#189 Why Most Actors Blow Their Auditions (And How to Fix It) with Alex Fiallos

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
How can we use this time to play?How can we use this time to create?

(00:03):
What is this little movie thatwe can create together?
When auditioning is 98% of the job?How can we find enjoyment and
empowerment in it?And that's how I kind of got into
coaching, was because I would gohang out with friends and we'd play.
Welcome to Inside the Audition,the podcast that helps actors master
the art and science of auditionsso that you can stand out for all

(00:25):
the right reasons and none of thewrong reasons, and ultimately book
your next lead role. Role roll role.I'm your host, Joey Freddy Larsen.
Make sure to connect with me onthe old IG at Joey Freddy Larsen.
That's at Joey Freddy Larsen.You can slip into the DMs.
You can ask me a question,you can suggest a topic for an
upcoming episode, or you canapply to be our next guest.

(00:49):
And remember here on Inside theAudition, in every episode, we're
going to dive deep into auditionexperiences, advice, strategies,
industry insights, and inspiringstories from top actors, directors,
producers, casting directors andfilm and theatre industry pros.
So whether you're an emerging actor,maybe just getting starting it

(01:10):
started out or you're a seasoned vet,you're a pro, you've been doing
this for 30 years and you'relooking to get to the next level.
Inside the audition is yourbackstage pass to audition. Success.
Inside the audition is sponsored,of course,
by the monologue of the Month Club.I'm going to say it again.
We're sponsored by the monologueof the Month Club,

(01:31):
which is your ultimate resourcefor professional and emerging
actors who want to attract agents,attract casting directors,
attract more of their audience,and ultimately book your next
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You can show it to your agent,show it to casting director,
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Club is your golden ticket toyour next lead role.
To start that journey, you cango to monologue. Monologue club.
And if you don't know how tospell monologue, I think there's

(02:37):
a few different versions,but this is the full one.
I'm going to spell it m o n o.That's mono m o n o l o u e.
Club monologue club.As I'm saying, this right now is
like maybe I need a shorter websitemonologue club. We'll link it up.
You guys will figure it out.But getting to this episode,

(02:58):
we've got another installment on ourspecial Coach's Corner episodes.
Our guest today is a Nicaraguan slashCanadian classically trained actor,
director and writer with nearlytwo decades of diverse training
and collaboration in boththeater and film.
Drawing from experience at hallowedinstitutions like the Stratford

(03:18):
Festival, the Los Angeles TheaterAcademy, the Theatre Movement
Bazaar in New York City,the Second City in Hollywood and
Toronto, and my favourite,the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
She brings a dynamic andcross-cultural perspective to
her craft, and our guests todayfosters a supportive and
challenging environment whereactors feel empowered.

(03:41):
Give some inside the audition loveto our guest, also one of our new
coaches at Actor's Audition Club inthe monologue of the month club.
Alexandra Fios. Hi. Fios.Did I hit it right?
You nailed it. You nailed. It.Yes. Welcome. Good to see you.
Thank you for being here.Welcome to Actors Audition Club
and welcome to Inside theAudition podcast. How are you?

(04:01):
How are you? I'm doing great.How are you doing today, Joey?
I'm fantastic. We're in podcast land.Uh, for those who are listening,
you can go back.I don't know when they're going to
be released, but I just recordedan episode with Saul Zahavi.
Now I get to have a chat with Alex.So let's go straight into it.
I'm going to throw you straightto the wolves.
I would love to hear one of yourfavorite.

(04:22):
Uh, if you have an interesting a fun.It could be a nightmare.
Uh, one of those, uh,audition stories that has some
lessons that you learned in it.Tell us about a memorable,
memorable audition experienceand what you learned from it.
Um, I love I think one of myfavorite audition stories is one
that was an audition for me.I read for my sister to, like,

(04:44):
just for, like a one liner,like she was having a stables
commercial and it was just like,oh, I have to do these commercial
auditions. Let's just go through it.And I was just reading for her.
Nothing else but just as her reader.Um, the director called me in
for the callback, but this islike kind of post Covid time,
so we weren't sure for like,oh my God, these casting directors
are getting so cheap they don'twant to hire their own readers.

(05:05):
So I didn't realize I was like,actually auditioning in the
callback until we got in the room.And I look at my sister and I go,
I think I'm auditioning with you.And we got in the room and the
director called me and he goes, oh,yeah, you're the actress that I
called back in because of her voice.Because my voice was so alive, he
didn't even see what I looked like.Thank God I was also an actor.
But he had like,he thought my voice was so alive

(05:27):
that he called me in for a callback.And we ended up booking the
staples commercial together,my sister and I, and we didn't
even have like an actual bit.The staples, like clients liked
our chemistry so much that theycreated a little storyline for
the two of us to have as well.And so I always loved telling that
story because it was somethingthat like, even though it was
something for somebody else,even though it was a commercial,

(05:47):
we still tried to treat it witheverything we had,
and even though it wasn't for me,I still gave it my all.
And then I ended up booking acommercial with my sister on it,
which was really special.That's huge. That's amazing.
That's one of the greatestexperiences of your life, probably.
Now your sister is also an actor.She was. Just. Yes.
She's also she's actually at theStratford Festival right now in
their Birmingham Conservatoryfor the next two years.

(06:08):
So she's in The Winter's Tale and TheTrojan Women this season. Look, look.
Soon to a new episode withAlex's sister.
I'll check her out. We'll have.Her. Her name is Katerina Filos.
Katerina and Alexandra Fios. Okay.Have you guys ever performed
otherwise together?Like, do you stage things?
We haven't performed together, but Iwas in a play that she had written

(06:29):
and directed called Morning After inthe Toronto Fringe Festival in 2023,
and that was an acclaimed experiencewe produced, worked together.
She was one of my producers forStart Swimming in the Hollywood
Fringe in 2019.She was like a first year theater
student and came all the way outto LA with me to help produce this
fringe show, which was amazing.So we've done a little bit of
writing together,but we've never gotten to like,

(06:51):
actually act like on stage together.So that's something that probably
we'll do when we're a little older.This is what we do.
We manifest things into the worldhere at Inside the audition.
So it's out there. And so it is.It's already happened on some
other quantum time. Exactly. Yeah.I want to address something that
you said there.Like, obviously you were you
were working with her.You were your job was to help her.

(07:12):
You weren't thinking, oh,if I do a really good job,
I'm going to get a call back. Yeah.That's a crazy thing to happen.
But I want to address that.And it's something that I've
always felt strongly about hereat Actor's Audition Club.
In traditional auditionscenarios where all the actors
are going into a casting room.Usually there's one reader reading,

(07:33):
and often their instruction isjust to read as flat as they can,
like, oh, barely.You'd barely even call it acting.
It's just kind of a flat read.And I think part of the reason
casting directors do that is sothat everyone's just got an
equal playing field.And the only variable in every
in every tape is the actor who'son camera.

(07:54):
Uh,and then you can see what they do.
Like even things like timing and,um, vocal variation.
Like, often you'll hear the readerflat. Now, in the age of self tapes.
I'm of the mindset that that isnot the right way to go,
because I feel that I do a betterjob on camera when the actor on
the other side is alive, like areal human being in that scenario.

(08:17):
Now, of course, the actor off camerais not going to be upstaging you.
You don't want their voice to belouder than yours.
But when I when I watch aself-tape and it's cooking,
it's fast, it's got some pace.They're ping pong ING back and forth.
The person on the other side isactually saying their lines with
feeling and intention,rather than the monotone read that

(08:39):
brings the whole thing to life.So I can't imagine how when you're
watching that, it's subconscious, youwatch something and you're like, oh,
that was alive and back and forth.And I was hearing two strong
voices and human beings ratherthan an actor,
and then a monotone reader, and thenan actor and a monotone reader.

(08:59):
And you're trying to imagine how thisis going to sound when we put two,
two actual actors together.So all that to say, um,
I think the key is to have a strongreader who's there with you acting,
not just being a monotone person.How do you feel about that, Alex?
I think, I mean, I think actingis not, um, meant to be a silo.

