September 30, 2023 • 39 mins
In this video, Yvonne Chapman will share with you her journey as an actor/performer and how the creative process can be both exciting and frustrating. She will discuss the ups and downs of being a creative in film and television, and offer tips on how to overcome hurdles and create the work you want to see.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Are you the person who loves theauditions? Then I've learned to love them,
I think before. If I'm beinghonest, sometimes the anxiety of like
the preciousness of the audition, youknow, because it is an opportunity,
and sometimes we see it it's like, oh my gosh, this is my
chance to get a job. Ireally had to change my mindse and entirely
(00:21):
and be like, look, ifI look at my track record, ninety
nine point nine percent of the auditionsI go for, I've been rejected.
If we want to put it inthose terms, I did not get those
jobs. It's just part of thebusiness, and that's totally fine. So
I look at it more of anopportunity to be able to do what I
love, and I'm not precious aboutit anymore. So when I get an
(00:41):
audition, I just want to beexcited about it because it's a chance for
me to be able to do whatI love. Talent Talk is sponsored by
Company of Rogues Actors Studio, NewYork style training for actors at all stages
of their journey. With our parttime classes and full time masterclass program,
Rogues provides a unique post secondary optionunder the guidance of working professionals, mentoring
(01:03):
and developing professional film and theater artistssince nineteen ninety three. Calgary's longest running
independent studio offers practical, hands onclasses in a positive, supportive environment.
Check us out at co rogues dotcom. Company of Rogues Passionate about the
art of acting. Hey everybody,I'm Gary McClain. You're watching Talent Talk.
(01:48):
Thanks for tuning in. If youhaven't done so already, please do
go to the Talent Talk YouTube channeland subscribe today. As always, the
supports appreciated, and also reminder thatthis and previous episodes are available on podcast
mediums such as Spotify, iHeartRadio,Google Podcast, Apple Podcast. Especially wherever
you listen to your podcast is probablythere, so please check it out now.
(02:08):
I also have sponsors for this ourfifth season, which I'm very excited
about. It's the first season we'vebeen able to bring in some sponsors and
they have helped us immensely, soI need to give them a quick shout
out. So here we go.We have six Degrees Sound in Music who
actually does our in studio in personaudio recording and editing. Now this is
a remote session, so they're notnecessarily involved but they've been supportive nonetheless.
(02:32):
And then we have Workflow Film whoactually does our film recording and editing for
those in person in studio sessions.And then we have Company of Rogues which
is a Calgary local acting studio andschool. We have RJ Talent which is
a local talent agent here in Calgary. We have heard of one media counting
(02:53):
Coup Indigenous Film Academy, and finallywe have Actra Alberta. So thank you
to those fine folks for helping usout this season. You have helped elevate
us to another level and is extremelyappreciated. Now today's guest, I was
hoping to chat a little bit aboutsome of her more shall we say streamline
(03:14):
works recently, but due to thestrike, we're going to hold off on
that. But she's also a repeatguest. We've had her on and they
think he's in season two, andit seems to be the theme this year
where we're bringing in some folks thatwe've previously had on and I'm super excited
to have her back on because she'sdone so much more since we've last chatted.
But we're going to chat a littlebit about some of her personal projects
(03:36):
and a couple of short films she'sbeen in, as well as maybe some
of you know, just acting ingeneral and find out more about the industry.
So please join me and welcoming YvonneChatman to the show. Hello.
Hi, I'm happy to be back, yes, and I'm happy to have
you back, so thank you,oh thanks for having me. I just
want to say that I am gettingover a startup bron kaide, so I'm
(04:00):
gonna put my best of the cost. So if I do, I necessarily
apologize to everybody to hear to haveto hear that. So, oh,
well, that's not good. Howlong have you? Like? How long
did you kind of have it?I was out for like a good week.
It was it was not fun.Yeah, but I'm totally fine now.
It's just like the after effects,you know. So my voice is
(04:23):
a little bit scratchy still and coffeehere and there, but I don't know.
I got I got some coffee besideme, I got some water.
I'm good to go. Perfect.Well, if it becomes too much and
you have to have a little fit, just let me know them well sidetrack,
okay, so good, perfect?Well, So what have you been
up to? You like? Ithink, like I said, season two,
I think was the last time wekind of had you on the show,
(04:44):
and that was back in what twentymaybe, Oh wow, yeah,
ye oh my gosh, she's beentwo talent talk. You guys have come
a long way. I've really enjoyedyour episodes and what you've done. I
think it's been toast to day,So congratulate on that. Yeah. Hey,
I've just been, you know,the same, same, just out
(05:04):
in Vancouver auditioning a ton, Luckilygot a couple of projects, and now
I'm just more focused, especially duringthis quiet time, on trying to create
my own things and getting back tosome really lovely independent work with some really
good friends. So yeah, actually, in fact, I think you did
(05:25):
a short film called The Stranger andinterestingly enough, and I'm not sure if
you're aware of this or not,but we actually had one of those other
folks that was in there with you, Curtis. Yeah, yeah, earlier
this season. So it's always kindof fun when I can tie those together.
Yeah, that's so lovely. Ilove Curtis. He's great, and
you know, him and I actuallymet on something that God, I think
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it was probably, if not thefirst, maybe the second thing I ever
booked, and that's where I methim. We were on that same project
together way back in the day,like I think years ago or something like
that, and since then we justkept in touch. We always see each
other on other projects. And thenhe approached me with this project because he
(06:10):
was producing it or helping to produceit, and he said, I think
you'd be really good for the Tallowand we've always wanted to work together again,
so it was really nice to beable to do that, and I
just I just love that feel oflike the short films indie community again,
Like that's the stuff that I startedout with, you know, and like
I just wanted experience on the setand just but now it's it's more than
(06:36):
that. It's just being able towork with your friends again and seeing how
all of us have really grown anddeveloped in creating things. And it's so
nice to have just to be thereand help each other out. It's a
different vibe, you know, absolutely. Yeah, maybe you can tell us
a little bit bit about the filmitself and your role within it. Yeah.
Sure. So the two leads areif Curtis and I, and it's
(07:00):
navigating a relationship that goes under awild change. So I don't want to
give away too much. I'm noteven sure like what Andy, who's the
writer director of the film, wouldwant me to say, but I can
say that it's this wild change thathappens in these two characters relationship and they
have to navigate that. And sothat's what you've saved about this whole short.
(07:24):
And it's a change that's really unexpected, that nobody saw coming. And
it's just it really speaks to howcouples or people deal with the diversity of
something that they've known and are verycomforted in for a very long time,
when that has a seismic shift.How do you deal with it? How
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do you even recognize in anymore?Is it something that's recognizable? Is it
something that you adapt to? Doyou steer away from the change because you're
so used to the comfortability of whatit is. It really speaks to a
lot of I think parallels and justeveryday relationships as well. You know,
as people grow and evolve, doyou grow and evolved with it? Do
(08:09):
you stay the same? How howdoes that all look like? And I
think it adjustes lots of issues notjust within personal relationships, but relationships that
you might have even with your environment, with a city, with a place,
anything that transforms and gives way tochange, how does someone deal with
that change? And that's what it'sthe short explores. Okay, and how
(08:30):
long is the film itself? Ibelieve it is. Oh gosh, I
want to say it's around I thinkthe ten minute mark. I should know
that. Yeah, you know,watching so many times, but I never
I never pay attention to the actualtime of it, do you know what
I mean? I never had adownpack to like, it is this this
long? I just watch it andit is long as a long as it
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needs to be, right right?Yeah? Yeah, Well, so the
interest any thing. Of course,with short films, like you said,
you get to work with your friendsagain and people you haven't worked with maybe
for a while. And so I'massuming you were just approached, like you
said, and he's like, hey, I think you'd be great for this
now that you've had a few yearsexperience in kind of the higher echelon,
(09:16):
if you will, of film andTV. Do you do you find that
people approach you or are you stillhaving to do that grind of constant auditions?
