CAST & TALENT

Something worth sharing from Actor, Kathe Mazur

Actors, as a group, get a bad rap. Mocking them is so easy. They’re the ones who love to “hug”, who break out into song at parties, who are “over-dramatic”. They’re the ones who get made fun of for working as waiters, even though basically every actor fawned over by the public today did, at some point, serve them their coffee or their wine spritzers, or painted their walls. The expressions “Never date an actor” and “Never date an actress” are time-worn and immediately understood by all. Actors are at once “Narcissists” and “over-affectionate”, “Divas” and “pathetic”. You don’t want your child to be one or marry one.

They are revered while they're famous, but pitiable when they're not.
But I would like to say that I feel grateful every single day of my life that I have had the great good fortune to be trained as an actor, to have been surrounded by actors, and to work with actors. What actors do in acting classes and training programs, for starters, is unlike anything else. In any half-decent acting class in the world, actors learn to Connect: to other people, to their material (from the most banal writing) to some of the most exquisite in the world), to their imaginations and instincts, to themselves.

They are critiqued publicly and have to adjust instantaneously. They learn at every turn to think on their feet. One of the best descriptions I ever read was by the psychiatrist Brian Bates who spent a year observing at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and then wrote The Way of the Actor. He said this is the only profession that requires one to be simultaneously completely extroverted and completely introverted. This can be an occupational hazard, make them seem phony or “too much”, as well as highly sensitive and self-protective. And they are also, often, tremendously empathic, funny, insightful and welcoming.

Studying acting with good teachers is one of the greatest things anyone can do.

And actors are some of the most wonderful people I have ever known. We have a strange job. We are our own instrument; we are our own tools. We are always on display. We invite a lot of projection, and we open ourselves up to the world. It can bring out our insecurities. It is at best inconsistent and at worst heartbreaking, it pits us against each other and can pit us against ourselves. It offers no cover. But actors, for the most part, aren’t looking for cover. We didn’t get into this for cover. And every actor I know who went on to another profession has brought that sense of exploration and willingness to be exposed, that creativity, with them. They bring to it an extraordinary background that no one else has, and an ability to be open, connected, present, grateful, hardworking, open to criticism, endlessly creative, vulnerable, an ability to improvise, to collaborate, to read others, to CARE.

So, yeah, we get a bad rap. Much of it deserved. But oh, how grateful I am to walk among you, to be your colleague and your friend. To all the actors and former actors in my life, thank you for being on this walk together. You are a gift.

Kathe Mazur on IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0563383/

Another edition of THR's Actor Roundatble 2022 edition.
Andrew Garfield (‘Tick Tick Boom’), Jonathan Majors (‘The Harder They Fall’), Peter Dinklage (‘Cyrano’), Nicolas Cage (‘Pig’), and Simon Rex (‘Red Rocket’) join The Hollywood Reporter for our full Actors Roundtable.

Some are just naturals.

Surprising that Henry Thomas' career didn't just take off after ET!

Happy birthday to a legend! Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award honoree Rita Moreno @theritamoreno is one of the few performers to achieve the rare honor of the EGOT. Her library of work ranges from Singin’ in the Rain (1952) to TV's Electric Company and One Day at a Time, to BOTH film versions of West Side Story (1961, 2021). The documentary Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It is streaming now. #BOTD #treasure

When a legend speaks.... You must listen and learn!
Peter O'Toole on playing Lawrence

Positive move on the part of SAG-AFTRA, and well deserved!

Cherokee American actor and producer Wes Studi has a three-decade career that has included Dances With Wolves, The Last of the Mohicans and Avatar. In 2019 he was presented an Academy Honorary Award for his body of work. #FeatureFriday #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth

Very nice mention on Facebook by Stepfanie Kramer on the passing of Peter Scolari

We worked with this wonderful actor and human being on multiple occasions... Rest in Peace Ed!

Nice feature at IndustryCentral. They have been Profiling Working Actors since 1999. Here's their latest on James Morrison.

Interesting SAG-AFTRA sponsored Discussion Panel aimed at awareness and stopping Asian hate and racism!

Have you witnessed or been part of this, especially in recent times?

A long time in the making and finally here!

A true herculean demonstration of tenacity and perseverance!

Congratulations and "Break-A-Leg" to Eddie Braun
-------------------------
From Eddie Braun, "I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams that i would be the subject of a movie that THE biggest Action Star, and THE Biggest studio would support.
I look at how Disney put their name TWICE on the film, and it just blows me away.
i cannot objectively judge this film other than to say 2 things… I am damn proud of this film,
and I gave it ALL of my best efforts.
I sure hope anyone that sees it likes it, but if not, sorry, don’t ask me for your money back.
It’s been a fkng long 8 years for this entire project, conceived at 4am over coffee at #Starbucks MB.
My deepest gratitude to @therock @danygarciaco @hhgarcia41 @samoanstuntman @sevenbucksprod @slash @disney @disneyplus for believing we could actually pull all of it off.
💥❤️🙏👊🎬🎥
#DentTheUniverse
#DrivenPictures
#StuntsUnlimited 🖤💛
#ManhattanBeach Ca
https://www.facebook.com/Stunts-Unlimited-125376856964/

Michael Bay said this was all to plan and no one was hurt.

He so said the bts video makes it look worse than it was.

I see two stunt cops firing at the Ambulance and then bailing. One bearly evades running in front of the dolly camera right.

The other disappears underneath what appeared to be the path of the tumbling Cop Car and Ambulance. Is that him escaping behind the dolly track?

What do you think? Safe or too many things that could have gone wrong?

On the set of Michael Bay’s new movie. 🤯

➡️ Via https://t.co/7h2ra8Dab0 pic.twitter.com/2zB4oDf2u4

— FilmFreeway (@FilmFreeway) February 24, 2021