Marlon Brando @ MindSay

Dim sum in Chinatown is a passion of mine.  As a matter on fact, as soon as I'm ensconced at a table at my favorite haunt, Empress Pavilion, the waiter always asks me if I want my usual Chardonnay.  

A bit ago, I had dim sum with one of my favorite people and a wonderful writer, Xaque Gruber. (ps from Blogmaster - Xague is a delightful person.  I met him also on a recent trip to L.A. and just fell in love with his genuine goodness and good humor.)  Between bouts of pork baos, steamed scallop dumplings and sweet sesame balls, Xaque told me that he had written a quirky episodic pilot that had piqued Sony's interest.  And that he had written a part for me .  He even said he saw my face while he was writing it!

I stuttered and stumbled when he asked me to read the part for the Sony people.  My stomach seized.  And, for the first time ever in a dumpling parlor, I put the bao down.  I never got the chance to get REALLY terrified, however.  Sony had someone else do it.

So I began to think about the sheer bravery it takes to be an actor.  I remembered that Jerzy Grotowski, famous director and creator of a revolutionary acting technique, once said that an actor's job was to impale himself upon a stake every night.  And on Inside the Actor's Studio, Shelley Winters defended Marlon Brando's statement that he hated acting by explaining that he hated instead the depth of feeling he knew he had to visit to create his memorable characters.   

Rosalind Russell  . . . who was priceless as Auntie Mame . . . quipped, "Acting is standing up naked and turning around very slowly."  As an acting coach who helps actors strip away their inhibitions and rebuild their expression from a cellular level up, I certainly agree with that statement.  When you act, you leap to expose yourself with every performance . . . to impale yourself upon that stake.  And, to do that, you have to be incredibly brave. 

Brave to submit yourself to the process.  Brave to go on the journey to become a good actor that's often paved with stones, setbacks and tears.  Brave enough to not believe anyone when they tell you to bob your nose (look at Barbra Streisand), lose weight (check out Camryn Manheim and John Candy) or be cookie-cutter beautiful (remember that Linda Hunt and Kathy Bates are BOTH Oscar-winners).

On top of that, once you think your acting is good enough, you have to be doubly brave to expose yourself to people who might not seem to care whether you're good or not . . . Casting Directors, Agents . . . aw, hell, just about everyone in ShowBiz.  And brave enough to realize that casting is totally out of your control and often has nothing to do with that illusive thing called talent.  I love what MIchael Caine says about acting and talent . . . "I'm a skilled professional actor.  Whether or not I've got any talent is beside the point".

So you've got to, like Michael Caine, be brave enough to continually put yourself out there as a skilled professional actor.  And then bravely suffer the slings and arrows of one outrageous casting situation after another.  And, then, once you . . . horror of horrors . . . actually GET the part, bravely have to deliver.  I know one actor who finally quit an almost 30-year career because he got more and more anxiety-ridden about last-minute memorizing.  The reality of having to finally strut your stuff is the scariest part of all to me.

So it seems that . . . with all this bravado you continually have to muster . . .  that you run the risk of getting into a fear place and losing perspective at any given moment.  Because no one can be fearless all the time.  And often we're frustrated by aspects of our careers that don't materialize on cue.

Yesterday, I talked with one of my favorite actresses, students and friends . . . Leah Cevoli . . . who's incredibly proactive about her career.  Leah was complaining to me that she just couldn't find a theatrical agent.  Even with a recurring role on Deadwood and continual guest shots.  She verbally checked off the numerous mailings and hundreds of postcards and headshots that she had sent out as well as the many phone calls that she had made.  But Leah's also currently up for an exciting lead role in a SAG low-budget that she snagged last week while at home for a few days in Philly for the Memorial Day holidays.  That's Leah!  ALWAYS hustling!

I hear this all the time from actors . . . that their careers grind to a screeching halt because of some small element they're obsessing about that isn't there.  For those times when when your career gears are grinding, consider these few drops of lubricating oil:

• When you find yourself getting into a fear or frustration place, remember all the times when you were really brave in your career! That big audition in front of that even bigger ShowBizzer who nodded in acceptance. That play in some NoHo hole that got rave reviews (yours was the best!) from the LA Times. That time they plucked you out of the extra pool to do an under-five in a big hit TV show that not only got you a SAG card but an agent.   Close your eyes and picture one or all of those triumphs in your mind.

• Take an acting class!  I don't know anything that made me feel  more up to doing a killer audition the next day than greasing my acting wheels the night before.   Affirming your craft is one of the best ways to remember how brave you really are. 

• Take action! The Aligning your BRAND eBook Workbook has tons of ways to take action in its "Act-ive Marketing" section.  Along with lots of guided imagery scripts to get you out of  whatever stuck place you're in!

