving an agency, or an actor being unsatisfied with the agency in general. Agents are very helpful in the marketing of an actor. This means that the agent makes sure that the actors pictures and resume are representative of the particular role that the actor is auditioning for. Actors and their agents can (and hopefully will) develop very close, trusting relationships that will benefit them both throughout their career. For example, when excepting his Academy Award in 1998 for Best Actor in the film As Good As it Gets, Jack Nicholson thanked his agent, whom had been with him throughout his career. Other important career team members for an actor are such people as Personal Managers, Entertainment Attorneys, Business Managers, Public Relations, Publicists and Career and Life Coaches. Working as an Extra All actors should do at least several days of extra work at the beginning of their careers. New actors have no idea what it is like to be on an actual film set. No person or book can explain what it is like to be on location or on a sound stage. While working as an extra, there is the possibility of obtaining your SAG card. Through this work you may be given SAG vouchers, and once you obtain three of these you are eligible to join SAG. A voucher is your pay record; a three-page, multicolored form. As a SAG extra, an actor is paid a minimum of $596, plus any residuals that come from the film in the future. Many of today's well-known actors started their careers as extras. Brad Pitt's first acting role was as an extra in the film Cutting Class. Bruce Willis was an extra in the film The Verdict, along with being a photo-double and extra in Frank Sinatra's film First Deadly Sin. Other actors such as Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Sharon Stone, Bette Midler, Dustin Ho ffman and Nicholas Cage all worked as extras at the beginning of their careers. Being an extra is the first step towards an acting career. In this position, you are able to gain knowledge, insight and experience into the film making process that is not obtainable through just sitting in a classroom or reading a book. Casting Like the best directors and producers, successful actors must choose from among the many projects available to them. As with the other collaborators, it all begins with the script. Actor Peter Strauss (Rich Man, Poor Man) explains his approach to script reading, "I always try to approach the script with great excitement. I go and find a quiet corner and open up a screenplay with three anticipations. First is the truth. I don't care if the script is funny, sad, black, yellow, about politics, love, death. I want to find the truth I want the writer to be daring. The next thing I want to find is magic. I want to be transported by the screenplay. Finally, I need to know that every day coming to work will be a challenge.

John Lithgow (Terms of Endearment, The World According to Garp), like many other actors, looks for a script with a story that grabs him and takes the character through a journey. "The action of the story affects the character and the changes, going from one point to another as the story unfolds. Also, the character has to have something new about him that surprises me. It might be the way he uses language or a different look or accent- some surprising behavior that I will want to try and pull off." "Don't judge the character," explains actor Kevin Spacey, "Allow them to exist and be fully dimensional, flaws and all, so that you let the audience make that judgment, and they will." Casting directors are usually the people that bring you, the actor, in to meet with producers and directors of different projects. These directors generally read a script and break down the characters in the script to what they specifically want or need. They then submit this information to Breakdown Services, whom in turn send the information to agents. Clair Sinnett, an independent casting director and actress, has stated that to make it in an acting career, people need to be reminded that "it's show business, not show-art. Actors should realize that they are promoting and marketing themselves just as they would in any other business." There is perhaps nowhere in which directors differ more than in the way they interact with actors. This begins from the very moment a part for a picture is cast. "One of the blessings is to cast well, to cast carefully. I have a terrific associate in this. We tend to cast for good actors. People who have emotional availability, who have technique, and skills. I'm under the assumption that once we cast the person, they are that character. After all, a character on a page is really only a dozen lines of dialogue. Once you assign those to a whole person, he or she becomes that person," said Arthur Penn, director of such films as Bonnie and Clyde and Night Moves. There are at least three major factors taken under consideration when a director is casting a role the audience, the character or role, and the physical appearance of the actor To cast a specific role effectively, the director must of course have a firm idea of the character. Each role, no matter how big or small, is extremely important to the final outcome of the picture. It has been reiterated numerous times that a film is only as good as its worst performer. Likewise, it is often said that almost any director can evoke an excellent performance from an experienced, talented actor but that good direction is most evident in the quality of the smaller roles. There are at least three major factors that should be taken under consideration when a director is casting a role. These factors are the audience, the character or role, and the physical appearance of the actor. It is crucial to take audience expectations into consideration when casting a role. Because audiences tend to type-cast certain actors in certain types of roles, placing an actor known for big muscle action films (a perfect example being Arnold Schwarzenegger) in a role such as Dustin Hoffman played in Tootsie would no doubt deter audiences. The personality projected by the actor must match audience expectations for the role. Actors have to remember that directors want the actor to be successful. They want you to do a good job.

