Sometimes people can just not do it

When the script asks for asking a question… make it sound like a question. So many people fall into the trap of making a question sound like a statement. Its amazing to me. It sounds utterly HORRIBLE to make a question sound like a statement, its confusing, and shows your intelligence level in VERY negative way.

If you do not understand this, look in a mirror or video yourself asking a simple question. If, upon playback it sounds like a question YOU GOT IT! if not… get busy figuring out why its off. Casting people will love that you can do this, trust me!

I just did acting as a reader for a few hours with a casting director, and 75% of the actors that read for the part… made questions sound like statements. HORRIBLE!!! None of them will be called back.

Simple fact of the business, you need to know how to read and comprehend the material.

-Frank

And still they show up late

Why in the world an Actor would show up two hours late to a set is beyond me. Once is LAME, but twice, from day to day… UNREAL! I asked myself, how could this be? Of course I did not answer myself, that would have been weird. Two actors showed up two hours late two days in a row to a film I am working on. Totally amazed me, and their attitude made it worse, they were like… “No big deal, what is the problem???” So F’ing wrong.

What did make me laugh, is that I heard one of the grips talking to a friend, and he was discussing how lame this was, and how when he gets to casting his first project, that no matter how good these two people were on this project, he would never hire them. But made a fun of them, and said how cool would it be to call them in to audition and then cancel it once they showed up.

Right to the point… DO NOT upset anyone on a set if possible, and if you do… APOLOGIZE, and mean it! You never know who will be casting you tomorrow.

Do not be lame, have a great attitude and you will go far!
-Frank

Attitude in Acting

If it is not a good one… do not bother…  You have to maintain a great positive professional attitude at all times no matter what.  People that have a bad attitude are no fun to work with, let alone be around at all.  Unless you have proved yourself to the highest level and are making a ton of cash, you have to be nice, courteous and professional at all times.  Even the people that have made it all the way, and do have a bad attitude fall down constantly… just pick up the trade mags or watch TV and see it for yourself.  Some of the highest caliber people on the planet have a bad attitude and it sucks for them… they always suffer for it.  Look at the guys that have made a “Come Back” why did they have to do that?  Because they had a bad attitude and then fell from the top to the bottom.

There is also an old thing in the business of acting… BE NICE TO EVERYONE!!!  YOU HAVE NO IDEA OF WHO IS GOING TO BE THE HEAD OF CASTING OR THE NEXT HOTTEST DIRECTOR… IF YOU GO AROUND PISSING EVERYONE OFF… IT WILL COME BACK TO HAUNT YOU FOR SURE!!!  People always rememberer the bad, and hardly recall the good when it comes to this.

It is so much easier to remember that some actor was a jerk, and that you told yourself you would NEVER work with that guy again…

This is of course food for thought!  My humble opinion if you will.  But hey it works for me!!!

-Frank