Nov. 13: A life in the theatre
Maybe I could have had a life in the theatre. Maybe things would be
different today if I was just a better student, had a better attitude,
was willing to market myself and had a never quit attitude. If I could
jump in a time machine and go back to age 14 and imbue those qualities
in me, then maybe I'd be a Stratford regular today.
Maybe.
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In 1992, I got cast in my college's production of Goldberg Street, which was a series of short playlets by David Mamet. A professional actor/director in Calgary came to see the show and he said I was one of the most powerful performers in the show. I was happy to hear it but I know such praise was not coming from the show's director, who found me a pain in the ass.
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Mamet wrote a play called A Life in the Theatre. They made it into a movie starring Matthew Broderick and Jack Lemmon and I think it's Lemmon's best work ever. One of Lemmon's greatest strengths, as an actor, was his ability to use subtleties to reveal character. In A Life in the Theatre, he portrays a gifted member of a repertory company who is terribly afraid that in the long run, he's just another mediocre actor. Watch the opening scene and how he pleads with Broderick to praise him without coming right out and demanding a compliment. He's desperate but determined not to show it.
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Whenever I finish watching a movie, I look it up on the IMDB. I am particularly fond of the trivia section, which often tells me which actors turned down various roles in said movie (Tom Hanks turned down Batman???) I enjoy it because it's nice hearing about the altruistic reasons actors say no to potentially iconic roles that could bring them a lot more money and fame. "I'm too old, I'm too young, I'm not pretty enough..."
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Actors need to respect the audience's need for authenticity. My dream role is Alan Strang, the disturbed teenaged boy who blinds a bunch of horses in Peter Shaffer's Equus. If I were offered the role today, I'd turn it down. I'm 41. I can't play a 17-year-old. BAD!!!
Maybe.
-
In 1992, I got cast in my college's production of Goldberg Street, which was a series of short playlets by David Mamet. A professional actor/director in Calgary came to see the show and he said I was one of the most powerful performers in the show. I was happy to hear it but I know such praise was not coming from the show's director, who found me a pain in the ass.
-
Mamet wrote a play called A Life in the Theatre. They made it into a movie starring Matthew Broderick and Jack Lemmon and I think it's Lemmon's best work ever. One of Lemmon's greatest strengths, as an actor, was his ability to use subtleties to reveal character. In A Life in the Theatre, he portrays a gifted member of a repertory company who is terribly afraid that in the long run, he's just another mediocre actor. Watch the opening scene and how he pleads with Broderick to praise him without coming right out and demanding a compliment. He's desperate but determined not to show it.
-
Whenever I finish watching a movie, I look it up on the IMDB. I am particularly fond of the trivia section, which often tells me which actors turned down various roles in said movie (Tom Hanks turned down Batman???) I enjoy it because it's nice hearing about the altruistic reasons actors say no to potentially iconic roles that could bring them a lot more money and fame. "I'm too old, I'm too young, I'm not pretty enough..."
-
Actors need to respect the audience's need for authenticity. My dream role is Alan Strang, the disturbed teenaged boy who blinds a bunch of horses in Peter Shaffer's Equus. If I were offered the role today, I'd turn it down. I'm 41. I can't play a 17-year-old. BAD!!!
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