An agent meeting, Modern Family, and Derek Jakobi all rolled into one..post

So I just realized It's been over two weeks since I last said hello to you all.  It's been a crazy few weeks.  I know that doesn't mean I can't write.  I could have easily just posted a few pics or a quick..you'll never know who I just listened to talk..but I didn't.  So you get it all in one big post.  

You're welcome.

To start things off..say hello to Sir Derek Jacobi:

Thanks to the amazing Samantha and the Ron Destro at the OSC I was able to sit in on a Q&A with Sir Derek Jacobi while he's in town doing Lear.  It was an honor to listen to him speak about his life in the theater and film. wefully spry for his age at 70 plus years.  He had some amazing stories which I will not try to capture here.  I will throw out these two ideas he offered up.

"If you're playing a King, play the man inside the King.  If you're playing a man, play the King inside the man."

I really like this quote of his.  After all a King is still a person.  Play that and the character shines through.  It's the same as if you're a villain.  A villain doesn't know they're the bad guy.  To them they're the good guy.

I wont quote this one because I'm sure I'll get the wording wrong, but he stated that a healthy disregard for the text and punctuation is key for Shakespeare. I couldn't agree more.  The text is there to be played with.  Molded into something you can work with.  Those reverent Shakespeare nuts make me want to cringe!  To me Shakespeare is so much fun to perform because the possibilities are limitless.  If you give yourself rules and feel it can only be performed one way you've just trapped yourself inside a very sad little box.

What else happened in these two weeks you ask?  Who else did I hear speak?  Well thanks to another dear friend..Sarah, I got to go to a taping of Inside the Actor's Studio.

 Yeah, that's the set.  And who was there?  not 1 or 2 people, but 6.  The main cast of Modern Family.  And they were of course hilarious.  But we got to see just how much of a family they truly are.  They look out for eachother and play off eachother constantly.  It made me want to be in a sit com just for that closeness and knowledge that the rest of my cast is always there for me....So any casting directors reading, sit com? This guy.  Because there were so many of them, each was limited in time.  But we got a nice summary of who they are as people and how they fell into the business.  The most important to me of any talk with a successful actor is HOW??  How did you get from where I am now..because what you're talking about is pretty much me..to Modern Family.  From what they all said, it just takes time.  A lot of time.  Sure there is some luck.  But still...time.  And even when you start to garner a small amount of success, you're probably just barely hanging on and still struggling with that survival job.  But it looks like for those who stick with it...and of course are talented..things do happen.  So I shall continue to plug away.

Lastly here is a plug for a blog I read.  The Actor's Voice.  Why plug it?  Because it's full of amazing advice.  Practical and from people actually working in the industry.  I've been feeling a little annoyed with my lack of representation and after reading a recent article I decided to take things to a more aggressive level.  So what's that mean?  This Wednesday I have a meeting with an agent.  Don't freakin blow it Patrick.

I got the call, celebrated the call.  Then spent the following week gathering all my promotional material for ME together and working on my contemporary monologue.  Funny thing about being a classical actor..contemporary monologues just fly out of the brain. But wish me luck.  This Wednesday could be the beginning of the next chapter in my career.  Or I'm laughed out of there.  We'll see.

Just send good energy out there for me..all 10 of you readers