My Acting Journey
or, How I got to where I am now
There has been so much synchronicity since I started on this path, I can't help but believe it will continue.
After a brief foray into the world of business, and realizing it was the fastest way to a life that would not fulfill me, I returned to working at the movie theatre while finishing my degree and deciding what I should do with my one wild life. Two things happened here. One, I realized that the people who make films are people, and they spend their time to do what they do, and it seemed like fun, and I'd never done it, so why not try. And also, my friend Greg was making films, and he invited me to join him. After working on some films with Greg, and taking some acting and writing courses to round out my college pre-reqs, waking up my creativity for the first time, my friend in college asked if I'd like to travel to LA after graduation. Um, what choice did I really have?
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My first experience in LA was a bit rocky, but I learned a great deal. I was not in an empowered place - scared, homesick, and unsure. I found a friend and mentor in the unlikeliest of places: a recovering addict, who was also an actor. I love this part of my tale because it reminds me "The stone that the builders refused, will always be the head corner stone". From this friend, not only did I receive my first true acting lessons, but I learned what the life and pursuit of an actor could truly be. And it all seemed to be the best place for the type of person I was...the type of person I'd been becoming my entire life. After a chaotic ending to my first stint in LA, I returned to the east coast with a bright fire inside of me intent on acting training and experience.
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And yet again, things appear for me, seemingly out of nowhere. Tony Savant opens Playhouse West - Philadelphia the same month I return, and my friend randomly invites me to audition for a community theatre play. Four years later, I have a foundation in Meisner training and a load of theatre and short film experiences. From then on I like to say I've been creating my own graduate acting program. Who needs the foolishness of "big name schools" like Yale, Juliard, or NYU when you can study with their teachers in workshops and intensives, and even study with other people who teach you even stronger magic!
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Pig Iron, MICHA, Lucid Body, SITI Company...I began to find a deep passion for every acting technique and process that is rooted in the body and the imagination. I am not like any other actor I've met. I've read more of the books, know more of the landscape in any given city, connected more dots, followed more threads. It's because I refuse to become myopic, and I refuse to believe in a guru. This is my craft. One of my more recent teachers, a Tony nominee, was impressed by the level of ownership I took of the work. And I am proud of that. I wish every actor I watched took that level of ownership. But they don't, and that is what I am here to bring, among other things.
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I also refuse to do what most actors do: focus 90% on the business side and 10% on the craft. I'm exactly the opposite, just like I imagine my role models to be. When Jeff Goldblum came to speak to our school, someone asked him a question about the business side of acting. His response was "Why would you want to talk about that?" And I have trusted that this is the best advice.
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Clowning is a more current passion of mine. Before I first met the clown at a summer workshop at Pig Iron, I only thought of the circus clown and the children's performer. But now I know it as a profound spiritual gesture of vulnerability and aliveness. And I believe it is a crucial territory for every actor to investigate.
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It is more chaos that has brought me to LA - this pandemic has taken me from NYC and found me here in Los Angeles. I know all of this is for a reason. I know I am here to work now, to make a life doing the thing that makes me feel put to the best and most pleasurable use, to continue learning from great guides of this realm, and to continue discovering how I can collaborate and play and share ideas with the help of other geniuses.