And I still do the grind ofauditions a lot, a lot,
a lot, a lot, andI really don't mind it. I still
love reading for the roles because itgives me a sense of one. It
(09:39):
keeps us working right. Auditions arework, and it keeps the practice going
and the slow going, especially duringyou know time where we're just like a
you know, I just want totry something different, and I think auditions
allow you to actually work and todo that work in so many different forms
and in roles. I would sayit's quite it's a talents of people approaching
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and then people not and I thinkit's a really nice lesson that the relationships
that you cultivate, you know,in this industry or just you know,
in general, the longer, themore you effort you put in, and
the longer the longer you go atthis, I think that just comes naturally.
(10:22):
You know, you develop a reportwith people, you develop relationships friendships
with people, and naturally you justwant to work together. So I think
the longer you stay in this gameand you know you're really with the intent
of wanting to be able to workwith your friends and to create fun things,
that's just naturally going to happen overover the years. In my experience
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and from what I hear from otherpeople's experience as well. You know,
right, I agree with you though, like it is work, and I
know something like I've talked to afew different actors as well. Some people
hate auditions, some people love auditions. Are you who loves the auditions?
Then I've learned to love them,I think before, if I'm being honest,
(11:07):
sometimes the anxiety of like the preciousnessof the audition, you know,
because it is an opportunity, andsometimes we see it it's like, oh
my gosh, this is my chanceto get a job. I really had
to change my mindse and entirely andbe like, look, if I look
at my track record, ninety ninepoint nine percent of the auditions I go
for, I've been rejected, ifwe want to put it in those terms.
(11:28):
I did not get those jobs.It's just part of the business,
and that's totally fine. So Ilook at it as more of an opportunity
to be able to do what Ilove, and I'm not precious about it
anymore. So when I get anaudition, I just want to be excited
about it because it's a chance forme to be able to do what I
love. And to work. It'sI look at it the same as you
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know, even classes where you're doingscene work and you get a scene and
then you put it up the nextweek. It's no different to me that
I need to put as much effortas I am putting in those additions to
my crosses, to whatever it is, and I just see as an opportunities
to be able to act. So, going back to your question, I've
(12:11):
learned to really love the audition process, and before it was not so much.
So before I gave me quite alittle bit of anxiety. You know,
Yeah, well I think, yeah, I think the anxiety part.
This is going to lead to adifferent question as well, But I think
the anxiety part I don't. Ithink it gets easier over time, but
it's still always there. There's alwaysthat lingering anxiety. Now, the question
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I have for you in relation tothat is because the majority of our auditions
now are self tape, right incomparison to in person, do you find
in person would be still more stressfulor do you find the self tape relieve
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some of that or that's a goodquestion, you know, I actually do
think the self tape releases them ofthat anxiety. Only because you know you
can do it in a setting thatsuits you at any time. As long
as you're getting it before the deadline, you know you have more control over
the end product. I believe,I will say, do miss in person
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interaction and being able to have thatdirect feedback from casting director. I really
do miss having that face to facetime. And I personally think that if
it's a callback situation, for example, I would love to be in the
room and to be there with peoplewho are involved with the project just so
we can get it from a differentstage from the first read. But for
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the self tave, I actually quiteenjoy it. Actually, I'm not one
of those people, and I suggestfor other people too. I'm not one
of those people who do like athousand takes for each scene. I don't
think that helps anybody. I thinkyou lose some of the magic of the
quantaneity that happens that you want tosee within a performance. So I'm not
like that. But I do likethe I do like the flexibility that it
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lends for self saping, you know. I think that allows me to be
able to do a little bit morewith it actually than I would in the
in room, in the in room. You kind of feel like maybe it's
you know, you're in a timeconstraint and you only have so much room
and so much time to be ableto get in there and do your thing
and get out, whereas I thinkin the self takes, you have a
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little bit more leeway to be ableto play around, right. Yeah,
no, that's fair. I don'tknow how you feel if that's what your
experience as well, but yeah,and like you, I try not to
do too many takes because, likeyou said, after a while, just
you become numb to the lines almost. But what I found in again,
(14:52):
I guess is kind of another questionis how often give have you done like
zoom callbacks? I've done a couple. Yeah, I've done a couple,
and the zoom ones I'll be I'llbe honest. I will do them because
it's just any opportunity, again tobe able to do what we what we
(15:13):
can. Absolutely I do find themstrange though, especially when there's like technical
issues or hiccups, like especially ifit's an emotional scene. I find those
like, oh man, I gottado the such screen. I can do
it, but it's not the idealsituation, especially when you're trying to connect
and you can see you know,the reader, You're like, wait,
where are they? And then maybethere's like other things going off that it's
(15:35):
just so distracting. But hey,like it's it's another challenge, and it's
all about the reframing of the mindsetof just like how are you going to
look at look at this? Areyou're gonna go in with an attitude being
like, you know, this isan ideal, I don't this is gonna
be tough, or just take iton as a fun challenge and see what
happens. Yeah, to me,it's like it's all good. It's all
(15:58):
as long as people are still willingto see me. That's all I really
care about at the end of theday. Yeah. Absolutely, Like I
think I have an audition tomorrow,which is the first one since well before
the strike. So yeah, I'mkind of excited about that. Sorry,
good luck, Well, thank you, thank you. Yeah. So I've
(16:21):
had one zoom called well actually I'vehad a couple of zoom callbacks, but
I remember this one that I hadand it was I think I was probably
more stressed than I'd ever been inan audition to do that Zoom callback.
