One Less Bitter Actor's Blog

The Oscar's are here! The Oscar's are here!

The hype of the Oscar's is always bigger than need be if you ask me. Our industry's biggest marketing tool is the award show, and Oscar holds the place of being the most valuable of all the awards. The reason for this is the theory that since it's only industry professionals voting for their own, they will only nominate those that are truly worthy. It's Hollywood's own certified creative expert panel giving nods to the truly worthy.

Which is why I think the awards have the most interesting impact on actors. Every year, and I mean every year, there are nominations made for movies, and songs, and performances that I just can't get my mind around.  Nominations that make me feel like I just got out of class and know nothing of the real world. It's like the feeling I had as a kid when my dad's conversations with other grown-ups flew over my head but they were having a ball with the topic so I had to resign myself to the fact that that it was a subject I was to uninformed to enjoy and would have to wait until later to ask him about.  When you read about how the voting works for the Oscars you feel like, well, I guess that's the way it should work. The members of that field should judge that field and make it appear to be more than a popularity contest, this should educate me at to how an artist perceives his fellow artists and his discipline, right? Who is a tougher critic of cinematography than a cinematographer?

For that reason I always study the nominations. I don't much care who WINS! I really try to reconcile how a movie (or performance, or director, etc..) that I thought was mediocre, got nominated. Am I short sighted? Jaded? Jealous? Is there something there I didn't see?

Or... is it a popularity contest?

The Oscars give us a chance for an education. A chance to ask 50 costume designers what they thought was great costume work.  Surely there is no shortage of blabber about "brilliant, poignant, compelling" performances from the vanity press but what about simply looking at those performances that might not have moved you from a different point of view? It's a good practice to get in.

I raise the point because it hurts to think you should feel some other way about things because the award shows say you're wrong. No one should tell anyone what should effect them and how.  Politicians make their living doing that, and they aren't artists. They're the opposite actually.

The Oscars can inform and remind you that whenever someone says "the best" about something as personal and subjective as art, you don't have to agree but you should use the opportunity to see why someone, or anyone, thought that was true.

Artists make the difference

Tonight George Clooney, someone I call a friend,  hosts a telethon to raise money for the people and relief efforts in Haiti. Yes, this is entertainment which is why it's appealing, but why do we look forward to this event? The star power? The album from artists that will jam together for the first, and probably last, time ever?

ABC is giving this it's 8pm slot, pretty pricey airtime. If you call in to pledge a donation you could be on the phone with Tom Hanks. You can ask Tom to wave to you on the TV. Pretty cool, exciting stuff.

There's an old joke that goes like this...

A man dies and goes to heaven. St. Peter walks him around getting him aquainted with the place and he hears guitar playing and he says to St. Peter "is that Jimi Hendrix?" and St. Peter says "Oh yeah, this is heaven. he plays all day. You can sit in if you want." and the guy smiles big "my gosh that's a dream come true! I love that guy!" Then he hears the drums being played and says "Is that John Bonham?" and St. Peter says again "Yup, he plays all day. Gives lessons. You can sit in with him too."  He walks a bit more and hears a saxophone playing and says " Is that Charlie Parker?" and St. Peter says " No, that's God, he just thinks he's Charlie Parker."

Is that Bono?  

 
Is that Bruce? 

Umm, yeah. They will be there, as they are always there, and they will be bringing their audiences awareness to the event. The cause. The fact that as artists we have the most influence. People sometimes knock them when "celebrities cross over" and get political and use their popularity to voice opinions about some current political situation. Why is this uncomfortable for the powers that be?

Because we have sway. And they know that. The next generation of minds are less tuned in to their political figures and more tuned into celebrities. People like George and Bono and Bruce and Madonna and

   Jay-Z are using their celeb capital to influence the young mind that's only there for the fun, but will get a lesson about doing the right thing.

It's also an antidote to reality TV where the only goal is to do the meanest thing and win, win, win. Sorta like politics. 

