In Search Of

In this episode we welcome Obadiah Freeman. He’s a film and theater actor in the PNW and he’s here to talk improvisation! Obadiah explains how useful improvisation is to the actor, allowing us to bring our lines to life and help make the performance more authentic.  He emphasizes how important it is to understand the relationship between yourself and your scene partner, the environment, objects, and more.  The only way to bomb improvisation is when you think you don’t know what to say.  Just live in the moment truthfully, try to forget about being funny, and just be.  We’ve talked about it before, but you gotta learn how to say f*ck it.  Don’t know what we’re talking about? Listen to the podcast!

Today we are joined by actor, musician, and filmmaker Ella Anderson! Ella is here to make producing your first film feel more approachable, with tips and tricks to set yourself up for success. We talk about not being afraid to google everything, things to think about during pre-production, and which production roles we think are the most important when choosing a team. If you’re in a small market like Seattle, or wishing you were working more, you can always find a way to create art that is meaningful to you!

Since the beginning of her acting journey, and this podcast, McKenna has found a talisman in Jenna Fischer’s book, “The Actor’s Life: A Survival Guide”.  Tamara finally read it (after McKenna asked a million times) and we’re talking about it today!  We move through points that stuck with us, like Jenna’s thoughts on auditioning, being an artist, and how every actor’s path is different.  We also talk about Jenna’s idea of creating your own luck by meeting hard work with opportunity. But is that just a lucky person’s way of defining luck? Jenna ends her book with an idea that we want to reiterate to you: the world needs you, an artist, to create art because you are unique and worthy.  So go create it. 

We have our first guest! Please welcome Duncan Star-Bozko: actor, writer and art department extraordinaire. Duncan tells us an acting horror story that sparks a conversation about how anyone can call themselves a writer/producer, and how easily artists can be taken for granted. Even though there are ways to protect yourself (like hiring an agent and manager), bullshit still slips through the cracks. We also talk about Duncan’s experience in front of the camera versus behind, and how he found a passion for working in the art department on films.

In this episode, we talk about supporting other art. We break down what we learned from seeing a local independent feature, and how crucial it is to support projects even if you weren’t involved in them. You never know what performances will inspire you and in what ways. McKenna tells a story about watching a dance recital and we discuss the power of imagination without limits. It seems that imagination, play, and performance go hand in hand as children, but no so much as adults. What art inspires you the most?

Today’s episode opens with two stories about being coached on set by scene partners. We discuss when it is appropriate to comment on a fellow actor’s performance and when it is not. Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that it has a lot to do with how much you trust and respect your scene partner. We then transition to talking about improv and how intimidating and scary it can be. But if life is always improv, shouldn’t it be freeing when you’re directed to improvise in a scene?

We open with a much deserved thank you to our male allies that have supported us throughout our lives and as artists. Thank you, we see and hear you, and wanted to take the time to give thanks. Today we’re talking about auditions again! Have you ever killed an audition and wondered why you didn’t get the role? So have we. It’s out of your control, so prepare for the audition as best as you can, have fun, and learn to let go after walking out of the casting room (easier said than done). We know that acting is a journey, often times a long one. It’s not a question of whether or not you love acting, but rather, do you love everything about the journey?

We’re a little out of order here- for those of you keeping track of our personal lives, this was recorded before previous episodes that have already been released. Today we’re talking about taking vacations as actors and the fear of missing out on auditions and work. McKenna prepares for her trip to Berlin and Tamara discusses her visit to LA. We also talk more about etiquette on set and how actors should always be kind and respectful even when we’re very uncomfortable (because everyone else probably is too). Advocate for yourself, but do it respectfully.

This was a hard one to record (so hard, in fact, we forgot to record an introduction). In this episode, we discuss our struggles with body image and fitting into the unreasonable beauty standards set by the entertainment industry. Acting is an image driven industry and if you want in, you have to play the game. We also talk about how this impacts our daily lives and dating (of course). This episode might be triggering for some, so please make sure to take care of yourself. As always, we apologize if we’ve offended anyone and we welcome your feedback!

Let’s talk auditions. In this episode, we describe our most recent audition experiences for different roles in the same project. When preparing for our roles, we took different approaches, but had similar outcomes: self-doubt.  Did we actually have a bad audition, or are we just being hard on ourselves? We also wonder whether or not it’s possible to over-prepare for an audition. In the end, whether or not you had a bad audition, be kind to yourself, let it go, and chalk it all up to experience.