But I think I shot myself onthe foot because I had my lines ready,
I was good to go, butI had about thirty minutes left before
(16:42):
I was supposed to get online,and I thought, in that time,
okay, fine. So I startedto look up, you know, who
the producers were, who the directorswere, see what they've done, and
they were all like they had allbeen involved in like major projects, especially
in the UK show that I hadwatched and loved, and so then I
(17:03):
think I got into my own headof oh, I really need to impress
these people, right, and Iscrewed the entire thing, but obviously screw
it up as much as you thinkit's yeah, it's I mean, yeah,
it's always worse in your own mind, definitely, but obviously not enough
to actually get the part. Sobut I do know the fellow who'd you
(17:26):
get the role, and very happyfor him because he yeah, he's a
good actor, so it deserves it. Yeah good, Yeah, I mean
that's a testing right. It's likethey always say, go in armed with
as much knowledge as you can.I purposely, honestly, i'll look at
it after, but for audition,for audition purposes, I don't. I
(17:48):
try to not look up the producerswhat they've done. You know, I
just I look up as much asI can and get ready for the story,
and then anything beyond that I'll I'lllearn after. But for me,
like like you said, I don'twant to get my head in my head
about like you know, because Ican find girls too, like I think
(18:11):
like, oh god, we've donethis, and then I absolutely love that
project. I'd love to be apart of that. And for me,
I'm like that that doesn't help.It's not it's not about that I need
to get the job done in termsof the acting bit and what's going to
help me. There's just like reallydeep dive into that story and that character
and then everything else you can youcan look at after, But I'm the
same. I'm like, I can'ttouch that stuff. Yeah, so learn
(18:34):
my lesson there. Yes, lookI did after, but yeah, I
know I find I is well kindof missed the in personal ones because again,
yeah, it's just that interaction ofbecause when you send in the cell
tape, even if you if youdo it in three takes or ten takes,
(18:57):
you really have no idea, right, so you send it in at
least when you're in the room youcan look at that person and read body
language or just take their words rightand absorb it and try and work with
it. But you have none ofthat with the self tapes, and I
find that's it's yeah, almost anticlimatic, if you will. Yeah,
(19:22):
yeah, it's a tricky thing.But you know, I always go back
to the saying that what misses youwas never meant for you, and what's
meant for you will never miss you. And even in the self tapes,
I have a lot of trust inthe casting directors and their eye for what
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they're looking for that even if theread isn't exactly what they wanted, there's
enough there in your essence of whoyou are as a person, as an
actor that's coming through for them totake a second look, or for them
to say, you know what,maybe it's not quite there yet, but
I'll send the notes to red tapeor I'll bring them in. It's really
about just having that trust in thatthat faith that you know, if I'm
(20:04):
right for this role, I willhear something. And I don't know about
you, but sometimes you just know. Sometimes you read something like, Okay,
this probably isn't mine, but I'mgoing to give a crack at it
anyway, and I'm going to havea lot of fun doing it. Or
there's ones like oh yeah, thisis this is my this is my dude,
Like I'm going to hear something.You know, you just know yourself
(20:25):
instinctually as well, and I thinkwe have to also know that. Casting
directors and know that too, andthey're seeing us for a reason. So
the other short fem I wanted tobring up first, which was dragon Fruit,
which is kind of a post apocollectivething. Yeah, because that's you
know, I've seen your work,I know what you can do, all
(20:47):
that kind of stuff. It's alittle bit that you know. To me,
I wouldn't normally foresee you in thatcare that kind of role. But
I based on the trailer because Idid watch the trailer. You know,
it looks amazing. I'd love tocheck it out. But how do you
how do you get into that mindsetfor the character that you were actually doing
for that for example, Yeah,that was what was really appealing to me,
(21:10):
is because it was something that I'venever done yet professionally. You know,
I think you and I and Idon't remember I can't quite recall on
our first talk, but I thinkmaybe in personal discussions anyway that you and
I have that it's so much ofour acting is only shown of what we
(21:33):
actually get to do, you know, the auditions that are the graveyard of
auditions. No, it's going tobe able to see though, but it's
like our body of work speaks tojust what we've been actually been hired,
right, And sometimes what's really appealingabout these short films and collaborating with friends
is that you get to choose yourown thing of what and you get to
(21:55):
show what it is that you whatelse you can do. And so my
friend Jeremy Brown, who wrote,directed and produced the film, when he
approached me at them like, yeah, this sounds really different from anything that
I've done, and that's what reallyappealed to me. And I think,
you know, in getting into anycharacter to answer your question, it really
just comes down to what can Irelate to with this character? And there's
(22:19):
it comes down just to the humanityof it, like what have I personal
experienced or what have I observed thatwould allow me to have an end into
this person? And that's always theanswer for me is what is my end?
And for her, you know,she's someone who was really struggling and
trying to work really hard. Thatwas told a story that if she did
(22:41):
A, B and C that she'llget X, Y and Z, and
it just doesn't really happen. Notto give anything away, but that's kind
of the crux of the story,and I think that's a very universal relatable
experience for a lot of people thatin some certain stances, one way or
(23:03):
another, we really go for somethingand put in a sweat equity and it
doesn't turn out how we were toldit would or how we expected it,
and it's managing those expectations. Yeah, yeah, okay, And so it's
still along that line when it comesto say character development or you know,
I'm trying to figure out how youwant to approach it. Do you people
(23:26):
watch to get ideas of certain charactersall the time? Yes, all the
time. I every day, Gary, every day, Like it is one
of my all time favorite pathtimes.I look, I'm a creep. I'll
just like go to a coffee shopand then just sit there and watch and
like, God, I don't evenknow if I should be saying this,
(23:48):
but look, I don't post anythingor anything like that. And then if
I want you, I'll like goup to the person and be like,
hey, I take this photo ofyou. Do you mind if I like
send it to you or you're okaywith that. But it's just these beautiful
captured moments that I find in justsitting and observing people that I'm like,
that's what I want to see andthat's what I want to do. I
(24:10):
don't know if you've experienced that,but it's and it's never the big crazy
things. I think the things thatare the most relatable and palable and transferable
to people when they're watching, especially, and I'm speaking for myself as an
audience member, those little moments ofhumanity where they're almost kind of forgotten as
(24:30):
a sideline, but for me tospeak, far louder than anything big,
destroyal you know what you mean.So that's what I really love about the
people watching, and I always getideas from that. Always it's yeah,
faily occurrence, okay, And Ithink the majority of you know, people
(24:52):
do kind of people watch to acertain extent. It's just as an actor,
we tend to take those visuals anduse it later. Yeah, definitely,
so do you. I know,I've especially in my earlier days,
I've been guilty of this. Idon't know if you ever have or what
your thoughts are on it. Butif I had an audition and I the
(25:17):
character breakdown is similar to somebody elseI may be seen in a different movie,
have you ever kind of referred tothat movie for conceptual ideas on?
Yeah, Sometimes I think I'm mosttoo minds about it. I think I'm
quite stubborn in the fact that ifit reminds me something else, I'll refer
(25:41):
to it for physical ideas. SoI find that, let me rephrase this,
I find that for certain descriptions,if it's let's say, like an
action part, you know, andthey need to see some kind of physicality
within the audition, and I'll definitelytake up some references to see or inspired
(26:04):
by other work. Absolutely, ButI am quite stubborn the fact that,
like, well, I can't justbe a copycat. It has to come
from me in some other way.And I know when I look at my
own work and my takes, ifI'm putting on an impersonation of something else,
I hate it. And that's justmy personal taste in what I do.
(26:26):
So I definitely will look for inspirationfor other things. But then I
got to rework and in some otherway to make it more of my own
right characters where you're actually pretraying somebodyreal. No, but I would actually
love to. I think that wouldbe such a fantastic challenge because and I
(26:48):
think that's a very different thing fromyou know, portraying a character somebody else's
version of a character. Yeah,sure, yeah, I mean there's so
many nuances here because you can alsolook at the adaptations of cartoon characters and
you've got a brain, like youhave to stay true to that vein.
But that's to me, like goingfrom like a cartoon to the live action.
(27:11):
There's something really beautiful in that andbeing able to embody that kind of
character versus let's say it's a biopic. I would absolutely love to study that.
I think that is really integrating andstepping into the wholly different skin.
And I would love to have thatchallenge with that kind of work. And
it's funny that you say that,because people have asked me, like,
(27:33):
oh, what's something that you wantto do next? I said, I
would love to try a biopic,have to give myself a challenge to see
if I could really embody somebody elsewhile still having the delicate balance of bringing
a little bit of myself into thattoo, So like the two worlds really
conscious kind of mix and combine,you know. But yeah, in my
(27:56):
mind, it's quite a distinction betweenemulating something that's already there to say true
to that essence of that character,whether it be adapting something from live action
or adapting into a biopic versus thisis a new character wholly entirely and not
imitating somebody else's version and place hiton them. Right. Does that make
(28:21):
sense? Yeah? Yeah, yeah. Do you have a favorite shall we
say, character type that you liketo play that you have played so far?