• Walk into an audition as if you were the most appealing person on the planet!  Gather up all your charm, confidence and love of acting along with your meticulous preparation and make an entrance through that door knowing that you're the best they will ever see for the part.

• Stick to your preparation no matter what!  I don't care if the casting people turn their backs to you, talk or chomp loudly on their salads.  Or the assistant cues you in a dull monotone.  Remember that they have the power to cast you but YOU have power over your audition.  Trying to please them splits your focus and makes you fail!  So don't!

• FAGETABOUDIT!  I can't tell you how many actors I know who analyze a few moments of audition or a meeting with a ShowBiz exec to death!  Dwelling on all that stuff is the surest way to get stuck.  And, when you're stuck, you're in a fear  . . . not a brave . . . place.  So quickly evaluate the effectiveness of the audition or meeting, learn from it, and then . . . NEXT!  

 As a matter of fact, I've been stuck in a funky fear place for the past few days myself.  Writing this article as gotten me partially out of it.  And teaching class today will complete the process.  So I invite you to take action!  And be the bravest actor on earth that you know you are!

Please keep me posted about your random or planned acts of acting bravery.  I'd love to do publish all of them in an article dedicated to you.

Balance your energy for acting success!

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Speaking of food, I prefer organic foods.  Here's why.....

     Daniel Craig (Layer Cake, Road to Perdition) has been selected to take over the legendary role of Agent 007, James Bond, in three movies, starting with fall 2006's Casino Royale. While Craig wouldn't have been my first choice, I'm just glad that a decision has (FINALLY) officially been made. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. has inked a deal to bring the life of James Bond creator-author Ian Fleming to the big screen. The film tells the story of how the author's personal experiences as a spy shaped the creation of Agent 007.

     Sylvester Stallone will direct and reprise his role as Rocky Balboa in the sixth installment of the boxing franchise. In Rocky 6, Balboa comes out of retirement to fight a few low-profile local fights, until he's approached to fight a match with the reigning heavyweight champ.

     Gwyneth Paltrow, Martin Freeman (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) have signed on for the comedy The Good Night, which will be directed by Paltrow's brother, Jake Paltrow. Night is about a man's search for perfection in the world.

     Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski and Neal McDonough have signed on to star in the crime drama 88 Minutes. Pacino plays a college professor who moonlights as an FBI forensic psychologist. Witt plays the professor's teaching assistant and romantic interest, while Sobieski portrays a student. McDonough is a death row inmate whom Pacino's character suspects is trying to kill him, which he has been told will happen in 88 minutes.

     George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton and Sydney Pollack are joining forces for the independent legal thriller Michael Clayton. Clooney plays an elite New York attorney known among his colleagues as "The Janitor" due to his working behind-the-scenes to clean up his clients' messy personal problems.

     Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou (In America, Beauty Shop) are in talks to star opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Warner Bros. Pictures' dramatic thriller The Blood Diamond, under the direction of Edward Zwick. The adventure tale is set in Sierra Leone circa 1999, when the nation was in the midst of a civil war. DiCaprio plays a smuggler who specializes in "blood diamonds," diamonds used to finace rebellions and terrorists.

     Mike Myers told Entertainment Weekly that there is hope for a fourth installment of the spy spoof Austin Powers franchise.

     Beau Bridges, Miranda Richardson and Mykelti Williamson are joining Sarah Jessica Parker for the film adaptation of Rebecca Gilman's play Spinning Into Butter. In the story, anonymous, racist letters appear on the door of one of a college's few African-American students, and the dean of students (Parker) is forced to question and explore modern feelings about racism.

     Andy Garcia, Jeremy Piven, Ryan Reynolds, Alicia Keys and Ben Affleck are teaming up for Universal and Working Title's action comedy Smokin' Aces. The movie follows an illusionist who snitches on the mob and has hitmen after him. Garcia plays the FBI director who tries to keep the illusionist around long enough to testify.

     Real-life husband and wife Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez have signed on for El Cantante, the story of salsa singer Hector Lavoe. Lopez plays Lavoe's wife, Puchi.

     Jason Biggs (American Pie) and Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers) are teaming up for the indie romantic comedy The Pleasure of Your Company. Biggs plays an unlucky-in-love guy who's forced into proposing to his waitress (Fisher) on a dare. Actor Michael Ian Black (TV's Ed) will make his directorial debut with Company.

     Alan Rickman, Mary Steenburgen, Shawn Hatosy, Eliza Dushku, Bill Pullman and Bryan Greenberg have signed on for Randall Miller's independent family drama Nobel Son. The film follows a son struggling to finish his thesis when his father wins the Nobel Prize in chemistry.

     Marcia Gay Harden, Justin Chatwin, Margarita Levieva and Chris Marquette have signed on for Touchtone Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment's supernatural drama Invisible. Based on a Swedish thriller, Invisible follows a young man (Chatwin) who is attacked and left for dead.

