Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Spirited Actor Podcast with me
Speaker 1: Tracy Moore. I was a casting director for film and
Speaker 1: TV and commercials for over thirty years. I transitioned to
Speaker 1: a celebrity acting coach after I cast a film New
Speaker 1: Jersey Drive with executive producers Spike Lee and director Nick Domez.
Speaker 1: I auditioned every rapper from Biggie Smalls to Tupac, and
Speaker 1: I realized that rappers and musical artists they needed help
Speaker 1: transitioning to acting. My clients consist of musical artists from
Speaker 1: Buster Rhymes to Eve, Missy Elliott, Angela Yee from The
Speaker 1: Breakfast Club, and Vanessa Simmons, to name a few. I
Speaker 1: also coach sports stars and host as well. I feel
Speaker 1: I have the best of both worlds. As a casting director,
Speaker 1: I know exactly what they're looking for, and as an
Speaker 1: acting coach, I can coach you to be remembered in
Speaker 1: that room. I know. I know actors want to get
Speaker 1: the job. I get that, but being remembered by a
Speaker 1: casting director that is powerful. And now it's time for
Speaker 1: meditation of the day. Do you want to say the
Speaker 1: line or do you want to be the line? Tracy Moore,
Speaker 1: so in my class. When we do a scene study,
Speaker 1: one of the things that I'm always stressing with the
Speaker 1: actors in a positive way is to really take advantage
Speaker 1: of every single word sentence, Like, really, if you have
Speaker 1: one line, put your tone allen, make it memorable. Right.
Speaker 1: So there's a line in one of the scenes in
Speaker 1: our class where this woman is in an interrogation room
Speaker 1: and a detective comes in with these photos and he
Speaker 1: pushes the photos to her and he says, open it's
Speaker 1: a manilablo. He says open it. And she says, I
Speaker 1: don't want to open it. He said open it, and
Speaker 1: she says, I don't want to see any more photos
Speaker 1: of injured sailors. Now, you can save that line with
Speaker 1: tonality emphasis, I don't want to see any more pictures
Speaker 1: of any injured soldiers, right. Or you can be the line,
Speaker 1: do your homework, do your due diligence. You can watch
Speaker 1: the first five minutes of Saving Private Rhine and watch
Speaker 1: the bullets hit the shoulders and the head and the
Speaker 1: blood and all the goryiness, and then revisit that line.
Speaker 1: And when you see that and you revisit that line,
Speaker 1: you can have more weight in it. Right. So when
Speaker 1: you before you even save the line in thinking of
Speaker 1: saving Private Rye and all that blood and gore and
Speaker 1: soldiers and injuries and death. Oh yeah, I don't want
Speaker 1: to see any more photos of injury. Now. I'm not
Speaker 1: a certified actress, However, can you see the difference. I'm
Speaker 1: really big on references. I'm really big and taking whatever
Speaker 1: one line, one word, one hundred and twenty five pages
Speaker 1: of lots and putting your imprint, putting your flippant, putting
Speaker 1: your toenail in that performance. Do you want to say
Speaker 1: the line or do you want to be the line?
Speaker 1: Before we get started, I'd like to remind everyone to
Speaker 1: look out for my new show, Inside the Black Box.