Oh? I don't know if Ihave a favorite type. I think
I just always like characters that havejust more to them than what's on the
(28:41):
surface. Always, you know,Like, I think that's such a generic
answer, and I apologize, butit's true. It's just you always want
something that you can just dig alittle bit deeper into that. The words
on the page aren't just the wordson the page. It's I always say,
the answers are in the white,it's not in the block of the
page, you know, Like thewords are the words, but then find
(29:02):
something else underneath there and that's wherethe role for me, where the role
fun begins. So as long asthe character gives me that, I'm totally
happy and stoked, no matter why. And that's why ask whereas kind of
going with that is, for example, playing the bad guy, because that's
where I don't know, it seemsto me a lot of the bad guys
that are on TV or bad girlsif you will, are you know,
(29:27):
they always have that underlying layer,and that's where the fun kind of is,
right because you kind of on thesurface, you're seeing this person they're
badass or they're just trouble, butthen there's always that underlying reason of why
they're like that, right, Whereasyou know, you tend to have the
good guys off you all the goodgirls, and they're more generic a lot
(29:48):
of times. Not all the time. There's some really good ones out there,
but for the most part, Ifind they're almost generic. And that's
why I think it's kind of funto play the bad guy because you have
those layers that you can play withbuild upon. Fair Enough, I will
say, yeah, I think Ido enjoy playing the baddie for sure,
and I think that's exactly the reasonwhy I think too though the good guys.
(30:12):
I think what makes a villain isjust the difference between how you deal
with pain. A hero takes painand says I don't want anyone else to
deal with that. The villain says, I take pain and everyone else is
going to pay for it, youknow, And both of them are both
rooted in some kind of hurt.And I think, you know, even
(30:33):
if you did play the hero thegood guy, there's still a lot of
room to try to play with somethinglike that. It doesn't always have to
be righteous or virtuous. There's otherways to show that, you know.
Sometimes morality lives in a very grayarea. And again it really comes down
though to the writing, if theyallowed for that. One last conquesstional kind
(30:55):
of ask is how do you howdo you balance your life with your personal
life? Do you take for yourself? Do you take time for your family?
Yeah, definitely acting like a personallife. I mean, if I'm
being completely honest, like sometimes itjust believes into another because I think a
(31:15):
lot of the times when you havea really in my opinion, when you
try to have a really fulfilling personallife, it really helps with the work.
And I don't want to say thatoh, I really need to focus
on this stuff because then I'm goingto be a better actor for a little
lot. That's terrible, but youknow, at the end of the day,
I just I think it's more ofa I guess advertisement to say,
(31:42):
don't put everything into your work allthe time. You know, do you
have those moments and time to takecare of yourself, to take care of
the people around you who really matter, who support you, who have left
you, and do the same forthem. That's really important in all your
friendships in your family. So definitely, yeah. I mean it's difficult because
(32:05):
I think a lot of the times, you know, in this business,
you're kind of working as twenty fourseven, what's next? Listen us?
What do I look for for thenext thing? I know a lot of
people who become really run down too, because there is just like this need
and perpetual motions like we can't stopto secondly stop, it's all going to
(32:25):
go away, and you wonder wherewhere does that come from? So it's
a question of like where does thatcome from? Who told us that?
And what do we need to fixhere? Because it's not sustainable after a
while. I don't know. Iwould love to hear your thoughts on how
you deal with that as well.Is that something you reckon with too?
(32:46):
Definitely? Like, for example,you know, I still have my day
job for one thing, so Istill do that eight hours a day,
and then Talent Talk itself has kindof become my second job where you know,
I'm either till eleven o'clock at nightor I'm setting out the next interview
or whatever, right, maintenance ofthe show, that kind of thing.
(33:07):
So it is a tough balance,especially when you do have kids not luckily
mine or old enough to you know, basically live on their own if they
want it. So it's not badthat way, but still it is a
balance, right because you know,if, like you said, if you're
focusing on one thing solely, thensomething else gets ignored, right, And
(33:29):
in this case, sometimes it's mywife, right, and she's like,
well, you're always doing this,Like can't we do something right? So
you do. You have to kindof backtrack a little bit, find that
time to balance that out. Andplus, like you said, in terms
of what I'm doing now, youget yourself run down, you burn yourself
(33:50):
out, and then you're like whyam I doing this? You know,
you start to question things, andso it is like you said, it's
it's a tough balancing act, butyou have to be able to be able
to that conscious decision to kind oflook at the both sides and try and
make that balance. But yeah,it can be tough for sure. Yeah.
I think a law of that comesdown to great communication too, between
(34:15):
well one and introspective communication with yourselfso that you're always checking in with yourself
and making sure that what you're doingis in service to you, it's others,
and also the communication with you andyou know, if you have a
spouse or a partner, your familyor friends willing to have those really honest
talks with each other and be like, hey, gosh, I know I've
(34:37):
been like grinding it for a reallylong time. Here, am I I
let me check in with you.Am I being acglessful? Am I being
a bad friend? And I'm maybebe in a bad spouse like and on
the other side for them to reallycall you out, like I think that
is what I really have come tovalue, is honest, open communication with
(34:58):
people and for them not to feellike they're stepping on ahells all the time
around around each other and me withthem. I think that just lends to
a really more rich and beautiful wayof being with each other. Is be
able to like call each other outa little bit and be like, hey,
I just want to check in,or if you see your friend being
(35:19):
burnt up, be like, areyou sure you're okay. It's like reaching
out to people and just having thatconstant lifeline is really important so that we
understand where that balance needs to comein. Because I don't know about you.
A lot of times we can justgo with blinders. It's like one
thing after our next, and youfeel like you can't stop, and then
you're on this roller coaster ride andyou can't really get off until someone has
(35:39):
to kind of pull you off.It happens, you know, But it's
it's just accountability with each other andto yourself absolutely and I and again you're
probably experiencing this more than I am. But with strike right, of course,
you do have more downtime. AndI don't know again about you,
but if you're away from the creativeside for too long, like I almost
(36:05):
get into a depression right where I'mlike, I need to do something creative,
So then you start to focus onthat and then you get sidetracked on
that and you know that that's arabbit hole that you can go down,
right, So yeah, and thenyou kind of need those friends like you
were saying, to have that onthis conversation, going hey you you okay,
you're right? Yeah, yeah,just to make sure you're staying afloat
(36:27):
right, Yeah, definitely. Ithink it also comes down to, I
mean, personally, for me,what's really worked as a system. I
can't go with the dry spell ofnot doing anything creatively or for myself,
I should say, in the mediumof what we work in for too long,
Like every single day, I dosomething and I put aside time every
(36:51):
single day because as long as Ido that, and I know I'll feel
okay doing something else and putting intime towards something else, Like it's it's
one of those things. I haveto create that system because I get anxiety
from from staying still. I reallydo, and I can't do it like
that to me is a health issue. Sometimes it's just like I get into
(37:13):
my own head. I'll like goand seclude myself because I'm like, no,
I gotta I gotta just get awayfrom everything then like really work right
now. But if I did Istart to implement systems where I remember doing
that every single day for as longas I need to. Sometimes and then
just saying like, please take meout of it. I'm getting, you
know, to the other side ofit a little bit too much and I'm
(37:36):
rambling again. But I think youunderstand what I'm saying. It's like it
needs to be in place. Yeah, absolutely, Yeah, and yeah,
I mean on that note, foranybody who's out there watching, listening,
if you know, you know,if your feel you're struggling with those kind
of things, definitely reach out tofriends, family. Don't be afraid to
(37:58):
put up that hand and say,hey, need to help, Yeah,
please do. I think you know, sometimes we're heasitant because you know,
again I'm speaking for myself. Idon't want to be a burden on anybody.
I'm worried that maybe I'm overreacting.I think I can just handle it
on my own. You don't needto. You know, your friends and
family are there and they love andsupport you. So yeah, just reach
(38:21):
out a hand and say like,this is what I'm doing right now.
