Keeping It Reel: An Actor's Blog

I've waited a very long time to see my name in credits.  Today is a good day.  My journey is by no means over. I am just getting started.  For now, I will enjoy this hard-earned moment.  just keeping it reel copyright 2018 all rights reserved ...

'Nuff said. just keeping it reel copyright 2018 all rights reserved ...

The 2018 Emmy's aired on NBC on Monday, September 17, 2018 If I had to give it a grade, because that's what we're doing these days. Unless, that is, The President has started using the gold stars on the refrigerator system to describe his performance. Then of course, that will become the new national standard. I'd give this year's Emmy's a C. Or two and three quarters gold stars. It was just okay. Despite some of my favorites winning awards and some good jokes, the show was just...meh. There were two moments however which will be talked about for a while. 1. DON'T CALL HIM FONZIE After his first nomination 43 years ago, Henry Winkler won an Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy for his work on the HBO show Barry.  He pulled his speech out of his jacket pocket and said, "I wrote this 43 years ago." He then went on to thank director Alec Berg, his co-stars, with special mention to lead actor and fellow Emmy winner Bill Hader, ...

Too often you hear people describe an actor or actress by saying that have the it factor .  What does that mean? Or has the term been around so long and used so many times it doesn't really have a meaning anymore?  I'm curious.  What does being one of the blessed with the it factor really mean? Is there an actual, tangible quality which makes an actor more special than another actor and gives them an edge socially and professionally? Does Brad Pitt have it ? I'm pretty sure he does. But what is it he has?  I guess what I'm asking here is: If Brad Pitt looked differently, would he be Brad Pitt?  It's human nature to be attracted to...well...the attractive. So being beautiful or handsome certainly can't hurt you in your pursuit of a Hollywood career.  At some point, though, you're going to have to do more than just stand there and look pretty. You're going to have to open your mouth and say something.  Pitt is certainly more t...

just keeping it reel copyright 2018 all rights reserved ...

'Cause every night I lie in bed. The brightest colors fill my head.  A million dreams are keeping me awake.  I think of what the world could be. A vision of the one I see. A Million Dreams Ziv Zaifman

Bruce Springsteen was once asked "Where do you think your drive comes from?" "I believe every artist has someone who told them they weren't worth dirt and someone who told them they were the second coming of Jesus and they believed them both and that's the fuel that starts the fire." And thus speaketh The Boss . So where does your drive come from?  You don't have to answer that. Just think about it.  Here's another question for you: Does it really matter where your drive comes from? As long as you have it, that is.  Look. I think questions like the one posed to Springsteen are important only in respect to the context in which they were asked.  Springsteen was being interviewed for one of those morning news programs you watch while drinking your first cup of coffee of the day.  He was asked a question. One he's probably been asked hundreds of times over his forty year plus career. He answered and it's a good answer.  Dirt and T...

I wanted to recap some of what's been going on in my career since my last blog entry on  Monday, July 25, 2016 . 2016. Wow. What the Hell was I doing?  Oh yeah. That's right. I've been busy.  I wanted to update you on exactly it was that was keeping me busy this past year. Mainly because if you've read my last two entries you're probably worried that I'm sitting on the ledge of a twenty story building with a laptop, shooing pigeons away as I exorcise all of my angst.  Things aren't all gloom and doom right now. I mean, they could be better, but in an effort to do my soul some good, I thought we'd  take a little stroll down Things Don't Suck That Bad Lane. So won't you come along with me, please? By the way, these events are in no particular order. Mostly because I'm really bad at dates.  THE HIGHLIGHTS LIZZIE  ( 2018, Saban Films/Roadside Attractions ) Back in November 2016 I traveled to Savannah, Georg...

Homeland , Season 7, The Compound Homeland , Season 7, The Compound Second Team assemble! The life of a utility stand in is an interesting and varied life. Yes. It's a lot of standing around but in the job description the very first word is standing.  It's no talking and listen. It's pay attention to every detail of the scene and, most importantly, everything the actor you're standing in for does.  Don't leave set. Listen for the call for second team. Be prepared to stand in one spot for a long time. Or at least until the lights and camera departments are set in their final positions. So, in other words, be prepared to stand for a long time.  I once sat in a car for two hours and forty-three minutes. Windows up and hands on the steering wheel. I could hear the chatter on set through a radio lying on the passenger seat. No bathroom breaks. Just me and my thoughts, watching crew move lights and set up green screen panels...watching every...

s   t  i  l  l  n  e  s  s.  Stillness. Taking one’s time. Listening. Really listening and not just waiting for the other actor to finish speaking their last line. Making dialogue feel natural and spontaneous. To appear as if what you are saying hasn't been memorized but rather coming from inside you, from somewhere where truth smolders like coals waiting to be stoked. Well, that's it, isn't it? That's acting. It's what every actor to strives for in every performance. Stillness. Again, I am talking about acting for film and television here. Stage acting is a totally different animal. Stillness. To me stillness is that perfect balance of where the character and I become one. The struggle between telling a story and performing written lines has ceased. The two sides have merged. There is a truce, a balance has been achieved. The waves have stopped crashing into one another and there is calm. All that's left to do is sa...

Hell yes there are things I'd rather be doing than sitting here writing this sentence and the sentences that will surely follow, one after the other, lined up like good little soldiers, unless the phone rings in the next few seconds. Not that my phone actually rings. I didn't choose that ringtone option. I chose something called Graham Cracker Dream or Rattling Mamba or This Little Piggy. I don't know. I'd rather be working . I'd rather be on set or on stage. I'd rather be acting .  That's not happening though. And not for the lack of trying!  Not for the lack of keeping positive and putting myself out there, although the county lines of exactly where the fuck out there seem to blur or at least shift on a daily basis.  "This is the business." That's what everyone in the business says. Even the people who are working. This is what I tell young actors who ask me for advice.  98% of this business is trying to find work. 1% of this...