This photo was taken the day after Marcia Gay Harden won her Academy Award © in 2001.
It's hung up in my office to remind me everyday what I'm striving towards.
The part I love about the photo is: Nobody is paying attention to the Oscar.
Instead, the focal point is on the parent engaged in conversation with the real achievement sitting on their lap. Meanwhile, your other half is reading a newspaper on a lazy Sunday morning -- incidentally about your win the night before.
It beautifully encapsulates that perfect balance. Where the statue symbolizes being at the top of your game but still not distracting you from the real things that matter most.
Usually when I have an idea for a screenplay, I start working on it when I hop into bed for the night. And I go into that state where you're slumbering but still conscious to not be dreaming and dozing off into La-La Land. Then I basically work through a rough outline of the Beginning, Middle and End -- solving any holes in the story. Once I have it all sorted out, I pop out of bed and crank out a synopsis before I forget it.
Black"). It would have a bust of William Shakespeare and 
when you flipped open his hinged head, a button would activate a bookcase to slide open -- revealing two fireman poles. (Like Adam West and Burt Ward's in the 60's "Batman" TV show.) 
garage wouldn't look like the TV show's underground cave but more like the "X-Men" 's garage with marble floors. However, I still want the show's secret cave entrance that is camouflaged by a retracting bush. Anyway, stored down there would be the family car (Porche Cayenne), my personal car (Aston Martin Vanquish) and wife's car (BMW 745i). But my prized possessions would be: The original 1960's Batmobile and K.I.T.T. from "Knight Rider" complete with working gadgets/monitors on the inside and red "woo-woo" side to side LED thingy on the outside.
I don't know when any of the above is going to happen though since I'm having trouble convincing my wife for a plain 'ole pool table. But mark my words, someday I will at least have that sliding bookcase and batpoles leading down to my current Acura TSX! 
My co-writer George and I just got our notes back from our 2nd draft. The feedback from our producer was very favorable and now we're working on delivering the 3rd draft -- nothing major, very superficial changes that can be done in a few days. A week tops.
They stopped production at 6 and plan to possibly air them in 2005. If those episodes do well, there's a chance it may keep going. John Cho's show on NBC, "The Men's Room", also had an order of 13 episodes. Last Wednesday they had their production stopped at 6 to possibly air in 2005. And if those episodes do well, there's a chance it may keep going. We both have seem to have acquired the television touch of death. 
I will be in several episodes this season of a new show called "Asia Street Comedy" on The International Channel starting to air this Wed, October 6th. 
tones that terrified customers, such as ear-piercing screams from a woman.
And yet another sketch had me in a reality show called, "Buried Alive" where 2 guys see who can last the longest in a coffin underground. At one point, I do a "confessional cam" and talk smack about the other participant. Meanwhile his face turns into my confessional cam saying, "Hey, numbnuts! I'm right here. I can hear everything you're saying!" It's pretty hilarious stuff. Joy Bisco ("The Debut", "General Hospital") & Bobby Lee ("Mad TV") also did several sketches.
MAIN ENTREE: 
SIDES:
DESSERT:
Okay last stretch. To review: The previous 5 questions helped get you into the mind set with the Bio, Given Circumstances, Objectives and justifying behaviors. Now you may be saying, "This is just so much to be thinking about when I'm performing that it's not going to be natural." But think about what makes us freeze up when talking in front of a large group of people -- when we don't know what to say and/or are unprepared. When we tell ourselves to "relax", what happens? We tense up even more. It can't be helped. By having something tangible to prepare, you'll be more confident and hence, more relaxed to play.
won't allow you to leave. In the last half of "The Thomas Crown Affair", Pierce Brosnan has an arguement with Rene Russo and then she storms out the room. In the take which made the final cut, the director told Pierce NOT to let her go -- no matter what. And what transpired was this great scene with Rene really having to PRY herself away from him in order to achieve her objective. Meanwhile it was in direct conflict of Pierce's objective - to keep her in the room. There is no drama without conflict. 
than others. "To interrogate" is more interesting than "To ask".