You know, I think I thinkthey're more than willing to to be able
to put in some time and effortwith you so absolutely well. On that
note, we will wrap this up. I want to thank you so much
for taking the time down in Australia. Yeah likewise and thanks thanks again,
(38:47):
thanks for folks for watching, andwe'll see you next week. Take care,
Are you the person who loves theauditions? Then I've learned to love them,
I think before. If I'm beinghonest, sometimes the anxiety of like
the preciousness of the audition, youknow, because it is an opportunity,
and sometimes we see it it's like, oh my gosh, this is my
chance to get a job. Ireally had to change my mindse and entirely
(00:21):
and be like, look, ifI look at my track record, ninety
nine point nine percent of the auditionsI go for, I've been rejected.
If we want to put it inthose terms, I did not get those
jobs. It's just part of thebusiness, and that's totally fine. So
I look at it more of anopportunity to be able to do what I
love, and I'm not precious aboutit anymore. So when I get an
(00:41):
audition, I just want to beexcited about it because it's a chance for
me to be able to do whatI love. Talent Talk is sponsored by
Company of Rogues Actors Studio, NewYork style training for actors at all stages
of their journey. With our parttime classes and full time masterclass program,
Rogues provides a unique post secondary optionunder the guidance of working professionals, mentoring
(01:03):
and developing professional film and theater artistssince nineteen ninety three. Calgary's longest running
independent studio offers practical, hands onclasses in a positive, supportive environment.
Check us out at co rogues dotcom. Company of Rogues Passionate about the
art of acting. Hey everybody,I'm Gary McClain. You're watching Talent Talk.
(01:48):
Thanks for tuning in. If youhaven't done so already, please do
go to the Talent Talk YouTube channeland subscribe today. As always, the
supports appreciated, and also reminder thatthis and previous episodes are available on podcast
mediums such as Spotify, iHeartRadio,Google Podcast, Apple Podcast. Especially wherever
you listen to your podcast is probablythere, so please check it out now.
(02:08):
I also have sponsors for this ourfifth season, which I'm very excited
about. It's the first season we'vebeen able to bring in some sponsors and
they have helped us immensely, soI need to give them a quick shout
out. So here we go.We have six Degrees Sound in Music who
actually does our in studio in personaudio recording and editing. Now this is
a remote session, so they're notnecessarily involved but they've been supportive nonetheless.
(02:32):
And then we have Workflow Film whoactually does our film recording and editing for
those in person in studio sessions.And then we have Company of Rogues which
is a Calgary local acting studio andschool. We have RJ Talent which is
a local talent agent here in Calgary. We have heard of one media counting
(02:53):
Coup Indigenous Film Academy, and finallywe have Actra Alberta. So thank you
to those fine folks for helping usout this season. You have helped elevate
us to another level and is extremelyappreciated. Now today's guest, I was
hoping to chat a little bit aboutsome of her more shall we say streamline
(03:14):
works recently, but due to thestrike, we're going to hold off on
that. But she's also a repeatguest. We've had her on and they
think he's in season two, andit seems to be the theme this year
where we're bringing in some folks thatwe've previously had on and I'm super excited
to have her back on because she'sdone so much more since we've last chatted.
But we're going to chat a littlebit about some of her personal projects
(03:36):
and a couple of short films she'sbeen in, as well as maybe some
of you know, just acting ingeneral and find out more about the industry.
So please join me and welcoming YvonneChatman to the show. Hello.
Hi, I'm happy to be back, yes, and I'm happy to have
you back, so thank you,oh thanks for having me. I just
want to say that I am gettingover a startup bron kaide, so I'm
(04:00):
gonna put my best of the cost. So if I do, I necessarily
apologize to everybody to hear to haveto hear that. So, oh,
well, that's not good. Howlong have you? Like? How long
did you kind of have it?I was out for like a good week.
It was it was not fun.Yeah, but I'm totally fine now.
It's just like the after effects,you know. So my voice is
(04:23):
a little bit scratchy still and coffeehere and there, but I don't know.
I got I got some coffee besideme, I got some water.
I'm good to go. Perfect.Well, if it becomes too much and
you have to have a little fit, just let me know them well sidetrack,
okay, so good, perfect?Well, So what have you been
up to? You like? Ithink, like I said, season two,
I think was the last time wekind of had you on the show,
(04:44):
and that was back in what twentymaybe, Oh wow, yeah,
ye oh my gosh, she's beentwo talent talk. You guys have come
a long way. I've really enjoyedyour episodes and what you've done. I
think it's been toast to day,So congratulate on that. Yeah. Hey,
I've just been, you know,the same, same, just out
(05:04):
in Vancouver auditioning a ton, Luckilygot a couple of projects, and now
I'm just more focused, especially duringthis quiet time, on trying to create
my own things and getting back tosome really lovely independent work with some really
good friends. So yeah, actually, in fact, I think you did
(05:25):
a short film called The Stranger andinterestingly enough, and I'm not sure if
you're aware of this or not,but we actually had one of those other
folks that was in there with you, Curtis. Yeah, yeah, earlier
this season. So it's always kindof fun when I can tie those together.
Yeah, that's so lovely. Ilove Curtis. He's great, and
you know, him and I actuallymet on something that God, I think
(05:46):
it was probably, if not thefirst, maybe the second thing I ever
booked, and that's where I methim. We were on that same project
together way back in the day,like I think years ago or something like
that, and since then we justkept in touch. We always see each
other on other projects. And thenhe approached me with this project because he
(06:10):
was producing it or helping to produceit, and he said, I think
you'd be really good for the Tallowand we've always wanted to work together again,
so it was really nice to beable to do that, and I
just I just love that feel oflike the short films indie community again,
Like that's the stuff that I startedout with, you know, and like
I just wanted experience on the setand just but now it's it's more than
(06:36):
that. It's just being able towork with your friends again and seeing how
all of us have really grown anddeveloped in creating things. And it's so
nice to have just to be thereand help each other out. It's a
different vibe, you know, absolutely. Yeah, maybe you can tell us
a little bit bit about the filmitself and your role within it. Yeah.
Sure. So the two leads areif Curtis and I, and it's
(07:00):
navigating a relationship that goes under awild change. So I don't want to
give away too much. I'm noteven sure like what Andy, who's the
writer director of the film, wouldwant me to say, but I can
say that it's this wild change thathappens in these two characters relationship and they
have to navigate that. And sothat's what you've saved about this whole short.
(07:24):
And it's a change that's really unexpected, that nobody saw coming. And
it's just it really speaks to howcouples or people deal with the diversity of
something that they've known and are verycomforted in for a very long time,
when that has a seismic shift.How do you deal with it? How
(07:46):
do you even recognize in anymore?Is it something that's recognizable? Is it
something that you adapt to? Doyou steer away from the change because you're
so used to the comfortability of whatit is. It really speaks to a
lot of I think parallels and justeveryday relationships as well. You know,
as people grow and evolve, doyou grow and evolved with it? Do
(08:09):
you stay the same? How howdoes that all look like? And I
think it adjustes lots of issues notjust within personal relationships, but relationships that
you might have even with your environment, with a city, with a place,
anything that transforms and gives way tochange, how does someone deal with
that change? And that's what it'sthe short explores. Okay, and how
(08:30):
long is the film itself? Ibelieve it is. Oh gosh, I
want to say it's around I thinkthe ten minute mark. I should know
that. Yeah, you know,watching so many times, but I never
I never pay attention to the actualtime of it, do you know what
I mean? I never had adownpack to like, it is this this
long? I just watch it andit is long as a long as it
(08:54):
needs to be, right right?Yeah? Yeah, Well, so the
interest any thing. Of course,with short films, like you said,
you get to work with your friendsagain and people you haven't worked with maybe
for a while. And so I'massuming you were just approached, like you
said, and he's like, hey, I think you'd be great for this
now that you've had a few yearsexperience in kind of the higher echelon,
(09:16):
if you will, of film andTV. Do you do you find that
people approach you or are you stillhaving to do that grind of constant auditions?