Consider how many of you watched the press conference where Obama introduced Clinton and Bush the 2nd as his task force to lead the US effort in Haiti. Besides the fact that George Bush is unwatchably bad at public speaking, it's not a talk being given by people that you trust to do what they say they are going to do. They've lost your trust. But here again is George assembling friends and standing up to say "something must be done" and you know why? Because it's the right thing to do. And you trust him because he's done it before and you didn't come to find afterward that he was actually stealing your trust for the sake of money. He did what he said he would do. Hmmm...integrity? Yeah, that's what real artists bring to the table.

Wouldn't it be cool if our leaders did things for no reason other than it was the right thing? Wouldn't it be cool to think that public policy was created out of doing the right thing? 

Using your influence to bring a bigger picture to the world is maybe the best use of your art, ever.

Walking billboards

I'm always shocked when I see how so many Americans dress, especially those in the hip-hop and celeb ranks. It's as if their stylist told them that dressing like everyone else and wearing as many labels as they can really separates them from the crowd.  Fashion tips from magazines, and the red carpet dialog about which dress, and jewelry and hair and makeup one has on has become the checklist shoppers guide for many.

What I'm driving at is that the need to feel like you belong, like you have a place among the very cutting edge of the group, can also be the thing that makes you mediocre. The clothing one wears is a good sign as to how hard they seek that approval. The rocker that has chosen so many small detailed pieces of clothing and accessories so their final outfit will look as if they "just threw it on" is something you see a lot of out here in LA. The hip hop artist with the baseball hat worn slightly askew is not unique, it's the norm. Pants worn with the back pockets at your knees is so commonplace I can't understand why it hasn't gone out of fashion. Or the girl who wears something that is so unflattering and uncomfortable simply because it's in fashion and is an acceptable "uniform." 

Why would anyone sell out their individuality to a Nike swoosh? Or a Raiders logo? Does it make you part of a club? Or does it make it safe for you to feel like you are part of a club? 

For civilians this is status quo, but for artists it's a really dangerous habit. Fear of looking like you want to look, or wearing what you want to wear will surely lead you to the fear of acting like you want to act, or singing like you want to sing, etc...  

Am I making too grand a leap? Am I going too far? 

The girl who shows a lot of cleavage IS saying look at my chest. The guy who's buff and wears tight shirts with no sleeves IS saying look at the results of all that gym time.  The guy who greases his hair to look like he doesn't wash, but smells great! is working hard to say.... something.

Be who you are. Be the most honest version of who you are. I rail against the common because the common is too easy, why work so hard to be common? If you don't live out your real choices in everything you do, and everything you approach, mediocrity happily fills in and makes the choice for you. Artists have the most power to influence, why waste that on "common?"

How often do you use the word awesome, or like, or phrases such as... "it's all good?"  Being a walking billboard or cliche' has to hurt the artist that hears things differently, feels more and sees deeper into things. Why clog things up with common?

You make choices every day. Make ones that grow, inform and create a better artist in you. This is a benefit you have over other careers because you can be in your lab experimenting all day. Don't squander the only real power you have on mediocrity. Mediocrity is why this country is where it is. The best people for any job in politics never run for office because politics is well known for being  a place where the idealism of doing good is beaten out of you early and replaced with finding out how to game the system you were elected to uphold.

Make the choice to offer your art to the world every day. Choose to make yourself a testimony to your beliefs. Don't take the easy route, because really, in the end,  easy becomes the hardest thing to over come.

Martin Luther King

Years ago after hearing one of his speeches I bought a book called The Words of Martin Luther King Jr.  So today I preemptively include a few pieces here that I always thought related to the artist's struggle. Surely our struggle is a privileged one but inspiring words are inspiring words and feeling a little less lonely in your journey is always helpful.

. 

“Our hope for creative living in this world house that we have inherited lies on our ability to reestablish the moral ends of our lives in personal character and social justice. Without the spiritual and moral reawakening we shall destroy ourselves in the misuse of our own instruments.”

"One of the most agonizing problems within our human  existence is that few, if any, of us live to see our fondest hopes fulfilled. The hopes of our childhood and the promises of our mature years  are unfinished symphonies."

