October 1, 2024 • 58 mins
David Autovino gave me the impression of someone who accidentally fell into performing and just kept doing it. It's because, for David, performance seems effortless, but he works as hard at his craft as any successful performer. David graces the stage, the screen and the booth but doesn't stop there - he shares his knowledge with people who want to improve their acting or voice chops. He's the real deal: talented and humble.
He's also a husband, father and super nice chap. Drop by and listen to this Blathering with one of my favorite talents, David Autovino.
Find him on socials and the interwebs: https://davidautovino.wixsite.com/actor
He's also a husband, father and super nice chap. Drop by and listen to this Blathering with one of my favorite talents, David Autovino.
Find him on socials and the interwebs: https://davidautovino.wixsite.com/actor
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Not three beeat non conformist. Oh, I promise to be different.
I promised to be unique. I promise not threepeat things
other people say.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Hey, welcome back to positive blatherings. It's always a really
joyful experience for me when I have the folks that
come in here, Like this guy. I want to say
his name is David Ottavino, But I also want to
say his name.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Is David.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Wine car. Like, what is the translation of that auto vino?
It actually translates to wine maker. Yeah, so at some
point in my family's history we must have made wine.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Now you just want that's supposed to make? Oh man
already with the zingers, I was itealing you. I was
just sitting down here saying how comfortable I feel. How
there's candles and there's flowers and now and now the
claws come out. Honestly, this is a gotcha interview. No.
(01:21):
I always wish that my family that I if I
delved into my family's history, that I could discover that like, oh,
it turns out that yeah, No, the Audovinos have owned
a winery in Italy for years and years.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
No, nothing like that.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
It'll come from some sort of Italian Tuscan royalty or
something like that.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Yeah, no, no, unfortunately, so we must have made the
Italian equivalent of tubuc chuck tubuc kianti tubucch So yeah, no,
no illustrious history there. But at one point, a very
funny friend of mine in college. It had never occurred
to me before, but the first time he heard my
(02:00):
last name, he he just like, off the top of
his that he was like, oh, so auto was in
car Veno is in wine, but don't drink and drive,
and uh and and I yeah, I've I've stolen that
from him over the years because it's it's it's somewhat pithy.
I think it's pithy the first time. But for me
it's been twenty five years when I was drinking.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
I would have loved to have developed some sort of
auto Veno sort of an automatic wine you know, dispenser
that you just sit there and oh sure, yeah, yeah, well,
as long as it's a good vintage and not not
an auto vino vintage, because right, because we made the
worst stuff. Did you do you do you have any
information about like where your family comes from specifically or at.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
One point, yeah, I mean the auto uh mind family
is from uh the auto Venos are from Sicily, but
I also have some Italian family in Palermo, and and
and and that's just far. Like someone contacted my father
back when the Internet was new, and you could just
sort of discover, like, wa, these Parsons in America, same blast,
(03:08):
the name, same last name as me. What I send
them email? And like nothing ever, So there were some
hellos and then nothing ever came of it. So were
they definitely related or was it just a coincidence? As
far as we know, I think, I mean, I I
don't believe the name Outovino is as common in Italy.
I'm led to understand, as say, I don't know what's
(03:30):
what's like an English speaking name that means you do
you're like like crofter or crofton, like like in English,
which means like at some point they were.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
A barrel maker. That's your last name, you know?
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Or yeah. I can't think of any other examples, but
I'm as far as I can tell, there are not
many Audovinos out there in the world. It's the only
one I've ever heard of for a special breed. You
are a rare animal, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Well, speaking of rare animals, so well, this guy David
Ottovino is one of the most talented voice artists that
I know.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
He's also a voice.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Coach and an actor, doing stage and screen and pretty
much anything that he can get his acting hands.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
On, which is yeah, I mean when you but that's
what you do, that's yeah, that is kind of what
you do, you know you Yeah, I think when so
I went to college to learn how I went to
acting school to become an actor, not really thinking about like, well,
in what way am I going to pursue making money?
What am I going to do? Make movies? Am I
(04:35):
going to be a stage I like, you don't know that,
I think, especially because it was the nineteen nineties when
financially everything was fine, and you're like, I could go
to college and become an actor. I won't worry about
what to specialize in. Yet the work will come right. Surely,
they'll all come lining up at my door asking me,
(04:57):
asking me to do stuff. No, it's just it's it's
It is funny how life sort of guides you by
this very circuitous route toward the thing, and if you
sort of follow the doors that open to you, sometimes
that can lead you to a place where you sort
of find what you're kind of meant to do. Before
(05:21):
I ever ever started doing voiceover work, I was in
a play with a wonderful director who at at one
point just offhandedly said to me out of you know,
you're the kind of actor who finds his character through
his voice, and that it never occurred to me that
that would be like sort of the main part of
my career.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Yeah, someday, but it is absolutely true.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
If I'm handed a script, sort of the first thing
that occurs to me as I'm reading it is I'm
hearing how that person speaks in my head. You know,
they've got you see words on a page, and it's
an actor's job to sort of sherlock homes that backward
and think, well, who is the person that would say
these words? And so you imagine this whole person, and
(06:07):
you imagine what they look like, how they move, what
they and especially what they sound like, and what they
talk like, because that's all I'm seeing is the words
that they say. That's all the clues that I'm given.
So the way in which we speak, I think, does
have a particularly aesthetic appeal for me, because for so
(06:34):
much of our interpersonal you know, communication, that the way
we speak is so vital. And in fact, I just
read something interesting about about the young people, you know, kids,
the kids today who have grown up with primarily text
(06:55):
based communication, and so there are all these sort of
well unspoken social cues that lie in text based communication.
Like they know intuitively that you cannot express sarcasm in
a text, and so they you end your message with
(07:16):
like a forward slash and an S to indicate sarcasm.
That is just sort of this part of Internet parlance
in order to express tone, you know, so that you're
not misunderstood, so that people don't take you the wrong way.
That those of us who grew up with a rotary
phone right in our kitchen.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
I'm constantly being taken the wrong way with my text.
This is actually an ongoing theme for for a couple
of people that you know right now, and we're really yeah,
we've been talking about it on some podcasts and things
like that, just about how how you're the way you
express yourself in text. You know, where it can lead to,
(07:57):
where the intentions where they really are, and how they're perceived.
And it's oftentimes even even the most innocent of communications
suddenly is like turns into this thing and we're like,
that's not at all what I meant.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
And it's like, but that's how we did this.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
We we did a piece where we texted back and
forth and then when we got on the show, she said,
this is how I heard it, and so she read
it out.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
That's great.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
And then I'm like, well, this is how I said
it in my head. And it was like night and day,
same words, same words, night and day, completely different. Now,
so what are the kids do? Did they did they
say like slash s, you know, like.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Yeah, no, well what, Well, what I think is funny
is also as as someone who also is kind of
a grammar nerd is is how I see them use punctuation,
especially to express I mean, they essentially just don't use
punctuation anymore. And and so when I look at something
like that and read it in my head, it has
(09:03):
a stream of consciousness kind of quality to it. And
then if there's no period, it's almost as if when
I seeing a period at the end of a sentence
online is so rare that when I do see it,
it carries this extra weight of finality, you know that, like, no, no,
this is serious, all right, take me seriously, because I
(09:24):
am ending this thought with a period. It's like it
almost unconsciously communicates that, like, I will hear no arguments
against this. This is God's honest, This is the firm truth.
And like it has a period, you cannot debate me.
But what about when they have a period after each
word in the sentence? That's how I write. That's a
bit what I did. That's really fine. Yeah, oh jeez,
(09:50):
I mean yeah, it conveys, It conveys anger.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
And so when I it's funny, So I do I do?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
You know? Coach and teed some workshops from from time
to time, and a big part of that is is
script analysis, right, and that is dependent on reading a
script that you know that someone has consciously written to
a purpose and that the punctuation is very specifically thought out,
(10:20):
so that like if you get to a place where
there's a comma and you know that this is a
good writer who has put that comma there for a reason,
you can't just blow past the comma. You can't like
it's it's got to be in there. At the same time,
I have to also coach people because because part of
this business is not only is it you know, beautiful
well written works of drama and comedy. It's also advertising,
(10:43):
in which case you're not necessarily working with you know,
it's it's it's not Shakespeare, I'm you know, obviously, copywriters
are usually good writers, but they're not writing something to
be beautiful, right, it's not literature. It's not literature exactly,
and so and so those cues are are almost completely
different in teaching someone how to speak that because they're
(11:05):
not necessarily as guided by the way it's written, or
maybe they are guided in a different way and figuring out,
you know, because like advertising, copy has things like calls
to action and you know, like this is this is
the point and then you know, oh oh when here's
the brand name. So this needs to be accentuated in
(11:27):
some way. So there's a whole different way of speaking. Yeap.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Did you going back to when you were, you know,
kind of first getting started, did you run into any like,
what was the biggest hurdle or opposition personally that you
had to overcome in order to continue down this path
of acting and performing.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
It was I mean, really just it was no one hurdle.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
It's merely I think the fact that it is a
tough business for a lot of reasons. One, it does
not pay, it does not pay well, and yet it
is highly competitive. You know, there's there's there, there's a
lot of jobs like that, but this is one of
those jobs that that I think, like teaching. I come
(12:15):
from a family of teachers. I'm married to a to
a public education teacher. So so I use this analogy
a lot because that I think is one of those
professions that is the people are called to it. It's
a calling. They do it because they're passionate about it,
and so it is easy to let yourself be abused
(12:37):
a little bit when it's something you're passionate about. You're
willing to accept a pay cut, You're willing to accept
terrible hours because what you're doing is meaningful and and
and acting is a lot like that, you know, because
it's a calling. There are lots of people who you know,
people want to pay you peanuts. It's and financially, it's
not exactly a winning proposition unless you are at the
(12:58):
very tippy top that the you know, point zero one
percent of blockbuster Hollywood films that rake in millions. So A,
it's not a real sound financial decision going in and
B there's a lot of people competing. You know, something
that they told me right away in college is that
you're not special. Yes, there are special things about you,
(13:21):
but you're gonna go out and you're gonna look for
a job, and there are going to be at least
twenty other people who are not only as talented as you,
who not only have worked as hard as you no
matter how much work and effort you've put in, but
they also kind of look like you. Yeah, that's just
when you play the numbers game, there's gonna be a
lot of people who are basically the same value position
(13:43):
against a bunch of versions of yourself. Exactly. I never
thought I've never really thought about that, but that's true.
You're up against all these doppelgangers of yourself with very
subtle variations you are, you are two dozen. You're in
a room with two dozen subtly different shades of green.
And so no matter how hard you've worked, no matter
what sort of effort you put into, the director's just
(14:06):
looking for just the right shade of green, because they
know at that point they're all getting, you know, very
well trained shades of green. Right, you just.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Need to match what they have in mind.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
And so that also teaches you that it's not really
your fault as long as you really are working hard
and doing your best, that those failures it's not a
personal failing.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
It's just that you weren't the right shade of green
that time. Next time you will be.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
It's a numbers game, and so that that is always difficult,
and it takes I think years of failure before you
finally sort of realize that, like, it's okay, and I
can let go of the things that I thought I
wanted and I didn't get because I was the wrong
(14:53):
shade of green. Because if they had chosen me for
that job, I would had to fit the exact shade
of green that they wanted. I would have had to
bend and break, And that's always terrible. Those are the
worst kind of jobs where you have to really sort
(15:13):
of like force your own creativity to fit someone else's.