Speaker 1: I'll be co hosting with the great Joe Morton. We'll
Speaker 1: be on Crackle Network real soon. I'll keep you posted.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Spirited Actor Podcast with me Tracy Moore,
Speaker 1: and today I'm your guest. I'm so excited to talk
Speaker 1: to you guys today. This is actually my first class
Speaker 1: with you today in twenty twenty four, and I want
Speaker 1: to talk to you guys about refreshing your talent. Refreshing
Speaker 1: your talent? What does that mean When I've had a
Speaker 1: lot of challenges medically unfortunately with my children in my life,
Speaker 1: and I'm a person of information and clarity. And so
Speaker 1: when my son was born, he was a premature baby
Speaker 1: and he was in neonatal and I would always be
Speaker 1: really inquisitive, right and ask doctors and nurses questions. Some
Speaker 1: of them were willing to give me the information, some
Speaker 1: of them had resistance. Once that had resistance or you know, attitude,
Speaker 1: I would say to them, what made you decide to
Speaker 1: go into the medical fields? Because when you talk to
Speaker 1: most doctors, most nurses, they tell you that a loved
Speaker 1: one was ill when they were young and they wanted
Speaker 1: to be a doctor a nurse so that they can
Speaker 1: help people. Such a sentimental and touching story. To hear
Speaker 1: these stories, so it's a reminder as to why they
Speaker 1: decided to do this in the first place. And that
Speaker 1: reminder shifts you in a way. Right, So when you know,
Speaker 1: and if you've ever experienced in your life doing work
Speaker 1: for no money but just the passion of it, right,
Speaker 1: you know how exhilarate that is. The money is the
Speaker 1: cherry on top, but the fact that you are, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, on a set doing it what it is
Speaker 1: that you love to do. There's just this electric energy
Speaker 1: going through your body and just happiness, pure happiness. Right. Well,
Speaker 1: that's what I was trying to jar in these nurses
Speaker 1: and doctors when I would say to them, why did
Speaker 1: you do it on prespents? Because what I felt that
Speaker 1: they did not have was a sense of compassion, a
Speaker 1: sense of kindness and gentleness in their approach. I remember
Speaker 1: once the doctor told me that they wanted to talk
Speaker 1: to me about my son's condition, and we were walking.
Speaker 1: I swear to you, I felt like I was trotting
Speaker 1: with the doctor and I stopped and said, sir, you
Speaker 1: pulled me out to talk to me about my loved one.
Speaker 1: Can you stop, plant your feet in the ground, give
Speaker 1: me eye contact? And I don't do this every day.
Speaker 1: I don't have a degree, So can you explain the procedure?
Speaker 1: Can you point me in the direction of information that
Speaker 1: I can find to learn? It was unbelievable to have
Speaker 1: to ask him to stop and talk to me instead
Speaker 1: of having me run next to him like I was insussisted. Right.
Speaker 1: So I say this to actors. I say this to actors,
Speaker 1: why do you choose acting? Why do you choose acting?
Speaker 1: Because this is not a tangible business where after you
Speaker 1: graduate from college someone's going to hand you a four
Speaker 1: year contract on an episodic. It doesn't work like that.
Speaker 1: I remember once I went to a party that was
Speaker 1: actually in Sam Jackson's house way back in the late eighties,
Speaker 1: and I remember being around a lot of actors who
Speaker 1: are have stellar careers today, working actors and you know,
Speaker 1: I'm talking like Bill Nunn, rest in peace. So many
Speaker 1: dynamic actors would be at this party. It was like
Speaker 1: a version of the Cosby Kids, Different worlds, you know,
Speaker 1: whatever was going on at the time. It was this
Speaker 1: you know, polparia of actors that you know would come
Speaker 1: together at various parties, right, but at this specific party,
Speaker 1: I remember asking Bill Nunn why he wanted to be
Speaker 1: an actor, and to hear stories of you know, and
Speaker 1: to see the passion in his eyes talking about, you know,
Speaker 1: the work of an actor, the commit and you know
Speaker 1: him getting advice maybe from Denzel you know, the greats.
