Yep it was at the construction site...and it was hot...and exhausting...and Terry and I were in it...and so were some other awesome actors...and it was so so much the fun.
I had partially forgotten what an actor can go through on a film set, as it has been awhile since I have appeared in a film as an actor. So, it was a good day to revisit the experience, outside, in much heat and mugginess, in period clothes that do not breathe. Trying to retain the immediacy of a moment after many repetitions, again and again.
The WORK part of an actor's work, though, is often less than glamorous. You are dressed up in sometimes-uncomfortable clothing, while people pinion you under super hot lights in a half-finished worksite in the high heat of summer, and then they expect you to be open and emotionally connected and visit the highs and lows of human experience, and they expect you to be kind and patient the whole time, no matter how uncomfortable. It’s much harder than it looks.
As an actor, you are not in charge of your own fate. You have to lean back into the flow of the show and let it lead you. I guess a lot of creative work is that way. I have great respect for the art form I know best, the art of the performer.
These actors that I am blessed to work with are open, game, experimental, and joyous in the face of their difficulties. They asked, today, to do a very difficult and demanding emotional scene first, so that we could all relax a bit more for the rest of the day. We had already scheduled it that way, so it was a win-win! They nailed a beautiful scene, and the rest of the day rolled on like a smooth river. And we all leaned into the flow of the show, borne up by their dedication.
Yep it was at the construction site...and it was hot...and exhausting...and Terry and I were in it...and so were some other awesome actors...and it was so so much the fun.
I had partially forgotten what an actor can go through on a film set, as it has been awhile since I have appeared in a film as an actor. So, it was a good day to revisit the experience, outside, in much heat and mugginess, in period clothes that do not breathe. Trying to retain the immediacy of a moment after many repetitions, again and again.
The WORK part of an actor's work, though, is often less than glamorous. You are dressed up in sometimes-uncomfortable clothing, while people pinion you under super hot lights in a half-finished worksite in the high heat of summer, and then they expect you to be open and emotionally connected and visit the highs and lows of human experience, and they expect you to be kind and patient the whole time, no matter how uncomfortable. It’s much harder than it looks.
As an actor, you are not in charge of your own fate. You have to lean back into the flow of the show and let it lead you. I guess a lot of creative work is that way. I have great respect for the art form I know best, the art of the performer.
These actors that I am blessed to work with are open, game, experimental, and joyous in the face of their difficulties. They asked, today, to do a very difficult and demanding emotional scene first, so that we could all relax a bit more for the rest of the day. We had already scheduled it that way, so it was a win-win! They nailed a beautiful scene, and the rest of the day rolled on like a smooth river. And we all leaned into the flow of the show, borne up by their dedication.
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