It should come naturally. The best jobs are the ones
where the juices are flowing and everyone's being creative and
everyone's working well with each other and it all just
kind of clicks and so it you know, the jobs
that you didn't get chosen for are usually the ones
(15:35):
where that wouldn't have happened anyway, Right, That's why you
didn't get picked, because you weren't the best fit.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
So let that one go. And that is always.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Difficult to do, to make sure that you can close
the door mentally on those things you thought you wanted
and realized it wouldn't have been what I wanted anyway.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
So you come across as the room confident guy, like
there's you know, do I look just because I'm better
than everyone else doesn't make me a confident guy.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I would say I'm probably the best at being confident
that I've ever out of anyone I've ever met.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Though, So well, that sounds like something sounds like someone
I've heard before. No, So going back as a child,
now you talked about college and I don't know if
you've maybe high school being in theater. Yeah, but going
back as a child as a little out of you know,
what was what was the signal to your parents or
(16:38):
two people around you that that were you told you're
probably gonna be like here's our theater kid, or here's
our performer or here's our actor.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Were you like the class clown and stuff like that? No, No,
absolutely not, I was. I was just a real skinny squirrely,
little weirdo nerdy boy who I think didn't really fit
in anywhere.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
And when I was twelve, my dad played me.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and that changed the
course of my life. That was the first time I
had seen, like I got comedy. Comedy made sense, like, oh, and.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
That's a certain brand of comedy too, that doesn't actually
connect with everyone.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
Yeah, yeah, but it is a massific.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
It is very specific, but it's also a masterclass and
how comedy is structured, even if I didn't have the
vocabulary to express that at the time. The way that
you know.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
It is it's a sketch movie.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
It is just it is a series of comic sketches
loosely linked by this overall theme, and it's up to
the audience members to sort of assemble the plot themselves.
But they were brilliant and it was the sort of
comedy that I'd never experienced before. So I loved it
so much that that summer I had the opportunity to
(18:00):
sign up for a Shakespeare class where you would put
on a play for like two weeks, like a summer
camp kind of thing, and I was like, Shakespeare, that's
got to be like money python right, because a British
be old timey, like the Holy Grail, like King Arthur
and stuff. That's Shakespeare, right, So I thought this is
(18:20):
gonna be hilarious.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
I'm doing it, and it was.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
It was Macbeth, the most serious tragedies. Everyone dies, It's
an absolute blood bath, psychological horror. Sorry, sorry, no spoilers.
I know it's a little soon for spoilers for a
four hundred year old work. I apologize, and uh yeah,
And you know, Willy Shakes has been disappointing me ever since.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
But Willy Shakes, no, I'm not me and.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Billy Shakes have a good relationship, I think, but ever since.
So that was the very first time. So it was
just by luck. It was because I wanted to do
something money python ish that I got up on stage
and it turned out learning lines and pretending to be
someone else in front of people was just the greatest.
It was just the best feeling in the world. No
(19:09):
stage fright, No, no, not at all. And and I
know that that's a weird mental thing. I feel like
for some people that just I know that that is
just nope, not going at all. Couldn't get over that,
could not get over the nervousness of getting up in
front of people and speaking and and and I don't
know why, I just don't have that bone. And again,
(19:32):
I don't know if it is maybe because my because
my dad was a public school teacher and got up
and he was in fact my he was my own teacher.
And so I saw him get up and speak in
front of people. So that your dad is a teacher.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
My dad was my math teacher in eighth I didn't.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Think that could happen. I thought they made you go
take a different class.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
I think he was. So I went to a very
small rural high school out there. Tell me, yeah, no,
he was. He was probably the only teacher teaching you know,
that section of math and that. And then later he
uh he was in the process of getting his getting
a second master's degree in administration. So by the end
of high school he was also my principal. Uh so,
(20:13):
so so I you know, I saw him. That must
have been crazy. That was There was one time we
were planning like this huge we were planning a big
senior prank or I think a senior skip day or something.
And uh oh, I think I think we were gonna
we were gonna wear something ridiculous. It was some some
hilarious punk prank that you're gonna pull. And my dad
(20:34):
grabs me first thing, like right after the first bell rings,
just pulls me aside in the hallway and says, I
know what you're gonna do. I'm telling you right now,
do not do it. I have no idea how he knew.
I have no idea who squealed, but he was. But
but he just you know, he had his ear to
the ground, he had his spies, he had his little
(20:54):
birds reporting back, and he knew. So I couldn't get
in trouble because he knew what we were planning. But
I was even going to do it, so uh so,
So it was either it was that or maybe it's
just my Italian grandmother who is a natural storyteller and
and and and talks with their hands exactly as I'm
doing right now, and and and so, so you do
have that storytelling, you know.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Yeah, yeah, I just did the Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Yeah. That was never one of those feelings that I
just don't I just don't know what it.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
Feels like to be embarrassed to be up in front
of other people.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
But I get it. I know there are things I
would be embarrassed to do. I think, I don't know.
I've been I've been pretty debased in many times in
my career. Like my parents have seen me naked on stage.
My parents have seen body parts of me in shows
tastefully done. Sure done, of course, you know for so
(21:48):
So yeah, no, there's I have. I live a life
of very little shape.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
So but as a coach, how do you how do
you deal with your students who are perhaps experiencing really
really tense fear and stage fright and things like that.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
How do you coach them through that? I mean, I
think the only thing that I can do, because I
know that there are people who do pursue this kind
of thing, and I think eventually they find their path
to it, they find their path toward artistic expression. In fact,
I think for a lot of people, voiceover in particular
(22:24):
is the best avenue for them because it necessitates that
you can be alone. You don't have to do it
in front of people. It's something you make yourself and
you can pour your heart and soul and creativity into
it and then you share it with the world. It's
not you don't have to do it in front of
(22:45):
people in real time. And I think that level of
distance appeals to a lot of people who would never
get up on a stage and deliver a Shakespearean sonnet
in front of a crowd of two hundred people. And
so I think that there is that. But the other
thing is is that, honestly it is it is so
(23:06):
much fun. And that's whenever I teach or coach, this
is fun for me, do it. There is nothing more
fun for me than than than than saying words and
pretending to be someone. It's pretending, it's play. It is
fundamentally this delightful fun thing. So the more I can
(23:30):
express to people, and the more I can sort of
get them to feel that fun, that fun, more often
than not conquers the fear, you know, like if if
if they if they get bitten by that bug and
they feel that feeling of like I've never been able
to express, because it is a vehicle to express emotions
(23:54):
and and and extreme states of mind and and and
that is a powerful a powerful drug, let me tell
you what. And once people feel that, they usually want
more and and fear becomes less and less of an
obstacle to them.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
I I have some experience performing let's hear it then.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
Now I know, so you you were in Shipping Dales
for a while.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
I understand, And.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah you saw that bit with me and Patrick Swayzey. No,
so I did a play a.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Few years ago I remember, maybe I don't even remember.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Twenty sixteen, I did Biloxi Blues and I played Sergeant Toomey,
which is pretty big.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
There's a lot of lines. There's a lot of lines.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
And that's the one thing about you know, just performing
stage performing and stuff that really is what gets me
with you know how why I respect people that go
out and do these stage performances be because, you know,
especially some of these big Shakespearean plays where you're you're
(25:06):
you're you have to rehearse this and memorize this stuff,
and unless you're really, really, really smart, it's hard to
even know what the hell you're saying, you.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Know, the Shakespeare for for the average person.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
People, the average person know what the hell is going
on with the Shakespeare play because it's just like, what
are they saying. They're speaking English words, but they're all
jumbled up and it doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
So to go through and memorize that whole play.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
And put your put yourself into this character who is
essentially speaking another language, you know. Is that It's amazing
to me. And because I had a hell of a
time memorizing my lines, and I remember this, I think
we did. We did three, three or four shows, and
(25:59):
it was it wasn't we weren't necessarily were in a
small a smaller venue, so there wasn't really much of
a stage. We were kind of just a little bit
in front of the in front of the audience.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
They were kind of like right there. Oh so you
could see them. Yeah, that's terrifying, and uh, nobody wants that.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Somebody sneezed right in the front row and I said,
bless you, and I like, why wouldn't you? It was
terrible because I you know, I just I it's the one,
It's one of my cringe worthy memories because I'm like,
why didn't.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
I just let that go?
Speaker 2 (26:37):
You're supposed to let that go as a performer, you're
supposed to the audience is just seeing you through the
glass and you're not, you know, breaking.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
The fourth wall. You're not supposed to. And oh god,
and it was downhill from there. I got in my head.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
I started forgetting, you know, missing lines and stuff like that.
It all ended up being okay, and the average person
probably didn't, you know, notice that much except for that.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
But that is the worst when you feel like, oh,
I have made this mistake and everyone knows. And that's
when that's when you feel really seen because it's so
what the freedom of acting is being someone else and
so it's not you up there. That's a big part
of getting over that fear is understanding that they're not
(27:22):
seeing me the person. They're not seeing my fears and vulnerabilities.
It's the character. And so as the character, I can
do all these things. And so the the mistakes where
you break that illusion, you know, those mistakes where you're like,
oh no, they saw me. Ah, that's when you feel
(27:46):
totally naked and vulnerable, and that's it. That's it exactly.
I was the guy. I wasn't sergeant to me anymore.
I was me up there pretending to be this guy
instead of actually being the guy. Yeah, yeah, I mean.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
The great thing about you know, Neil Simon is one of.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
My favorite play right. He's one of those playwrights who
I saw as a kid and I'm like, oh, the
plays can be this funny fantastic, you know, and and
and so there are especially with a really good comedy,
there is uh, you establish a relationship with the audience
when there's laughter. You know, that's a real back and
(28:23):
forth because then your acting that's sort of dependent on
the timing of how they're reacting to you and making
sure that your punchlines land and and and and I
could see, given the right Neil Simon show in the
right setting and like break breaking character for a second
saying oh bless you like that? That could just get
(28:46):
another laugh and then you're just rolling. Well it did,
but I don't know if they were.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Laughing at the situations laughing at me. The thing about
Bloxi Blues, though, is that the play isn't as good
as the movie.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Now I've never seen the movie.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
So Christopher Walkin plays Sergeant Toomey. His version of Sergeant
Toomey is so great that it was really and this
is a question for you, because it was really difficult
for me to to disregard his performance, to do it
according to how the play should be and not the movie.
How does how does seeing someone else another actor portraying
(29:25):
a character that you're about to portray, How does that
affect you and how do you.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Get rid of it. It's a great question, because I'm
going through that right now. In fact, so I will
be in a production of the producers. Mel Brooks is
the producer. This may made a June and so rehearsals
have not begun yet. But I'm playing the role of
Max Biali Stock, who has two very famous interpretations on film.
(29:54):
In the original mel Brooks film, portrayed by the incomparable
Zero Mostelle, famous for originating the role of Teva and
Fiddler on the Roof. He is so different from me.