Lori Cobe-Ross (independent casting director) explains, "We really, really are on your side. We want you to be great. We love to call and say 'he/she got the job!" Choosing and Researching a Project Ideally, actors will commit to a good script they can believe in, and they'll go about the job of helping bring it to life. On the television program Inside the Actors Studio, host James Lipton asked Actor Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects, American Beauty) how much he relies on instinct and spontaneity when choosing (and acting out) a role. Spacey replied, "A lot. And then the trick is to make it look like you didn' t ever think of it before. I always want an audience to have the very same experience that I had when I first read it. The moment I read it, the nickel drops and I say my god I have to do this. And so it's a process of tearing it apart, of figuring it out, of understanding every aspect of it as much as you can. Not to the point where you kill instinct or where you over rehearse it, but to try to get it back to that feeling so that an audience experiences that incredible realization, that wonderful moment of laughter or joy or tears or whatever it is that I experience when I first read it. I trust that first read." For Spacey and many other actors the choice of a project is governed first and for- most by the story. He, unlike many other actors however, generally doesn't want to know any other elements; who's directing, who's in it or what the pay is; he finds this distracting. "If I don't respond to the story, if I don't think it's a story I should do no matter how good the part is then I try not to go near it because I probably shouldn't do it." Unfortunately, through the process of filmmaking, scripts are often edited and revised to fit time constraints, budgets, etc. Often this means that the original script the actor committed to is no longer as good as it could have been. The actor finds him or herself depending on the script for a decent performance, no longer able to create a multi-dimensional, authentic character. This is just one example of what an actor must deal with on a day to day basis during the filming process. "I advise actors to take their part out of the script," states actress/director Nina Foch. "Take the actual pages out and put the rest in a drawer. Then read the pages at least once a day. You need to know what's required of each scene and how to help it be better." For many actors, part of making characters and scenes most effective is by doing research "The best actors bring something to a character," actor/director Leonard Nimoy explains. "They get the best out of what the script has to offer by discovering ways to illuminate the ideas in it. Perhaps it's an attitude, a posture, or a gesture, so the audience can see more than a character and say, 'I know who that is.' You just don't deliver a line. You think about it. You dream about it. You connect with it in very personal ways." For many actors, part of making characters and scenes most effective is by doing research. Today's roles require research. If you get to play a dying AIDS victim, you've got to spend time learning how an AIDS victim dies. Research becomes even more complicated when characters based on people from real- life are portrayed.

For his role in the picture The Hurricane, actor Denzel Washington spent endless hours talking to Ruben "Hurricane" Carter, the man who Washington's character was based on. Washington has also played roles such as Malcolm X in which extensive research was required. The ability of an actor to research a role could prove critical to their ability to interpret a character in a film. For her Academy Award performance in Boys Don't Cry, actress Hillary Swank completely transformed herself into the real- life character of Brandon Tina, a young person whom experienced a sexual identity crisis. For months before the shooting of the film began, Swank dressed, walked, talked and looked like a man. After the shooting of the film was complete, Swank admitted that it was difficult at first to revert back to her life as a wife and actress as she once knew it. Preparing for a Role Other than general research, there are a number of other preparations that actors make before beginning the filming of a picture. These include learning accents, being prepared for physical stamina and using personal memory to portray different emotions. Talk with any actors about the challenges they face as they prepare for a role, and sooner or later the subject of language and accents comes up. Sometimes this consists of adding a southern drawl, like Gina Davis did in the film Thelma and Louise. Other times it may consist of learning an accent from another country, for example Gwyneth Palthrow's English accent in the movie Shakespeare in Love. There are also times when an actor is required to learn a whole new language. A perfect example of this is seen in the movie Dances With Wolves, in which actor Graham Greene had to learn the language of Lakota (a Native American dialect). During shooting, it is not unusual for an actor to spend twenty hours a day on the set. Due to this, physical stamina is critical. A typical day may consist of rising at four in the morning, sitting through several hours of make-up, and then sitting around waiting for filming to begin. Once the director says action, the actor must be in full form, showing no signs of fatigue. After several hours of filming have concluded for the day, the actor may find they only have a couple of hours to sleep, eat and learn the lines for the next day's shoot. When a role calls for even more physical demands, such as a disability (ex. Tom Cruise as a paraplegic in Born on the Fourth of July) or a special skill (ex. Harrison Ford's use of a bullwhip in the Indiana Jones trilogy), an actor may find the need for physical stamina is even more crucial. Finally, using personal memories to convey suitable emotions for a particular scene is an essential tool for actors. Some of the most recognized actors today have achieved fame through their abilities to portray emotions so well. Actor Michael Clarke Duncan was recently an Academy Award nominee for portraying the character John Coffey in the film The Green Mile. Duncan had audiences in tears through his ability to portray a giant man, so humble and honest that even the cold- hearted were touched and awed.