And I still do the grind ofauditions a lot, a lot,
a lot, a lot, andI really don't mind it. I still
love reading for the roles because itgives me a sense of one. It
(09:39):
keeps us working right. Auditions arework, and it keeps the practice going
and the slow going, especially duringyou know time where we're just like a
you know, I just want totry something different, and I think auditions
allow you to actually work and todo that work in so many different forms
and in roles. I would sayit's quite it's a talents of people approaching
(10:01):
and then people not and I thinkit's a really nice lesson that the relationships
that you cultivate, you know,in this industry or just you know,
in general, the longer, themore you effort you put in, and
the longer the longer you go atthis, I think that just comes naturally.
(10:22):
You know, you develop a reportwith people, you develop relationships friendships
with people, and naturally you justwant to work together. So I think
the longer you stay in this gameand you know you're really with the intent
of wanting to be able to workwith your friends and to create fun things,
that's just naturally going to happen overover the years. In my experience
(10:43):
and from what I hear from otherpeople's experience as well. You know,
right, I agree with you though, like it is work, and I
know something like I've talked to afew different actors as well. Some people
hate auditions, some people love auditions. Are you who loves the auditions?
Then I've learned to love them,I think before, if I'm being honest,
(11:07):
sometimes the anxiety of like the preciousnessof the audition, you know,
because it is an opportunity, andsometimes we see it it's like, oh
my gosh, this is my chanceto get a job. I really had
to change my mindse and entirely andbe like, look, if I look
at my track record, ninety ninepoint nine percent of the auditions I go
for, I've been rejected, ifwe want to put it in those terms.
(11:28):
I did not get those jobs.It's just part of the business,
and that's totally fine. So Ilook at it as more of an opportunity
to be able to do what Ilove, and I'm not precious about it
anymore. So when I get anaudition, I just want to be excited
about it because it's a chance forme to be able to do what I
love. And to work. It'sI look at it the same as you
(11:50):
know, even classes where you're doingscene work and you get a scene and
then you put it up the nextweek. It's no different to me that
I need to put as much effortas I am putting in those additions to
my crosses, to whatever it is, and I just see as an opportunities
to be able to act. So, going back to your question, I've
(12:11):
learned to really love the audition process, and before it was not so much.
So before I gave me quite alittle bit of anxiety. You know,
Yeah, well I think, yeah, I think the anxiety part.
This is going to lead to adifferent question as well, But I think
the anxiety part I don't. Ithink it gets easier over time, but
it's still always there. There's alwaysthat lingering anxiety. Now, the question
(12:35):
I have for you in relation tothat is because the majority of our auditions
now are self tape, right incomparison to in person, do you find
in person would be still more stressfulor do you find the self tape relieve
(12:56):
some of that or that's a goodquestion, you know, I actually do
think the self tape releases them ofthat anxiety. Only because you know you
can do it in a setting thatsuits you at any time. As long
as you're getting it before the deadline, you know you have more control over
the end product. I believe,I will say, do miss in person
(13:18):
interaction and being able to have thatdirect feedback from casting director. I really
do miss having that face to facetime. And I personally think that if
it's a callback situation, for example, I would love to be in the
room and to be there with peoplewho are involved with the project just so
we can get it from a differentstage from the first read. But for
(13:43):
the self tave, I actually quiteenjoy it. Actually, I'm not one
of those people, and I suggestfor other people too. I'm not one
of those people who do like athousand takes for each scene. I don't
think that helps anybody. I thinkyou lose some of the magic of the
quantaneity that happens that you want tosee within a performance. So I'm not
like that. But I do likethe I do like the flexibility that it
(14:07):
lends for self saping, you know. I think that allows me to be
able to do a little bit morewith it actually than I would in the
in room, in the in room. You kind of feel like maybe it's
you know, you're in a timeconstraint and you only have so much room
and so much time to be ableto get in there and do your thing
and get out, whereas I thinkin the self takes, you have a
(14:30):
little bit more leeway to be ableto play around, right. Yeah,
no, that's fair. I don'tknow how you feel if that's what your
experience as well, but yeah,and like you, I try not to
do too many takes because, likeyou said, after a while, just
you become numb to the lines almost. But what I found in again,
(14:52):
I guess is kind of another questionis how often give have you done like
zoom callbacks? I've done a couple. Yeah, I've done a couple,
and the zoom ones I'll be I'llbe honest. I will do them because
it's just any opportunity, again tobe able to do what we what we
(15:13):
can. Absolutely I do find themstrange though, especially when there's like technical
issues or hiccups, like especially ifit's an emotional scene. I find those
like, oh man, I gottado the such screen. I can do
it, but it's not the idealsituation, especially when you're trying to connect
and you can see you know,the reader, You're like, wait,
where are they? And then maybethere's like other things going off that it's
(15:35):
just so distracting. But hey,like it's it's another challenge, and it's
all about the reframing of the mindsetof just like how are you going to
look at look at this? Areyou're gonna go in with an attitude being
like, you know, this isan ideal, I don't this is gonna
be tough, or just take iton as a fun challenge and see what
happens. Yeah, to me,it's like it's all good. It's all
(15:58):
as long as people are still willingto see me. That's all I really
care about at the end of theday. Yeah. Absolutely, Like I
think I have an audition tomorrow,which is the first one since well before
the strike. So yeah, I'mkind of excited about that. Sorry,
good luck, Well, thank you, thank you. Yeah. So I've
(16:21):
had one zoom called well actually I'vehad a couple of zoom callbacks, but
I remember this one that I hadand it was I think I was probably
more stressed than I'd ever been inan audition to do that Zoom callback.
