[Interviewer:] People do end up isolated on set.

It is a very isolative environment. It forces a sense of autonomy, and I suppose, I think, I may thrive on that kind of loneliness!

That’s the creature I am.

Do you have any hobbies?

I do spend quite a bit of time thinking. I do have hobbies! I’ve never really referred to them as hobbies. I have absolutely not a moment through the day where I allow the word “bored” to be even muttered under one’s breath in the household.

So I find that if I’m not interacting with one or all of the children or arguing.. with an ex-husband, then I’m painting, writing, riding, tending to a garden, trying to figure out what’s wrong with my composter, building a new fence.

I have a tool kit that is enviable to most men, and I just very seldomly sit still.

So I do enjoy keep my mind lubed. Well lubed!

From Sunday Conversation: Gabrielle Anwar, By Choire Sicha, LATimes.com June 28, 2009

Related posts:

Nurturing creativity in solitude

Pumping our teeming brain

In a recent magazine profile, Evan Rachel Wood talks about feeling liberated by her relationship with Marilyn Manson to express her real identity.

Here is the short profile :

Evan Rachel Wood is a natural rebel, says Rachel Syme in TheDailybeast.com. In 2006, when she was 19, the actress set tongues wagging by dating the goth rocker Marilyn Manson, who was twice her age. Soon, she was emulating his flamboyant appearance.

Dying her hair flame-red, she began wearing dark makeup and revealing dresses, with Victorian accessories. Rumors swirled that Manson was remaking her in his own image.

Nonsense, says Wood.

Continue reading »

In a new magazine article, Shia LaBeouf offers many perspectives on his life and the challenges of acting and celebrity.

“Sometimes I feel I’m living a meaningless life,” he says, “and I get frightened.”

Creativity coach and therapist Eric Maisel, PhD warns in his article Meaningful Life, Meaningful Work, Meaningful Days, “In order for you to live an authentic, meaningful life, which is the principal remedy for the depression creative people experience, you must feel that 1) the plan of your life is meaningful, 2) the work you do is meaningful, and 3) the way your spend your time is meaningful.”

The article says “LaBeouf could very well lose everything, as other young stars have, his career wrecked by self-indulgence and arrogance.

“LaBeouf comes from an unconventional family with a history of addiction.

Continue reading »

Amy Lyndon owned and operated Gold-Levin Talent Management for 9 years and has been a Booking Coach for close to 18.

She created The Lyndon Technique: The 15 Guideline Map To Booking, which has helped 1000’s of students learn how to book jobs and consistently earn their living as actors.

[See a review of the book at DailyActor.com]

Her students include Adam Brody (The OC), Christel Khalil (Young and the Restless), Masi Oka (Heroes), Hosea Chanchez (The Game), Maiara Walsh (Cory In The House), Cory Hardrict (Gran Tarino) and Raini Rodriquez (Paul Blart: Mall Cop).

Lyndon says, “First off, don’t come to Hollywood without a huge nest egg. Watch a lot of Television and Film so you have points of reference and be prepared to work your butt off and carry with you a tremendous amount of discipline.

Continue reading »

Praising one of the stars of her upcoming movie “Bright Star,” director Jane Campion commented about Abbie Cornish: “She has to be very true to her instincts, she doesn’t know how to betray them; it would be a little death to do so.

“She is weirdly strong, gracious, intuitive and bold and fabulously stubborn at times.”

[From Jane Campion's 'Bright Star' poetry, by Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times, May 18, 2009. Photo: Ben Whishaw as poet John Keats, Abbie Cornish as Fanny Brawne.]

Many talented and accomplished actors consider intuition an important part of developing creativity and power as an artist.

Continue reading »

Actor and teacher Jeffrey Tambor describes how fear can impact presence and creativity in performances and auditions, and how to shift the experience of fear.

“I think the main idea behind my teaching is the issue of fear and how we use that to our advantage,” he writes.

“We are all fear-based creatures. And fear can be the great killer. It kills your original impulses, your creativity, and it kills desire.

“Rather than deny fear, we have to find new ways of dealing with it. We actually have to dance with it, so to speak.

“You can never be great if you are afraid of being bad.
Continue reading »