Wednesday, November 26, 2008

When acting, less is always more

Just returned from Vancouver where I did a guest spot in a TV pilot called "Shattered". I got to play a Vancouver crime lord opposite a menacing Ian Tracey wearing the hippest shoes on TV while surveilled by series star Callum Keith Rennie. Some great scenes for me to do--I even got shot, fun!--and a great time all around.

The only direction Bobby Roth, (Prison Break, Numbers and countless other prime time shows) gave me was "less." I generally try and underplay scenes, but he really came down hard on doing less. He likes to shoot extreme closeups and you have to do so little to say a lot when you're acting that tight. It was great to have a director actually pay close attention to my work and his direction reminded me of how easy it is to be external. The scenes were very dramatic, yet by doing less I was actually able to be more dramatic. At least I have to trust Bobby Roth on that since I didn't see what I did.

Thanks Bobby. It was a nice reminder about the power of the camera to do the heavy acting lifting. No "acting" required if you're telling the truth.

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