Speaker 1: When you choose acting as a career as something that
Speaker 1: you want to work every day, you want to do
Speaker 1: backflips going to the set because you have so much fun,
Speaker 1: You're doing what you love. You you really want to
Speaker 1: make sure you're doing this for the right reasons, because
Speaker 1: some of these reasons are so temporary they burn out. Right. So,
Speaker 1: like let's say you said, I want to be an
Speaker 1: actor because I want to be famous. Understand what being
Speaker 1: famous is. Understand that the people that go what they
Speaker 1: watch you in films, you know, in theaters, or you know,
Speaker 1: they watch you on TV, or they actually watch you
Speaker 1: on Broadway. These people that support you and become your
Speaker 1: fans when they see you, like all of the common
Speaker 1: Curti sees decord protocol that kind of just leaves their
Speaker 1: mind and they just see their favorite star and they
Speaker 1: bump rush you. In most cases they don't. In most
Speaker 1: cases they don't mean you any harm. They're just very
Speaker 1: very exciting. Right. But if you're the type of person
Speaker 1: and you don't like people innovating your space, you want
Speaker 1: people to you know, since COVID keep six feet apart
Speaker 1: from you, this is not the gig for you because
Speaker 1: you don't determine your fame. When you do great work,
Speaker 1: people recognize and people come for you, whether it's one line,
Speaker 1: no lines or one hundred and twenty eight pages alliance.
Speaker 1: When you do great work, you are recognized. So before
Speaker 1: in my opinion. Actors start writing their acceptance speeches or
Speaker 1: awards or practicing their audit. You need to have an
Speaker 1: honest conversation with yourself and ask yourself why you choose acting.
Speaker 1: What is it about this craft, this business that draws
Speaker 1: you there? What is it about you know in terms
Speaker 1: of your stamina? And again there are it's it's not
Speaker 1: something that's handed to you once you get out of college.
Speaker 1: I mean, and you don't have to go to college,
Speaker 1: but I'm just saying it's it's not tangible like that.
Speaker 1: It's a journey. There's a process, and do you have
Speaker 1: the stamina to be on that journey? Do you have
Speaker 1: the energy? Do you have the vision to hold to
Speaker 1: be on this journey? You have to hold the vision
Speaker 1: of working actor.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: There's a show, excuse me, there is a show on
Speaker 1: HDTV called Bargain Blocks. Bargain Blocks, and there are these
Speaker 1: two guys that they sometimes they redesign, but they buy
Speaker 1: these really an expensive houses. I'm talking like in Detroit.
Speaker 1: They'll buy a house that's pretty much wailing apart for
Speaker 1: like seventy five hundred and then turn it over to
Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty thousand brand new beautifully decorated interior. Right.
Speaker 1: I love the show. I don't know why I love
Speaker 1: the show. I love the show. I love these guys.
Speaker 1: And last night I said, they're going to do my house.
Speaker 1: They're going to do my house, And I started to
Speaker 1: think about how Keith and I would get along really
Speaker 1: really great, because Keith is he's funny, he's like character,
Speaker 1: and how I love to see Evan laugh. And they
Speaker 1: just have a great relationship. They're part they're married, I think,
Speaker 1: but they're just really fun guys in their work and
Speaker 1: you can see their love and their passion and their work.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you this for a reason because we're going
Speaker 1: to have a conversation again where I say, guess what,
Speaker 1: I bought a house and guess who's doing my house?
Speaker 1: You guys, Heathan, even from bargain blocks. This is how
Speaker 1: life works. Isn't how it works if you don't dream,
Speaker 1: if you don't have the audacity to dream and then
Speaker 1: believe that your dreams are going to come true. Not, well,
Speaker 1: we'll see what happens. No, you dream, you sit in it,
Speaker 1: visualize them coming to your house and do in your bedroom,
Speaker 1: which I know Keith is going to Oh my god,
Speaker 1: he's good. He All I need to do is spend
Speaker 1: a day with Keith and Evan from Bargain Blocks. They'll
Speaker 1: embrace my person and then Keith is just going to
Speaker 1: go crazy. I just feel you have to claim it.
