ACTING CHALLENGES

An afterthought about that showing of “Old Age Pillagers” that I went to.

I've been discovering over the past couple of months that when acting for the camera, rather than on the stage, less is more. With "OAP" I had the extra challenge that, although my character was fairly central, he didn't say much. I’m not used to that, so I found it hard. Luckily I got lots of tips from the director (Violet Ryder; watch out for her) and from the guy I was playing against, Barrie Palmer. Barrie is a vastly more experienced actor than I; he passed on a tip from Anthony Hopkins, one of my favourite actors. If I remember it correctly, the advice was something like: “don’t act, just be, just think; the audience will see it in your eyes.” Nice work if you can do it; I've discovered it's not as easy as he makes out. I’m studying Hopkins.

“Old Age Pillagers” is a 10-minute short: see http://www.oldagepillagers.webs.com