The Working Actor's Journey

Coming up in the next round of interviews, actors that continue to work in all different mediums:

• a Tony winner with plenty of on-screen work
• an actor/playwright who has worked around the country
• a Shakespeare actor who ran his own theatre and appears in several big movies
• an actor with over 400 tv/film credits (plus years of theatre)
• and a voice you've probably heard reading books to you!

Now the credits of the guests I just shared are outstanding, and still—each of these actors has had ups and downs, highlights and frustrations. What we're getting at are the actual and real paths of artists and creatives. These guests have been around, they've kept working, and they've figured out some things along the way.

There are still challenges, it's not all "easy" at this point—but they've learned what they need to do to keep going, the mental game of being an actor long-term, and how to do the work at a professional level. And what you'll hear is that there is not only one way to do this—you'll hear lots of perspectives and approaches, so take what resonates for you!

These guests can be mentors for you, they can be your personal Board of Directors, guiding you, inspiring you, and leading you forward!

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Arye Gross (@thataryegross) is an actor with 40+ years in the business who always gives a memorable performance, wherever he pops up. He was absolutely one of the inspirations for this podcast. It's a personal episode too—as Arye has been a friend, mentor, and teacher to me over the years.

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Arye has had a pretty amazing career. He's got over 120 credits on IMDb and that doesn't even account for the MULTIPLE recurring guest roles he's had on shows like Diagnosis Murder, The Practice, Wildfire, The Riches, and as Dr. Sidney Perlmutter on Castle.

He's also absolutely one of those "hey, it's that guy" guys—he's popped up in so many different things on screen over the years, from Just One of the Guys and Soul Man to Friends and Grey Gardens and a hundred other things—even if you didn't know his name, you knew his face. I mean, he's in the actual book called "Hey, It's That Guy," so , you know, it's official. Though I have a feeling, after today's episode, you'll know who he is from now on!

Just a bit of what we cover in this episode:

• Building props that he's used onstage
• Being re-cast as the narrator of The Wonder Years
• Upstaging Dan Aykroyd with strawberries
• Neuroscience, empathy, and authenticity
• Being embraced and rejected by the audience
• Getting fired multiple times from the same show
• What Arye still loves about acting

Plus a whole lot more!

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Alan Mandell (in his 90s and still working!) is an actor and director, and he's also been a general manager of multiple theatres. He's considered one of the leading interpreters of Samuel Beckett's work, and he even collaborated directly with the playwright several times!

It was really fascinating to hear all about Alan's career—his story is a combination of being in the right place at the right time, and being willing to do whatever it took to make theatre happen, which is such a great attitude!

Just a bit of what we cover in this episode:

• Growing up in Canada during the Depression
• Doing radio drama and theatre in Toronto
• How he got involved with The Actor's Workshop through volunteer office work
• His initial reaction and confusion when he first read Waiting for Godot
• Teaching acting classes and helping out with the San Quentin Drama Workshop
• Being involved in the early days of Hedwig and the Angry Inch
• What success has meant to him and mentoring young actors in the theatre

Plus a whole lot more, and Alan also shares some direct acting notes from Samuel Beckett himself on Waiting for Godot, so don't miss that!

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In this excerpt, Tony Amendola (@tmamendola) from Ep #18 discusses Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare.

As Tony shares, it's almost like an "anti-love" sonnet, that it makes fun of sonnets that are too flowery, as it has a very different tone and style with its message.

You'll hear Tony discuss:

• how he approaches a pieces of text like this
• how he might set the scene in his mind when doing this
• why he loves this sonnet in particular

It's a great session, and Tony also shares at length the balance you want to find between ideas and behavior when working on texts like this!

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My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress when she walks treads on the ground. And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.

Tony Amendola (@tmamendola) was an associate artist, actor and director at the Berkeley Rep Theater for ten years. Regional theatre work includes the Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Rep, ACT, the Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Williamstown Theater, CenterStage and the Oregon, California and Utah Shakespeare Festivals.

He has 120+ credits on film/TV, including as a series regular on Continuum, and recurring work on Stargate SG-1 and Once Upon a Time as Pinocchio's father Geppetto. He's appeared as the title character in Uncle Vanya and King Lear, as King Henry in Lion in Winter, and as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.

Voiceover work includes video games World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy 15, and Call of Duty, and as the narrator of The Land Before Time XIV.

Just a bit of what we cover in this episode:

• Getting nervous about auditions and loving it
• Being petrified over a particular role, and having no faith in himself to do it
• His first TV job in LA and how the director helped him through it
• What he learned coming back to Merchant of Venice, 25 years later, as an actor
• Tony's daily routine of body, mind, and spirit
• Advice he would give to smart, driven students of acting
• Surrounding yourself with people you respect
• One of his favorite failure stories, and how it led him to LA

Plus a whole lot more, and Tony also lets us in on how he works through Shakespeare's sonnet #130!

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Kristine Oller guides successful creative professionals through the process of designing and aligning the next chapter of their lives and careers – always with an eye towards helping them expand their brilliance and increase their resilience.

She is here to discuss a rather tricky topic for creatives: having enough money to really pursue your career. Sure you can get that stereotypical job waiting tables, but is that really going to fuel you, or stress you out more? What would it look like to have a truly amazing side business that gave you the resources you need (and more) to fully pursue your dream, and to lose the desperation of needing to book a role to make rent?

And Kristine was in this exact position: working jobs that drained her, and she found something else that helped her thrive.