(09:21):
Even like solo shows have awhole crew.
And the audience is your, you know,support is your your partner,
in a sense.I, I think coming from training
where my teachers didn't, like,let us do the scene and then gave us
notes, they had sometimes obviously,especially when we were almost
in performance mode.But I had like voice and
movement coaches that would yellout corrections as we were going

(09:41):
through it.And I also got that from my
dance training.If anybody's in dance like,
I had like half like a decadeand a half of dance training,
and you don't get to stop andthink about the correction
they're yelling at, you know,point your foot like, faster.
Get it out, get out, get it out.And you don't have time to overthink
what they're saying to you.And so I know I do that with my
coaching as well.And I think with having a reader

(10:01):
that's as alive as you helps younot overthink it.
You don't have time to go, oh,if I did this, you just are actually
instinctively reacting and respondingbecause every single scene there's
someone who's acting and reacting.And I think that's like, it's such
a gift now because I've also beenin the era of like you having to

(10:22):
commute five hours from Ottawa toToronto to do an audition in person.
And yeah, you're there and you'relike, I just lost ten hours of my day
to do an audition with someone whocould not say the lines properly,
but it's okay. I did my best.You know, like having to to
almost overcompensate sometimes.And sometimes I know actors who felt
like they lost the job because theyhad to overcompensate because the

(10:42):
reader, um, couldn't support them,which is which was their job.
But now we have this, like,we kind of lucked out in that sense,
where we do get to play with inin a time where we're all like,
boo, self tapes. This sucks.The least we can do is go, okay,
what are the positives?How can we use this time to play?
How can we use this time to create?What is this little movie that
we can create together whenauditioning is 98% of the job?

(11:06):
How can we find enjoyment andempowerment in it?
And that's how I kind of got intocoaching, was because I would go
hang out with friends and we'd play.We'd go,
how insane can we make this tape?How much further,
how much deeper can we go?We have nothing to do all day.
Let's, let's like really get into it.Let's do that with Shakespeare.
Do that with other monologues,do that with theater where the

(11:26):
repetition is so present.Um, so I,
I think that the reader being ableto just support is so important.
And I know I do that with mycoaching.
If the few clients of yours thatI've been able to work with so
far know that when I coach,I like I get it with you.
I'm also an actor with In theRoom With You.
I'm also reminding you of thecircumstances, the severity of

(11:48):
the situation, the lightness ofthe situation, the play, or,
you know, like that helping youbuild the world as best I can.
And so I think that's all part ofthe reader is like, the actor's got
a lot of work to do now as tech,as director, as coach, as producer,
as editor for these tapes.Now, if you,
as the reader can just just like,hold them or just cradle them so

(12:08):
they can give their everythingthat I think is such a gift.
And mic drop,that's the end of the episode.
I think we nailed it on thefirst question.
Yeah, I just want I really want tospeak directly. This isn't to you.
This is to listeners who maystill be thinking, ah,
they don't care about the reader.The reader doesn't matter. Yes.
They don't care in the fact thatthey're not casting the reader,

(12:30):
they are casting you.However, if you're thinking that
the reader doesn't matter,you're not really understanding
performance dynamics.You're not understanding physics.
You're not understandingsubconscious first impressions.
So imagine the difference.I don't care about the reader.
I'm just going to use my grandma,my mom, my neighbor, my kid.
Someone who's can barely read thelines, can't put them together with

(12:53):
any life and pace like and no,no real shade to them.
It's just they're not trained to be aprofessional actor like you are.
So if you think you're going toget an equal submission now.
Yeah, the casting director shouldbe looking at this from an eye of
separation, but it's subconscious.If if I'm watching something and

(13:14):
it's cooking and they're playingping pong and they're acting at
the speed of life, and the otherperson's not a monotone broken
up where they're tripping on thelines and tripping on the words,
and the words don't have any ofthe intention that is actually
could be in the scene.There is a difference there.
So just if you're thinking,if you're thinking that you're saving
money by being like, oh, I'm justgoing to use this random person.

(13:37):
You might still book it, and youhope that the the casting director
has the imagination to be like,okay, let me picture this person
with another trained actorinstead of that terrible uncle
that they used as their reader.But then you're you're you're
leaving it up to the imaginationversus a tape where someone just
sees it and it's just like,oh my God, she's the girl like that.
That was her. That's it. Right.So thank you for sharing that.

(14:01):
Um, now I want.To also think that, um,
I just also think that with readers,if you like you said,
don't care who your reader is.I feel like when you're doing an
audition, you are also reflectingwhat you're like in a production.
If you don't care about the crew,you don't care who you hire.
If you don't care,that is also present, right?
And I think that like,that's such a big because when
you're in like a 50 to 100,200 or 300 person crew or some

(14:23):
of the sets that I've been on,every single person matters.
Every single person is on theirA-game.
Try to set yourself up for success,because if you were going to go,
if you want to be on those setswhere everyone's on their A-game,
then also try to get those people ontheir A-game in the room with you
before you're on set. Right. Yeah.What comes up to me when you say
that is just the importance of teamin general. You want. Exactly.
You want your A-listers and youryour A players around you

(14:45):
supporting you no matter whatpart of like that could be.
You have a nutritionist,you have a trainer, a cook.
You have your therapist, you have allof those people your your your agent,
your manager, your your publicist.Like all of those people,
the stronger your team is, includingyour reader or your audition team,
the the better, the betteryou're going to end up doing.

(15:06):
So can I want to know how youfirst got started into all this?
Because I love actors and I loveall artists because to me,
they're like real unicorns to takethe road less traveled, to take what
some people might perceive as a riskand have this weird artist life,
rather than go to school, get a job,and stick to that job as long as

(15:27):
you can. So how did you start?Tell me about your early beginnings.
Yeah, so I grew up speakingFrench and Spanish at home.
English was one of my thirdlanguage and one of my most like.
One of my first memories I hadwas being like four years old and
watching The Nutcracker at theNational Art center when I was a kid,
and I think there was somethingabout I always didn't realize
this at four years old, but nowI as an adult, I can clock this.

(15:49):
I think I was so mesmerized withthe ability to see the story
without language.It doesn't matter that I barely
knew English at four years old,but like it wasn't great.
But I understood the story and Iunderstood the pain and the joy
and the music and that, um,imagery on stage, I understood that.
So I got into dance really quickly.And when my dad is my is my Latin,

(16:10):
he's my Nicaraguan parent.Um, he used to read me like,
children's versions of classicliterature, um, because he wanted me
to learn English, like rich language.And so I grew up reading, like,
Jules Verne and Shakespeareversions and stuff.
And so I and I think whenEnglish isn't your first
language and you don't really,you don't really get to sensitive,

(16:30):
like develop a sense of humor,or you don't know how to express
yourself in a specific way.And at like at a young age.
For me, Shakespeare was one ofthe only spaces where I could
say the words and people wouldunderstand me exactly how I
wanted to be understood. Wow.And it was one of those spaces
for me where I was like, oh, I,I can understand,

(16:51):
like I can finally be understood.I can say something and it lands in
somebody else the way I want it.Well, it's like I wasn't very
funny in high school because Ididn't know how to, like,
land the jokes and do this.And my English only got to where
it is now going to theater school,where I spent three years of my life
dedicating to like the cadence ofpeople speaking English of all eras.
And, you know, as theater school is.So that's kind of how I got into it.

(17:13):
And it just became this place where,like, I have a lot of emotional
intelligence that's like,I'm not wasn't very school smart and
I'm very lucky. My parents saw that.And they go, okay,
she's got this thing.And well, it's like and also my
parents are not artists like my,my dad's an engineer.
My mom's an accountant.Like, they were the furthest
thing from going to see theater.And, like, they don't really.

(17:33):
They watch movies,but they were, like, fun movies,
and I. I think there's that.Um, they they they like they
nurtured my play in my imagination.And having a little sister who is
also have that, like playing roleplay stories for hours on end,
because that's where we foundour joy was really, I think,
kind of like nurtured all that stuff.And then now I just kind of I

(17:54):
just got to a point where I didnot see any other version of my
life happening.It was just this or nothing.
So it's been kind of something I'vebeen wanting since I was a kid.
I think I found something fromwhen I was like in grade two,
and it was like Alex or six orAlexandra, six years old.
And when she wants to be older,she wants to be movie star.
Like that was something that wasreally early on was this awareness
of like performing and being onstage and connecting with people.

(18:17):
That was um, so I was just kindof I've been doing it ever since,
and I did theater school,and I've been coaching and writing
and directing, and I just becameobsessed with every I've done.
I do stunt choreography as well.I do like I'm doing, um,
choreography work for a dancepiece right now because there's
fighting in the dance.And so there's there's just like,
I love the, like,never ending branches that can come
from this art of storytelling.First of all, shout out to your

(18:41):
parents for being super cool parentsand for not like, constraining you.
Or, you know, we've all you allhear those stories of like what
actor know you need to like fromtheir own fear or whatever,
or just genuine love for you.Like, I want you.
I want you to succeed and have anice home and do all that stuff.
Um, but for them to let you exploreyour own freedom and figure out what

(19:04):
what makes your own heart happy,that's that's huge.
And there's a lot of parents whodon't have that courage just to
be like, let's let her fly.And if she flops, we're we're here
for her. So shout out to them.Um, I love what you said about
Shakespeare, too.How that and that's the beauty
of Shakespeare is Even thoughit's heightened language,

(19:26):
there is a universal ness to itwhere once you figure out the story,
it's like these are hundreds ofyears old, but it's it's human.
So you hear those words and youfeel things and people are like,
it's a, it's a, it is a languagethat you can communicate with.
Do you have any favoriteShakespeare you want to drop?
You want to drop a little?Um, it was Shakespeare yesterday.