But I think I shot myself onthe foot because I had my lines ready,
I was good to go, butI had about thirty minutes left before
(16:42):
I was supposed to get online,and I thought, in that time,
okay, fine. So I startedto look up, you know, who
the producers were, who the directorswere, see what they've done, and
they were all like they had allbeen involved in like major projects, especially
in the UK show that I hadwatched and loved, and so then I
(17:03):
think I got into my own headof oh, I really need to impress
these people, right, and Iscrewed the entire thing, but obviously screw
it up as much as you thinkit's yeah, it's I mean, yeah,
it's always worse in your own mind, definitely, but obviously not enough
to actually get the part. Sobut I do know the fellow who'd you
(17:26):
get the role, and very happyfor him because he yeah, he's a
good actor, so it deserves it. Yeah good, Yeah, I mean
that's a testing right. It's likethey always say, go in armed with
as much knowledge as you can.I purposely, honestly, i'll look at
it after, but for audition,for audition purposes, I don't. I
(17:48):
try to not look up the producerswhat they've done. You know, I
just I look up as much asI can and get ready for the story,
and then anything beyond that I'll I'lllearn after. But for me,
like like you said, I don'twant to get my head in my head
about like you know, because Ican find girls too, like I think
(18:11):
like, oh god, we've donethis, and then I absolutely love that
project. I'd love to be apart of that. And for me,
I'm like that that doesn't help.It's not it's not about that I need
to get the job done in termsof the acting bit and what's going to
help me. There's just like reallydeep dive into that story and that character
and then everything else you can youcan look at after, But I'm the
same. I'm like, I can'ttouch that stuff. Yeah, so learn
(18:34):
my lesson there. Yes, lookI did after, but yeah, I
know I find I is well kindof missed the in personal ones because again,
yeah, it's just that interaction ofbecause when you send in the cell
tape, even if you if youdo it in three takes or ten takes,
(18:57):
you really have no idea, right, so you send it in at
least when you're in the room youcan look at that person and read body
language or just take their words rightand absorb it and try and work with
it. But you have none ofthat with the self tapes, and I
find that's it's yeah, almost anticlimatic, if you will. Yeah,
(19:22):
yeah, it's a tricky thing.But you know, I always go back
to the saying that what misses youwas never meant for you, and what's
meant for you will never miss you. And even in the self tapes,
I have a lot of trust inthe casting directors and their eye for what
(19:42):
they're looking for that even if theread isn't exactly what they wanted, there's
enough there in your essence of whoyou are as a person, as an
actor that's coming through for them totake a second look, or for them
to say, you know what,maybe it's not quite there yet, but
I'll send the notes to red tapeor I'll bring them in. It's really
about just having that trust in thatthat faith that you know, if I'm
(20:04):
right for this role, I willhear something. And I don't know about
you, but sometimes you just know. Sometimes you read something like, Okay,
this probably isn't mine, but I'mgoing to give a crack at it
anyway, and I'm going to havea lot of fun doing it. Or
there's ones like oh yeah, thisis this is my this is my dude,
Like I'm going to hear something.You know, you just know yourself
(20:25):
instinctually as well, and I thinkwe have to also know that. Casting
directors and know that too, andthey're seeing us for a reason. So
the other short fem I wanted tobring up first, which was dragon Fruit,
which is kind of a post apocollectivething. Yeah, because that's you
know, I've seen your work,I know what you can do, all
(20:47):
that kind of stuff. It's alittle bit that you know. To me,
I wouldn't normally foresee you in thatcare that kind of role. But
I based on the trailer because Idid watch the trailer. You know,
it looks amazing. I'd love tocheck it out. But how do you
how do you get into that mindsetfor the character that you were actually doing
for that for example, Yeah,that was what was really appealing to me,
(21:10):
is because it was something that I'venever done yet professionally. You know,
I think you and I and Idon't remember I can't quite recall on
our first talk, but I thinkmaybe in personal discussions anyway that you and
I have that it's so much ofour acting is only shown of what we
(21:33):
actually get to do, you know, the auditions that are the graveyard of
auditions. No, it's going tobe able to see though, but it's
like our body of work speaks tojust what we've been actually been hired,
right, And sometimes what's really appealingabout these short films and collaborating with friends
is that you get to choose yourown thing of what and you get to
(21:55):
show what it is that you whatelse you can do. And so my
friend Jeremy Brown, who wrote,directed and produced the film, when he
approached me at them like, yeah, this sounds really different from anything that
I've done, and that's what reallyappealed to me. And I think,
you know, in getting into anycharacter to answer your question, it really
just comes down to what can Irelate to with this character? And there's
(22:19):
it comes down just to the humanityof it, like what have I personal
experienced or what have I observed thatwould allow me to have an end into
this person? And that's always theanswer for me is what is my end?
And for her, you know,she's someone who was really struggling and
trying to work really hard. Thatwas told a story that if she did
(22:41):
A, B and C that she'llget X, Y and Z, and
it just doesn't really happen. Notto give anything away, but that's kind
of the crux of the story,and I think that's a very universal relatable
experience for a lot of people thatin some certain stances, one way or
(23:03):
another, we really go for somethingand put in a sweat equity and it
doesn't turn out how we were toldit would or how we expected it,
and it's managing those expectations. Yeah, yeah, okay, And so it's
still along that line when it comesto say character development or you know,
I'm trying to figure out how youwant to approach it. Do you people
(23:26):
watch to get ideas of certain charactersall the time? Yes, all the
time. I every day, Gary, every day, Like it is one
of my all time favorite pathtimes.I look, I'm a creep. I'll
just like go to a coffee shopand then just sit there and watch and
like, God, I don't evenknow if I should be saying this,
(23:48):
but look, I don't post anythingor anything like that. And then if
I want you, I'll like goup to the person and be like,
hey, I take this photo ofyou. Do you mind if I like
send it to you or you're okaywith that. But it's just these beautiful
captured moments that I find in justsitting and observing people that I'm like,
that's what I want to see andthat's what I want to do. I
(24:10):
don't know if you've experienced that,but it's and it's never the big crazy
things. I think the things thatare the most relatable and palable and transferable
to people when they're watching, especially, and I'm speaking for myself as an
audience member, those little moments ofhumanity where they're almost kind of forgotten as
(24:30):
a sideline, but for me tospeak, far louder than anything big,
destroyal you know what you mean.So that's what I really love about the
people watching, and I always getideas from that. Always it's yeah,
faily occurrence, okay, And Ithink the majority of you know, people
(24:52):
do kind of people watch to acertain extent. It's just as an actor,
we tend to take those visuals anduse it later. Yeah, definitely,
so do you. I know,I've especially in my earlier days,
I've been guilty of this. Idon't know if you ever have or what
your thoughts are on it. Butif I had an audition and I the
(25:17):
character breakdown is similar to somebody elseI may be seen in a different movie,
have you ever kind of referred tothat movie for conceptual ideas on?
Yeah, Sometimes I think I'm mosttoo minds about it. I think I'm
quite stubborn in the fact that ifit reminds me something else, I'll refer
(25:41):
to it for physical ideas. SoI find that, let me rephrase this,
I find that for certain descriptions,if it's let's say, like an
action part, you know, andthey need to see some kind of physicality
within the audition, and I'll definitelytake up some references to see or inspired
(26:04):
by other work. Absolutely, ButI am quite stubborn the fact that,
like, well, I can't justbe a copycat. It has to come
from me in some other way.And I know when I look at my
own work and my takes, ifI'm putting on an impersonation of something else,
I hate it. And that's justmy personal taste in what I do.
(26:26):
So I definitely will look for inspirationfor other things. But then I
got to rework and in some otherway to make it more of my own
right characters where you're actually pretraying somebodyreal. No, but I would actually
love to. I think that wouldbe such a fantastic challenge because and I
(26:48):
think that's a very different thing fromyou know, portraying a character somebody else's
version of a character. Yeah,sure, yeah, I mean there's so
many nuances here because you can alsolook at the adaptations of cartoon characters and
you've got a brain, like youhave to stay true to that vein.
But that's to me, like goingfrom like a cartoon to the live action.
(27:11):
There's something really beautiful in that andbeing able to embody that kind of
character versus let's say it's a biopic. I would absolutely love to study that.
I think that is really integrating andstepping into the wholly different skin.
And I would love to have thatchallenge with that kind of work. And
it's funny that you say that,because people have asked me, like,
(27:33):
oh, what's something that you wantto do next? I said, I
would love to try a biopic,have to give myself a challenge to see
if I could really embody somebody elsewhile still having the delicate balance of bringing
a little bit of myself into thattoo, So like the two worlds really
conscious kind of mix and combine,you know. But yeah, in my
(27:56):
mind, it's quite a distinction betweenemulating something that's already there to say true
to that essence of that character,whether it be adapting something from live action
or adapting into a biopic versus thisis a new character wholly entirely and not
imitating somebody else's version and place hiton them. Right. Does that make
(28:21):
sense? Yeah? Yeah, yeah. Do you have a favorite shall we
say, character type that you liketo play that you have played so far?
