|
Page
1 |
2
Q: What do you want
to see from people who submit their material to you or
attend your open calls?
A: I want people to have a
nice current picture that looks like them, and a good
resume and good material. Clients come to us when they
want the best talent and we can't waste their time or ours
on people who aren't serious. But every person is
different.
We sometimes invite people to read for us who
don't have much experience but show they are dedicated and
have good training. We then provide them with a critique.
People who put an emphasis on their looks, expect to be
the star, or are unwilling to work hard will never make
it. When I see that, it tells me right there and then they
will never be good talent. That brings to mind a winter
night some twenty years ago. A client called me to say he
needed another extra for the next day - Monday. To find
that extra, I'd have to drive from my home in the country
to the office. So I called the National Theatre and asked
for John Leslie Wolfe who was playing Peron in Evita. When
he called me back I said, "John, I am so sorry to ask you
this, but I'm desperate. I know your only day off is
tomorrow, but I'm looking for a businessman to be an extra
and if you don't do it, I have to drive to the office in
the ice and snow, would you please be an extra?" Pause. He
said, "of course, I'll do that for you."
So years passed, and John was
in town again for another show and I said, "John, do you
remember when you were my extra that day? That was the
nicest thing to do." He said, "I knew you needed help and
I didn't really mind because any day I work, it doesn't
matter what I do, I always learn something. Even if I'm an
extra on the set, I can always learn something, but I
don't learn anything if I sit home alone." Here John was,
on top, but he went out on a freezing day, his only day
off, to work as an extra to help someone out. That shows
why John is a great actor and I think every actor should
remember that story.
Page
1 |
2
|
