Insight Actors Studio

This! The best headshots are not about beauty but authenticity…

Some sessions stay with me longer than others. Not because of how someone looked, but because of how settled she felt in her own skin. A woman’s state shows up directly in the photos, calm becomes calm on camera, tension becomes tension. That is when the best images happen, when she stops comparing and simply lets herself be seen. #okanaganphotographer #okanaganportraitphotographer #kelownaphotographer #kelownaportraitphotographer #kelownaheadshots

Thanks gor this great insight, Chris Petrovski and Morgan Freeman…

#acting #morganfreeman #actingcoach #audition #selftape

Thanks for the laugh, Katherine LaNasa! 🤣

Emmy winner @ladylanasa has got the best stories after decades in this business - and a great sense of humor about the past. For her @sagaftrafound Career Conversation, she spoke about an early audition for MIRROR MIRROR II in which she would have played an injured ballerina. Side note: the 1994 flick was one of Mark Ruffalo's first onscreen roles. Full @sagaftrafound career conversation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko4dRyhCf9E&t=1527s @thepittofficial @hbomax

The value of being (and hiring) a theatre kid…

Last week I walked into my first day of @scottsdalerealtors Leadership Academy a little nervous. And somewhere between the exercises, conversations and being asked to look at how we communicate and show up in a room, I had this realization: I still love notes. Maybe even more than I did in theatre. I want to know what I’m not seeing. That shows up everywhere in my life now. In real estate, leadership, the nonprofit boards and community work I care about, and probably most importantly, in how I interact with my own kids and husband. Did I listen? Did I understand what they were actually trying to tell me? Did I take up too much space? Not enough? Did I communicate what I meant to communicate? What am I missing? I don’t always get it right. And I certainly don’t always love the answer. But I want to know. And I’m realizing that may be one of the greatest gifts theatre gave me. Not a thick skin. Not the ability to take criticism without feeling it. Curiosity about my own impact. The willingness to hear something that might be uncomfortable, sit with it, decide what’s useful and make an adjustment. Because the older I get, the less interested I am in being the person in the room who already knows. I want to be the person who can still learn. Apparently the stages disappeared a long time ago. I’m still waiting for notes. 🎭

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Great insight from CD, Monika Dalman…

This one is for the agents. I think actors sometimes forget that an agent is one of the very few people in this industry who can spend hours, weeks, months, sometimes YEARS working for you without being paid a cent. They submit you. Pitch you. Answer emails. Chase casting. Negotiate contracts. Fight for better rates. Deal with schedule changes. Keep track of your availability. Remember who you are right for. Talk you up in rooms you’re not in. And if none of that turns into a booking? They made $0. Obviously, not every agent is a good agent. Sometimes relationships stop working. Sometimes communication is terrible. Sometimes it is time to move on... but I’ve also watched actors leave agents who were working incredibly hard for them because they assumed, “I’m not auditioning, so my agent must not be submitting me.” Those two things are absolutely not the same. A good actor-agent relationship is a partnership, and a LOT of the work your agent does is work you will never see. So if you have an agent who believes in you, advocates for you, answers your emails, pitches you, and keeps showing up even during the stretches where neither of you is making any money… Maybe send them a nice email today (a short one, because they probably get a lot of emails).

Prepare by going where your imagination leads you, then take your hands off the steering wheel. Yes! Thank you for this insight, Jessie Buckley…

FREE Acting Masterclass Sep 10 at 6:30pm GMT / 1:30pm ET You’ve learned now to act, but have you learned to be believed? Comment “MASTERCLASS” to register. Not following us? Follow first so we can DM you the link. #britishactor #laactor #vancouveractor #nycactor #londonactor

Thank you, Katherine LaNasa for this beautiful reminder. We must never abandon ourselves or stop loving ourselves. We are enough!

Katherine LaNasa ('The Pitt') breaks down the audition that changed her career, and how after years of auditioning, choosing to stop abandoning herself and be on her own side helped her land the role of a lifetime. Watch our 90-minute Career Retrospective with the Emmy nominee, moderated by Jenelle Riley. Now on YouTube — link in bio.

Beautiful reminder from Sally Field…

Sally Field shares some advice her mother gave her. #sallyfield #acting #actor