Art of Actors and Acting

DVD in my own collection.

I've written before of my love of tv and movies...of the art of acting. Truth be told, if the pull of visual art [mosaic, painting, digital art and art photography] was not so strong, my love of writing would be at the forefront of my endeavors. Years ago I entered a screenplay into the, as then, young Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition. I actually advanced a bit before my work was eliminated from the competition. I may yet do a rewrite of that screenplay because I'm still intrigued by the story.

Isn't that why writers write? Because they themselves are intrigued by a story they have to tell?

I did write a play. When my daughters were children we were members of a large church in a lovely community in the Central Valley of California. It had a drama ministry. My younger daughter had a great interest in acting and had appeared in community children's theater programs. For my play, I got the idea for a story centered around a young girl and set during the Christmas season. I had a friend who was one of the directors of the neighboring larger community's theater program and he volunteered to direct the play. It was so much fun! It was awesome to see and hear the words I'd written performed on the stage - to hear the positive response of the audience and, of course, to witness the performance of my daughter as the lead character. Cool.

However, play writing just didn't seem to be a form of expression I was that interested in continuing with. I also have no affinity or love for poetry. Don't know why, just don't. But I do love dialogue and I love the way the synergy happens on film that creates something new from the combination of: words of a screenwriter, the work of the director, the genius of the photography and art direction teams, the costumers [and everyone else involved in a tv episode or movie] and the actors. It is the actors who breathe life into the words and bring the characters alive. At least that's the way I see it. I think it takes special talent for actors to leave themselves at the door and take on the mantle of an imaginery [or other] personality to portray.

I saw an article on Huffington Post, just prior to the Oscars, that discussed this idea of an actor transforming him or her self, "Oscars 2012: Best Actress Category Prefers Physical Transformation" by reporter Amy Lee. Having read Stieg Larrson's trilogy starring character Lisbeth Salander, I think that the actress portraying her, Rooney Mara, did an amazing job of bringing the fictional character to life. Mara breathed life into Larrson's words not just by speaking his dialogue, but in her physical portrayal of this incredibly complex character.

Okay, where was I? The photo at the top of the post is the cover of Season 2 of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." The show is currently in its 8th season [right?] but I only have seasons 1 thru 3 right now. Regardless of that, I want to highlight the work of actor Kathryn Erbe. Talk about an actor bringing life to a writer's words...I admire the way she shoots-from-the-hip with her lines. Vincent D'Onofrio [who is also an incredible actor as you know] may tower over her physically in their shared scenes, but Erbe is able to give full voice to the character of Detective Alexandra Eames. I get a kick every time she delivers a zinger of a line.

"What'd you think, she'd have scones and a glass of sherry for us?" - from Season 2, Episode 3 "Anti-Thesis"

You may think I wish I were an actor...but no. I have no desire to be in front of a camera...any camera. One of the things I liked about being a newspaper reporter was that it was other people being in the spotlight, not me. Speaking of actors...

I was invited recently to join a new category of social network called Stage 32. This is a networking site for folks in/interested in film, television and theater. I don't know who sent me the invitation, but I have found such energy there! Creative people are awesome. I'm sure scientists are too, but there's something about those who write, film, photograph, storyboard, direct, produce...awesome. I listed as a project for development a short story called "A Sweet Tale of Lala the Vampire Cat" which I believe could be transformed into an animated short film or an intriguing feature length film. [Let me know if you would like to read it and I'll sent you a read-only PDF copy.]

Anyway...at Stage 32 I came across an actor/film maker from Tulsa, OK by the name of Starr Hardgrove. He has a new web series titled "Tooker and Baugh" which is "...a web series about two cops in the mean streets of Tulsa, Oklahoma...." I watched the first episode and came away highly entertained. I would classify it as campy and humorous. Hardgrove plays one of the leads with this hilarious black mustache. Well, here's the video...see for yourself:

Comments

Richard, thanks! I have to say that because of all the cool interaction on Stage32, I'm actually writing a screenplay and entering a screenplay competition. - Linda

Posted by: WriterInAHat | 04/30/2012 at 02:32 PM