Elisabeth Shue is working on her ambition to play tennis professionally. “I like the road toward excellence. I like that it requires work. Everyday work. And it’s fulfilling to reach a goal of being as good as you can possibly be. And to push yourself.” Shue’s husband, Oscar-winning documentarian Davis Guggenheim (”An Inconvenient Truth”), directed [...]
The photo is from Sarah Polley’s film Away From Her (2006), in which Julie Christie has been gaining much acclaim for her portrayal of a woman with Alzheimer’s disease. In an interview [some years ago], she talked about her work as an actor, and using dark or difficult human emotions and experiences. “I think there’s [...]
In the new Interview magazine, Director James Mangold and Liv Tyler have a stimulating conversation on many aspects of excellence in acting, especially being vulnerable and authentic. James Mangold: “There are some actors who, when they feel insecure in a scene, will just turn up the volume or the energy to try to electrocute themselves. [...]
In her novel about a late-19th-century actress, In America, Susan Sontag wrote, “She had loved being an actress because the theatre seemed to her nothing less than the truth. A higher truth. Acting in a play, one of the great plays, you became better than you really were. You said only words that were sculpted, [...]
Sarah Polley on fame In a recent article, film critic Kenneth Turan writes: Sarah Polley looks back on her decision to leave “Almost Famous” as a turning point in her life, a decision to keep fame at bay and have as normal a life as possible. “My first experience with a sliver of fame was [...]
In a recent news story, the accomplished actor, director and producer “warned aspiring actors against getting entangled in the idea of popularity as it could be destructive. “The 60- year old, academy nominated actor has blamed Hollywood and attendant fame for the discomposure and bedlam in his personal life. “Success and fame are as addictive [...]
Southern comfort Kristin Davis’ confidence used to come from a bottle, says Sarah Maber in Psychologies. As a teenager growing up in South Carolina, Davis was a wallflower. “I was really shy. I didn’t know how to come out of my shell.” Then she discovered bourbon. “Everyone gets mad at me when I say this, [...]
I had to sort of figure it out for myself Ellen Pompeo was four when her mother died, at age 33. A new article says “her five older siblings were dissolved in grief; her father.. was wracked by a sorrow he was unable to articulate.” It was “a very, very vivid, painful memory,” Pompeo says. [...]
Joey Lauren Adams makes her feature film writing and directing debut with Come Early Morning, starring Ashley Judd. In a recent interview, she talks about how satisfying this new area of creative expression has been for her. Question: Is writing a script like this or any script for that matter in some ways a reaction [...]
Shia LaBeouf [his new film is "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints"] says, “I’m a lonely dude. But, again, it’s the price. You subject yourself to weird [stuff], just so you can feel something. To be an actor, a true actor, you have to be brokenhearted.” [The Washington Post, October 17, 2006] That comment reminded [...]
James Woods – “it just flows…” James Woods appreciates being an actor: “I’m just like an idiot savant. I have one enormously enjoyable, pleasurable – for me – talent, which is being able to act. I do it without any confusion or restriction or ambivalence or hesitation, and it just flows, almost as naturally as [...]
Weeding out the weak? In a Backstage article [Crossing the Line by Nicole Kristal] acting coach Carolyne Barry comments, “I think that there are a lot of teachers out there who are on power trips and ego trips and truly believe that by demeaning people they can make [actors] work harder. Well, that will work [...]
Claire Danes on wanting acceptance Claire Danes admits that when she was growing up, she “wanted desperately to please, to be a good girl. I wanted acceptance. I still do.” Like many artists, she sought acceptance in renown: “A part of me desired fame because I associated it with love. That was a total mistake. [...]
Kate Bosworth – always learning Kate Bosworth [photo from "Superman Returns"] thinks “all actors are insecure.. I certainly am… I think almost all artists are insecure. I don’t ever watch myself and think, ‘That was great, I hit it out of the park!’ Never… “One of the things I love most about this job is [...]
Daniel Dae Kim – avoiding stereotypes Daniel Dae Kim [photo from “Lost”] says that when he looks at a character to play, “I don’t necessarily look for his heroic qualities or his negative qualities. I am very aware of playing stereotypes and trying to stay away from those. “But I think that wanting to play [...]
Out of the comfort zone Many people, maybe most, want to avoid anxiety, fear and other “stressful” feelings. Except for the occasional roller coaster ride. But talented actors (and other artists) often use those kinds of feelings to guide and energize their work. Julia Stiles [left] says she chooses projects based on “ways I need [...]
Shy since childhood Clea DuVall has referred to herself as “an only child and I’m just a real loner kind of person, and yeah, kinda dark. But I’m happy. Not sad. I’m just shy and nervous.” Like many other talented actors, she considers herself shy. Maybe acting – playing other people – is a way [...]
Grace Zabriskie on obsessional mode Grace Zabriskie commented recently about the article In Praise of Positive Obsessions, by Eric Maisel, PhD, and on the value of reading. “I have for many years now extricated myself, without too much guilt, from social events with close friends by knowing I will be understood when I say that [...]
Ian McKellen on timing Ian McKellen admits in a recent article that it has taken time and life experience to develop the self-confidence that now helps fuel his dynamic roles. “Suppose it had been me who played Tom Jones [1963], not Albert Finney?” he said. “There was never any question of me playing those sorts [...]
Kristen Bell Kristen Bell (“Veronica Mars”) noted recently how much of an impact acting can have on an actor: “It’s sort of a weird profession.. in that it manipulates your emotions. When you’re crying, you’re really crying. You’re not crying about anything you care about, but you still have the cry inside you, that feeling [...]
Brad Pitt In a magazine interview, Brad Pitt once candidly admitted, “I’ve got a couple of friends that might as well be family, and I’ve caught myself just ordering one of them to do something because you get accustomed to people doing things for you… It’s the money and the power, it just crushes everything.” [...]
Amanda Bynes Amanda Bynes, talking about going to college, commented, “I have such a busy mind and it’s really hard for me to do one thing at a time. I can’t only be acting. I have to either be reading something or drawing. It’s hard for me to sit still.” Finding it “hard to sit [...]
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