(19:49):
Was it? I think I saw a post.It was on the 23rd.
My hope was my homie Shakespeare.It was his birthday.
Well, technically his baptismal day,because back then they didn't like
track birthdays, but they trackedwhen they were baptized. But, um.
Fun fact I got my one and onlytattoo on his birthday two years
ago because I wanted to get mytattoo Shakespeare's birthday.
Is it a Shakespeare tattoo?It's got pieces of it. Um.
Romeo and Juliet was the firstShakespearean play that I read.

(20:11):
Um, and so I have, uh,a dagger and two roses in red.
And so the dagger is like,kind of the rose and the dagger
Romeo Juliet in that imagery.Um, I keep thinking about.
I was thinking about RomeoJuliet again because I've been
watching Lady Jane Grey.It's like this Amazon show that
got cancelled, and I like watchingshows that got cancelled,
and I like watching them afterthey get cancelled to go. Why?

(20:32):
Why did this get cancelled?I want to understand that a bit
more even.And if it's good, why did it get
cancelled if it was so good?And the romance I keep thinking
about. Um.When Romeo and Juliet meet for
the first time in the masqueradeand they're talking.
And if you see the text on paperbecause Shakespeare's got a
pentameter, it's dum dum dum dum dum.They have every line is ten
syllables.But with Romeo and Juliet, when they

(20:54):
meet each other for the first time.Shakespeare's way of telling us.
Because there's no stage,stage directions.
Because obviously they didn'thave printing press back then.
Um, Shakespeare's way of telling usthat these two people were soulmates
was that they finished each other's,um, phrasing, if you will.
Not that they finish the sentences,but Juliet would have five
syllables or eight syllables,and then Romeo would give two,

(21:14):
and so they would each finish the tensyllables to make each other whole.
And I always like I keep thinkingabout that. Just that's genius.
And it's that idea of thatimagery that they have at first
with the concept of like wantingto kiss each other and religion,
and if each other of their religious,like they worship each other and
that give me my sin again,like that always.

(21:35):
That kind of keeps,I think about that.
Those that like interaction likeonce a day, maybe.
It's the highest love is the higheststeak love story of all time.
And and so many,so many times it's been retold not
under the name Romeo and Juliet.Just you watch it and you're like,
oh, this is Romeo and Juliet. Yeah.Especially the the, uh, like the,

(21:57):
the rival family aspect of it,you know. Yeah.
This, that concept of, um,status and that idea of like, I think
now especially with us as a society,like not having money and we're like,
all of us are like, we have no money.And I see people like, wanting to
get married because they're, oh,this person has an apartment, so I'll
have an apartment if we get together.And it's we're almost going back

(22:17):
to this, like Regency era.like getting together for what
people have and status and looks onsocial media and stuff like that.
So I find that all it all comesaround. Yeah.
You know, I just got back from avacation to Dubai and let me tell you
about princesses everywhere I was.Yeah. That was my ticket. Yeah. Yeah.
I'll be the son in law of a of awealthy chic. Over.

(22:42):
Um, what was your very first role?Oh, I mean, other than playing
the color blue when I was ingrade two and the rainbow play.
Um. Solid color. Yeah.So I think it's like this first
memory I have.I think blue sad is a sad color in
that. Uh, no, I think it wasn't.I think it was the color of peace.

(23:03):
Gotcha.I think that's I think so, um,
because I, um, but I think the firstrole I ever did was I played Harry
the Horse and Guys and Dolls ingrade seven. That was that was it.
I remember I never,ever did not sing.
Hence why I got that role ofthat musical.
And I remember seeing the cast listand I didn't know the musical at all.

(23:24):
I think I just auditioned to, like,be in a show, because I was just so
hungry to be in an actual production.And I remember looking at my drama
teacher going, am I a horse?Like, I fully thought that I was
going to have a horse mask andhad to be a horse.
I have now learned that Harry thehorse is just a gangster nickname,
but that was, I think,my very first like theater role,
if you. Will, in the same year.Yeah, I was kind of like,

(23:48):
is this clown?Like I was like the world of
musicals.It was so and is still so foreign to
me because I'm so like classicaltheater and physical theater
based and film and television.So sometimes people say things
for musicals and I go,I don't know what you mean.
I have no idea what's going on.So that's, uh. Yeah.
I think Harry the Horse is myfirst official cast role.
I love it, that's a great one.Um, so one of my favorite questions

(24:10):
and always yields great answers.Do you remember a line.
From Harry the horse? No, no. Maybe.Maybe, like the crap shooters are
here. I don't know, I can't remember.I do remember. When.
The Stratford Festival did it acouple of years ago.
I was pumped to see it.I was like, where's my boy Harry?
I was like, let's go.I, I it was, um, yeah, I think my

(24:31):
first role like that, I felt really,um, excited to play was, um, I had
this history in my acting careerfor some reason where I get cast
really quickly in main roles because,like, not even understudy situation,
but someone goes, oh, we needsomeone to fill in really quickly.
And the first time that happened waswhen I played Desdemona in Othello,

(24:51):
um,in grade 11 and like in high school.
And it was the. Original, you know.We'll just easy in there with a
little. Yeah.I was like,
I think at that in that show,I wasn't even like actually in the
play acting, I was just a fight,like I was working on the fight
choreography, end of it.So I wasn't really involved.
And I remember my drama teachercoming in going, hey,
so so-and-so can't play Desdemonafor the for the rest of the run.

(25:12):
You have like a week and a halfto get it.
And I was like, okay,so that was that was, I think
the first time where I was like,oh, I'm an actor now.
Like, I'm, I have a role and Ihave like to hold stakes and
have a relationship on stage.And that was a that's a very
memorable, um, production for me.It was like a steampunk themed
Othello.Um, it was really, really fun.
Have you ever reprised Desdemona,or was that the one and only?

(25:36):
That's been the one and only so far.The only roles that I've
reprised more than once are thefirst witch from the Scottish
play or from Macbeth.When not in theater, we can say it.
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I can't.Which doesn't count. No.
It's an audition video,not a theater. Macbeth. Ghosts?
Yeah, it's a real thing.It's very real.

(25:58):
Well, we did when we did theScottish play in high school.
Um, we were saying it obviouslyall the time, and we were like,
oh, Macbeth, Macbeth.And we're like, oh, what a silly
superstition. Nothing went wrong.The next show we did was grease,
and everything that went wrongcould have gone wrong.
The big grease sign fell on the car.People were getting losing their
voices. Like.Just like people were breaking.
Like twisting ankles on stage.Like everything.

(26:19):
We're like, oh, now it's caught up tous. Like it's a very real thing.
Speaking of Greece, my first roleever was grade eight Greece,
and I got lucky to be cast myfirst thing ever as Kenickie.
And. I got to do. I was the lead.The lead singer,
obviously it's an ensemble thing,but I was the lead singer.
Singer with the good. Good, good.Go, grease lightning, you're burning

(26:43):
up the quarter mile green light.Ain't no greased lightning.
Yeah, it was one. It was.Amazing. We had the sunglasses.
We were all. Yeah.Jean jackets were all looking cool.
Like there's. No it's just like.Great.
It's so tiny and cute and precious.You know what I mean?
Like, it's just so rocking.Like, were these fully fleshed human
beings, and, uh, I don't even know.I'm trying to think now where we

(27:04):
where we, like fake smoking orwas this like, this was.
We had the fake smoke. Yeah. Yeah.And one of the things I think this
is a core memory, I might stillbe fucked up by it a little bit,
so maybe I need to go therapyabout it, but, um, and one of the
nights I think we did three shows,I think the first two went awesome.
And then in the third night, I justgot distracted and kind of went up

(27:26):
on the lines of the of that song,and that's my big moment, and I did.
There was a guy, one of my bestfriends was in the front row,
and he was kind of on cue cards.And I think what I,
what I did is I for some reason,just my brain went into second verse
instead of first verse, and then Irealized it and my head's going,
oh no, I'm doing the second verse.So and then I was like,

(27:47):
in my head, I was like, okay,no problem, I'll just fix it.
I'll do the first verse second,and everything would be good.
But the guy on the cue cardsdidn't know, I mean, I should,
I was off book, but I think I was on.But he didn't know that I had made
the mistake so he didn't. Go. Back.And so it was probably all of
this was probably like a glitch.barely noticed by the audience.

