Pic courtesy of CareersInFilm.com
That’s right, I said it. There are no bad actors. There may be some spectacularly talented actors and actresses, but anyone you see on TV, in movies or on stage is far more talented than you and I. I don’t care if it’s at your local playhouse in the middle of some podunk town, those actresses and actors are better than us at what they do. That dorky guy that plays the pharmacist in the commercial is better than you and me.
I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m so suddenly advocating for a little love for the bit actors actors and actresses that played the waiter in the restaurant in that movie.
The reason I’m on this little rant is because over the past week and a half I spent time in Hollywood. Well, not really in Hollywood, although I was close enough that I could have hung around Hollywood. I’ve been there, done that. When I was Hollywood adjacent, I spent a lot of time with actors, actresses, and a movie crew, which included my son.
Pic from Collider.com
While I was there, my son, who used to say “C’s get degrees” is currently the writer and boss man director of a 12 ring circus that changes on a dime almost constantly. In two minutes he can completely turn a scene around if he or someone else has an idea, and all these people follow his lead.
A key part of that circus is the actors and actresses. I know that both you and I have at some point said something like “He’s a terrible actor. I could do that! ” I used to be that way. But now that I see how the gravy is made, I have a ton of respect for actors and actresses, and anyone who works on a movie.
My son invited me to visit him in California just so he could put me in a scene in his latest project. Years ago, I initially went to college for broadcasting. Before I changed majors I had classes where we had a full newsroom set up and once I had to read and say the name of golfer Mark Calcavecchia off the teleprompter without warning and I nailed it.
In the 1990’s I did stand-up comedy at regional bars and was pretty decent. So, with plenty of experience on stage talking in front of people, I figured that saying two lines in about 20 seconds would be a piece of cake.
A week before I came out to Cali, (That’s what me and the natives call it) my son gave me the scene and the kind of lines he wanted me to improv. I practiced them at home for days before I flew out to start my new Hollywood career. Then, one actor couldn’t make the filming day, so on a dime my son created a different scene and put me in it. I only had two lines and instructions regarding my demeanor. Two lines and 20 seconds took at least 5 minutes filming and three takes for me to get those 20 seconds to be even be passable.
My scene was filmed first thing in the morning and throughout the day I spent time with the the actors and actresses just to say out of the way of the filming crew. It was a thoroughly enjoyable several hours. We all occupied a room and every so often someone from the crew would open the door and say “Hey, we need Sophia and Javier” or whoever’s turn it was to have their scene filmed.
They’d leave and the rest of us just talked and joked around all day. A lot of the other actors have been in things you’ve seen, whether it was a commercial or a background person, in movies or shows. Each and every one of them had regular jobs and were working their butts off at those and at being in small movies like this one. We had smart, funny and interesting conversation all day.
That’s why I think we should all be a little less judgy about actors and actresses. The people are not their characters. I appreciate so much more how difficult what they do is. It’s a marathon. You’s don’t know until you walk in someone else’s shoes, and I’m certain that at least a few of the young actors I met will be big stars one day. And I’ll say I knew them when…
Oh, and part of my Hollywood trip was getting a hug from a guy who won an Emmy Award for engineering the sound for a show. Thanks Conor, those gadgets you made completely changed the way this movie was filmed. You rock!
Have a great day, and thanks for reading! ~Phil. (If you’re interested in my touristy review of Santa Monica, you can read it HERE)