He is he's older, he's a much larger guy. He's
got a very different comedic presence than I do. And
(30:16):
then a second time in the second in the musical
film starring Nathan Lane, who originated.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
The role on Broadway.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
In the musical version that mel Brooks also wrote himself
and wrote all the songs and all the music. So
they are both very much mel Brooks of his mind.
And so there's these two very famous portrayals of this character,
neither of whom and even for I think a certain
amount of fan base. There is a third, and that's
(30:45):
Larry David when he spent an entire season of his
show Curb Your Enthusiasm for starring in a production of
the Producers alongside David Schwimmer and and and so I
I do. I have seen them all. I've seen all
of these productions, and I know that they inhabit these
(31:09):
roles so naturally because the roles were sort of created
and built around them. They are They're both Zero Mostelle
and Nathan Lane are both iconic performers with their own
distinct comedic styles, and having originated both versions of this role,
they inhabit it so naturally. It's hard to imagine the
(31:29):
role being played by anyone else other than these two guys.
And I'm a very different kind of guy. I have
a very different comic energy, and so naturally, there are
a lot of things that I am choosing to do
that are going to inherently overlap because there are some
rules of comedy, you know, like the beats and pattern
(31:51):
of a certain joke. It's god a natural cadence. It's
built into the writing, because, as we said before, a
good writing works that way as an inherent, flowing cadence.
That said, there are some jokes that just won't land
if I say it, like those guys. And also there
are ways that I not necessarily that I think are
(32:14):
funnier ways to say it, but I think there are
ways that will sound funnier coming out of my mouth.
And so I do find myself making a lot of
strategic decisions and sometimes second guessing myself, saying like is
this too close to Nathan Lane, or by the same token,
is this too different that it's going to throw people
(32:35):
off who have listened to the soundtrack a million times.
And so I think the thing to do, the thing
to always go back to, is I have this acting
training where I have to stop and just sort of
objectively look at the words on the page and be like,
who is this person? What are the fundamental qualities of
this person? And then I can let my natural instinct
(32:58):
take over when I see if I know this person,
if I understand what motivates them, then it naturally follows
that I'll be able to understand how they would say something,
and whether or not that aligns with the way that
Zero Mostelle said it or the way that Nathan Lane
said it almost becomes immaterial because I have a framework
(33:18):
in order to understand this person, and that can naturally
lead me to the way in which I need to
say it. So while I'm conscious of it, I'm definitely
always making my own decisions.
Speaker 4 (33:31):
Because it comes from my own understanding of who this.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Slime bucket is. And it's great playing slime buckets. It's
the best or just wonderful, especially the ones that are
craven and cowardly and you see them fail.
Speaker 4 (33:47):
It's great to.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
It's great, good fun to show these parts of the
human experience, the times where we let our egos take over,
where we hurt other people just to get what we want,
you know, where we may violate the rules of civil society.
It's like a little a completely sanctioned off little purge.
It's like the Purge, and it's happening on stage and
(34:11):
only I get to do it.
Speaker 4 (34:12):
Everyone else just gets to watch.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
You're like, I've been dying to be an asshole for
so long and now I could do it.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
I've been holding this in for a year.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
About you, what is there a role that you've always
wanted to you know, have without that you haven't gotten
a chance to do yet, And maybe not specifically, you know,
a certain role from a certain play, But is there
a like, are have you done a lot of dramas,
or are you sticking mainly to comedy or what is
(34:41):
it something you want to do you haven't done yet.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
I have been very lucky that in my career I
have gotten to I have gotten to be the most
ridiculous comic personalities you can think of. And I have
also gotten to be the people that are driven to
(35:04):
the absolute brink of desperation with tears rolling down my
face like I've I've I've gotten to really gotten to
play at the extreme ends of the human experience, and
so uh often it's it's it's kind of like asking like,
(35:24):
is there is there a particular meal that you're hungry.
Speaker 4 (35:27):
For, because it kind of depends like, well, what have.
Speaker 3 (35:29):
I been eating a lot of lately? Do I need?
Am I in the mood for something that I haven't
had in a while? I would say I have not
had the chance, uh in a while to really really
show that that that dramatic vulnerability, because getting to cry
(35:51):
in a role, it's it's better than therapy.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
It really it is.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
It just just letting your letting every fiber of your
being go to that place where you have absolute release
and absolute vulnerability.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
But then you don't have to live with the consequences.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
You get to put that aside and go on and
pick up your kids at school and everything's fine. You know.
Just getting to sort of sublimate all your own feelings
and frustrations into that and release it is fantastic. And
I think I could use a little bit of that
right now, honestly. But by the same token, I'm getting
to explore. You know, I am working on a mel
(36:31):
Brooks show right now, and it's comedy school. The patter,
the jokes, the way that they land. They are all
flawlessly structured in this beautiful rhythm, and that really has
such a joy. The only time I really get jealous
and think like, oh, I want to do that role
is when I see like a tall, handsome guy that
(36:52):
I admire, the kind of role that I can never
really play in real life, being the short, little weirdo
that I am, and and like like there are actors
that admire Pedro Pascal like is because he's he's also
he's my age. He's playing all these famous now for
The Mandalorian and for the Last of Us, where you
(37:14):
know he will he is. He is this dad figure
escorting vulnerable magical children to safety and protecting them. You know,
he gets to play these these wonderful cowboy like stoic
roles where he is deadly serious but knows the guided
by the sense of right and wrong. I love that
(37:36):
kind of role. That that that's a real hero, you know.
That's that's really very cool, and that's the kind of
I'd love to do something like that. Someday. It'll have
to be voiceover though, so that people don't see my
actual face.
Speaker 4 (37:50):
You know, they can do more heroes.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
There's a lot of technology they can make you call.
I mean, look at they made they made Elijah Wood
and all those guys from the you know, in the
in the Hobby Rings. They made him look like really
small next to oh Man.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
No.
Speaker 4 (38:05):
With with motion capture, you can be you can be anything.
Well that I'd tell you what.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
That's another actor, an actor that I think I admire
more than anyone else is Andy Serkis from the Lord
of the Ring Insane. He is the modern day Lon Cheney,
really a man of a million faces. He can do
it all. He can not only just his body, just
the way that he has such and and it's because
(38:29):
he's he's a classically trained stage actor, that he he
has the background to be able to use his entire
physicality and and and bring it to his performance. That's
how he can play Golom, It's how he can play
an ape, It's how he can play you know, all
these just just wildly different characters and change his voice
(38:50):
with it, and and also just be a damn fine actor. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (38:55):
Yeah, that that that that sort of being.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
A chameleon has always appealed to me. That it blows
my mind whenever I see him yet again, completely transform
himself into something Tilda Swinton to She's one of those
chameleons that can just do anything and completely change the
way she looks and feels and inhabits the world and
just become a totally different person. Yeah, that's again. It's
(39:21):
the fun of pretending. It's the fun of like, if
I put on this pirate costume, how piratey can I get?
If I put on this night costume, how NIGHTI can
I get? It is? It is the fun of playing
pretend as a kid to the utmost extreme. I don't
think I really answered the question, but let'll tell you what.
I'm confident that I gave an answer I'm satisfied.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
With how do you How do you feel about method
acting and that whole process of getting into the character.
Speaker 4 (39:47):
I think it's widely misunderstood.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Is the thing. I think it is.
Speaker 4 (39:53):
The way that most people look at.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
It is the way that it is often incorrectly applied
in hollyod would because that is a very different process
than the process of applying it to the stage where
it was originally.
Speaker 4 (40:12):
So it it it has its roots in.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Okay, I'm going to try not to give a history
lesson on this podcast, but still one hundred and thirty
years ago there was a Russian acting troupe who invented
modern acting, and the biggest revelation that they came up
with was what if we behaved like actual, real people
with fully thought out psychologies who lie? What if we
(40:41):
what if we behaved and spoke like people who do
not always say what is exactly on their minds? That
was Shakespeare's big contribution to storytelling. Is is Shakespeare gave
characters real psychological depth. They weren't realistic characters because they
constantly said exactly what was on their minds, and often
(41:03):
it took them two pages of a monologue to say it,
but they did express a real psychological depth that characters
didn't have before. And then four hundred years later, the
uh Stanislavsky thought, well, well, now wait a minute, what
if we talk the way that real people talk, where
they don't always say what's on their minds. In fact,
(41:23):
people often say the exact opposite of what is really
going on in their heads in order to hide what's
going on in their heads because they don't want to
be vulnerable.
Speaker 4 (41:31):
What if we talked like that?
Speaker 3 (41:33):
And so method act is so like they taught someone,
and then that person taught someone, you know, the Stanislavsky teacher,
Zuda Hagen and and so there's a succession of taught
Stanford Stanford Meisner and and and so there's this succession
of acting teachers an event and.
Speaker 4 (41:48):
This this this style.
Speaker 3 (41:50):
Of acting gets sort of reduced into a communicable, you know,
set of instructions that comes to be known as the method.
And all it is is a framework for teaching actors
how to do that, really teaching actors how to just
be a real person in front of other people and
(42:13):
think really critically about how real people behave and the
interpretation of that. The way that that mutated that Hollywood actor,
that mutated that into you must live and breathe your
character and be them every day and be obnoxious on
set is I think sort of. It's the antithesis of
(42:36):
being a professional because you also have to get along
because this is a job. We are making art, and
we are damn lucky to get paid to make art.
But this is a job. And so if your creative process,
if you're a Jared Leto, and your creative process starts
getting in the way of other people's comfort and other
people's safety, and you're sending used condoms to try and
(42:58):
you know, to get to the heart of your character psychosis,
you are not only ruining a good time for everyone else,
but you're also wasting a lot of energy that would
be much better spent on just getting the shot.
Speaker 4 (43:13):
Everyone is here for you.
Speaker 3 (43:15):
There's dozens of crew people bleeding money every day. Just
focus on what the audience needs to see. Cut your
bullshit to like you. If you're really truly doing the work,
You've done that homework on your own, you don't need
to do it in front of everyone else. It's prep work,
real method acting. It is preparation. And if you're bringing
(43:36):
all these psychoses with you to work and inflicting it
upon everyone else. I think that's a bastardization of the
original idea of method acting. I apologize that was a
long winded historical exactly what I was looking for, because
humans have been doing this for thousands of years. We've
been getting up in front of people and telling stories
(43:57):
as other people, and so this is just sort of
the most recent style.
Speaker 4 (44:03):
Of doing that.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
And if it causes harm to other people and inhibits
the process of doing that work so that the audience
gets to hear the story, don't.
Speaker 4 (44:15):
You can't you can't do that? Who was it?
Speaker 3 (44:16):
Was it Brian Cox that said it.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
There's a quote going around from Brian Cox where he
was talking about somebody how they were method acting, and
he's like.
Speaker 3 (44:26):
Well, it's acting. You don't have to do all that
you're supposed to act. You don't have to become the
character and live like them for six months.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
You're supposed to act. Yeah, like, do it on set,
do it on stage. You don't have to be that person.
Speaker 4 (44:39):
And that's another thing. Yeah, And the reason that.