(28:09):
Like, maybe there's a littlehesitation and something.
Yeah, and I remember I like I was,like, in my head, devastated.
I stormed off into the the dressingroom, which was just the the
little boys locker room next. To.The stadium. It was a gymnasium.
Stadium? Yeah. Theater.And I went back there and I was
all like, I, I like, had like atotal meltdown. I was like pissed.

(28:30):
I felt like I've ruined the show.I've let everyone down.
I can't believe I forgot my lines.And it's probably one of those
things where barely anyone noticedbecause it's the grade eight play,
so who cares?But it's it's it has been a
memory where it's a reason why Iwill overprepare and overprepare
because I'm like, I never want togo up on my lines like I did a

(28:50):
grade eight race that one night,and it was because it was the final
performance too. And that just.In your head, yeah. More.
You want to crush the last one,the other. Everyone was amazing.
But that's my that's my fun littlestory of my my grease fuck up.
Yours was great. Eight, two.I think I was in grade seven.
Grade seven? Yeah, I was.In grade seven.

(29:12):
Also, when I was in Greece,I played Cha-Cha DiGregorio and I was
in grade ten. Yeah, braces and all.It was really good. Great. Say the.
Name again. It's such a funny name.Uh, Cha Cha DiGregorio, I think,
is how. They said it. Yeah. Great.Uh, so I want to shift to talking
about, um, auditions a little bit.Uh, tell me, Alex gets an audition.

(29:32):
The email comes in from your agent.What is your standard operating
procedure when you hit thataudition checklist?
From the time you get it to the timeyou press submit on actor's access.
Tell me. Okay.Um, I'll see the scripts first
before I even read the breakdown.To be honest,
I immediately go to the scripts.I want to see what I get before
they tell me anything.Um, because if I'm reading it,

(29:54):
I kind of want to glean thingsoff of it before I kind of have
this predisposed idea.Um, so I'll read the script a
couple times over.Probably read it out loud to get
it in my body if I can.And then I'll go back and look
at what she's coming from,what the backstory is.
If I have access to the full script,I will read that as well.
I will always read the full scriptif I can, and then I print it out.

(30:15):
I print out every single one ofmy scripts, or if I'm on like a
vacation or I can't do it, I havemy iPad with like where I write
everything down and I go througha couple of things I go through,
like the English steps, if you will.Like, I treat it like a Shakespeare
scene, to be honest. Yeah.I go through punctuation, adjectives,
verbs, monosyllabic lines, all thosethings that I go through just so

(30:37):
that, you know, like you say, like.And people always ask me how I
learned to memorize thingsreally quickly.
And I think it's that it's justhaving a relationship with the
words you're saying before youeven saying them, right?
So just having a textual,you know, technical relationship
with them so that you. Okay.Sorry. Go ahead. Yeah.
Just that you can if you do becauseyou know the techniques so well,

(30:58):
you can let it go and really getinto the emotions of it and the
circumstances of it.And I'll do that.
And then start building the worldand then the emotional journey.
And it depends on how long thescript is and what's going on.
And then just having.But that's always my go to
immediately.Like I treat it like a Shakespeare
scene every single time.I love that that's one of the
values of working on Shakespeare.I found I did the Shakespeare thing

(31:22):
in high school and kind of like you.I didn't connect to it and I was
just, I don't know,why are we learning about these
old books and all these old plays?And I was busy doing other stuff,
sports and girls and all thatkind of stuff.
It just was not my focus ingrade ten.
Um, but later in life and goingthrough a conservatory program,
I really fell in love with it or fellin love with it for the first time.

(31:42):
Um, just from our teachers.And it was that meticulousness of
going word by word, phrase by phrase,thought by thought and being
explained, the method behind themadness to like, like monosyllabic,
uh, and the iambic iambic pentameterand the difference between if there

(32:02):
was nine syllables or 10 or 11 andthose little things, or when there
was from iambic to prose and why,like opposites and and simile and
metaphor and all these things.And I think actors these days,
especially if they're just thinking,oh, I'm a TV film or I create content
online, don't appreciate how goingthrough these longer thought,

(32:29):
more elevated, uh,text will help them with everything
else they ever do. Because, yeah.There's you're never going to
get a monologue that is morechallenging than breaking down a
massive one two, three,four page Shakespeare monologue.
So it's like it just informs yourtraining so much to work on it.

(32:49):
So that's why we we work on them.I work on them regularly in class.
And the monologue of the Month Club,we have a few months dedicated
to Shakespeare because like, forexample, me, one of my favorites is,
um, Henry five speech.Um, Saint Crispin's Day speech,
where he's really rallying.He's rallying the troops.
And to the breach, dear friends,once more.

(33:10):
Yeah, that's earlier during thebattle. This is.
Oh, yeah, this is this. But that.Yeah, that's that's one of them.
Uh, I have a comedic version ofthat one that I've adapted.
Um, that is. It.Is it's, um, I've changed it a
little bit. It's one s'more.As in chocolate, uh, marshmallow
and graham cracker. Once more.Into the breach,

(33:31):
my dear friends. Once more.And it's Henry talking to all his
buddies about how he loves s'moresaround the campfire. Uh, so.
We'll save that for another time,but, um. Yes.
Uh, but, um, but that both ofthose speeches there, like, every
locker room halftime speech. Yeah.Re lawyer addressing the court

(33:51):
to win everybody on his side ofthe argument.
And they go through thought bythought.
And you got to connect the dotsso that for me, being able to to
spend the time working on aShakespeare monologue then makes
everything else just easier.And the other thing I wanted to say
about what you mentioned is youdon't just memorize lines like,

(34:14):
memorize should be a swear word,because that's just an actual thing.
What you said is,if you're going word by word,
phrase by phrase, thought by thought,syllable by syllable, you're
actually figuring out, what areyou saying and why am I saying it?
You're not memorizing words.Then regurgitate them with no

(34:34):
connection and no meaning.Yeah, I think the, um.
Because obviously we're gettingthrown so many auditions all the
time, and sometimes you'regetting six page auditions,
or I had a 12 page audition recently,which is wild.
Um, I think it's technically it'sillegal by the union, I think.
Yeah, well,if it's an indie theater thing, it's.
One of those things. I was like.Okay. Classic. That's great.

(34:57):
Because then you be the actorwho steps up and you crunch
through where everyone else is,like 12 pages. I can't do 12 pages.
I don't have time to do 12 pages.But then you deliver it like
you're off book on a on aopening night performance.
And they're like, Holy shit,this. Is. The commitment.
And the I think also with a lotof Shakespeare's monologues was,
like I said earlier, because theydidn't have the printing press back
then, there was no stage direction.There was no space for like character

(35:20):
descriptions. There was no space.So like you, you had to know and
glean what you could off the actualdialogue first before anything else.
And I think especially when you'redoing a text or an audition and
sometimes like literally some ofthese auditions that are coming in,
the writing is not good.And you're like,
how do I find the passion?There's no excitement to it. Yeah.
You know,how do I add subtext to this?