Another actor, Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense), was able to portray a character so realistically that he was nominated for an Academy Award at the age of 10. In any case, actors whom have the ability to get in touch with their emotions and portray them on screen so believably are exceptional; they can take a personal experience and let it radiate. Rehearsals Once the major roles for a film have been cast, directors can begin preliminary run-throughs (rehearsals) to help actors develop their specific characters. The amount of rehearsal time afforded depends greatly on what the director wants, the availability of the actor, and the overall time constraints on the film. Generally rehearsals last 2-3 weeks before the actual shooting process begins. Rehearsals can be very helpful in establishing relationships between actors and directors, along with determining if a specific scene plays out as believable or not. It is a time when the actors can give input, ask questions and collaborate with the director on whether a scene will relay well to the audience. If not, this is the time to make changes. Different directors have differing points of view as to whether rehearsal is important to the overall production of the film or not. On one side there are those such as Paul Williams, "I am very actor oriented, and am very concerned with performance. I don't know how to do it without rehearsals. Next there are directors such as Bernardo Bertolicci, "I don't rehearse too much. I try, if I can." Then there are directors such as Robert Altman, "I don't have any real rehearsal period. I'm embarrassed to rehearse because I don't know what to do." Finally, there are directors like Michael Winner, who don't believe in rehearsal for a film. For the actor, rehearsals are not just about nailing a part or figuring it out, but also discovering if there will be chemistry between the actors. Actress Mary McDonnell (Passion Fish, Dances With Wolves) contends that the best actors are the ones who aren't afraid to make mistakes. Invariably, actors discover something about themselves as they move through rehearsal. Filming With the rehearsal period complete, the actual filming of the picture begins. There are a number of strategies for dealing with the pressure-packed atmosphere of the shoot. Generally, if the rehearsal period was successful, the actor has some assurance that the actual shoot will be the same. Some scenes are much easier to play than other scenes. The actor is the most vulnerable person on the set, and it is up to the director to bring out a great performance in the midst of the actor's uncertainties and insecurities. Actors and directors need to develop a special collaboration while on the set. Unfortunately, knowing what exactly it is that each individual actor needs to accomplish their goals is not an easy task for directors. There are those actors who are willing to listen to what ever the director

says and try and comply with them. On the other hand there are actors whom are very strongwilled and have their own ideas set in stone. A director can make or break the entire experience for an actor Some directors, such as Louis Malle, are willing to change everything possible in order to appease their actors. Other directors, such as Brian De Palma, have been known to be very strict on their set and inform actors from the very beginning that they run the show. A director can make or break the entire experience for an actor. Good directors can create great experiences, while poor directors can create unworkable situations. Actors expect directors to protect them on the set. By this I mean that they want the set to be a place where they are able to transform themselves into the character they are supposed to be, without any reservations or distractions. Actors become dependent on directors and vise versa. One last item of importance for the director-actor relationship is that of keeping the thread of the story on track. This means that the director must sometimes step in and inform the actor if their emotional line is off track or if they are getting out of sequence with the shot. Many directors end up using the same actor's picture after picture. Once a good working relationship becomes established it is only natural that the collaboration continues. The director and actor will know each other's id iosyncrasies, their style of filming and their approach to a picture. A perfect example of this is the relationship between director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert DeNiro. To date the two have worked on eight different pictures together. Scorsese and actor Harvey Keitel have also collaborated on numerous films. The challenge of maintaining intensity throughout the production is crucial as the same scene is shot over and over again. First the master shot encompasses the entire scene. Then the director moves in for the tighter shots, and finally the close-ups. "You can do anything you want in the master, but you earn your money in the close-up," explains Graham Greene. "That's where you have to convey a thought. If you don't have a line and they cut to you and you're sitting there blank-it just doesn't work." It is not surprising that actors generally benefit from the collaboration they have with other actors while on the set. "You begin to interact with other actors to see what kind of rhythmic exchanges you're going to have. You can only do a character alone for so long," explains Leonard Nimoy. "You can't bring a rehearsed performance to the set and refuse to change it. You have to be flexible. Acting is all about chemistry." Sometimes when the needed emotions or reactions are not produced from an actor on the set, measures can be taken to assist the situation. A perfect example of this occurred in the shooting of the film At Close Range staring Sean Penn and Christopher Walken. In one of the final scenes of the movie, Penn's character pulls a gun on his father (Walken). Walken, somewhat skeptical of guns, made sure to check the gun before the shooting to assure himself it was fake and not loaded.

