Off Script: The 'No' April Fools Episode

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Summary
In this Off Script episode of the Late Bloomer Actor Podcast, I reflect on past April Fools' Day pranks and for the support I received. I also announce the integration of Off Script episodes into the main podcast and invite listeners to suggest topics for future episodes. I then discuss my experience attending a three-day masterclass with actor Les Chantery in Sydney in February. I discuss how intense the training was but that is was transformative.  

Takeaways

• April Fools' Day pranks can backfire, and it's important to consider the impact on others.
• Off Script episodes are now integrated into the Late Bloomer Actor Podcast, and listeners are invited to suggest topics.
• The positive results of training with Les Chantery.
• Regular commitment to acting training is essential to keep the skills sharp.

Find all information about Les Chantery, including his book and course.

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Episode Transcript

David John Clark (00:00):
Hey everyone and welcome to another
off-script episode of the LakeBloomer Actor Podcast.
Today is April the 1st and, asmuch as I did contemplate it,
there will be no April foolingin this episode.
fools can can backfiresometimes.
I remember a few years backthat I posted on Facebook that I
had a contact in the USA andthrough that contact I announced

(00:22):
that I had been given a smallrole on the new upcoming
Terminator movie.
Now, as many of my friends know, I'm a huge fan of the
Terminator series, even thelater movies, and having
actually met ArnoldSchwarzenegger once, this gave
the story a little morecredibility.
So perhaps it's the gullibilityof Facebook or just people
glancing over posts and notreally thinking about it, but I

(00:45):
got a lot of very positivefeedback and congratulatory
messaging on the post, whichmade me feel really bad when I
had to announce it all wasn'ttruthful, that it was just an
April Fools post, but I wasreally thankful and appreciative
of all the support.
The very fact that so manypeople took it as being real,

(01:05):
that they thought it all verypossible that I could land such
a coveted role, was a greatfeeling to me and made it all
the more harder to tell them itwas a joke, so no April Fools
from me today.
Firstly, I wanted to thank youall for your understanding of
the changes in the Offscriptseries.
The Offscript offshoot to mylate Loomer Actor podcast

(01:25):
initially started out as aseparate podcast in late 2023,
with the initial weekly Mondayepisodes commencing in late
November and included some great, albeit quick, episodes over
Christmas and the new year fromthe USA.
I was very fortunate to be on athree-week driving holiday with
my family, traveling from NewYork at Christmas to Roswell,
new Mexico for New Year's andfinishing up on the West Coast,

(01:47):
san Francisco and then finallyLos Angeles, hollywood.
But in hindsight I felt theOffshoot podcast was a poor
cousin of the main podcast, butthe concept of the Offscript
episodes was still very excitingand possibly a great inclusion
to the primary podcast ratherthan as an offshoot.
So here we are with theOffscript episodes now as bonus

(02:08):
episodes within the Late BloomRector podcast.
So if you're not aware andhaven't listened, you can go
back to the earlier Offscriptepisodes and have a listen if
you like.
They were directly recorded onthe ground in the US, so very
worthwhile, I promise.
And they will release onMondays, but not every Monday.
They will be ad hoc, asnecessary when I have something
worthwhile to put out.

(02:28):
So if you have anything you'dlike brought up in an Offscript
episode, please let me know viasocial media messaging or email
me at thelatebloomeractor atgmailcom.
I'm sure I'd love to have youon board and we can talk about
something.
Whatever that comes up.
So please reach out and let meknow and we'll get an episode
out there special for you.

(02:49):
Now to the crux of this episode.
I've had a bit of a gap sincethe last Offscript episode in
January.
It's been a chaotic start to2024, but I wanted to talk about
a fantastic course I completedin February a three-day
masterclass with the wonderfulLes Chantieri.
Les is just wonderful.
I've been following him for afew years now, after being very
fortunate to have been anaudience member on a Zoom

(03:11):
interview with him.
And then last year the EquityFoundation the Equity Foundation
being the professionaldevelopment arm of the MEAA,
australia's Actors Union had aone-day special event with Les
in Sydney that I just could notmiss out on.
So a great excuse for a coupleof days away from home.
My wife and I drove down andhad a wonderful eight hours