(35:41):
How do I, you know,I and I think also having especially
like soliloquies have so much innerconflict and they're so rich with
that like conflict that like,shall I speak ill of him that is
my husband, or like, even like thebrother in Edmund and King Lear.
Like now nature up my goddess.But like, fuck, why am I a bastard?
Like why, why bastard why bass?And it's that, um, uh,

(36:04):
to take that ability to create somuch with no direction, right?
Right. Especially when you're not.Especially when we are in this new
silo of self tapes in auditions.How do you, as an actor,
take this tape?Sometimes you don't have access
to readers.Sometimes if you do get an
in-person audition, how do youprep to do it with another human?
Um, I love doing those soliloquies orkeeping that muscle live through

(36:24):
that, because then you also thesethen these like modern texts feel
like so easy because it the languageis more similar to how you speak
in a day to day basis. Yeah.Um, and there's a bit more because
you played on such a grand scalewith these life or death
situations in these monologues.Hamlet, you know, Juliet, uh,

(36:46):
in impossible of a measure ofmeasure. Oh, I think.
I can handle the hot dog vendorafter that. Yeah, exactly. Right.
Like it just you just kind of, um,I think there's that expression of,
like, if you're as an actor,your range or all the notes on a
piano right at your emotional range.How can I play every note?
And so I love doing Shakespearestuff because I can go like

(37:07):
Edmund's monologue from King Learis one of my favorite monologues.
I will maybe, maybe I will getcast at Edmund one day.
But that's not my traditionaltypecast, obviously,
because I'm not a man with a brother.But that anguish and the feelings he
has, and the jealousy and the rageand the conniving, like that role has
helped me get cast in other roles.And having that, like the space,

(37:30):
you can have to exist in that.But then also going from someone
like Juliet, who's wondering howshe's going to live without this
person she met a week ago,and no one else will understand that,
you know, having that range.Then when you get the hallmark movie,
you can make it believable.You can really bring it to life.
Even though it's hallmark movie,you can give it that Juliet level

(37:51):
affection, because you've alreadyreached that that note on the piano.
Now, you can go a couple octavesdown, you know.
And I think that has been it'sbeen like life changing for me
is when I was able to mesh the,the Shakespearean technique and
language and, uh, modern text.It's been really,
really helpful. Yeah.I'm really happy we had you on

(38:11):
the podcast.Obviously, I wanted to make sure that
all the coaches were were featured.I want to feature you as an actor,
too, but I really like everythingyou're saying right now.
For our listeners,this is a masterclass in acting
and how to prepare and how to becommitted to the to the craft itself.
Um, the, um, uh, I lost my train ofthought I was I was praising you.
I lost my train of thought.Um, what was I going to say?

(38:35):
Well, I guess that's the.End of the show. Thanks, sir.
Um, yeah.Different coach to the podcast.
Shakespeare. Say it again.Uh, you're talking about featuring
all the coaches for the podcast,because you're saying I wanted to
get you on the podcast for A, B,and C. As. An actor. As a coach.
Um. And it's gone. It's okay.Masterclass in acting,
I don't know. Yeah.I forget what I was going to say,

(38:57):
but, um.Yeah, getting back to the
Shakespearean stuff, that's somethingthat I think everyone should work on.
It'll just heighten everythingthat you do. Um, and.
Yeah, that's really funny.That was just like a straight out,
like, erasure from my brain.Oh, well. Oh, well. Happens.
Yeah, yeah.Um, let's shift into coaching.

(39:17):
When did you first start helpingother actors?
Um, I think when I was directingproductions, I kind of felt, uh,
I really enjoyed doing it.And it's one of those things where
I think, um, I think there's adifference between talent and skill.
I think skill is something youwork really hard for, and talent's
something you're born with.And I think I'm a very skilled actor,
but I'm a very talented director.It's something that's very

(39:39):
innate to me.I don't really have any formal
director training,but it's something that kind of.
It's. It's like how I see the world.Um, and I really enjoyed teaching
because my one of my first directingpieces was the Complete Works of
Shakespeare abridged version.And if you've ever seen it's online,
I'll send you because it's very thehumor is very up your alley, Joey.

(39:59):
Um, but it was it's about these threeguys who go, let's try to do all of
Shakespeare's canon in under an hour.And they do all these.
I love those kind of Shakespeareshows. Where they.
Tilt it and put it on its side.Yeah, I love those.
And so they so they essentially doall these like versions of skits,
like they did Othello in as a rap,and then they did all the histories
as a football game, you know, like,so they do all these different ways.

(40:19):
And I kind of updated the textbecause it was written in the 90s.
Some of the jokes were a littleoutdated, but I think nobody else in
the program I was in at the time,and that I was in the show had
ever done Shakespeare before.And so I had to go in at like 18
years old, teach everybody in myclass about Shakespeare and all those
things and, yeah, Shakespeare 101 andlike directing them in that way.

(40:40):
And I really fell in love withit there.
And then when I got into theaterschool.
And I was being asked to direct stuffand I was being invited to coach.
And it just becomes a thing when youwere also in such a collaborative
space with actors that, you know,when I think I really felt that
when I'd watch something and go,I wish I had more of that,

(41:01):
and I wish, you know, and I alsohad really amazing teachers that,
um, you know, they I went to likea little city college in LA,
and everybody who knows in theStates knows the city colleges
aren't funded at all.There's no money in a city college.
They're not really fancy schools.And I think that, um,
hustle of like, okay,we have no money. What do we do?

(41:21):
How do we build something fromnothing?
And every teacher that I had werelike, Moscow art theater graduates,
NYU Tisch graduates.So Cal graduates, like, um, uh,
there's tons of beautiful schools inthe States that they were the top
schools for their masters and stuff.And I remember asking them in my
audition, actually, for my theaterschool at Lake, and I said, you guys
could teach literally anywhere.Why come to City College like here?

(41:45):
And they said they love the diverse,um, collective of people.
I was one of the youngest peoplein my class, but there were
other actors who were 20 or 30.There was a woman in my class
who was a mom of three,and she finally got to theater
school because her youngest wentinto school full time so she
could actually finally pursue it.We had one gentleman who was a
paramedic part time.And so I think having that

(42:08):
collaboration and having thatopenness of like, I love this,
let's build on that.And that kind of came into it.
And then with Self-tape and with,you know, scenes.
And we also used to like worktogether with writing scenes and
creating stuff together.So I think just like the building
and then when the pandemic hitand you're like, ooh,
this sucks for every facet of it.Um, that I really liked the idea of,

(42:33):
okay, the phone's not going to ring,and I'm not going to wait for
the phone to ring.So I'm going to learn how to build a
phone, and I'm going to build myown phone And coaching just became
a thing at first, is like a wayto connect with my friends and,
you know, like spend time with them.I think your friends are just as
important as your agent and yoursupport system.
Because this job is soinconsistent and unstable,
your community has to be solid.And that just kind of coaching

(42:56):
just became something where,like, my sister would ask me to
read for her and she'd go,you're really good at this.
You should like, keep doing this.And I'd be like, boo, no, I don't
wanna. It's fine. I don't need to.I'm an actor. Like having that.
And then it just became a thing whereI really just got addicted to it,
almost where I liked also readingscripts that I would never get cast
as, like the grouchy old guy at,you know, behind a hot dog stand.

(43:17):
But I like that I can get intothe headspace of it and it
stretches my muscles.An actor and as a director and a
writer in a way that like veryquickly, in a way that I wouldn't
really get to any otherwise.And then I also get to connect
with other artists and heartheir perspectives.
And so there's lots of spongestuff for me,
just getting to absorb everybody.It's a whole new level to like
coaching and working with somethinglike one of my least favorite stupid

(43:39):
sayings that is out there that isjust absolute garbage is those who do
do and those who can't teach, which.Is just. Absolute, utter nonsense.
Um, I mean, there might be someinstances of that, but yeah, um,
there's a certain breed of personwho is incredible at doing and is
also blessed with some skills toteach and coach and or just the

(44:00):
motivation to even want. To reach.Out and help someone else,
because it can be a lone wolf careerwhere you're like, I don't know,
fucking time to help somebody else.I'm just, yeah.
Figuring out how to grab my ownon the way.
But a couple things is helping andteaching you always like the more
you say something to someone else,the more it's sinking into yourself.
It helps you be a role modellike I always want to.

(44:22):
I mean, I'm helping coach otheractors and I'm helping other coaches
here, so it's like that helps mekeep a certain level of standards.
I don't totally drop the balland just not prep or just do
some amateur.Um, so for all of those reasons,
but also just, um, all it is to bea coach is you're helping people

(44:43):
see blind spots they didn't see.And it's that one plus one
equals three.It's a shift in perspective,
letting them see.Like sometimes we don't even know
what we're even doing because wedon't get to especially we get less
ability to see what others are doingnow than ever before. Because yeah.
We're often all at home.We're not together in as many

(45:04):
rooms as we used to be.So, um, Saul was talking about he was
in a casting room just to kind ofhang out and get to get to see the
whole casting process from that sideand how valuable that is, because
then you see 50 actors come in. And.You see good, the bad and the ugly,
the lack of prep, the full prep.The stupid yeah.

(45:24):
The mouth moments that people shootthemselves in the foot in a live
audition and all those things.And getting to coach and help people
allows us to do that too. So it's.Like. It's it's helpful to them.
But I love doing it because Ifeel I get better and I grow
every time I'm helping someone.And the thing is getting this,

(45:46):
this is, um, makes me feel old.Now, I don't have I don't have kids
aside from my ten year old pug here.But getting the news from an
actor that booked a role makes mefeel like a proud dad, you know?
Or my my, my someone I helped.They're not my kid, obviously,
but. Yeah.That they book something that's

(46:06):
going to change their life often.These are a lot of the our
clients are also my friends.I've known them long enough that
I care about them.I know that I know their spouse,
I know they have kids.I'm figuring out how to play for
groceries and to how to dealwith inflation and. How to.
Economic downturns.So, like, I know that the stakes
are high and then I'm like,I get to celebrate with them.