During the filming of the scene, the reaction from Walken was not quite what Penn was looking for. Penn called cut, asked for a different gun and then called action. This scared Walken to death; he knew nothing about this new gun; whether it was real or fake, loaded or not, etc. The reaction Penn got this time when pointing the gun at Walken was of a terrified man and was extremely real. A particular kind of trusting collaboration is needed between the director and the actor during love and sex scenes. Although to some, playing a love scene with actors such as Tom Cruise or Russell Crowe, or actresses like Catherine Zeta Jones or Sharon Stone may at first sound appealing, this is not really the case. "There is always a degree of discomfort," explains Peter Strauss. " It's uncomfortable for the actors, for the director, and for the crew. Why shouldn't it be? Here we are at our most intimate and we're supposed to forget about these sixty bored technicians standing around watching usActors are rarely oblivious to the world around them." Dealing with Critics "Ultimately, most actors have to walk on the set and say, 'I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.' Because you may be dressed in the scene, but trust me, you are naked in front of a lot of strangers. And you are ultimately depending upon the ir kindness," states Peter Strauss. Because of this, actors are extremely susceptible to criticism. Writers, directors and other members of a production team can use various excuses to deter criticism, but when an actor acts, that is them; they can't displace the criticism, there is no where for it to go. Kate Winslet (Titanic) said once, "Because of the person I am I won't be knocked down-ever. They can do what they like. They can say I'm fat, I'm thin, I'm whatever, and I'll never stop. I just won't. I've got too much to do. I've got too much to be happy about." There will of course be some critics that dislike a film very much, while others find the exact same film very enduring and delightful. From a critical standpoint, a film may not possess all the qualities of an Oscar-caliber picture, although the film will still bring in millions of dollars at the box office due to audience appeal. It is important for an actor to try and take constructive criticism well but with a grain of salt. Actors and directors can not allow one bad remark about a film to alter their thoughts and beliefs about it. If an actor or director truly believes in the quality of their work then reviews should mean very little to them. As director Paul Mazursky once stated, "I don' t take most of the critics seriously. I don't see how you can see ten pictures a week and do a legitimate job day to day. Their life is experienced emotionally and then that is translated intellectually or conceptually into the performance "Robert Altman has mentioned that the only thing that he has really learned from critics is that there are people that look at film from a different point of view then his own.