Oh? I don't know if Ihave a favorite type. I think
I just always like characters that havejust more to them than what's on the
(28:41):
surface. Always, you know,Like, I think that's such a generic
answer, and I apologize, butit's true. It's just you always want
something that you can just dig alittle bit deeper into that. The words
on the page aren't just the wordson the page. It's I always say,
the answers are in the white,it's not in the block of the
page, you know, Like thewords are the words, but then find
(29:02):
something else underneath there and that's wherethe role for me, where the role
fun begins. So as long asthe character gives me that, I'm totally
happy and stoked, no matter why. And that's why ask whereas kind of
going with that is, for example, playing the bad guy, because that's
where I don't know, it seemsto me a lot of the bad guys
that are on TV or bad girlsif you will, are you know,
(29:27):
they always have that underlying layer,and that's where the fun kind of is,
right because you kind of on thesurface, you're seeing this person they're
badass or they're just trouble, butthen there's always that underlying reason of why
they're like that, right, Whereasyou know, you tend to have the
good guys off you all the goodgirls, and they're more generic a lot
(29:48):
of times. Not all the time. There's some really good ones out there,
but for the most part, Ifind they're almost generic. And that's
why I think it's kind of funto play the bad guy because you have
those layers that you can play withbuild upon. Fair Enough, I will
say, yeah, I think Ido enjoy playing the baddie for sure,
and I think that's exactly the reasonwhy I think too though the good guys.
(30:12):
I think what makes a villain isjust the difference between how you deal
with pain. A hero takes painand says I don't want anyone else to
deal with that. The villain says, I take pain and everyone else is
going to pay for it, youknow, And both of them are both
rooted in some kind of hurt.And I think, you know, even
(30:33):
if you did play the hero thegood guy, there's still a lot of
room to try to play with somethinglike that. It doesn't always have to
be righteous or virtuous. There's otherways to show that, you know.
Sometimes morality lives in a very grayarea. And again it really comes down
though to the writing, if theyallowed for that. One last conquesstional kind
(30:55):
of ask is how do you howdo you balance your life with your personal
life? Do you take for yourself? Do you take time for your family?
Yeah, definitely acting like a personallife. I mean, if I'm
being completely honest, like sometimes itjust believes into another because I think a
(31:15):
lot of the times when you havea really in my opinion, when you
try to have a really fulfilling personallife, it really helps with the work.
And I don't want to say thatoh, I really need to focus
on this stuff because then I'm goingto be a better actor for a little
lot. That's terrible, but youknow, at the end of the day,
I just I think it's more ofa I guess advertisement to say,
(31:42):
don't put everything into your work allthe time. You know, do you
have those moments and time to takecare of yourself, to take care of
the people around you who really matter, who support you, who have left
you, and do the same forthem. That's really important in all your
friendships in your family. So definitely, yeah. I mean it's difficult because
(32:05):
I think a lot of the times, you know, in this business,
you're kind of working as twenty fourseven, what's next? Listen us?
What do I look for for thenext thing? I know a lot of
people who become really run down too, because there is just like this need
and perpetual motions like we can't stopto secondly stop, it's all going to
(32:25):
go away, and you wonder wherewhere does that come from? So it's
a question of like where does thatcome from? Who told us that?
And what do we need to fixhere? Because it's not sustainable after a
while. I don't know. Iwould love to hear your thoughts on how
you deal with that as well.Is that something you reckon with too?
(32:46):
Definitely? Like, for example,you know, I still have my day
job for one thing, so Istill do that eight hours a day,
and then Talent Talk itself has kindof become my second job where you know,
I'm either till eleven o'clock at nightor I'm setting out the next interview
or whatever, right, maintenance ofthe show, that kind of thing.
(33:07):
So it is a tough balance,especially when you do have kids not luckily
mine or old enough to you know, basically live on their own if they
want it. So it's not badthat way, but still it is a
balance, right because you know,if, like you said, if you're
focusing on one thing solely, thensomething else gets ignored, right, And
(33:29):
in this case, sometimes it's mywife, right, and she's like,
well, you're always doing this,Like can't we do something right? So
you do. You have to kindof backtrack a little bit, find that
time to balance that out. Andplus, like you said, in terms
of what I'm doing now, youget yourself run down, you burn yourself
(33:50):
out, and then you're like whyam I doing this? You know,
you start to question things, andso it is like you said, it's
it's a tough balancing act, butyou have to be able to be able
to that conscious decision to kind oflook at the both sides and try and
make that balance. But yeah,it can be tough for sure. Yeah.
I think a law of that comesdown to great communication too, between
(34:15):
well one and introspective communication with yourselfso that you're always checking in with yourself
and making sure that what you're doingis in service to you, it's others,
and also the communication with you andyou know, if you have a
spouse or a partner, your familyor friends willing to have those really honest
talks with each other and be like, hey, gosh, I know I've
(34:37):
been like grinding it for a reallylong time. Here, am I I
let me check in with you.Am I being acglessful? Am I being
a bad friend? And I'm maybebe in a bad spouse like and on
the other side for them to reallycall you out, like I think that
is what I really have come tovalue, is honest, open communication with
(34:58):
people and for them not to feellike they're stepping on ahells all the time
around around each other and me withthem. I think that just lends to
a really more rich and beautiful wayof being with each other. Is be
able to like call each other outa little bit and be like, hey,
I just want to check in,or if you see your friend being
(35:19):
burnt up, be like, areyou sure you're okay. It's like reaching
out to people and just having thatconstant lifeline is really important so that we
understand where that balance needs to comein. Because I don't know about you.
A lot of times we can justgo with blinders. It's like one
thing after our next, and youfeel like you can't stop, and then
you're on this roller coaster ride andyou can't really get off until someone has
(35:39):
to kind of pull you off.It happens, you know, But it's
it's just accountability with each other andto yourself absolutely and I and again you're
probably experiencing this more than I am. But with strike right, of course,
you do have more downtime. AndI don't know again about you,
but if you're away from the creativeside for too long, like I almost
(36:05):
get into a depression right where I'mlike, I need to do something creative,
So then you start to focus onthat and then you get sidetracked on
that and you know that that's arabbit hole that you can go down,
right, So yeah, and thenyou kind of need those friends like you
were saying, to have that onthis conversation, going hey you you okay,
you're right? Yeah, yeah,just to make sure you're staying afloat
(36:27):
right, Yeah, definitely. Ithink it also comes down to, I
mean, personally, for me,what's really worked as a system. I
can't go with the dry spell ofnot doing anything creatively or for myself,
I should say, in the mediumof what we work in for too long,
Like every single day, I dosomething and I put aside time every
(36:51):
single day because as long as Ido that, and I know I'll feel
okay doing something else and putting intime towards something else, Like it's it's
one of those things. I haveto create that system because I get anxiety
from from staying still. I reallydo, and I can't do it like
that to me is a health issue. Sometimes it's just like I get into
(37:13):
my own head. I'll like goand seclude myself because I'm like, no,
I gotta I gotta just get awayfrom everything then like really work right
now. But if I did Istart to implement systems where I remember doing
that every single day for as longas I need to. Sometimes and then
just saying like, please take meout of it. I'm getting, you
know, to the other side ofit a little bit too much and I'm
(37:36):
rambling again. But I think youunderstand what I'm saying. It's like it
needs to be in place. Yeah, absolutely, Yeah, and yeah,
I mean on that note, foranybody who's out there watching, listening,
if you know, you know,if your feel you're struggling with those kind
of things, definitely reach out tofriends, family. Don't be afraid to
(37:58):
put up that hand and say,hey, need to help, Yeah,
please do. I think you know, sometimes we're heasitant because you know,
again I'm speaking for myself. Idon't want to be a burden on anybody.
I'm worried that maybe I'm overreacting.I think I can just handle it
on my own. You don't needto. You know, your friends and
family are there and they love andsupport you. So yeah, just reach
(38:21):
out a hand and say like,this is what I'm doing right now.
You know, I think I thinkthey're more than willing to to be able
to put in some time and effortwith you so absolutely well. On that
note, we will wrap this up. I want to thank you so much
for taking the time down in Australia. Yeah likewise and thanks thanks again,
(38:47):
thanks for folks for watching, andwe'll see you next week. Take care,
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