(46:29):
I got when I was on vacation,I was down in Phoenix and I got a
text from one of our actors hereat the studio. I'll check her out.
Tara O'Brien. Tara O'Brien.Uh, it's been coming here.
She's an OG member, and she booked alead role in an upcoming feature
film. And the text I got was.I booked a lead.

(46:49):
In in all caps and then cryingemojis. Crying emojis. Crying.
So I'm texting her back saying like,so. Oh my God, it's so proud of you.
Like and the interesting thing isthe the audition before that was an
audition for basically a one linerthat she was, we had a conversation
about like, she's like, I wantto be going out for lead roles,

(47:12):
not one liner roles, which of courseis where everyone wants to be.
But it was like, well,how do how do you put all
yourself into this one liner andstill aspire to the bigger roles?
And the next one she got was the leadrole for her feature and she booked
it, and then she sent me Bali emojis.And I get to celebrate and I'm
in Phoenix and I'm tearing up asI'm texting her and she's. Yeah.

(47:33):
Send me all these screenshots.And that's like,
one of the greatest feelings in theworld is to get to do what we love,
but also get to help someone elsedo what they love. It's magic.
And it's it's a little it's a littleselfish because I get to help someone
and then I feel good too. So I like.It's just, I feel like this industry
can be so ruthless and it can be solike you're trying and trying and

(47:55):
trying and especially with everythingthat's happened, like I graduated
theater school into a pandemic.I graduated. Into this like.
I graduated into a moving to a newcountry, like all these things that,
um, like, have really pushed my,my career back.
And anybody in my, my generation'scareer back quite a bit.
And to like when other people havewins, even if I didn't help them
with it, I tear up because somelike it comes so rarely sometimes

(48:20):
or feels like they do that.You're like, I can't help but
just like lose it every time.And I think that's something that,
you know,this is such a community based thing.
Theater Theatre used to bestorytelling around a fire. Telling.
Learning and educating and liketheater specifically, or just like
used to be a place of education.You didn't have to have a lot of
money to see theater.You could, you know, like there's the

(48:41):
penny loafers and the, you know,you could go see it at any point.
And so to see this,like accessibility or everybody
getting access to such a gift thatnow because of all these different
things, economic down to it, likeI work for jobs, it's exhausting.
And so it's like you to to seesomebody work really hard all
the time.And then they get that is such a

(49:03):
gift.It also gives me hope every time.
Yeah, it always makes you knowwhat it's like.
If you can do it, then like I cando it and like we can figure this
out in this weird time right now ornone of us know what's happening
and nobody, not even the studios,knows what's really going on.
Like, there's a lot of uncertaintywith the direction of this industry.
And I think having these momentsof connection, I think I've
always been I think, you know,when you when you're on stage with

(49:25):
someone or you're in a scene on,on set and you're so locked in.
Your whole body is on fire.It's on like every molecule is
somewhere else. You.I find I always continue to try
chasing that.And it's hard when you're doing
a self-tape to find that again.But then when I did an audition,
it was just a general auditionfor a theatre company.
And the captain, my shout out,Richard Lamb was one of the, um,

(49:48):
adjudicators on this, uh,you know, audition panel.
And he saw me do my Shakespeare,and he didn't know me.
He knew my sister, though,because he had done a play with
her earlier that year,and I did the monologue, and it
was Viola's monologue of I left aring with her, and he was like,
okay, can you just do it to me now?Because, you know, auditions,
you're always like,look above the act, you know?
And I actually just got to do itto him.

(50:10):
And I remember walking out ofthat audition and feeling like I
was on cloud nine, because therewas this connection of, like,
being this other person locked inand doing the story and having it.
And I think that that's somethingabout coaching that I find
special is I get to also like,watch somebody else do it.
And sometimes I get lucky enoughif I'm.
If I'm in the eyeline,if I get to have that with them.
And that's really special.Even if it's like if they don't book

(50:33):
it, I still want them to walk awayfeeling like I want I can circle.
This day I had a breakthrough.I feel more empowered.
And that's always my hope is thateverybody can walk away like a little
bit more empowered out of a session.Yeah, there's a big mistake that a
lot of actors make, and people doit in all areas of life that when
they see someone else's success,their, their, um, scarcity mindset,

(50:55):
that makes them think that someoneelse getting something means they've
taken away something from you,or there's not a there's not as much
of the pie left for you rather. Than.Yeah, the abundant creator mentality
is there's an infinite amount ofwealth and resources out there.
You're not competing with oneother person.
So when you see someone succeed,instead of seeing that as, oh,
what am I going to get mine?They're taking, I should have

(51:16):
got that. I deserve money.Instead, think, oh, I was just
the universe just gave me proof.How close to me. Like adjacent to me.
I'm in an ecosphere where I'm doingthe same stuff they're doing,
and they just book the role of alifetime. Man, I'm so close.
Good for them.I'm going to be there right with
them one of these days, too.So it's a it's a huge mind shift.

(51:36):
I did remember what I was goingto mention. Yeah. Okay. What was.
That? So you mentioned 88 keys.That's something one of my
coaches often talks about.Uh, where in an audition, people
often get caught up with what do theywant? Which. Who the hell is that?
How are you going to answer thatquestion? You.
Even if you knew who they was,you don't know what they want.
So why would you even play animpossible game that is

(52:00):
impossible to win?Um, but the other thing is,
there's no right or wrong.It's just show them as much of
you and as much of your choicesand talent as possible.
So how do you do that?You play all 88 keys.
So is that physically?Is that vocally? Is that emotion?
Is that camera dynamics likepack as much into it and really

(52:21):
see Auditions, not just as Ihope I'm doing it the right way.
They they want it for. This.Role right now.
But here's here's a short filmor a mini movie or my art
presentation of everything I bringto the table as a human being,
as an artist, rather than,is this right and is this wrong?

(52:43):
So, um, and it's it's just soimportant to me, even if you're like,
like, I'll weave in stuff whereit's just to showcase that, like,
it's of course I want to justsay I'm not doing it randomly.
Like it's got to fit the story.It's got to fit the script.
It makes sense for what's going on.I'm not just going to be like,
I, I want to really.I want to yell a line here,

(53:03):
and then I want to talk soft andcry here. Like, yeah.
I'm not going to do it randomly,but how can you show casting and
really show the world as much ofyou as possible?
Uh, as an artist,I think that's that's what we do.
Well, I think there's somethingabout, um, my good friend Liam Lynch,
who you should have on this podcast.He's very smart and very funny.

(53:25):
Um, but he we were talking aboutthe frustrations with what scripts
are getting greenlit right now.We watch a movie because we love
seeing movies together and we'dwatch great going that got
millions and millions in funding.We were like, what?
And I and he made a really goodpoint to me that as forever shifted
it for me, is that right now,I think studios, the way they're
producing films, they're trying toforce us to care about characters.

(53:49):
But I think we're television isdoing really well is because
they have the elongated, um,time frame of TV episodes.
They give us the opportunity tojust let us be curious about
characters and not, I think iswhere you can nail it is if I,
if a casting director is justbecomes more curious about me as
an actor or like not that I wouldnecessarily do what they want,

(54:10):
but they're like, I'm curious towhat else she can do. Call me.
Do the callback. What? Like that?Even if I don't get it for that role,
they'll call me back for somethingelse. Because there's a curiosity.
As long as I've made them morecurious about what I can offer.
I'm a happy camper because Ithink this like.
Like you said, this, like,right way of doing it.
It's like, I hate nothing morethan walking out of a theater
with a movie or a, you know,an actual theater and going,

(54:32):
oh my God, they were justtelling me how to think, right?
They were telling me what I thoughtthey thought I wanted to hear.
And I have no interest in that.I love walking out to something and
having more questions than answersand letting it sit with me for days.
And I think I try to do the samething with with my auditions.
It's like, how can I not givethem what I think they want?
But how can I just give themsomething, just like a peek into

(54:53):
what I want to be able to offerthem if I'm given the chance?
And I think leading withcuriosity has been life changing
for me as an artist.It should really be like,
this is the this is my big,bold take on casting this,
and this is what I would love todo with this role. Rather. Yeah.
Is this what you want me to do it?Do you want me to pick it up