Speaker 3 (44:42):
He said that is because, again because he's also a
stage he's had such an amazing film career. But also
he's got that sort of stage training whereby he knows
that what you choose, the way that you choose to
inhabit a person, the way that you choose to inhabit
their mannerisms and the way that they speak, it's got
(45:04):
to be repeatable. It's got to be sustainable. You have
to do it eight shows a week if you're performing
in the West End, if you're performing on Broadway, and
you need to do it the same way every night.
It's not you don't just sort of get in the
mood to act. No, all that prep work is so
that you have developed a pathway for yourself to be
(45:27):
able to reliably repeat expressing these emotions to an audience
every single night. And in order to do that, you
you don't have to live for six months. You just
have to do your homework and figure out what is
it that the audience needs to see so that you know, Yeah,
(45:50):
so that's it's mass production in a way. But there
are also, you know, a whole crew of actors that
want to be actors because they are film fans, and
that's great and wonderful, but if they don't eventually learn
that making films and television is not just I just
(46:12):
have to really be emotional and get one great shot.
Speaker 4 (46:16):
Because they just have to film it one time.
Speaker 3 (46:18):
They're in for a rude awakening, especially if you're on
set all day doing twenty takes right right, just to
get it right and to match.
Speaker 4 (46:27):
The opposite shots.
Speaker 2 (46:28):
Like, I know a lot of people don't realize that
when you see this incredible scene and it's like, you
don't really know how many times they had to do that,
and doing multiple angles and stuff like that, you have
to do it the same way every time. If you're
gonna lift your hand up and do this and this
in this order, you got to do it the same
(46:49):
way every time because when we cut to the other angle,
you can't have this hand up and then you know
all that continuity stuff. Yeah, and that's something that I've
always been fascinated with, apart from memorized lines and stuff.
You know, you're not just memorizing lines. You're you're portraying
a character and you're memorizing their whole being and how
they react to a certain situation. Yeah, you've got to
(47:11):
do it the same way every time. Now, maybe not
the same way every time on stage, similar similar, because
you've got blocking and you've got all that.
Speaker 3 (47:18):
Kind of stuff. Now here's the trick, here's the secret
lay it down. Is that all that other stuff. You know,
People who don't do this all the time usually point out, like, yes,
it's very difficult to learn all those lines, but it's
all that other stuff that makes it easier. It's learning
the gestures, learning the blocking right, because then the lines
become more than words when you associate them with an action.
Speaker 4 (47:41):
The lines become more than just words.
Speaker 3 (47:43):
You have to say it's a thing that you're doing
and that thing that you're doing. It's logical because of
the thing that you just did and the thing that
you're seeing partner just did to you, it's logical that
you would then respond. But the so like it all
makes sense and that you know. So when that's why
you prac to say, you get that blocking, You repeat
those gestures, all of that working together to remind you
(48:06):
what the words are because it wouldn't make sense if
you didn't say those words. That's that's the only conclusion
you can come to. Yeah, yeah, yeah, bro.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
What is your advice to people who are just starting
out and they want to they want to do what
you do.
Speaker 3 (48:29):
Yeah, do it. Do it. Do it over and over
and over again. Do it as much as you can
do it. Get as much exposure to it as possible.
That's the thing is that you are. There are a
lot of online zoom based classes that you can take
if you're interested in doing this. But this really is
a situation where experience is the best teacher, and there
(48:52):
are so many opportunities where you can practice without fear
of failure. You know, if you want to, there's there's
lots of jobs at which you you probably should.
Speaker 4 (49:05):
You don't want to, Like, go out.
Speaker 3 (49:06):
And practice being a surgeon with you don't, you don't
or you don't get a lot of opportunities to practice
being a surgeon before actually doing it.
Speaker 4 (49:15):
Say you know that that is tough.
Speaker 3 (49:17):
But if you want to be an actor and you
haven't gone an audition for your local community theater company,
go do that right now if you want to be
If you want to get into voiceover and you haven't
checked out one of the many websites where they are
looking for unpaid amateurs to to provide voices for their
(49:41):
really really cool indie animation projects or video game project stuff.
That's probably not going to generate much money, but they
really want a human voice instead of having to resort
to AI. You know, do that. There are so many
opportunities and and these are always small things. It's not
like the whole world is going to have their eyes
(50:02):
on you. So you can feel free to like experiment
and play around and just do your best and not
worry about failing. These are pretty safe, consequence free places
to fail and so and the great thing is is
that the process of doing it, even at that level
(50:24):
is so similar to the process of doing it at
the paid I'm making a living doing this level that
once you've gone out and auditioned for your local community
theater company and done a performance with them, then you've
done it. You've experienced the whole process. You memorize the
script you learned blocking, you opened the show, you performed
(50:44):
in front of an audience, that's all it is. Then
you just keep doing that over and over and over again.
And the more opportunities that you have to do that.
And the other great thing we all have film studios
now in our pocket. If you want, if you have
any interest in performing, as like, say you come up
(51:06):
with funny sketch sketches. And you want to do sketch comedy,
film it, write it down and film yourself doing it.
You've got a camera. If you want to make short films,
you can do. I'm teaching a high school Cloud not teaching.
I'm helping a high school class in Buffalo right now.
Their goal is to just make a short film, a
(51:27):
sixty second long short film. Got to tell a complete
story from beginning middle, and their tool set is their
cell phones. And what this means is they've got a camera.
They've got lighting. If they need spotlight, to just turn
on the flashlight and the camera so you can have
spotlighting where you need it. They've got take your camera,
(51:50):
take your cameras, microphone, and you can have body mics.
Speaker 4 (51:53):
That's a body mic. Hide a camera in a front pocket.
Speaker 3 (51:56):
There you go. Is they've got all the tools that
they need to make an amateur short film. There are
no obstacles, there's no barriers. There's no one that can
tell you no, you can't explore this. The only bear,
the only barrier is you man. That's the only person
getting in your way is your I think it's true
(52:16):
today more than it has ever. Oh sure, history, Yeah,
back in the day.
Speaker 2 (52:21):
You know, if you wanted to do something like that,
it costs a lot of money.
Speaker 3 (52:24):
Yeah, and it costs a lot of money, and you
have to and if you don't have that money, you
have to wait for someone else to put up the money.
You have to wait for someone else to ask you
to do it. You have to wait for someone else
to give you permission to be creative. The Internet is
terrible in a lot of ways. There's a lot that
is terrible about the Internet. And in fact, I would
(52:44):
argue there is a lot that is terrible about the
democratization of everyone being able to put their ideas out
there and they are all on this equal playing field.
That's how we wind up with disinformation. But for creativity,
it's it is a we live in a golden age.
If you want to if you have something that you
want to create and express and not even necessarily make
(53:07):
a million dollars on it, but just share it with
the world. There's never been a time in history where
there have been less barriers to that. And so on.
It it's a cliche, but but yeah, the only barrier
is you go out and do it. You've got the
tools at your disposal. Well, I mean, that's a perfect
way to end. It's perfect.
Speaker 2 (53:27):
That's great, that's great advice. You know, I wish we had,
you know, two hours to talk, but we don't. That
doesn't mean that we can't do this again.
Speaker 4 (53:36):
I'm sorry I wasn't funnier. I feel like I feel
like I came and told.
Speaker 3 (53:41):
A lot of stories, got really philosophical on you. I
feel like I wanted it to be pithier. You know,
I wanted to crack some some some crack some zingers.
We got a couple in there. But we might have
to do this again just so that we have the
chance to just be funny. Well, yeah, we could do that.
We could.
Speaker 2 (53:57):
We can definitely just go in and say, let's be goofs.
But I but I wanted to explore you as an
artist and performer.
Speaker 3 (54:05):
And because because I want, I feel very explored. I
feel like every nook and cranny at me is well
exposed now.
Speaker 2 (54:12):
But I want people to you know, because when we
were doing the workshops here at Rock Fox, you know,
I got a lot of good feedback from from those
that's nice, from those workshops, and so I wanted to
kind of get a better idea of what.
Speaker 3 (54:31):
How you got to where you are now and how
you do that and and by climbing atop the bodies
of my enemies, right, yes, you're so cut throat.
Speaker 4 (54:42):
Cut throat, Yeah, no, really it all it really is about.
Speaker 3 (54:46):
Fun and making sure that people understand that this is
a fun, joyful thing to do, and I think that
attracts people.
Speaker 2 (54:53):
Well, I really appreciate your time. I love to having
this conversation. We'll definitely do it again and be all
goofy and whatnot. But where, so, where can people find you?
What's the I know you said you've got to play
coming out in May.
Speaker 4 (55:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (55:08):
Yeah, if you are Rochester local, you can come on
down to o f C Creation's Theater Center. Winton Place
in Brighton used to be Comics Cafe, used to be
the Downstairs Cabaret Theater.
Speaker 4 (55:20):
It's been a lot of.
Speaker 3 (55:20):
Things, but I have a feeling o f C is
going to be there to stay for there. That place
is gorgeous. It's it's one so great, it is a
it's it's a yeah, it's a beautiful place. Uh. And
and every time I get to go there, I leave
happier than when I came in. And so the there
They've got a production of Kinky Boots on right now
(55:42):
where I helped. I served as dialect coach to transport
audiences to sunny Northampton, just north of London and in England.
And and and so you can catch Kinky Boots right now.
Coming up, they've got The Golden Girls, which is a
very funny drag show that they do. Uh and then
the Producers, which will run from May to June this year.
(56:07):
And otherwise you can you can hear me in such
video games as Cities, Skylines, Brawl Stars, Payday to War Frame.
They're mostly online games, games that the kids play. The
(56:27):
kids like them, a Clash Royale, some upcoming really cool
games that I can't talk about yet.
Speaker 4 (56:35):
Yeah, I can't break nda.
Speaker 2 (56:37):
But I think that's like every actor's dream is to
be on a show and say that they're working on
something that they can't talk about.
Speaker 3 (56:47):
It does feel that's like the coolest thing, very prestigious.
Hush hush. I can't can't let the cat of the bag,
but you gonna hear about it.
Speaker 4 (56:54):
I turn off those cameras, turn off those cameras.
Speaker 3 (56:56):
Then I'll talk. Yeah, but and and you can hear
me locally. You hear me and ads for Selena Law,
and on the internet you can hear me as the
voice of GMC Cars and Trucks. So yeah, I'm just
kind of everywhere in your ears, sneaking in. You don't know,
(57:17):
you don't know where I am, but I'm there. That's
secretly in your and your speakers.
Speaker 2 (57:22):
I was hoping to end on a positive note, but
then we just got downright creepy, because that's fine.
Speaker 3 (57:26):
That's fine. You got a you got a website to
show people, or it's if if it had a good
clean r L, I would, but it's like it's it's
something like wix.
Speaker 2 (57:37):
It's it's it's so it's like, yeah, wix site. David
actors a Google search because there's not a lot of auto.
Speaker 3 (57:46):
Vinos established that. Yes, yes, if you find if you
Google search and you find the Audovinos that make wine.
Speaker 4 (57:53):
Actually, my uncle is also named David Odovino, I have.
Speaker 3 (57:58):
And he lives in the same town me, so we
get each other's mail and there's there's actually a lot
of confusion.