Yes, she does have a course (link below), but this is not an hour-long sales pitch; we don't even mention the course! This is a fun and important conversation about how to sustain yourself as a creative until you get your next break, and the one after that and the one after that!

Just a bit of what we DO cover:

• Her journey as an actor and beyond
• Finding her first side biz and pursuing it
• How that gig made her a better actor at auditions
• Stories that artists tell themselves that keep them AWAY from cash
• Why it's unhealthy to hear stories of being down to your last dime before your "big break"

I hope you enjoy this conversation and this experiment—I'd love to hear what you think about this kind of episode, if it's helpful, and if you'd like to hear more like it. Reach out to me on Twitter @theworkngactors, or if you prefer, you can send an email here.

Learn more about Kristine's course Cashflow for Creatives. Code JOURNEY for a special discount!

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Robert Goldsby started out acting during World War II, in a touring production for the troops in the Philippines. He earned a B.A. in French and Comparative Literature from Columbia and, along with directing studies, an M.F.A. in Acting from Yale. He was an actor, resident stage director and conservatory director of San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre, running the first Training Congress.

For 30 years, he was professor of acting, dramatic literature and directing at the University of California at Berkeley, and he ultimately served as chair of this department. Robert was a founding director of the Berkeley Stage Company, which introduced many new plays and playwrights to America.

When he relocated to Los Angeles, he worked at many of the the major university and professional theatres of the region. He has translated works by Sardou, Molière, and Feydeau. Of the 150+ productions he directed, there were 11 plays by Molière, 46 classical plays from Aristophanes to Shakespeare to Giraudoux, and 98 plays from the modern repertory from Ibsen to Innaurato.

As both director and scholar, Robert has been particularly devoted to Molière. He published a book from his lifetime of experience and research, titled: Molière On Stage: What's So Funny?

Just a bit of what we cover in this episode:

• Working with Walter Matthau and getting pinched by him
• The importance of studying both Literature and Performance
• Why directors need to really understand the text
• His introduction to the very alive work of Molière
• Creating the curriculum for the ACT program, which is still used
• Why plays were so thrilling when he was teaching
• What student actors had that professionals did not

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Paden Fallis hosts the podcast In and [Out of] the Arena (available on Apple, Stitcher, etc), and it's an atypical interview show: he creates a very cool roundtable discussion with working actors out there, people from all over the country.

Actors with credits on Broadway, network TV, indie films, voiceover, and everything in-between. It's a weekly, topic-driven show, so each episode focuses on a different issue actors face.

Paden is an actor, director, writer and producer, currently based in Atlanta, Georgia. He studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. His first screenplay, As Far as the Eye Can See, made its World Premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival.

Just a bit of what we cover:

• Where Paden is on his journey
• Why he wanted to do a podcast
• What he has learned about acting since starting the podcast
• The Trader Joe's incident with actor Geoffrey Owens
• Professional jealousy and avoiding bitterness
• How social media drives casting
• Actors who want to feed the soul
• One thing he wish he had done differently when he started

I hope you enjoy this conversation and this experiment—I'd love to hear what you think about this kind of episode, if it's helpful, and if you'd like to hear more like it. Reach out to me on Twitter @theworkngactors, or if you prefer, you can send an email here.

Click here for full show notes and links.

Get your copy of "12 Top Acting Tips from Season One"

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Ray Porter from Ep. #16 talks text work in John Webster's The White Devil.

This is a Jacobean play and comes in the period right after Shakespeare. As Ray shared, plays in this period were much darker and a definite departure from many of the themes you'd see in Shakespeare's work. It's not a play I was familiar with and really glad these guests are introducing us to other classical works. As I mentioned in the complete episode with Ray, this may be a great play for you to find a lesser-known monologue for your auditions.

You'll hear Ray discuss:

• why this speech fascinates him
• how language was the CGI of the day
• why classical theatre and plays like this are still so relevant today.

It's a great session and a wonderful discussion about theatre, politics, and acting!

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FRANCISCO

An old tale. Upon a time Phoebus, the god of light, Or him we call the sun, would need to be married: The gods gave their consent, and Mercury Was sent to voice it to the general world. But what a piteous cry there straight arose Amongst smiths and felt-makers, brewers and cooks, Reapers and butter-women, amongst fishmongers, And thousand other trades, which are annoyed By his excessive heat! 'twas lamentable. They came to Jupiter all in a sweat, And do forbid the banns. A great fat cook Was made their speaker, who entreats of Jove That Phoebus might be gelded; for if now, When there was but one sun, so many men Were like to perish by his violent heat, What should they do if he were married, And should beget more, and those children Make fireworks like their father? So say I; Only I apply it to your wife; Her issue, should not providence prevent it, Would make both nature, time, and man repent it.

Ray Porter (Tw: @Ray__Porter; IG: @rayporter_narr8s) spent 18 seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival playing all sorts of roles, including many leads, and has since narrated more than 300 audiobooks (including the Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry), all while still appearing on film, tv, and onstage.

He has multiple Earphones Awards, has been nominated for Audie awards for his narration, and was named Audible's Narrator of the Year.

Just a bit of what we cover in this episode:

• why you don't want to be a tribute band
• making audiobooks that SUCK (and how to get better)
• an acting approach that gives you freedom
• not believing your own PR
• technique only up to a point
• the most important thing to do, especially as an actor
• and lots more!

We even work on a piece of text from The White Devil by John Webster! Post-Shakespeare themes and ideas—very cool stuff, and I'm sure most people are not using this for their classical monologue!

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