(55:14):
with my left hand? Should I?When do I shrug and raise my
eyebrows. Um, yeah.Just the idea of, like, treating your
auditions like you've already beencast and this is your opportunity
to show them what you would do.And then as long as you're prepped
and put everything into it,then you can wash your hands of it,
and you're not so attached thatyou're devastated and that

(55:36):
you've been rejected.It's like, hey, that was my best.
That's what I would do with it.And if they don't want that,
that makes sense that they would castsomeone else because I don't want to
do it. Not that way. You know. I.Think this is like having something
to offer to inspire the director,inspire the production team,
the design team, the costuming team.Like, yeah. Just I think offering.
Creative offerings. Yeah.Instead, instead of being like,

(55:59):
look at me, this is what I'm thebest for the part just going,
so what I'm going to offer you.Yeah, you could take it if you like.
And I, especially as someonewho's been in the director's
chair now a couple of times,it's sometimes not like somebody
is not a great actress, she said.There's another actor that sparks
something in me as a director.They're going, oh my God, I want to,
I want to do this now with this.And sometimes that's all it is,
is just like,it's it's the ideas and it's the

(56:19):
inspiration and the muse elementof it that is really fascinating.
And often it's it's someone whofound some story beat that
someone else didn't. Uh, yeah.Or they maybe did something the
opposite of how it was played onpaper or how it was written.
And you do the opposite stands out,but it actually works.
And they're like, oh, I wasn'tseeing this character as that.

(56:39):
But that was interesting.And next thing you know, the callback
room when someone works with you.So we've got um, yeah, I mentioned,
uh, we're lucky enough to haveyou on our team here of coaches
at Actors Audition Club and inthe monologue of the Month Club,
so that you're able to work withpeople in some group settings in
our upcoming monologue jams,but also as a private one on one,

(57:00):
uh, coach via zoom internationallyor in our Toronto studio.
When an actor books with you,just what's your like?
What's your approach?Or how do you go about unlocking
the the best in an actor. So that.Listening actors who are listening,
who might be booking with you.What can they expect in a
session with Alex? Yeah, I.I'm very big on, like,

(57:23):
checking in with each other.I want to hear how you're doing,
what you're walking in with.Um, because then I can best lead
you and support you depending onwhere you're coming in with.
Um, I also,very quickly will go. Okay.
What excites you about the scene?And then sometimes I have all
these ideas. I'm great.Let's tackle the ideas.
And sometimes they go, oh,I don't know. This is a one liner.

(57:43):
I need you, okay.Then I will step up and,
you know, like. And that's okay.Like, that's also. What I.
Have no idea is I just worked a12 hour shift. And then yeah.
My kids and I haven't even looked atthe script yet. And that's fine.
That's I'm also I've been there,done that, you know, but it helps me
kind of get a better understandingof what they need as an actor,
whether they need me to, like,take the lead or they go, okay,
we're going to collaborate andbounce ideas.

(58:04):
Um, I will definitely read itover a couple times.
I am very big on the moment before,very big on having a strong moment
before and a strong finishing button.I had a friend of mine,
Julia Jones, an actress from Lockand Key and stuff, and she, um,
always when she heard I would workon things together, she'd be like,
hold your face at the end.Because, like, if you're in a

(58:25):
casting room and they're allwatching it together, that's the
face that they're going to see,whatever face that is when they put
it on pause and talk about you,that's what they're seeing.
And I always I always thinkabout that now at the end.
So whether it be like a goodbutton and like holding whatever
feeling I've got at the end ormy slate at the end, slate,
if they, if they watch my slate,I'm holding whatever face I want

(58:46):
up there for however long they'retalking about me in the room.
So having those that I'll startkind of from like a sandwich,
I'll start there.And then we kind of build in
because there's if there's a climaxin the middle of a scene. Right.
So I would usually start,you know, kind of play with both
ends and then just keep buildingand building and building.
Once I see that the actor is verycomfortable with the language,
like the text,they're like memorized or off book.

(59:08):
Um, then we'll start playingwith circumstances.
Let's push this note a littlebit further.
Let's pull this back a bit more.Can you know, and I just I also
ask a lot of questions.I'll ask like and not that I
necessarily want answers, but justI'll ask questions to reflect.
You know, do you think yourcharacter is upset about this.
And just to, just to see if I canspark something in the actor.

(59:28):
Um, just because maybe that'll changehow they'll stand or how they're
going to approach a certain line.Um, yeah, I usually do that.
And then sometimes it'll be justsometimes I'm in it with them in the
scene and I'm like, if they reallyare having a tough time with it,
I will coach them, remind them that,like, they just watched a whole
city get burned to the ground andthey're now orphans everywhere.
Like, I will kind of walk themthrough building that landscape.

(59:49):
So then and actors are so receptiveand listen so well that I had that
with a client the other day where Iwas just, like, guiding her that
way and building the moment beforewhat she's actually walking into,
like the real horrors of it. Right.And then she was listening so
well that I went go.And she just went in with that.
And it was and it was the tapethat we used and it was amazing.

(01:00:09):
It was an incredible take.So I think that's what I tried
to do is because we're alone,like in the silo of of creating,
I try to be the actor with you.I try to play with you,
I try to push you.I'm also very big on not
speaking ill of yourself.I'm very big on not apologizing
in the room. I'm very big on.Oh, that was a bad take.
No, you can,like I understand there'll be some
takes that are not as strong or like.Oh, let's take you can say that take.

(01:00:32):
Not helpful. It's just not.You can argue. For as much.
Of your energy putting yourself down.That should be to like putting
into the character.So that's another big one.
I've I've like definitely been verystrict and like, no apologies.
You didn't hurt me, right?You don't you I you don't owe me an
apology. You did. Not physically.Nobody wants it on set or on stage
either. That's the other thing.It's like I don't want to, like,

(01:00:55):
I don't want to.I'm not going to say cut to
myself or or that one sucked.Because what if they thought it
was fucking incredible?What if that was the one? Take that.
The that the DOP actually nailedand got the. Right.
Focus in, and they're thinking,this is what if the other actor had
the best performance of their life,but it's just ultimately not

(01:01:15):
helpful to be bashing ourselves.And the other thing it does,
is it in a weird way,forces the other person to be like,
oh no, no, you're good. You forces.It just it's yeah, I don't know
what it is about it, but it'sjust it's ultimately it's not.
So I think,I think I've thought about it a
lot because it happens often evenlike not in non acting scenarios,

(01:01:36):
like when I'm at work at the baror something, when I'm, you know,
other worlds, it happens often.I had I wanted to know why why
do we as humans do that.And I think what is offputting
about it is the obviouslyinsecurity lives in all of us.
There's no doubt about it.It reminds everyone.
Yeah, part of it, like you can'texist without insecurity.
You can't exist ego,like it's part of the, you know,

(01:01:57):
the the complete package.But I think when you are so
insecure that you don't believein yourself and you're hiding.
If I'm wanting to hire you,I said, well,
if you don't believe in yourself,why should I believe in you? Right.
And I think that's somethingthat subconsciously happens.
And as a Canadian who lived inAmerica for a long time,

(01:02:17):
I lived in L.A. for five years.They do not want to hear. Sorry.
They do. They make fun of you for it.They put you like they will
immediately pin you. They respect.You. With a with a Canadian accent.
No, that's like the Canadianaccent is so real.
And I didn't click until I'd beenliving there for two years when I
was working with a dialect coach,because everybody I remember like
saying something like I said, bag.And I was like, I think I said,

(01:02:40):
oh, well, the character had thisin the bag, and even my teacher
even laughed like. The whole egg.Bag because Canadians say it with a
smile. You say bag, but it was bag.Americans lower.
They don't smile through thewords the way Canadians do.
And that was when I when I saw my,like, esteemed Moscow art
theater teacher laughing.And I was like, well, what is the

(01:03:01):
what is the deal? I can't hear it.And now since I've done the
dialect training,I can't unhear it. So now I'm.
And even when I work as I work ata bar part time and half the time
I have guests asked me where I'mfrom because I don't have a Canadian
accent. They're like, oh, I don't.I can't pinpoint like,
you have an accent.I was like, no, I just kind of
standard dialect or whatever,whatever it is,
a little bit of everything, you know.But, um, I think that, um,

(01:03:25):
constant apologizing for yourselfalso does, like, a learning shame.
Like, you don't have to makeyourself smaller.
There are enough people in thisworld that are going to put you down
and make you feel tiny and like,you don't need to do that.
You don't need to do that foryourself.
Like, I think it's so,so valuable to go, okay, that wasn't
that good of a take. Let's continue.Like don't linger in the like,

(01:03:48):
oh, I missed it. I messed it up.Oh like, oh it's you.
You spent so much time and energyand it almost is a selfish act,
especially if you're on set or in.A rehearsal. Or not. Almost.
It is a. Selfish.It is because what you're doing is
you're making it all about you.Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Um, yeah.
And you touched on it,but you mentioned the insecurities.

