Tag: Acting Life

Posted on

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

I recently watched Nyad. Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Rhys Ifans and the gang give wonderful performances in this astounding story about the marathon swimmer, Diana Nyad, who in her 60s decided to reattempt a 110 mile open-ocean swim she had failed to complete in her 20s.

A quick read about the actual Diana Nyad reveals a controversial character, particularly in regard to the legitimacy of some of her claims and achievements. I had to think about this before posting – I don’t want to promote exaggeration or dishonesty.

However, I decided to share this blog because, firstly, the film is genuinely enjoyable, well crafted and uplifting.  Secondly, the story centres on a person who, well beyond her prime (though I wouldn’t dare suggest this to her) jumped back into an unforgiving ocean, the home of sharks and deadly box-jellyfish, believing she could swim for three days straight to achieve her goal. Whether all the ratifying technicalities were observed or not, the attempt, in and of itself, is simply awe-inspiring. Here is someone who backs her sentiments up with action:

“I just want to say three things. One, never, ever give up. Two, you’re never too old to chase your dreams. And three, it looks like a solitary sport, but it takes a team.”

U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, points towards Florida before her swim to Florida from Havana, Cuba

My efforts to forge a career as an actor come with challenges that often seem insurmountable. I’m grateful for people like Diana Nyad who charge into the unknown, shine their light brightly from way over there and beckon us forward. 

“Whatever your Other Shore is,
whatever you must do,
whatever inspires you,
you will find a way to get there.”

– Diana Nyad

Ps. The title of this post comes from the poem, The Summer Day by Mary Oliver, strongly referenced in the film and seemingly a source of inspiration to the actual Diana Nyad.

Posted on

Ahem…fix it in post?

I found myself at Grand Central Recording Studios in London this week doing some ADR for an upcoming television show. Automated or Additional Dialogue Replacement is needed when the dialogue recorded during the shoot isn’t ‘clean’ – there might be distracting background noise, a corrupt audio file, a dodgy accent, etc. So, into the recording studio we go with the audio Wizards to make those ropey lines sound good and shiny.

Studio #9 at GCRS, London – a bit like being in a mini space launch control centre.

It’s an art form in itself to match a vocal performance at a time and place far removed from the day it was shot. Back then I was on a set, in costume, opposite other characters. Now I’m behind the glass of a silent booth, headphones on in front of a mic, watching my performance on a screen. And I’m watching very closely – the rhythm and tempo, the level of intensity, every pause and hesitation, each subtle movement of lips and breath – trying to match that performance perfectly and as naturally as possible.

It’s tricky. I can’t say I love it. I’m not the only one:

Watch Eddie Murphy at 0:56 – saving himself some studio time in Life, 1999.

This was by no means my first foray into ADR – I remember repeatedly roaring “Nutty!” at the very same GCRS facility years ago. I’ve done numerous sessions on other films – I’ll be back in the studio with Tin Hat Productions in a couple of weeks for their next feature film, Battle Over Britain. So, despite the technical hoop-jumping involved, ADR is an important part of film-making and worth learning to love. It’s also astounding what can be achieved – around 80% of the dialogue we did in Lancaster Skies was fixed in post production. It can also be pretty darn funny – Bad Lip Reading is a YouTube channel based entirely on this process. Warning: Star Wars will not be the same after viewing the following video:

Some well known voices here – can you guess who they belong to?
Posted on

Auditions pile up ’23

Image: Jeffrey Mundell in DGT Retiro

My first audition of 2023 raced in as the year sped off and I thought: Here we go – let’s get this show on the road! Then three jobbing months limped by.

It’s been a stuttering start, crawling off the back-fire of the last three years. I won’t lie – my engine has taken a knock and I struggled to get up to speed ahead of the second of this year’s starting grids. Yep, that’s a grand total of two auditions in the last four months! From what I’m hearing, many of us are seeing ignition failure in the casting department this year. It’s depressingly quiet. The turbos are far from boosting.

Auto analogies aside, both of my auditions have surprisingly been of the face-to-face variety – unusual with the current trend towards self-tapes where you film and edit your own audition remotely. Both systems have pros and cons. I find being in the room, able to ask questions and take direction useful – especially when the actual director is present.

This latest audition was a commercial casting where actors are grouped in a variety of combinations, then held a while longer to play the scene again in a different group and so on – unlike the common two-minute, hit-and-run type.

I’m pretty certain I was kept for over an hour by mistake – honestly didn’t feel I was firing on all cylinders. Regardless, staying longer does give one the feeling of being in the running, a little boost to the confidence: you’re still a contender. It also doesn’t take long for a room of actors to spark up conversation. Simply sitting amongst the actory chit-chat, a sense of connectedness and belonging starts to seep into those parts that are feeling the grind – some good, clean oil to smooth the ride…

Onwards and upwards.