Speaker 4 (58:05):
I am not former director of Hillside David Odovino.
Speaker 3 (58:09):
I am. I am actor David Odavino. Uh, please learn
the difference between us. He doesn't have a personal website though,
and I do.
Speaker 4 (58:19):
Winning. Thanks so much for having me on f This
is a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (58:23):
I really appreciate it. We'll see you next time on
pousands of blatterings
Not three beeat non conformist. Oh, I promise to be different.
I promised to be unique. I promise not threepeat things
other people say.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Hey, welcome back to positive blatherings. It's always a really
joyful experience for me when I have the folks that
come in here, Like this guy. I want to say
his name is David Ottavino, But I also want to
say his name.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Is David.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Wine car. Like, what is the translation of that auto vino?
It actually translates to wine maker. Yeah, so at some
point in my family's history we must have made wine.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Now you just want that's supposed to make? Oh man
already with the zingers, I was itealing you. I was
just sitting down here saying how comfortable I feel. How
there's candles and there's flowers and now and now the
claws come out. Honestly, this is a gotcha interview. No.
(01:21):
I always wish that my family that I if I
delved into my family's history, that I could discover that like, oh,
it turns out that yeah, No, the Audovinos have owned
a winery in Italy for years and years.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
No, nothing like that.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
It'll come from some sort of Italian Tuscan royalty or
something like that.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Yeah, no, no, unfortunately, so we must have made the
Italian equivalent of tubuc chuck tubuc kianti tubucch So yeah, no,
no illustrious history there. But at one point, a very
funny friend of mine in college. It had never occurred
to me before, but the first time he heard my
(02:00):
last name, he he just like, off the top of
his that he was like, oh, so auto was in
car Veno is in wine, but don't drink and drive,
and uh and and I yeah, I've I've stolen that
from him over the years because it's it's it's somewhat pithy.
I think it's pithy the first time. But for me
it's been twenty five years when I was drinking.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
I would have loved to have developed some sort of
auto Veno sort of an automatic wine you know, dispenser
that you just sit there and oh sure, yeah, yeah, well,
as long as it's a good vintage and not not
an auto vino vintage, because right, because we made the
worst stuff. Did you do you do you have any
information about like where your family comes from specifically or at.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
One point, yeah, I mean the auto uh mind family
is from uh the auto Venos are from Sicily, but
I also have some Italian family in Palermo, and and
and and that's just far. Like someone contacted my father
back when the Internet was new, and you could just
sort of discover, like, wa, these Parsons in America, same blast,
(03:08):
the name, same last name as me. What I send
them email? And like nothing ever, So there were some
hellos and then nothing ever came of it. So were
they definitely related or was it just a coincidence? As
far as we know, I think, I mean, I I
don't believe the name Outovino is as common in Italy.
I'm led to understand, as say, I don't know what's
(03:30):
what's like an English speaking name that means you do
you're like like crofter or crofton, like like in English,
which means like at some point they were.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
A barrel maker. That's your last name, you know?
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Or yeah. I can't think of any other examples, but
I'm as far as I can tell, there are not
many Audovinos out there in the world. It's the only
one I've ever heard of for a special breed. You
are a rare animal, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Well, speaking of rare animals, so well, this guy David
Ottovino is one of the most talented voice artists that
I know.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
He's also a voice.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Coach and an actor, doing stage and screen and pretty
much anything that he can get his acting hands.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
On, which is yeah, I mean when you but that's
what you do, that's yeah, that is kind of what
you do, you know you Yeah, I think when so
I went to college to learn how I went to
acting school to become an actor, not really thinking about like, well,
in what way am I going to pursue making money?
What am I going to do? Make movies? Am I
(04:35):
going to be a stage I like, you don't know that,
I think, especially because it was the nineteen nineties when
financially everything was fine, and you're like, I could go
to college and become an actor. I won't worry about
what to specialize in. Yet the work will come right. Surely,
they'll all come lining up at my door asking me,
(04:57):
asking me to do stuff. No, it's just it's it's
It is funny how life sort of guides you by
this very circuitous route toward the thing, and if you
sort of follow the doors that open to you, sometimes
that can lead you to a place where you sort
of find what you're kind of meant to do. Before
(05:21):
I ever ever started doing voiceover work, I was in
a play with a wonderful director who at at one
point just offhandedly said to me out of you know,
you're the kind of actor who finds his character through
his voice, and that it never occurred to me that
that would be like sort of the main part of
my career.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Yeah, someday, but it is absolutely true.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
If I'm handed a script, sort of the first thing
that occurs to me as I'm reading it is I'm
hearing how that person speaks in my head. You know,
they've got you see words on a page, and it's
an actor's job to sort of sherlock homes that backward
and think, well, who is the person that would say
these words? And so you imagine this whole person, and
(06:07):
you imagine what they look like, how they move, what
they and especially what they sound like, and what they
talk like, because that's all I'm seeing is the words
that they say. That's all the clues that I'm given.
So the way in which we speak, I think, does
have a particularly aesthetic appeal for me, because for so
(06:34):
much of our interpersonal you know, communication, that the way
we speak is so vital. And in fact, I just
read something interesting about about the young people, you know, kids,
the kids today who have grown up with primarily text
(06:55):
based communication, and so there are all these sort of
well unspoken social cues that lie in text based communication.
Like they know intuitively that you cannot express sarcasm in
a text, and so they you end your message with
(07:16):
like a forward slash and an S to indicate sarcasm.
That is just sort of this part of Internet parlance
in order to express tone, you know, so that you're
not misunderstood, so that people don't take you the wrong way.
That those of us who grew up with a rotary
phone right in our kitchen.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
I'm constantly being taken the wrong way with my text.
This is actually an ongoing theme for for a couple
of people that you know right now, and we're really yeah,
we've been talking about it on some podcasts and things
like that, just about how how you're the way you
express yourself in text. You know, where it can lead to,
(07:57):
where the intentions where they really are, and how they're perceived.
And it's oftentimes even even the most innocent of communications
suddenly is like turns into this thing and we're like,
that's not at all what I meant.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
And it's like, but that's how we did this.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
We we did a piece where we texted back and
forth and then when we got on the show, she said,
this is how I heard it, and so she read
it out.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
That's great.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
And then I'm like, well, this is how I said
it in my head. And it was like night and day,
same words, same words, night and day, completely different. Now,
so what are the kids do? Did they did they
say like slash s, you know, like.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Yeah, no, well what, Well, what I think is funny
is also as as someone who also is kind of
a grammar nerd is is how I see them use punctuation,
especially to express I mean, they essentially just don't use
punctuation anymore. And and so when I look at something
like that and read it in my head, it has
(09:03):
a stream of consciousness kind of quality to it. And
then if there's no period, it's almost as if when
I seeing a period at the end of a sentence
online is so rare that when I do see it,
it carries this extra weight of finality, you know that, like, no, no,
this is serious, all right, take me seriously, because I
(09:24):
am ending this thought with a period. It's like it
almost unconsciously communicates that, like, I will hear no arguments
against this. This is God's honest, This is the firm truth.
And like it has a period, you cannot debate me.
But what about when they have a period after each
word in the sentence? That's how I write. That's a
bit what I did. That's really fine. Yeah, oh jeez,
(09:50):
I mean yeah, it conveys, It conveys anger.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
And so when I it's funny, So I do I do?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
You know? Coach and teed some workshops from from time
to time, and a big part of that is is
script analysis, right, and that is dependent on reading a
script that you know that someone has consciously written to
a purpose and that the punctuation is very specifically thought out,
(10:20):
so that like if you get to a place where
there's a comma and you know that this is a
good writer who has put that comma there for a reason,
you can't just blow past the comma. You can't like
it's it's got to be in there. At the same time,
I have to also coach people because because part of
this business is not only is it you know, beautiful
well written works of drama and comedy. It's also advertising,
(10:43):
in which case you're not necessarily working with you know,
it's it's it's not Shakespeare, I'm you know, obviously, copywriters
are usually good writers, but they're not writing something to
be beautiful, right, it's not literature. It's not literature exactly,
and so and so those cues are are almost completely
different in teaching someone how to speak that because they're
(11:05):
not necessarily as guided by the way it's written, or
maybe they are guided in a different way and figuring out,
you know, because like advertising, copy has things like calls
to action and you know, like this is this is
the point and then you know, oh oh when here's
the brand name. So this needs to be accentuated in
(11:27):
some way. So there's a whole different way of speaking. Yeap.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Did you going back to when you were, you know,
kind of first getting started, did you run into any like,
what was the biggest hurdle or opposition personally that you
had to overcome in order to continue down this path
of acting and performing.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
It was I mean, really just it was no one hurdle.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
It's merely I think the fact that it is a
tough business for a lot of reasons. One, it does
not pay, it does not pay well, and yet it
is highly competitive. You know, there's there's there, there's a
lot of jobs like that, but this is one of
those jobs that that I think, like teaching. I come
(12:15):
from a family of teachers. I'm married to a to
a public education teacher. So so I use this analogy
a lot because that I think is one of those
professions that is the people are called to it. It's
a calling. They do it because they're passionate about it,
and so it is easy to let yourself be abused
(12:37):
a little bit when it's something you're passionate about. You're
willing to accept a pay cut, You're willing to accept
terrible hours because what you're doing is meaningful and and
and acting is a lot like that, you know, because
it's a calling. There are lots of people who you know,
people want to pay you peanuts. It's and financially, it's
not exactly a winning proposition unless you are at the
(12:58):
very tippy top that the you know, point zero one
percent of blockbuster Hollywood films that rake in millions. So A,
it's not a real sound financial decision going in and
B there's a lot of people competing. You know, something
that they told me right away in college is that
you're not special. Yes, there are special things about you,
(13:21):
but you're gonna go out and you're gonna look for
a job, and there are going to be at least
twenty other people who are not only as talented as you,
who not only have worked as hard as you no
matter how much work and effort you've put in, but
they also kind of look like you. Yeah, that's just
when you play the numbers game, there's gonna be a
lot of people who are basically the same value position
(13:43):
against a bunch of versions of yourself. Exactly. I never
thought I've never really thought about that, but that's true.
You're up against all these doppelgangers of yourself with very
subtle variations you are, you are two dozen. You're in
a room with two dozen subtly different shades of green.
And so no matter how hard you've worked, no matter
what sort of effort you put into, the director's just
(14:06):
looking for just the right shade of green, because they
know at that point they're all getting, you know, very
well trained shades of green. Right, you just.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Need to match what they have in mind.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
And so that also teaches you that it's not really
your fault as long as you really are working hard
and doing your best, that those failures it's not a
personal failing.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
It's just that you weren't the right shade of green
that time. Next time you will be.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
It's a numbers game, and so that that is always difficult,
and it takes I think years of failure before you
finally sort of realize that, like, it's okay, and I
can let go of the things that I thought I
wanted and I didn't get because I was the wrong
(14:53):
shade of green. Because if they had chosen me for
that job, I would had to fit the exact shade
of green that they wanted. I would have had to
bend and break, And that's always terrible. Those are the
worst kind of jobs where you have to really sort
(15:13):
of like force your own creativity to fit someone else's.