(01:04:09):
The other thing that it does is itmakes us cringe for you because
we're being reminded of all ourinsecurities when we were crumbling.
Like,it's it's also part of the reason,
the allure of, like, the open mic,amateur night stand up comic.
See someone rise to the occasionand blow everyone away in their
first time.Or you see someone just absolutely,

(01:04:33):
uh, like, just crumble as ahuman being in front of you.
And it's like watching a caraccident, but it's not.
It's not productive.Um, that so the lesson, folks,
listeners, is believe in yourselfand treat yourself kindly and
your your inner monologue shouldbe the things like if you
actually were to transcribe yourinner monologue and read it.

(01:04:54):
A lot of the times if it's negative,you'd be like, fuck this.
Like if a stranger told you that,you'd. Be like, yeah.
Who the fuck do you think you are?Why are you talking. To me like that?
But sometimes not so kind toourselves.
And that's a it's a bit of a learnedthing, I think, but a great lesson.
I am when I started directing, I reada lot of leadership books before I,

(01:05:14):
even before I read directing books,I read leadership books.
And I read a really good onecalled Mindful Leadership.
And the one, one of the sentencesthat really stuck out to me was,
if you were afraid of everybodyelse judging you,
it's probably because you'rejudging everyone else. Exactly.
And so that I was like, oh yeah,if I'm afraid of people thinking
of how I look,it's because they're subconsciously
that it's because I'm doing it.But really, nobody is thinking

(01:05:36):
about anybody else.Like, I bet you anything,
the majority of the time everyone'sworrying about themselves.
Like there's nobody.Yeah, there's really nobody.
Nobody even noticed till you said it.You know, it's like people who say
they make mistakes and you're like,oh, I didn't even notice.
If you had to have even pointedthat out, I wouldn't notice.
Or people when they come late.And then for 15 minutes after
they're late,they're apologizing to everyone.

(01:05:57):
It's like, not only are you late andyou kind of disrupted things, but
now you're making it all about howyou are late and forcing. Everyone.
To talk about your bus situation,like just. Yeah. Okay.
Uh, thank you for your patience.And then let's get to work.
Don't spend ten minutes.On your fault on. A miss.
Yeah, yeah. Uh, that was great.So, uh, I want to ask, um,

(01:06:23):
any other final questions?Anything else you want to share
to actors out there?What are you looking forward to?
Uh, in your own career?Uh, what are you looking for?
Manifest.And also inside Actor's Audition club
in the monologue of the Month club.Ooh.
Um, I'm really looking forward to.I've been writing a lot, so I have a
couple scripts that are coming up,and I've got some exciting
things that I'm enjoying becauseI really love people watching.

(01:06:46):
I have been working on a solo show,and I am absolutely taking
experiences from bartending thatI'm being shared.
So I think, you know,when you have crazy.
I think that's my my advice to actorswho are apt to work multiple jobs, I
think is to we don't love doing this.I don't love being up till four
in the morning to bartend.I don't, you know, but you have
to pay your bills somehow.But to, um, take what you got

(01:07:09):
and see how you can spin it in apositive light and go,
this is just for the stories, for thescripts that I'm going to write.
These are for my award winningscripts.
Like, I just have to kind of andlike, keep track of it and write
and invest in yourself as much asyou would invest in somebody else.
I think is really important.Um,
things that I'm looking forward to.Um, I would say I touched upon
it earlier.I'm doing stage combat

(01:07:30):
choreography for a dance piece.It's called Olalla, and it's a 30
minute dance piece at the nativeArt center on the East End.
Um, and it's beautiful.It's all Latin artists,
and it's this incredible, um, uh, 30,like 20 or 30 minute piece of these,
like, six dancers that aredancing nonstop, by the way.
Like that is some stamina to havethat and about relationships and and

(01:07:53):
inner conflict and exterior conflict.And it's I'm very excited to
kind of just be a little bitpart of that and adding some of
the stage combat safety in,in dance and stuff, but, um,
otherwise I'm just excited to kind ofget my own ideas off the ground.
I've got some stuff in the worksright now that I'm excited to be
able to go.It's been in my brain for so long,
and now I get to have it outsideof my noggin for a bit.

(01:08:14):
So that's. Sort of what ideas.And brains and on ideas and brains
and hard drives are no good. You got.To. Know. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.
It's the saddest thing ever to have.Oh, that is a great idea.
Or I did this thing,but I haven't released it yet.
It's in my hard drive.It's like, yeah.
Get it out there,get the get some feedback from it,
and then and then put it thenext thing. Um, I love that.

(01:08:35):
How can people, uh, connect with you?What's the best way? Um, where?
Instagram.Um, Instagram is probably great.
You can also reach out.I have a website which is my
first and last name.com.Um, I've got my email in there
as well because I respond toemails quite well.
Instagram can kind of get messy withlike people are weird in DMs and as
long as I don't look at them becausethe request. DMs are a scary place.

(01:08:56):
Oh well, sometimes.Sometimes the best way is just
to reach me by email because.I know link it in. The chat.
It is. Uh.Alex dot dot fire, which is fire os.
Uh, we'll link it all up in theshow notes here. Yeah.
Um, but this has been great.Thank you so much for hopping on.
Excited to have you at Actor'sAudition Club.

(01:09:16):
I actually worked with you. Uh. Yeah.Two days ago,
you helped me in a self-tape, uh,and gave great coaching and insight
and advice. You're a great reader.And you snipped it together and
you edited it, um,together for me and got great,
great feedback from my agent.Still hearing, waiting to hear from
production, but a great experience.And I think anyone who just

(01:09:36):
listened to you talk about yourlove for acting and love for
coaching and love for the industry,um, surely is excited to have
the opportunity to work with youmore so I'm sure they will.
Uh, so, uh, we're going to bringthis podcast ship back into harbor.
We're going to wrap it up.We want to thank Alex for being here
today for joining us, sharing theirunique audition journey with us.

(01:10:00):
Uh, and you can, um, if you are.I want to let you know if you
are either a professional or anemerging actor, uh, in theater,
film, or maybe you're a director.Maybe you're a casting director
producer.If you're someone who's making
bold moves in the industry.I would love to have a chat with you.
Uh, we interview industryprofessionals at every stage of
their journey so that you can shareyour practical tips, your insights,

(01:10:24):
your wisdom, your inspiration.And I'm a big believer in other
people's stories really inspireother people.
So you're even as people downplaytheir own stories and be like,
I ain't nothing.Um, but you might have the one
story that unlocks something and alevel of inspiration that allows
someone else to pursue their dreams.So if you are a person who's

(01:10:46):
looking to get on the, uh,the podcast you can go to.
Inside the audition, there's a littlebutton that says apply to be a guest.
And one more time I want to reiterateto everyone that mastering powerful
monologues is the most effective wayto showcase your unique talent, so
that you can put yourself out to theworld to attract your own audience or

(01:11:07):
agents or casting directors, andultimately land your next lead role.
And to get started with us, you canjoin the monologue of the Month Club
at Monologue Club. That's w w w.We use three W's in our websites.
I don't know what you guys use,but we use three W's.
The three W's, WW monologue club.com.Uh, and remember that every

(01:11:31):
audition is an opportunity toshowcase your unique talent,
to tell a story, to create art.And it also might be the
opportunity that changes your life.Uh,
so that next life changing role mightbe coming in your inbox tomorrow.
You want to balance the lifelongcommitment to this art with the
magic of.Anything can change in an instant,

(01:11:53):
and when you're ready for thoseopportunities,
your life could be changing tomorrow.And if you want a little help with
that, you can get some professionalcoaching and some professional
readers editing a file transferwith Actors Audition Club, myself,
Alex, and the rest of our team.We're here seven days a week to
help you via zoom,and we've got our studio in Toronto,
but we connect with internationalactors all over the world.

(01:12:15):
You can go to Actor's Auditionclub.com.
You can click the button that saysBook Private Audition Coaching,
and then you can go through ourteam of coaches, find the one that
you think you're going to workthe best with, or just have a
session with all of us and you'lllearn some things from all of us.
Uh, we'll help you shoot a standoutaudition in less time so that you
can book your next lead role.So thank you for tuning in today.

(01:12:37):
We'll see you next time onInside the Audition.

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