Archive for April, 2008

Entertainment psychology – Are performers raging narcissists?

“Actors and actresses, because that’s their career, can be sort of self-obsessed.” Kristen Bell says that for her new film “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” she “just looked into the depths of the most hard-to-admit or vulnerable or bad characteristics of my own personality and what an actress can become if given that kind of self indulgence [...]

Building identity – Brooke Smith on not being like everybody else

Brooke Smith plays heart surgeon Dr. Erica Hahn on “Grey’s Anatomy,” and her extensive filmography includes the series “Weeds” and movies Vanya on 42nd Street and The Silence of the Lambs. In an interview, she was asked if she has any advice for actors who “would love to have a career even half as fruitful [...]

Roles with creative meaning can be emotionally crucial

Mare Winningham and Tennessee Williams Mare Winningham is playing Amanda in a stage production of Tennessee Williams’ classic ‘The Glass Menagerie’ at the Old Globe in San Diego. In an interview, she commented about how rare it has been to find such deep, complex roles. “Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but so often during the [...]

Break the rules – Jodie Foster on good rules and not so good

From her article Lesson From a Young Actress: When I was little, my mother had a host of rules of “gentlemanly” behavior that you had to follow on a movie set if you wanted to be labeled a “professional.” Of course, Mom was wrong about a lot of things. As I have grown older, I’ve [...]

Acting Resources: Intense but Relaxed – Acting with Confidence

Gabriel Byrne on auditions “It’s important to present oneself as relaxed and confident..” Gabriel Byrne commented that the audition process “is really a most inadequate way to determine if an actor is right or not for a particular role. Unfortunately, it’s a situation that most actors have to accept. “Work on developing an unshakable trust [...]