An actor has to be on set for 12 hours, or do 8 shows a week, and the show always goes on. You have to have the stamina and the training to do what is expected of yourself as an actor, and an actor's training is never complete.
As an artist, I am constantly growing and evolving and that involves training. An actor prepares is a famous book but the title has so much truth. An actor has to constantly be prepared and ready to go, so that when the opportunity arises you are ready to do the work. This means taking acting classes, coachings, and voice lessons and so many other things. From these lessons, you learn more about your craft and essentially more about yourself.
This week I had the privilege of meeting with a new acting coach, Caroline Thomas. She has coached several famous people and has agreed to work with me. I am excited to study acting once again and remember why I fell in love with this business. We talked a great deal about shows we liked, different schools of acting, and actors whom we admired. In the end, we reached the conclusion that Neil LaBute would be a good playwright for me since he has a contemporary voice that lends itself to both stage and film. I am excited to be coaching with her and revisiting The Shape of Things by Mr. LaBute. I think in my upcoming weeks, I will have to explore and delve into myself which in turn will help my acting. I know this training will help both me as a person and me as an actor.
I think training is good in all aspects of life. I am currently doing the Insanity workout and yes it really is insane. As much as it is good physical training, it is great mental training as well. I am constantly pushing myself to go beyond my limits and tell myself that I can do this. As an actor, I face rejection on a daily basis, but I have to constantly push myself and tell myself to keep on going and always believe in myself and my talent. So thank you insanity for pushing me so that I can push myself in my career.
Your training as an actor is never finished, never complete. One of my favorite things as an actor is to watch other actors work when I am on set or in a show. I learn so much by observation. So in turn, always remember to observe the world around you. You can learn so much from the people and things right in front your face. There will be many moments of doubt, but when those moments happen you go back to your training. Train like a warrior with your whole body, heart and soul, and your success will follow.
Live for today, laugh hard, and love this moment!
Patrick
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Live, Laugh, Love, and Always Dream!
Live for Today, Laugh Hard, Love This Moment has been my motto for a while now. I have to constantly remind myself of this each and every day or sometimes the universe has a way of doing it in its own way. As an actor/teaching artist/customer service personnel, I interact with people on so many different levels. Even in the worst circumstances of my day to day existence, if I go back to Live, Laugh, Love, I am reminded that everything will be ok.
Acting is hard and rewarding and I think both of those adjectives feed each other. The work is rewarding because it hard and difficult, and when the work is hard and difficult it is rewarding. I became an actor because I was a quiet, shy, observer who enjoyed watching people interact. I think many of the people that I graduated high school with would be shocked to find out that I am actor since I was so quiet and reserved. However, I think that acting allows me to connect with humanity in a different way and allows me to come out of my reserved shell.
Live for Today: As for today, I had the awesome opportunity to meet with my manager, Jenn Lederer with The Dream Management. In this acting business, there are two types of representation for actors: managers and agents. I am lucky to be working with both. A manager is a hopefully a little more hands on and helps to develop a person's career. An agent's job is soley to seek out auditions and jobs for an actor. I really like working with Jenn because she is a great motivator and a good person/human being. I also love what the name of the management company means and stands for. Yes for Dreaming and believing in your dreams!
Laugh Always: I think laughter feeds the soul and can give you a six pack in the process. I think on many occasions I am funny and try to make people laugh and there are those people that can constantly make me laugh. This week I had the opportuniy to see Once the musical on Broadway. The play had so many funny, cute moments that I found myself laughing out loud (LOL). This show was amazing and was storytelling at its finest and is the type of theater that I want to be involved in. As an actor I think it is important to see other actors in action to see what you like, what you don't like, and to learn. It is also important to see where the industry currently is and where it is heading. So thank you Once, thank you.
Love This Moment: In this moment, I am sitting in my New York City Aparment in Astoria. I love the fact that I have a stable apartment in New York and that it is in Queens. It is so family orientated around my apartment and it is not as busy as Manhattan. I feel like I can relax a little rather than being constantly reminded that there are people around. Plus the rent is cheaper in Queens. As an actor you may have to work 50 million jobs to make rent but it allows me to create and work as an artist here in the city. I am listening to music which feeds my soul and am drinking a nice cold beer which reminds me of how lucky I am. As an actor I have the habit of always looking to the next thing rather than enjoying the exact moment in front of me. It is something I am working on and will hopefully will get better at over time. Hopefully you can too.
Finally as an actor, I am always dreaming and looking for the next project which can be a good thing as well! I must be constantly challenging myself as an artist and my next endeavour will be a webseries called Unwasted Youth. I will be playing a hall monitor! So pumped!! More news to follow!
As always remember to live, laugh, love, and dream!
Patrick G. McGee
Acting is hard and rewarding and I think both of those adjectives feed each other. The work is rewarding because it hard and difficult, and when the work is hard and difficult it is rewarding. I became an actor because I was a quiet, shy, observer who enjoyed watching people interact. I think many of the people that I graduated high school with would be shocked to find out that I am actor since I was so quiet and reserved. However, I think that acting allows me to connect with humanity in a different way and allows me to come out of my reserved shell.
Live for Today: As for today, I had the awesome opportunity to meet with my manager, Jenn Lederer with The Dream Management. In this acting business, there are two types of representation for actors: managers and agents. I am lucky to be working with both. A manager is a hopefully a little more hands on and helps to develop a person's career. An agent's job is soley to seek out auditions and jobs for an actor. I really like working with Jenn because she is a great motivator and a good person/human being. I also love what the name of the management company means and stands for. Yes for Dreaming and believing in your dreams!
Laugh Always: I think laughter feeds the soul and can give you a six pack in the process. I think on many occasions I am funny and try to make people laugh and there are those people that can constantly make me laugh. This week I had the opportuniy to see Once the musical on Broadway. The play had so many funny, cute moments that I found myself laughing out loud (LOL). This show was amazing and was storytelling at its finest and is the type of theater that I want to be involved in. As an actor I think it is important to see other actors in action to see what you like, what you don't like, and to learn. It is also important to see where the industry currently is and where it is heading. So thank you Once, thank you.
Love This Moment: In this moment, I am sitting in my New York City Aparment in Astoria. I love the fact that I have a stable apartment in New York and that it is in Queens. It is so family orientated around my apartment and it is not as busy as Manhattan. I feel like I can relax a little rather than being constantly reminded that there are people around. Plus the rent is cheaper in Queens. As an actor you may have to work 50 million jobs to make rent but it allows me to create and work as an artist here in the city. I am listening to music which feeds my soul and am drinking a nice cold beer which reminds me of how lucky I am. As an actor I have the habit of always looking to the next thing rather than enjoying the exact moment in front of me. It is something I am working on and will hopefully will get better at over time. Hopefully you can too.
Finally as an actor, I am always dreaming and looking for the next project which can be a good thing as well! I must be constantly challenging myself as an artist and my next endeavour will be a webseries called Unwasted Youth. I will be playing a hall monitor! So pumped!! More news to follow!
As always remember to live, laugh, love, and dream!
Patrick G. McGee
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