It should come naturally. The best jobs are the ones
where the juices are flowing and everyone's being creative and
everyone's working well with each other and it all just
kind of clicks and so it you know, the jobs
that you didn't get chosen for are usually the ones
(15:35):
where that wouldn't have happened anyway, Right, That's why you
didn't get picked, because you weren't the best fit.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
So let that one go. And that is always.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Difficult to do, to make sure that you can close
the door mentally on those things you thought you wanted
and realized it wouldn't have been what I wanted anyway.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
So you come across as the room confident guy, like
there's you know, do I look just because I'm better
than everyone else doesn't make me a confident guy.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I would say I'm probably the best at being confident
that I've ever out of anyone I've ever met.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Though, So well, that sounds like something sounds like someone
I've heard before. No, So going back as a child,
now you talked about college and I don't know if
you've maybe high school being in theater. Yeah, but going
back as a child as a little out of you know,
what was what was the signal to your parents or
(16:38):
two people around you that that were you told you're
probably gonna be like here's our theater kid, or here's
our performer or here's our actor.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Were you like the class clown and stuff like that? No, No,
absolutely not, I was. I was just a real skinny squirrely,
little weirdo nerdy boy who I think didn't really fit
in anywhere.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
And when I was twelve, my dad played me.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and that changed the
course of my life. That was the first time I
had seen, like I got comedy. Comedy made sense, like, oh, and.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
That's a certain brand of comedy too, that doesn't actually
connect with everyone.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
Yeah, yeah, but it is a massific.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
It is very specific, but it's also a masterclass and
how comedy is structured, even if I didn't have the
vocabulary to express that at the time. The way that
you know.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
It is it's a sketch movie.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
It is just it is a series of comic sketches
loosely linked by this overall theme, and it's up to
the audience members to sort of assemble the plot themselves.
But they were brilliant and it was the sort of
comedy that I'd never experienced before. So I loved it
so much that that summer I had the opportunity to
(18:00):
sign up for a Shakespeare class where you would put
on a play for like two weeks, like a summer
camp kind of thing, and I was like, Shakespeare, that's
got to be like money python right, because a British
be old timey, like the Holy Grail, like King Arthur
and stuff. That's Shakespeare, right, So I thought this is
(18:20):
gonna be hilarious.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
I'm doing it, and it was.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
It was Macbeth, the most serious tragedies. Everyone dies, It's
an absolute blood bath, psychological horror. Sorry, sorry, no spoilers.
I know it's a little soon for spoilers for a
four hundred year old work. I apologize, and uh yeah,
And you know, Willy Shakes has been disappointing me ever since.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
But Willy Shakes, no, I'm not me and.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Billy Shakes have a good relationship, I think, but ever since.
So that was the very first time. So it was
just by luck. It was because I wanted to do
something money python ish that I got up on stage
and it turned out learning lines and pretending to be
someone else in front of people was just the greatest.
It was just the best feeling in the world. No
(19:09):
stage fright, No, no, not at all. And and I
know that that's a weird mental thing. I feel like
for some people that just I know that that is
just nope, not going at all. Couldn't get over that,
could not get over the nervousness of getting up in
front of people and speaking and and and I don't
know why, I just don't have that bone. And again,
(19:32):
I don't know if it is maybe because my because
my dad was a public school teacher and got up
and he was in fact my he was my own teacher.
And so I saw him get up and speak in
front of people. So that your dad is a teacher.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
My dad was my math teacher in eighth I didn't.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Think that could happen. I thought they made you go
take a different class.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
I think he was. So I went to a very
small rural high school out there. Tell me, yeah, no,
he was. He was probably the only teacher teaching you know,
that section of math and that. And then later he
uh he was in the process of getting his getting
a second master's degree in administration. So by the end
of high school he was also my principal. Uh so,
(20:13):
so so I you know, I saw him. That must
have been crazy. That was There was one time we
were planning like this huge we were planning a big
senior prank or I think a senior skip day or something.
And uh oh, I think I think we were gonna
we were gonna wear something ridiculous. It was some some
hilarious punk prank that you're gonna pull. And my dad
(20:34):
grabs me first thing, like right after the first bell rings,
just pulls me aside in the hallway and says, I
know what you're gonna do. I'm telling you right now,
do not do it. I have no idea how he knew.
I have no idea who squealed, but he was. But
but he just you know, he had his ear to
the ground, he had his spies, he had his little
(20:54):
birds reporting back, and he knew. So I couldn't get
in trouble because he knew what we were planning. But
I was even going to do it, so uh so,
So it was either it was that or maybe it's
just my Italian grandmother who is a natural storyteller and
and and and talks with their hands exactly as I'm
doing right now, and and and so, so you do
have that storytelling, you know.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Yeah, yeah, I just did the Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Yeah. That was never one of those feelings that I
just don't I just don't know what it.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
Feels like to be embarrassed to be up in front
of other people.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
But I get it. I know there are things I
would be embarrassed to do. I think, I don't know.
I've been I've been pretty debased in many times in
my career. Like my parents have seen me naked on stage.
My parents have seen body parts of me in shows
tastefully done. Sure done, of course, you know for so
(21:48):
So yeah, no, there's I have. I live a life
of very little shape.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
So but as a coach, how do you how do
you deal with your students who are perhaps experiencing really
really tense fear and stage fright and things like that.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
How do you coach them through that? I mean, I
think the only thing that I can do, because I
know that there are people who do pursue this kind
of thing, and I think eventually they find their path
to it, they find their path toward artistic expression. In fact,
I think for a lot of people, voiceover in particular
(22:24):
is the best avenue for them because it necessitates that
you can be alone. You don't have to do it
in front of people. It's something you make yourself and
you can pour your heart and soul and creativity into
it and then you share it with the world. It's
not you don't have to do it in front of
(22:45):
people in real time. And I think that level of
distance appeals to a lot of people who would never
get up on a stage and deliver a Shakespearean sonnet
in front of a crowd of two hundred people. And
so I think that there is that. But the other
thing is is that, honestly it is it is so
(23:06):
much fun. And that's whenever I teach or coach, this
is fun for me, do it. There is nothing more
fun for me than than than than saying words and
pretending to be someone. It's pretending, it's play. It is
fundamentally this delightful fun thing. So the more I can
(23:30):
express to people, and the more I can sort of
get them to feel that fun, that fun, more often
than not conquers the fear, you know, like if if
if they if they get bitten by that bug and
they feel that feeling of like I've never been able
to express, because it is a vehicle to express emotions
(23:54):
and and and extreme states of mind and and and
that is a powerful a powerful drug, let me tell
you what. And once people feel that, they usually want
more and and fear becomes less and less of an
obstacle to them.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
I I have some experience performing let's hear it then.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
Now I know, so you you were in Shipping Dales
for a while.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
I understand, And.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah you saw that bit with me and Patrick Swayzey. No,
so I did a play a.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Few years ago I remember, maybe I don't even remember.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Twenty sixteen, I did Biloxi Blues and I played Sergeant Toomey,
which is pretty big.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
There's a lot of lines. There's a lot of lines.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
And that's the one thing about you know, just performing
stage performing and stuff that really is what gets me
with you know how why I respect people that go
out and do these stage performances be because, you know,
especially some of these big Shakespearean plays where you're you're
(25:06):
you're you have to rehearse this and memorize this stuff,
and unless you're really, really, really smart, it's hard to
even know what the hell you're saying, you.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Know, the Shakespeare for for the average person.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
People, the average person know what the hell is going
on with the Shakespeare play because it's just like, what
are they saying. They're speaking English words, but they're all
jumbled up and it doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
So to go through and memorize that whole play.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
And put your put yourself into this character who is
essentially speaking another language, you know. Is that It's amazing
to me. And because I had a hell of a
time memorizing my lines, and I remember this, I think
we did. We did three, three or four shows, and
(25:59):
it was it wasn't we weren't necessarily were in a
small a smaller venue, so there wasn't really much of
a stage. We were kind of just a little bit
in front of the in front of the audience.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
They were kind of like right there. Oh so you
could see them. Yeah, that's terrifying, and uh, nobody wants that.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Somebody sneezed right in the front row and I said,
bless you, and I like, why wouldn't you? It was
terrible because I you know, I just I it's the one,
It's one of my cringe worthy memories because I'm like,
why didn't.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
I just let that go?
Speaker 2 (26:37):
You're supposed to let that go as a performer, you're
supposed to the audience is just seeing you through the
glass and you're not, you know, breaking.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
The fourth wall. You're not supposed to. And oh god,
and it was downhill from there. I got in my head.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
I started forgetting, you know, missing lines and stuff like that.
It all ended up being okay, and the average person
probably didn't, you know, notice that much except for that.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
But that is the worst when you feel like, oh,
I have made this mistake and everyone knows. And that's
when that's when you feel really seen because it's so
what the freedom of acting is being someone else and
so it's not you up there. That's a big part
of getting over that fear is understanding that they're not
(27:22):
seeing me the person. They're not seeing my fears and vulnerabilities.
It's the character. And so as the character, I can
do all these things. And so the the mistakes where
you break that illusion, you know, those mistakes where you're like,
oh no, they saw me. Ah, that's when you feel
(27:46):
totally naked and vulnerable, and that's it. That's it exactly.
I was the guy. I wasn't sergeant to me anymore.
I was me up there pretending to be this guy
instead of actually being the guy. Yeah, yeah, I mean.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
The great thing about you know, Neil Simon is one of.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
My favorite play right. He's one of those playwrights who
I saw as a kid and I'm like, oh, the
plays can be this funny fantastic, you know, and and
and so there are especially with a really good comedy,
there is uh, you establish a relationship with the audience
when there's laughter. You know, that's a real back and
(28:23):
forth because then your acting that's sort of dependent on
the timing of how they're reacting to you and making
sure that your punchlines land and and and and I
could see, given the right Neil Simon show in the
right setting and like break breaking character for a second
saying oh bless you like that? That could just get
(28:46):
another laugh and then you're just rolling. Well it did,
but I don't know if they were.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Laughing at the situations laughing at me. The thing about
Bloxi Blues, though, is that the play isn't as good
as the movie.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Now I've never seen the movie.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
So Christopher Walkin plays Sergeant Toomey. His version of Sergeant
Toomey is so great that it was really and this
is a question for you, because it was really difficult
for me to to disregard his performance, to do it
according to how the play should be and not the movie.
How does how does seeing someone else another actor portraying
(29:25):
a character that you're about to portray, How does that
affect you and how do you.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Get rid of it. It's a great question, because I'm
going through that right now. In fact, so I will
be in a production of the producers. Mel Brooks is
the producer. This may made a June and so rehearsals
have not begun yet. But I'm playing the role of
Max Biali Stock, who has two very famous interpretations on film.
(29:54):
In the original mel Brooks film, portrayed by the incomparable
Zero Mostelle, famous for originating the role of Teva and
Fiddler on the Roof. He is so different from me.
He is he's older, he's a much larger guy. He's
got a very different comedic presence than I do. And
(30:16):
then a second time in the second in the musical
film starring Nathan Lane, who originated.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
The role on Broadway.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
In the musical version that mel Brooks also wrote himself
and wrote all the songs and all the music. So
they are both very much mel Brooks of his mind.