"We must accept finite disappointment, we must never lose infinite hope."

and lastly, my favorite...

"Love is the only force capable of turning an enemy into a friend."

After the Show

I saw the below post on Suzanne Ford's column for the Examiner.com site and it made me think of all the ways I've tried to "be honest" yet say something nice after a show that was lacking.  I've learned how to do it now, but it takes a bit of time before you become aware of the fact that after a show is not the time to offer "tough love" to your artist friend and really let them know where the production could have used, well...you.

I like this list and I like her solution. If someone wants to know where they can improve their performance they will call you the next day and ask. Trust me. 

That's the right time to suggest some things and always do it with recognition of their effort already applied. 

  Suzanne Ford
 

We've all been there. 

You go to see a friend in a show, and have to stay and chat afterwards. What to do? I've heard some people say, "I always have to be honest. I owe it to them." This is misguided, in my opinion. I say if you don't have anything nice to say, then lie your head off. Who's it gonna hurt? 

Anyway, whatever you do, here's an arbitrarily-ordered list of ten things you should at the very least NEVER say to a friend after a performance:

1. Wow! (pause) You did it!

2. A really interesting piece.

3. You were so adequate!

4. I thought the rest of the cast was great. What did you think?

5. It must have been so embarrassing to wear that costume.

6. You worked so hard on this!

7. I've never seen your hair like that before!

8. Did they just offer you the part or did you have to audition?

9. This is by FAR the best thing I've ever seen you do. 

      (Meaning everything else was crap.)

10. Oh ... you!! (kiss, kiss)

What you SHOULD say:

You were absolutely wonderful! (So you're not telling the whole truth. You think you're going to be struck by lightning? The gods have better things to do.)

Late Night Fight

Can you see what the fuss is about?

Jay and Conan and NBC's "mistake", or "experiment" with the time slot...?

So then.. what we're learning is that the folks that are given the well paid task of TV programming...um, don't always know what the public will watch long enough to sell the commercial space in between interviews so they can afford to make the show. And Jay is costly. I don't know why. He's okay at what he does but he's hardly inspired. 

A few years back there was a flurry of late night talk shows started to compete with the magic of the Johnny Carson time slot. Jay got the job from Johnny when he retired, and Letterman and Arsenio Hall fought for viewers at the time. Then Chevy Chase, Pat Sajak, Magic Johnson and maybe two more people that I can barely remember, except that I remember that there were other shows, tried to steal away viewers from this coveted time slot, but were very short lived.

People are their habits. The Tonight Show with Johnny was a dynasty. Letterman has carved his way in by doing a show he made his own every night. Arsenio was a phase of pseudo-urban cool that relied on so much shmaltz and unfunny bits that he eventually failed. The thing is, if you don't have something genuine to offer, you don't really grow your brand.

I did a guest spot on the third from the last episode on Seinfeld. When I finished filming, Jerry stood with me graciously telling me I was funny and thanking me for my contribution to the show. The classiest guy I've met in showbiz, ever. So, I asked him about the final episode, the grand finale,  and remarked on how much talk there was about how he would end the biggest comedy in history. I said I was sure it would be great since they had this funny thing down and they would surely knock it out of the park. And this is where he gave me a great lesson; He said " Well that's the thing with comedy. You never know. You just throw it out there and hope." After 9 years, he was still just tossing it out there and hoping?

That show was about the funniest thing anyone had seen on TV and it was due to the leader reminding everyone that we throw out our best effort and hope. That's comedy. That's risky. That's fresh and alive.

Great lesson, eh?

The execs at every studio are tossing things out there every week. If the folks charged (and again, VERY well paid) are just tossing their best guess out there, why would you as a risk taker ever get scared about doing the same?

Now that Jay Leno left his time slot to try something else that failed, and Conan failed to meet Jay's numbers, the reshuffle has far too much talk about it going on. Controversy? What? Why? Was anything guaranteed about this?