If you really did the assignment I assigned last session, that was a perfect example. Ken Leung's character in "Keeping the Faith" wants to make a Karaoke Machine sale. He tries all these actions (To Confront, To Befriend, To Plead, To Joke). Ken's choice of his final action to make that sale was so different from all the other actors who auditioned. That choice not only nabbed him the role but wound up being the funniest bit in the entire movie. 
An easy trick -- cross out all punctuation in the script. That way the exclamation points 
and question marks don't lock you into the obvious ways of saying them. (Ex: If the line was: "Look over there!" As long as you have the right intentions in your head, you can drive home the same point with that line without having to yell it. And give a more interesting spin on it than the rest.) 
And then, just... listen. And react. If you're really listening to the other actor, and you know where your reponses are coming from -- it's like a great back and forth game of tennis. And then your lines become easy to memorize because it's simply just a conversation. 
The above technique is my foundation, specifically Stanislavsky/Uta 
Hagen/Lee Strasberg ie: "The Method". There is another method called Meisner Technique or Stella Adler's teachings which falls under the belief that your own life experiences are not large enough to draw from, so you must use your imagination/improvisation. In the end, you basically need to steal from both and make it into whatever works best for you. But you need to know what the rules are first before you can break 'em. 
consciously repeat your choices and it not be a crap shoot.
YOUR ASSIGNMENT: Putting this all into application. Unless you do it, it won't become muscle memory.
I usually start off my students with 1) Improvisation to learn how to play and use their natural instincts and then move them onto 2) The Technique mentioned above to hone that energy and sense of play. And then after a few years of it becoming second nature, you know what the step after is? 3) Leaning to throw it out the window. Because at a certain point, the acting will become too polished and will look over-analytical, stilited and wooden.
Okay class, settle down. No James, we'll talk about that after class. Alright, welcome back. To review what we talked about last class, just scroll down. We're now off and running to the next 3 questions to ask yourself when breaking down a scene. And they are:
entire script. You are constantly driving this objective through the other person.
We always want something from someone else. And it must matter if you get it or not from this person too -- otherwise what are the stakes? This propels the scene. It must be specific to connect you to the other person.
experiences are recorded in our memories.
(Ex 1): A student of mine wrote for Joy: "Living my life on my own terms the way I want to." I pointed out how vague that was, especially when you're trying to recall that during a performance. Instead be specific like, "The time when I quit my job, told my boss where to shove his job and then got hired at the place I really wanted" That's so much more viceral, immediate and easy to tap into. Again, the more specific you make it for yourself, the more universal it becomes for everyone else to relate. But it really has had to have happened to you in the past.
is like and getting into his head is going to be really hard.
Okay, we'll stop here for today. I know after these 2 entries you must be thinking, "Parry, I see so many of these teeny boppers in movies and TV shows on The WB and FOX working all the time. Surely they don't do all that stuff, right?" Well, you'd be right. And although they're making a lot of money off their natural charm and personality, you won't see them around in 3-5 years -- I guarantee it. You can't always be playing "yourself". And after awhile, the world will discover that they're unable to bring in a textured performance and are nothing more than a one-trick pony. You can make a very good living at "winging" it but it won't last. So save your earnings if that's your plan of action because it's got to last for 55+ years. I'm talking long term here. You have to remember that: 
focus that natural instinct after a certain point, it's going to be hit and miss. You want to be closer to the bullseye more often than not. Plus if you're incapable of making your own choices, you'll be forever relying on line readings (people demonstrating to you how the line should "sound") during your entire career by others (directors/casting people) - hence them always making character choices for you. Directors don't always know what they want and you'd be surprised at how many don't know how to illicit performances from actors without resorting to line readings or vague adjustments. 
Thanks for staying after class so long. Next session we'll wrap it up and teach you the last 2 questions to ask that will pertain into the actual ACTING itself. YOUR ASSIGNMENT: Rent "Keeping the Faith" (2000), select Chapter 18 titled "The Music Store" and watch Ken Leung's gut-busting scene. Then select Director Ed Norton's commentary and watch the same scene for a great lesson about making choices that stand out from the rest in a 'not so great' movie. Class dismissed! 
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