An example of how reviews do not necessarily reflect the impact a movie may have is seen in a 1980 review in Variety magazine of the film Raging Bull. Directed by Martin Scorsese, Raging bull was given mixed reviews for both its so-called "lack of quieter, introspective moments" along with "audience alienation." Scorsese was also criticized for actor Robert DeNiro's character being a "turn-off" in that same article. Despite these criticisms, Raging Bull went on to be nominated for several Academy awards including those for Best Actor and Best Director, and is today considered on the of the American Film Institutes 100 best films of all time. Critics have been very kind to actress Mary McDonnell. She was given rave reviews along with Academy Award nominations for her performances on the films Dances with Wolves and Passion Fish. McDonnell points out that actors live in a different world from that of their fellow collaborators. "Actors are part of a certain percentage of people on this planet that have emotional vocabulary as a primary experience. It's as if their life is experienced emotionally and then that is translated intellectually or conceptually into the performance." Dealing with Critics Thomas Jefferson once stated that "Talent is never using two words when one will do." Actors, as a rule are great talkers; they spend time and energy talking about what they are going to do, giving away all their secrets. It is important to focus your conversations on what you are actually doing, not on what you are going to do. When you are acting, a million things may be running through your head when in all actuality you only speak a sentence or two. It is important to use this concept in real- life as well. By controlling what you are saying or going to say, people will be more apt to want to hear more. Remain positive throughout conversations. No one wants to hear about an illness or death. Negativity only brings people down and turns them away. So what exactly makes an actor a star? "When you see a star, you don't see an actor, you see that person, always the same in anything you put him in," director Alan Dwan has stated, "costumes or out of costumes-he's the same. You like him for some reason, and you yourself must analyze the reason A fellow like John Wayne is the same in every picture And Jimmy Stewart is always Jimmy Stewart, no matter what he's playing. And you like it. You like him. And personalities are very important. Director Paul Morrissey has similar thoughts on the matter, "The public likes the security of knowing the actor before he goes in. They like when Clint Eastwood is Clint Eastwood. If he tries to be someone other than Clint Eastwood, they resent it. In effect, Clint Eastwood has created that artist man, Clint Eastwood, on screen. As an artist, he has to be Clint Eastwood." Being typecast is a problem that plagues actors today. Typecast means that a particular actor is known for and typically only considered for a particular type of role. Arnold Schwarzenegger for example, is known for his muscle man, robotic-type characters and is cast for many roles of that

type. Exa mples of these films have been those action flicks such as Terminator, Predator and End of Days. Although he has been cast in family comedies such as Kindergarten Cop and Twins, these roles are rare and generally not as popular for audiences. Timothy Hut ton once said that the most important lesson he learned about acting was from his father, actor Jim Hutton. When Jim was working and things were going well, he was happy; when things weren't going well, he was still happy because he had such a great appreciation for just being in the business. Actors in general don't get into the business to get rich, and most, do not stay in the business purely because of the money they make. Towards the end of his interview on Inside the Actors Studio, Kevin Spacey was asked by a student of the New School for Social Research to help them appreciate the early process, the lean, very difficult years leading up to the ultimate prize. Spacey responded, "There is no ultimate prizeout there. The only prize is this one (point ing to his heart), and what you feel and what you want to accomplish. And if you can, as you start out, these, what could be lean years, could be fat years, I feel that very often I watch a lot of you people sort of meander around without any idea about why they're doing what they're doing. I mean to want and to be ambitious and to want to be successful is not enough. That's just desire. To know what you want, to understand why you're doing it. To dedicate every breath in your body to achieve, if you feel that your particular talent is worth developing, is worth caring for, then there's nothing you can't achieve. You're going to grow up with your colleagues. You're going to watch them have success and have failure and you're going to watch how they deal with it and they can be as much a teacher for you as anybody here, or anyone who's privileged enough to come here and speak to you."

FilmMakers recommendation Action Cut - This is the most unique series of learning tools in the film industry that provides an in-depth look inside the directing craft on a step-by-step, shot-by-shot professional level of production from the written page through the moviemaking process to the final film. From Script to Screen : The Collaborative Art of Filmmaking by Linda Seger, Edward Jay Whetmore The Film Producer : A Handbook for Producing by Paul N. Lazarus Directing Actors : Creating Memorable Performances for Film and Television by Judith Weston The Cinema of Oliver Stone by Norman Kagan Breaking into Film : Making Your Career Search a Blockbuster by Kenna McHugh Acting is Everything by Judy Kerr

Directing the Film : Film Directors on Their Art by Eric Sherman Interpreting the Moving Image (Cambridge Studies in Film) by Noel Carroll Back To One : The Complete Movie Extra Guidebook, The Millennium Edition by Cullen Chambers The Back Stage Handbook for Performing Artists : The How-To and who-To-Contact Reference for Actors, Singers, and Dancers by Sherry Eaker The New York Agent Book: 6th Edition, Get the Agent You Need for the Career You Want by K. Callan Acting for the Camera by Tony Barr, Eric Stephan Kline, Edward Asner Audition by Michael Shurtleff, Bob Fosse Building a Character by Constantine Stanislavski, Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood, Constantin Stanislavski