These two gentlemen are terribly lucky to be in this position. There is way too much talent out there to think that NBC's future hangs on these two. The head of NBC programming might be on the chopping block for this blunder of a move, but so what? It's not like he knows what he's doing in the first place. If he did, he'd never lose a ratings war to any of the other networks, right? Maybe he's just a guy who's trying things out. Hmmm...that sure flies in the face of that ever-perfect posture these exec's meet us with when we audition, doesn't it?

Don't lose sight of the fact that behind the chatter of the high profile controversies are people just like you that make decisions and try their best, and often, flat out fail to meet their goal. It's the same process whether it becomes highly criticized or not. If you find yourself reading your own made up headlines before you make a decision, I bet you make the wrong one. But thank these folks for showing you that failing on a grand scale really isn't that bad. Jay, Conan and NBC will surely go on.

Today...the first day of the second week of the year...it feels like that weird hump of inertia is working it's way toward motion. Be sure you find a way to shove the stone a bit farther up the hill and defy the constant flak of impossibility.



gosh I'm tired of bad news.

Give Peace a Chance

For the new year everyone puts out their top ten of 2009 list so as to sum up the year and give it a rating. Inspiration can be rated! How about that! 

Don't ever let this very bad (but organized and tidy!) system influence who or what inspires you. Never apologize for what or who makes you want to create.

I received an email from a friend on the anniversary of John Lennon's death in December last year and it was a great reminder about how we as artists impact the lives of all those folks that our efforts reach. My friend only knew John Lennon as a fan, they were not personal friends, but I'll share two paragraphs from his well written and deeply felt remembrance.

.
 "With his penchant for being outspoken, his finely-tuned bullshit meter always on, I'm sure he would have warned us early and often about Bush II and, who knows, perhaps could have helped take the election away from the Supreme Court, merely by helping inspire (or anger) enough people, red or blue, to vote for the America they wanted to live in. To balance the scale, I'm sure he would have, in his insistent way, kept Obama and Congress on their toes today as well. Wars, half-truths and false advertising really pissed him off, and he lived to sing and talk about it wherever there were ears to hear.

Perhaps, out of deep habit, I’ve canonized St. John a bit since 1980. I don’t mean to, other than to acknowledge the wellspring he’s always been for music and ideas. He demonstrated a life devoted to trying new things, taking on new ideas and shedding the ones that just weren’t working. He could make public statements as unfathomable/nonsensical as the lyrics to “I Am The Walrus,” but he could also get across ideas with the simplicity and elegance of “Imagine” or “Give Peace a Chance.” We need John today, but we can't have him. It couldn't hurt us at all if he inspires us to turn up our own BS meters, be healthily skeptical of those who scream their Truths to us (if you fear they doth protest too much, they probably doth)."

This is also meant to remind you that spilling your guts on something you care about to a group no bigger than your circle of friends can also inform and educate in ways you don't understand, but it is an avenue of expression that you should take advantage of.  How many times has your own progress been launched forward by the seemingly innocent comment of a friend? Something they say reminds you that you are not alone with your silly thoughts and you are given permission to expand your boundaries.

That's why acting class is done with a group and not one on one. We need to influence one another. 2010 has already been christened the year "That simply has to be better than last year!" It could be a year that you give yourself the permission to express in a climate of absolute fear and congestion. 

You can surely make that happen for everyone around you if you stay on the creative positive path and only allow those wonderful influences in. The negative influences, which are in much greater supply, should be given only a cursory look for reference and then politely asked to leave you head. If you find yourself saying things like "Well how am I supposed to ----- the economy is..."  you know you've joined the dark side and you've stopped creating and have begun your march to mediocrity. 

My friend closed his letter with this John Lennon quote and I'll do the same. Write it on your mirror and read it every time you think throwing in the towel, and joining into the flow of common is your best option.

"...apathy isn’t it. We can do something. Okay, so Flower Power didn’t work – so what? We start again...."

Continuing education

Yesterdays blog got me to thinking about why we stagnate as artists and what it takes to remain vital. If Elton John or Billy Joel can write amazing songs in the 80's why do they suddenly lose their touch years later? Wealth can make you lazy and the ambition to reach a certain level dissolves once you reach it, but why then do we not get just a great song every few years, why does it feel like there is a sell by date on a lot of artists?