(03:32):
introduction to the trainingtechniques of Les Chantry while
Kelly ran around and caught upof one of our favourite cities,
sydney.
Les is a NIDA trained actor andnow trains other actors at NIDA,
as well as his specialisedaudition techniques through his
Les Chantry studios in Sydney.
Les got his big break in actingopposite Vin Diesel in the cult

(03:53):
sci-fi music Pitch Black, andthen went on to work with Robert
De Niro, al Pacino andAustralia's Nicole Kidman,
amongst many others.
Les also holds a degree in theBachelor of Economics, where he
studied in neuroscience,psychology and behavioral
economics.
Now this sounds pretty heavyand outside of the acting realm,
but this is where Les' approachis different and he blends all

(04:16):
those learnings into an auditionprocess how an actor can move
from being an actor to being areal person on camera.
Essentially, before I got tosee his approach in the flesh, I
read his book.
Life in a Midshot Says it allLife in a Midshot, how to make
it work in that space.
I thoroughly recommend the book.

(04:38):
It delves deeply into hisprocess and will give you a
great boost to how to make yourscenes real and book the job
from your self-tape or in-roomaudition.
After the one-day introductionto Les last year, I knew I had
to have more and I signed up forthe three-day intensive, which
is everything the word intensivealludes to.
It was pretty fun, butcertainly eye-opening.

(04:59):
And without giving away any ofhis secrets, I walked away a
better actor.
I feel the concepts andapproaches that Les delivers are
just mind-blowing.
Without overselling it much,you start off on day one at one
level and you go on a journey ofself-discovery and by day three
, three, you have a wholedifferent outlook on your
approach to audition prep andscene delivery.

(05:20):
So my two cents worth for thisoff script episode is I really
recommend you look into LesGentieri if you haven't already,
purchase his book as a starterand seriously consider his
courses.
Now I'm not being looked afterin any way.
This is my recommendation as anactor and as a student that has

(05:40):
followed him.
So I'm continuing my trainingthis month with a four-week
follow-up to the intensive justto nail down some of the
concepts more fully.
So check him out.
Links will be in the show notesof this episode and hopefully
sometime in the future we haveto have him on the show for a
chat, because that would just befantastic Part of my journey as

(06:02):
an actor.
My paths have now crossed withLes, so hopefully we can bring
him on and talk about how ourpaths have crossed and what I've
got from him.
So thank you for listening in.
I've got a busy month ahead ofme with a two-day course here in
Adelaide with the wonderful Louand Angela Heesom from Heesom
Casting some one-on-one actingtraining in the room.
So I'm really looking forwardto that and it's going to be

(06:23):
great to catch up with them aswell.
With the strike action lastyear and then proceeded before
with the COVID virus andeverything that went.
I haven't seen them for a while, so it'd be great to catch up
and get some training with themand see how things are going.
And then I'm following up withthe four sessions for four weeks
or less.
So a busy, busy month oftraining.
When you get the chance, youneed to have that regular

(06:46):
commitment to keep the actingmuscles in place, so to speak.
So, guys, that's it for today.
Offscript is back.
We've had that little bit of abreak.
I hope you enjoy these short,quick episodes.
Thank you for listening.
I hope you've taken somethingaway from today and, as I said,
look me up online if you've gotany questions or anything you

(07:06):
want talked about in the future.
We certainly can run it.
Make sure you subscribe andfollow on your podcast players
that you're using and on YouTubeif you're watching the YouTube
channel.
I really appreciate yoursupport.
We do need to put a call ofaction out there for you.
I need to get for thealgorithms.
If you can like and subscribeand leave a review on Apple or

(07:29):
Spotify, the two primary oneswhere you can do that, that
would be really, reallyappreciative of me for you to do
that.
That would be fantastic.
So thank you very much.
So all the best for the rest ofthe year, guys.
It's April already, as you cansee.
I've got my gym shirt on, I'vecome straight from the gym, so
I'm keeping up that going aswell.
So busy, busy, busy.

(07:49):
So all the best, guys, and lookout for the next episode of the
main podcast releasing on the15th.
As usual, we will see you ateither the next episode on the
15th or the next Offscript.
So cheers, guys, and I'll seeyou on set.