     Movie stars Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe are among the entertainers that Variety has selected as the "Icons of the Century." The list was made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the entertainment industry newspaper.

     Actor-writer-director Jon Favreau (Swingers, Elf) will be honored with the Director of the Year Award later this month at the 2005 ShowEast Convention in Orlando.

     Angelina Jolie accepted the Global Humanitarian Award from the United Nations Association of the U.S.A. October 11 for her work as a goodwill ambassador for the UN's refugee agency.

     A Midsummer Night's Dream co-star Calista Flockhart will be honored with a humanitarian award by the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women on October 21.

     Peter Mayhew, the British actor who played Chewbacca in Star Wars, became an American citizen October 10.

     Peter Jackson will release his production diaries for King Kong in the form of a full-color book, four art prints and two DVDs on December 13, the day before the movie hits theaters.

     Warner Independent Pictures is refusing to release the feature film Strangers With Candy, due to concerns that the producers didn't secure the necessary rights.

     An Italian photographer has filed charges against Gerard Depardieu, after the French actor allegedly headbutted him.

     A fire broke out at a warehouse in Bristol, England, reportedly destroying all the props, models, memorabilia and awards from the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit short films.

     Italian writer-director Sergio Citti, best known for his work with filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini, died in a hospital near Rome October 11. He was 72.

     Devery Freeman, a screenwriter who helped create the Writers Guild of America, has died. He was 92.

     Film critic Roger Ebert received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame June 23. Congrats and yay! Someone truly more deserving than Seacrest. Annette Bening, Steve Martin, Ray Romano and Charlize Theron are among the stars who will receive stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006.

     German film critics are protesting Paramount for implementing a worldwide embargo preventing reviewers from publishing their critiques of Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds until the film's global release date June 29. The critics called the embargo a "violation of basic constitutional rights." Is the movie that bad?! Tom Cruise hosted a special screening of the  War of the Worlds for hundreds of fans in Los Angeles June 20. Laurence Fishburne and Philip Seymour Hoffman are joining Cruise and Keri Russell for writer-director J.J. Abrams' upcoming Mission: Impossible 3. Two good additions.

     Frankly, my dear, I do give a damn: The line "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" from Gone With the Wind was named the American Film Institute's (AFI) number one quote on its "100 Years... 100 Quotes" list and special, which aired June 21 on CBS. Casablanca had the most entries at six, with "Here's looking at you, kid" at number five, the highest-ranked one from that particular movie.

     Paramount Pictures and Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's Plan B production company have entered a first-look agreement that gives Paramount an exclusive first bid at producing projects developed by Plan B over the next three years. Paramount Pictures Chairman and CEO Brad Grey is the third founding member of Plan B. Warner Bros' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Plan B's first endeavor, hits theaters July 15.

     The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) invited 112 members of the film industry to become members. Members of AMPAS vote on who should be nominated for and win Oscars. Gael Garcia Bernal, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Sophie Okonedo, Clive Owen, Charlotte Rampling, Jean Reno, Stellan Skarsgard, Imelda Staunton and Ziyi Zhang are the foreign actors that got in. American actors Thomas Haden Church, Jennifer Coolidge, Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Paul Giamatti and Mykelti Williamson were extended invitations as well. Five directors got in: Alejandro Amenabar, Marc Forster, Oliver Hirschbiegel, Andy Tennant and Joel Zwick. Paramount CEO Brad Grey, Spider-Man producer Avi Arad, Robert Rodriguez's producer-wife Elizabeth Avellan, Crash creator Paul Haggis, The Motorcycle Diaries writer Jose Rivera and School of Rock writer and co-star Mike White were also invited to join AMPAS. On June 22, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted against granting a consortium of stunt performers their request for an Oscar in their field. Oscar-winning Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar received a Bunuel's Razor Award for the Best Spanish Film of 2004 for his latest hit, Bad Education. Again, congrats and yay!

     The Los Angeles trial for the case of a photographer accused of trying to extort money from Cameron Diaz via racy photos of her taken before she was famous started June 23. Diaz's Charlie's Angels co-star Lucy Liu will star opposite Cedric the Entertainer in Les Mayfield's action comedy The Cleaner. Liu plays an FBI agent posing as a waitress to Cedric's amnesiac janitor who thinks he's an undercover agent. Liu will also executive produce and star in the independent thriller Devil to Pay. Diaz's pop star boyfriend Justin Timberlake is in talks to join Christina Ricci and Samuel L. Jackson in the film Black Snake Moan. Ricci and Jackson are good, but I don't know about Timberlake - or the title for that matter.

     Fox and Marvel Enterprises are suing Sony and Revolution Studios over Sony's new comic book satire Zoom, starring Tim Allen, which will hit theaters around the same time as Fox's X3. Fox and Marvel claim that Zoom rips off elements of the X-Men.