Maybe one answer is the lack of continuing education. A friend and I were talking a little while back and he told me he was shocked to learn from a dancer that it's status quo for dancers to be in class most of their lives no matter where their career is. This dancer told him that they do it because there is always more to learn and because dance is so physical class keeps one from losing their flex and stretch.

Hmmm...

That makes so much sense. So, why don't we directors and writers and actors stay in class for our whole careers? It's a taboo isn't it? You can teach at some point but unless you're preparing for a role, class shouldn't be a regular thing, right? 

I want to introduce the idea that "class" should not only mean arts classes. What about other courses that make you a deeper soul, that teach you to think in a different way which will ultimately impact the execution of your art?  Technique can be worked on for a long time, but surely the thing that makes you better is your understanding of humanity. You can certainly learn a lot about that from doing scenes by great writers, but have you considered you can learn it from volunteering, or going back to class for philosophy or criminal justice? The process of hacking through the papers and the essays and the stuff of civilians to better your understanding of who you are without the congestion of performing might be more beneficial that you think. Plus it's great fodder for when you get on Leno.

How many things do we skip because we don't want to "start a class and have to quit when a job comes along" and find later we really never have to quit because a job didn't get in the way? 

Don't fear getting better any way you can. Fear losing days that you can't get back waiting for something to happen while other artists are in class somewhere using their time to keeping themselves flexed and stretched.

Sandra Bullock, as in evolution

When I started at The Neighborhood Playhouse, Mr. Meisner told us we "were his radishes" and he "plants us all,  and in 20 years we become actors." He said all this smiling but at the time I could only think "I don't have 20 years. I need to be an actor now."

After seeing The Proposal,  All About Steve and just last weekend The Blind Side it seems like someone or something told Ms. Bullock about the radishes.  

It's like she's settled into the idea that actors grow and get better and gave up on the idea that actors do that one thing that got them famous until they're irrelevant. You know those actors don't you? The ones that you used to look forward to watching but now hope the supporting cast will ad a bit of interest to the movie because you know exactly what's coming from the above-title mega-star.  It's not like Ms. Bullock has completely "reinvented" ( which is merely publicist speak for trying to appeal to a younger audience) herself. You absolutely see the same person, but it's as if she gave in to that thing called talent and direction and allowed the character to define her, not the other ( all too often) way around.  In The Proposal and All About Steve she had real specifics at work along side her usual comedy chops. In The Blind Side she had great specifics as well as a subtlety and maternal instinct she's not shown us before. 

It was a lovely thing to see. I don't know her, but I've certainly seen plenty of her work over the years and seeing this evolution into actress reminded me of that early recipe of Mr. Meisner. After 20 years, I feel like I'm the best I've ever been. I'd like to think I too have settled into a trust with my talent and a belief in the mystery of the process so that I can allow great things to come out of me. I'm always puzzled as to why, with access to the greatest scripts, directors and teachers in our world, do so many big stars just stagnate? You know what I'm talking about, don't you? It's not like talent goes away, ignoring your talent will make it hide, but surely with a bit of tempting your instincts again grab hold of that divine thing called the script and your artist starts playing with ideas until the director yells "That's the one! Take it in that direction and let's see where we go!"

When I lecture, I always tell the students that the only thing we can really hope to get out of a career in the arts is fulfillment. Yes, money and affection of fans is a by-product, but what all real artists want is to cure that thing in us that's always asking "did I get that right?"  Every artist has the feeling in them that tells them if they really explored and put them selves in the role. I once asked a mega star if she liked her performance in her latest massive hit movie, she answered me with, "the audience absolutely freaked out at the screening." 

After 20 years of doing this, you know it when it's right and you know when you copped out. If you're in it for the money then of course you will be fulfilled when you make some, but it seems that even if Ms. Bullock was in it for the money when she started out, things have given way to the fact that she has more to offer and seeds planted earlier have taken root and an actress is starting to ripen.