And so there's these two very famous portrayals of this character,
neither of whom and even for I think a certain
amount of fan base. There is a third, and that's
(30:45):
Larry David when he spent an entire season of his
show Curb Your Enthusiasm for starring in a production of
the Producers alongside David Schwimmer and and and so I
I do. I have seen them all. I've seen all
of these productions, and I know that they inhabit these
(31:09):
roles so naturally because the roles were sort of created
and built around them. They are They're both Zero Mostelle
and Nathan Lane are both iconic performers with their own
distinct comedic styles, and having originated both versions of this role,
they inhabit it so naturally. It's hard to imagine the
(31:29):
role being played by anyone else other than these two guys.
And I'm a very different kind of guy. I have
a very different comic energy, and so naturally, there are
a lot of things that I am choosing to do
that are going to inherently overlap because there are some
rules of comedy, you know, like the beats and pattern
(31:51):
of a certain joke. It's god a natural cadence. It's
built into the writing, because, as we said before, a
good writing works that way as an inherent, flowing cadence.
That said, there are some jokes that just won't land
if I say it, like those guys. And also there
are ways that I not necessarily that I think are
(32:14):
funnier ways to say it, but I think there are
ways that will sound funnier coming out of my mouth.
And so I do find myself making a lot of
strategic decisions and sometimes second guessing myself, saying like is
this too close to Nathan Lane, or by the same token,
is this too different that it's going to throw people
(32:35):
off who have listened to the soundtrack a million times.
And so I think the thing to do, the thing
to always go back to, is I have this acting
training where I have to stop and just sort of
objectively look at the words on the page and be like,
who is this person? What are the fundamental qualities of
this person? And then I can let my natural instinct
(32:58):
take over when I see if I know this person,
if I understand what motivates them, then it naturally follows
that I'll be able to understand how they would say something,
and whether or not that aligns with the way that
Zero Mostelle said it or the way that Nathan Lane
said it almost becomes immaterial because I have a framework
(33:18):
in order to understand this person, and that can naturally
lead me to the way in which I need to
say it. So while I'm conscious of it, I'm definitely
always making my own decisions.
Speaker 4 (33:31):
Because it comes from my own understanding of who this.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Slime bucket is. And it's great playing slime buckets. It's
the best or just wonderful, especially the ones that are
craven and cowardly and you see them fail.
Speaker 4 (33:47):
It's great to.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
It's great, good fun to show these parts of the
human experience, the times where we let our egos take over,
where we hurt other people just to get what we want,
you know, where we may violate the rules of civil society.
It's like a little a completely sanctioned off little purge.
It's like the Purge, and it's happening on stage and
(34:11):
only I get to do it.
Speaker 4 (34:12):
Everyone else just gets to watch.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
You're like, I've been dying to be an asshole for
so long and now I could do it.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
I've been holding this in for a year.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
About you, what is there a role that you've always
wanted to you know, have without that you haven't gotten
a chance to do yet, And maybe not specifically, you know,
a certain role from a certain play, But is there
a like, are have you done a lot of dramas,
or are you sticking mainly to comedy or what is
(34:41):
it something you want to do you haven't done yet.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
I have been very lucky that in my career I
have gotten to I have gotten to be the most
ridiculous comic personalities you can think of. And I have
also gotten to be the people that are driven to
(35:04):
the absolute brink of desperation with tears rolling down my
face like I've I've I've gotten to really gotten to
play at the extreme ends of the human experience, and
so uh often it's it's it's kind of like asking like,
(35:24):
is there is there a particular meal that you're hungry.
Speaker 4 (35:27):
For, because it kind of depends like, well, what have.
Speaker 3 (35:29):
I been eating a lot of lately? Do I need?
Am I in the mood for something that I haven't
had in a while? I would say I have not
had the chance, uh in a while to really really
show that that that dramatic vulnerability, because getting to cry
(35:51):
in a role, it's it's better than therapy.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
It really it is.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
It just just letting your letting every fiber of your
being go to that place where you have absolute release
and absolute vulnerability.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
But then you don't have to live with the consequences.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
You get to put that aside and go on and
pick up your kids at school and everything's fine. You know.
Just getting to sort of sublimate all your own feelings
and frustrations into that and release it is fantastic. And
I think I could use a little bit of that
right now, honestly. But by the same token, I'm getting
to explore. You know, I am working on a mel
(36:31):
Brooks show right now, and it's comedy school. The patter,
the jokes, the way that they land. They are all
flawlessly structured in this beautiful rhythm, and that really has
such a joy. The only time I really get jealous
and think like, oh, I want to do that role
is when I see like a tall, handsome guy that
(36:52):
I admire, the kind of role that I can never
really play in real life, being the short, little weirdo
that I am, and and like like there are actors
that admire Pedro Pascal like is because he's he's also
he's my age. He's playing all these famous now for
The Mandalorian and for the Last of Us, where you
(37:14):
know he will he is. He is this dad figure
escorting vulnerable magical children to safety and protecting them. You know,
he gets to play these these wonderful cowboy like stoic
roles where he is deadly serious but knows the guided
by the sense of right and wrong. I love that
(37:36):
kind of role. That that that's a real hero, you know.
That's that's really very cool, and that's the kind of
I'd love to do something like that. Someday. It'll have
to be voiceover though, so that people don't see my
actual face.
Speaker 4 (37:50):
You know, they can do more heroes.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
There's a lot of technology they can make you call.
I mean, look at they made they made Elijah Wood
and all those guys from the you know, in the
in the Hobby Rings. They made him look like really
small next to oh Man.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
No.
Speaker 4 (38:05):
With with motion capture, you can be you can be anything.
Well that I'd tell you what.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
That's another actor, an actor that I think I admire
more than anyone else is Andy Serkis from the Lord
of the Ring Insane. He is the modern day Lon Cheney,
really a man of a million faces. He can do
it all. He can not only just his body, just
the way that he has such and and it's because
(38:29):
he's he's a classically trained stage actor, that he he
has the background to be able to use his entire
physicality and and and bring it to his performance. That's
how he can play Golom, It's how he can play
an ape, It's how he can play you know, all
these just just wildly different characters and change his voice
(38:50):
with it, and and also just be a damn fine actor. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (38:55):
Yeah, that that that that sort of being.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
A chameleon has always appealed to me. That it blows
my mind whenever I see him yet again, completely transform
himself into something Tilda Swinton to She's one of those
chameleons that can just do anything and completely change the
way she looks and feels and inhabits the world and
just become a totally different person. Yeah, that's again. It's
(39:21):
the fun of pretending. It's the fun of like, if
I put on this pirate costume, how piratey can I get?
If I put on this night costume, how NIGHTI can
I get? It is? It is the fun of playing
pretend as a kid to the utmost extreme. I don't
think I really answered the question, but let'll tell you what.
I'm confident that I gave an answer I'm satisfied.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
With how do you How do you feel about method
acting and that whole process of getting into the character.
Speaker 4 (39:47):
I think it's widely misunderstood.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Is the thing. I think it is.
Speaker 4 (39:53):
The way that most people look at.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
It is the way that it is often incorrectly applied
in hollyod would because that is a very different process
than the process of applying it to the stage where
it was originally.
Speaker 4 (40:12):
So it it it has its roots in.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Okay, I'm going to try not to give a history
lesson on this podcast, but still one hundred and thirty
years ago there was a Russian acting troupe who invented
modern acting, and the biggest revelation that they came up
with was what if we behaved like actual, real people
with fully thought out psychologies who lie? What if we
(40:41):
what if we behaved and spoke like people who do
not always say what is exactly on their minds? That
was Shakespeare's big contribution to storytelling. Is is Shakespeare gave
characters real psychological depth. They weren't realistic characters because they
constantly said exactly what was on their minds, and often
(41:03):
it took them two pages of a monologue to say it,
but they did express a real psychological depth that characters
didn't have before. And then four hundred years later, the
uh Stanislavsky thought, well, well, now wait a minute, what
if we talk the way that real people talk, where
they don't always say what's on their minds. In fact,
(41:23):
people often say the exact opposite of what is really
going on in their heads in order to hide what's
going on in their heads because they don't want to
be vulnerable.
Speaker 4 (41:31):
What if we talked like that?
Speaker 3 (41:33):
And so method act is so like they taught someone,
and then that person taught someone, you know, the Stanislavsky teacher,
Zuda Hagen and and so there's a succession of taught
Stanford Stanford Meisner and and and so there's this succession
of acting teachers an event and.
Speaker 4 (41:48):
This this this style.
Speaker 3 (41:50):
Of acting gets sort of reduced into a communicable, you know,
set of instructions that comes to be known as the method.
And all it is is a framework for teaching actors
how to do that, really teaching actors how to just
be a real person in front of other people and
(42:13):
think really critically about how real people behave and the
interpretation of that. The way that that mutated that Hollywood actor,
that mutated that into you must live and breathe your
character and be them every day and be obnoxious on
set is I think sort of. It's the antithesis of
(42:36):
being a professional because you also have to get along
because this is a job. We are making art, and
we are damn lucky to get paid to make art.
But this is a job. And so if your creative process,
if you're a Jared Leto, and your creative process starts
getting in the way of other people's comfort and other
people's safety, and you're sending used condoms to try and
(42:58):
you know, to get to the heart of your character psychosis,
you are not only ruining a good time for everyone else,
but you're also wasting a lot of energy that would
be much better spent on just getting the shot.
Speaker 4 (43:13):
Everyone is here for you.
Speaker 3 (43:15):
There's dozens of crew people bleeding money every day. Just
focus on what the audience needs to see. Cut your
bullshit to like you. If you're really truly doing the work,
You've done that homework on your own, you don't need
to do it in front of everyone else. It's prep work,
real method acting. It is preparation. And if you're bringing
(43:36):
all these psychoses with you to work and inflicting it
upon everyone else. I think that's a bastardization of the
original idea of method acting. I apologize that was a
long winded historical exactly what I was looking for, because
humans have been doing this for thousands of years. We've
been getting up in front of people and telling stories
(43:57):
as other people, and so this is just sort of
the most recent style.
Speaker 4 (44:03):
Of doing that.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
And if it causes harm to other people and inhibits
the process of doing that work so that the audience
gets to hear the story, don't.
Speaker 4 (44:15):
You can't you can't do that? Who was it?
Speaker 3 (44:16):
Was it Brian Cox that said it.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
There's a quote going around from Brian Cox where he
was talking about somebody how they were method acting, and
he's like.
Speaker 3 (44:26):
Well, it's acting. You don't have to do all that
you're supposed to act. You don't have to become the
character and live like them for six months.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
You're supposed to act. Yeah, like, do it on set,
do it on stage. You don't have to be that person.
Speaker 4 (44:39):
And that's another thing. Yeah, And the reason that.
Speaker 3 (44:42):
He said that is because, again because he's also a
stage he's had such an amazing film career. But also
he's got that sort of stage training whereby he knows
that what you choose, the way that you choose to
inhabit a person, the way that you choose to inhabit
their mannerisms and the way that they speak, it's got
(45:04):
to be repeatable. It's got to be sustainable. You have
to do it eight shows a week if you're performing
in the West End, if you're performing on Broadway, and
you need to do it the same way every night.
