Inspirational

I got on set and we improved all the scenes. I got to work with Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman & Nikolaj Coster Waldau. Then I booked the film called The Tomb, now changed to Escape Plan, with Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Those were the three films I did at the beginning of the year, and then summertime I went back in California to be with my soon-to-be wife. Then I went back to New Orleans to be present for more auditions and I booked a film called Aztec Warrior. That was amazi...

I grew up in the Bay Area, in Oakland. I lived on Fruitvale, so homage to the film Fruitvale Station, it’s like my hometown. It got pretty bad in my area when I was 10, so we moved to a better area — a safer area — in Dublin, California. I was there until I was 15, and then I moved to Omaha, Nebraska. California to Nebraska, can you believe that? Everyone was like “Why did you go to Omaha?” and I said, “You know, just to change up the scenery, why not?” In all honestly, what really happened...

     Recently, I wrote a critically-acclaimed novel, The Drifts (Coach House Books, 2010), and have been staging excerpts with two major New York Theater festivals. Bully for me that the Globe & Mail called the book “magnificent”; audiences have said very nice things (“hilarious and heartbreaking…stricken and dangerously poetic”, etc.) and I’ve gotten some nice press. Unfortunately, one festival got wind that another fest was announcing my participation and selling tickets. The first (you know w...

     When Richard Botto (@Stage32online) asked me to write about how I’ve stayed in the industry so long, and maybe share some war stories, two words came: I’m interested. First, I’m still in the industry because I am curious. There’s nothing like being backstage or onstage; or hanging out on the steps of a trailer; or being in the hushed halo of light when “sound rolling” is called. Second, my life depended on it. Read on.      There is no other business for me. I have always known my life...

Just a quick word of thanks to all who took the time to participate in this month's version of Introduce Yourself Weekend.  Once again, a record number of connections – over a quarter million! - were made during the 3 day event.  For those of you who are new to the community, welcome aboard.  And for those who either re-introduced themselves or simply took the time to greet and connect with a new member, thank you. This past weekend was also our 2nd Online Pitchfest with our friends at The Hap...

The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it. – Jean-Paul Sartre A long time ago in a land far, far away, I was a teenager watching François Truffaut’s Jules et Jim. The film struck a chord with me. It follows the story of two young men, one French and the other Austrian, who meet in Paris before World War I. Lifelong friends, they eventually fall in love with the same woman. What ensues is a tragic story that, as Roger Ebert writes, “fe...

On May 18, 2005, the day after my father’s birthday, I discovered during a colposcopy that I had been exposed to DES (diethylstilbestrol) in utero.  You may be wondering, What is DES?  I had the same question.  As I started learning more, I didn’t like the answer.  DES is one of the most devastating medical disasters in history.  It’s a toxic and carcinogenic synthetic estrogen that was prescribed to millions of pregnant women for decades: from 1938 until 1971 (and in a small number of c...

I have been asked to blog about stunts. Asking me to do that … well, first off you just asked a stuntman to write. I’m not a writer, so let’s see how that works. Imagine being asked to blog about your girlfriend, who you love with all your heart. The problem is, she keeps leaving you for younger men, and now you’ve reached a time where you can’t fight off the younger men any more. That’s how I feel about stunts. In fact, I must now bring those young men to her and make certain that she doesn’t h...

Fellini entered the dressing room suddenly. The play hadn't finished yet. There were two comic actors yet to go. We had done our part. We had gone back to the dressing room. Little by little we were getting back into ourselves. "It seems like they laughed!" Said Roberto. Roberto was my partner on stage. "They laughed yes!" I answered. We had done an extract of our show. Twelve minutes exactly. We had been told not to do more than fifteen. There were six comic actors on the list. We wer...

Excerpt from Actor Muscle: Craft. Grit Wit. A Professional Guide to the Business of Acting: "THE ONLY REAL ACTORS ARE FROM NEW YORK" ONCE UPON A TIME there was a New York stage Actor who was getting fantastic notices when his play traveled to Los Angeles. A very good Agent (we'll call him A+) was keen to represent him after seeing his remarkable performance. Since signing a new client needs unanimous agreement among all the agents, A+ arranged a big meeting so that the Actor could...