It's not you don't just sort of get in the
mood to act. No, all that prep work is so
that you have developed a pathway for yourself to be
(45:27):
able to reliably repeat expressing these emotions to an audience
every single night. And in order to do that, you
you don't have to live for six months. You just
have to do your homework and figure out what is
it that the audience needs to see so that you know, Yeah,
(45:50):
so that's it's mass production in a way. But there
are also, you know, a whole crew of actors that
want to be actors because they are film fans, and
that's great and wonderful, but if they don't eventually learn
that making films and television is not just I just
(46:12):
have to really be emotional and get one great shot.
Speaker 4 (46:16):
Because they just have to film it one time.
Speaker 3 (46:18):
They're in for a rude awakening, especially if you're on
set all day doing twenty takes right right, just to
get it right and to match.
Speaker 4 (46:27):
The opposite shots.
Speaker 2 (46:28):
Like, I know a lot of people don't realize that
when you see this incredible scene and it's like, you
don't really know how many times they had to do that,
and doing multiple angles and stuff like that, you have
to do it the same way every time. If you're
gonna lift your hand up and do this and this
in this order, you got to do it the same
(46:49):
way every time because when we cut to the other angle,
you can't have this hand up and then you know
all that continuity stuff. Yeah, and that's something that I've
always been fascinated with, apart from memorized lines and stuff.
You know, you're not just memorizing lines. You're you're portraying
a character and you're memorizing their whole being and how
they react to a certain situation. Yeah, you've got to
(47:11):
do it the same way every time. Now, maybe not
the same way every time on stage, similar similar, because
you've got blocking and you've got all that.
Speaker 3 (47:18):
Kind of stuff. Now here's the trick, here's the secret
lay it down. Is that all that other stuff. You know,
People who don't do this all the time usually point out, like, yes,
it's very difficult to learn all those lines, but it's
all that other stuff that makes it easier. It's learning
the gestures, learning the blocking right, because then the lines
become more than words when you associate them with an action.
Speaker 4 (47:41):
The lines become more than just words.
Speaker 3 (47:43):
You have to say it's a thing that you're doing
and that thing that you're doing. It's logical because of
the thing that you just did and the thing that
you're seeing partner just did to you, it's logical that
you would then respond. But the so like it all
makes sense and that you know. So when that's why
you prac to say, you get that blocking, You repeat
those gestures, all of that working together to remind you
(48:06):
what the words are because it wouldn't make sense if
you didn't say those words. That's that's the only conclusion
you can come to. Yeah, yeah, yeah, bro.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
What is your advice to people who are just starting
out and they want to they want to do what
you do.
Speaker 3 (48:29):
Yeah, do it. Do it. Do it over and over
and over again. Do it as much as you can
do it. Get as much exposure to it as possible.
That's the thing is that you are. There are a
lot of online zoom based classes that you can take
if you're interested in doing this. But this really is
a situation where experience is the best teacher, and there
(48:52):
are so many opportunities where you can practice without fear
of failure. You know, if you want to, there's there's
lots of jobs at which you you probably should.
Speaker 4 (49:05):
You don't want to, Like, go out.
Speaker 3 (49:06):
And practice being a surgeon with you don't, you don't
or you don't get a lot of opportunities to practice
being a surgeon before actually doing it.
Speaker 4 (49:15):
Say you know that that is tough.
Speaker 3 (49:17):
But if you want to be an actor and you
haven't gone an audition for your local community theater company,
go do that right now if you want to be
If you want to get into voiceover and you haven't
checked out one of the many websites where they are
looking for unpaid amateurs to to provide voices for their
(49:41):
really really cool indie animation projects or video game project stuff.
That's probably not going to generate much money, but they
really want a human voice instead of having to resort
to AI. You know, do that. There are so many
opportunities and and these are always small things. It's not
like the whole world is going to have their eyes
(50:02):
on you. So you can feel free to like experiment
and play around and just do your best and not
worry about failing. These are pretty safe, consequence free places
to fail and so and the great thing is is
that the process of doing it, even at that level
(50:24):
is so similar to the process of doing it at
the paid I'm making a living doing this level that
once you've gone out and auditioned for your local community
theater company and done a performance with them, then you've
done it. You've experienced the whole process. You memorize the
script you learned blocking, you opened the show, you performed
(50:44):
in front of an audience, that's all it is. Then
you just keep doing that over and over and over again.
And the more opportunities that you have to do that.
And the other great thing we all have film studios
now in our pocket. If you want, if you have
any interest in performing, as like, say you come up
(51:06):
with funny sketch sketches. And you want to do sketch comedy,
film it, write it down and film yourself doing it.
You've got a camera. If you want to make short films,
you can do. I'm teaching a high school Cloud not teaching.
I'm helping a high school class in Buffalo right now.
Their goal is to just make a short film, a
(51:27):
sixty second long short film. Got to tell a complete
story from beginning middle, and their tool set is their
cell phones. And what this means is they've got a camera.
They've got lighting. If they need spotlight, to just turn
on the flashlight and the camera so you can have
spotlighting where you need it. They've got take your camera,
(51:50):
take your cameras, microphone, and you can have body mics.
Speaker 4 (51:53):
That's a body mic. Hide a camera in a front pocket.
Speaker 3 (51:56):
There you go. Is they've got all the tools that
they need to make an amateur short film. There are
no obstacles, there's no barriers. There's no one that can
tell you no, you can't explore this. The only bear,
the only barrier is you man. That's the only person
getting in your way is your I think it's true
(52:16):
today more than it has ever. Oh sure, history, Yeah,
back in the day.
Speaker 2 (52:21):
You know, if you wanted to do something like that,
it costs a lot of money.
Speaker 3 (52:24):
Yeah, and it costs a lot of money, and you
have to and if you don't have that money, you
have to wait for someone else to put up the money.
You have to wait for someone else to ask you
to do it. You have to wait for someone else
to give you permission to be creative. The Internet is
terrible in a lot of ways. There's a lot that
is terrible about the Internet. And in fact, I would
(52:44):
argue there is a lot that is terrible about the
democratization of everyone being able to put their ideas out
there and they are all on this equal playing field.
That's how we wind up with disinformation. But for creativity,
it's it is a we live in a golden age.
If you want to if you have something that you
want to create and express and not even necessarily make
(53:07):
a million dollars on it, but just share it with
the world. There's never been a time in history where
there have been less barriers to that. And so on.
It it's a cliche, but but yeah, the only barrier
is you go out and do it. You've got the
tools at your disposal. Well, I mean, that's a perfect
way to end. It's perfect.
Speaker 2 (53:27):
That's great, that's great advice. You know, I wish we had,
you know, two hours to talk, but we don't. That
doesn't mean that we can't do this again.
Speaker 4 (53:36):
I'm sorry I wasn't funnier. I feel like I feel
like I came and told.
Speaker 3 (53:41):
A lot of stories, got really philosophical on you. I
feel like I wanted it to be pithier. You know,
I wanted to crack some some some crack some zingers.
We got a couple in there. But we might have
to do this again just so that we have the
chance to just be funny. Well, yeah, we could do that.
We could.
Speaker 2 (53:57):
We can definitely just go in and say, let's be goofs.
But I but I wanted to explore you as an
artist and performer.
Speaker 3 (54:05):
And because because I want, I feel very explored. I
feel like every nook and cranny at me is well
exposed now.
Speaker 2 (54:12):
But I want people to you know, because when we
were doing the workshops here at Rock Fox, you know,
I got a lot of good feedback from from those
that's nice, from those workshops, and so I wanted to
kind of get a better idea of what.
Speaker 3 (54:31):
How you got to where you are now and how
you do that and and by climbing atop the bodies
of my enemies, right, yes, you're so cut throat.
Speaker 4 (54:42):
Cut throat, Yeah, no, really it all it really is about.
Speaker 3 (54:46):
Fun and making sure that people understand that this is
a fun, joyful thing to do, and I think that
attracts people.
Speaker 2 (54:53):
Well, I really appreciate your time. I love to having
this conversation. We'll definitely do it again and be all
goofy and whatnot. But where, so, where can people find you?
What's the I know you said you've got to play
coming out in May.
Speaker 4 (55:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (55:08):
Yeah, if you are Rochester local, you can come on
down to o f C Creation's Theater Center. Winton Place
in Brighton used to be Comics Cafe, used to be
the Downstairs Cabaret Theater.
Speaker 4 (55:20):
It's been a lot of.
Speaker 3 (55:20):
Things, but I have a feeling o f C is
going to be there to stay for there. That place
is gorgeous. It's it's one so great, it is a
it's it's a yeah, it's a beautiful place. Uh. And
and every time I get to go there, I leave
happier than when I came in. And so the there
They've got a production of Kinky Boots on right now
(55:42):
where I helped. I served as dialect coach to transport
audiences to sunny Northampton, just north of London and in England.
And and and so you can catch Kinky Boots right now.
Coming up, they've got The Golden Girls, which is a
very funny drag show that they do. Uh and then
the Producers, which will run from May to June this year.
(56:07):
And otherwise you can you can hear me in such
video games as Cities, Skylines, Brawl Stars, Payday to War Frame.
They're mostly online games, games that the kids play. The
(56:27):
kids like them, a Clash Royale, some upcoming really cool
games that I can't talk about yet.
Speaker 4 (56:35):
Yeah, I can't break nda.
Speaker 2 (56:37):
But I think that's like every actor's dream is to
be on a show and say that they're working on
something that they can't talk about.
Speaker 3 (56:47):
It does feel that's like the coolest thing, very prestigious.
Hush hush. I can't can't let the cat of the bag,
but you gonna hear about it.
Speaker 4 (56:54):
I turn off those cameras, turn off those cameras.
Speaker 3 (56:56):
Then I'll talk. Yeah, but and and you can hear
me locally. You hear me and ads for Selena Law,
and on the internet you can hear me as the
voice of GMC Cars and Trucks. So yeah, I'm just
kind of everywhere in your ears, sneaking in. You don't know,
(57:17):
you don't know where I am, but I'm there. That's
secretly in your and your speakers.
Speaker 2 (57:22):
I was hoping to end on a positive note, but
then we just got downright creepy, because that's fine.
Speaker 3 (57:26):
That's fine. You got a you got a website to
show people, or it's if if it had a good
clean r L, I would, but it's like it's it's
something like wix.
Speaker 2 (57:37):
It's it's it's so it's like, yeah, wix site. David
actors a Google search because there's not a lot of auto.
Speaker 3 (57:46):
Vinos established that. Yes, yes, if you find if you
Google search and you find the Audovinos that make wine.
Speaker 4 (57:53):
Actually, my uncle is also named David Odovino, I have.
Speaker 3 (57:58):
And he lives in the same town me, so we
get each other's mail and there's there's actually a lot
of confusion.
Speaker 4 (58:05):
I am not former director of Hillside David Odovino.
Speaker 3 (58:09):
I am. I am actor David Odavino. Uh, please learn
the difference between us. He doesn't have a personal website though,
and I do.
Speaker 4 (58:19):
Winning. Thanks so much for having me on f This
is a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (58:23):
I really appreciate it. We'll see you next time on
pousands of blatterings
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