Speaker 1: You have to visualize. You have to see yourself working
Speaker 1: with the director that you want to work with. You
Speaker 1: have to see yourself on that set if you want
Speaker 1: to be on Tyler Perry Studios, if you want to
Speaker 1: live in la and in holding the vision. What's really
Speaker 1: super important you guys, And I really try to instill this,
Speaker 1: and my granddaughter I say try because she is eleventh
Speaker 1: and you know, baby steps. But when you don't get
Speaker 1: what you want when you want it, it doesn't mean
Speaker 1: it's not coming. It just means that the timing is
Speaker 1: not there, it's not the right time. But you are
Speaker 1: going to get it. But what happens is that people
Speaker 1: fall out of their vision. Then it becomes oh, I'm
Speaker 1: not going to get it. I've never oh, and then
Speaker 1: you just keep spidering the time. But now, don't do
Speaker 1: that to yourself. Stay in the joy of your vision,
Speaker 1: because remember, it's about how you feel. If you don't
Speaker 1: feel good, you're not going to create good. You're going
Speaker 1: to create, keep creating. I don't feel good. If you
Speaker 1: want to feel good, you got to feel good. Sit
Speaker 1: I can't tell you how great I felt last night saying,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, Keith and I we're gonna have so
Speaker 1: much fun. We're gonna do so much fun. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: help them, They're gonna teach me stuff. I'm gonna paint
Speaker 1: with them. I'm gonna choose like my floors, live it,
Speaker 1: live it. Okay. So the first thing is and prepery.
Speaker 1: You guys are taking notes. You want to ask yourself
Speaker 1: why why you choose acting? And you want to be honest,
Speaker 1: have an honest conversation with yourself. If you want to
Speaker 1: be famous and you want to make a lot of money,
Speaker 1: say it. A lot of people in my experience working
Speaker 1: with actors in the imberial stages of their careers that
Speaker 1: you know it might have been a revenge situation. They
Speaker 1: wanted to get back at somebody. Stay in having great
Speaker 1: intentions so great things can continue to come to you.
Speaker 1: It doesn't pay energy wise. Physically, your body body's chemistry
Speaker 1: changes when you're angry, and when you're negative, you create
Speaker 1: more disease in your body. Hold on to that positive place,
Speaker 1: hold on to that happy thought. I always tell actors
Speaker 1: to create a happy thought where you go to that
Speaker 1: happy thought and it changes the trajectory and the rhythm
Speaker 1: of the energy. If you're in some negative energy, it
Speaker 1: just changes, right, Okay. Two. Training, Training is imperative. A
Speaker 1: lot of actors feel like they take classes, work with coaches,
Speaker 1: and then I'm good. You should never feel like you're
Speaker 1: at a place of I'm good. I'm good should never
Speaker 1: exist for you, excuse me. The reason why I say
Speaker 1: that is because training, Yes, it's to help you with protocol,
Speaker 1: it's to help you with terminology, and to teach you
Speaker 1: the basis of where you can go to and navigate
Speaker 1: your feelings and emotions and feed them through the skin
Speaker 1: of these characters in which you portray and their experiences. However,
Speaker 1: you don't have all of the experiences that your characters
Speaker 1: or the characters which you will be auditioning for asked for,
Speaker 1: don't have. So training is going to teach you how
Speaker 1: to access those emotions without having the actual experience. But
Speaker 1: you have to do the work right. So, if my
Speaker 1: character is in a relationship and there's it's violence, domestic violence,
Speaker 1: and you've never had that experience personally. Well, in doing
Speaker 1: your due diligence, what you want to do is you
Speaker 1: want to talk to counselors who counsel women. You want
Speaker 1: to possibly there may be unfortunately someone you might know
Speaker 1: or someone who knows someone, or you want to get
Speaker 1: as close to this experience as possible without being in
Speaker 1: the actual experience. You're doing your research. I'm not asking
Speaker 1: you to be around this type of behavior at all.
Speaker 1: I'm asking you to observe and understand the behavior so
Speaker 1: that as an actress, you can understand the experience. And
Speaker 1: training is going to help you to understand that experience
Speaker 1: so that you can tap into something in you to
Speaker 1: become that character and live in authentically in that experience. Right,
Speaker 1: one of my actresses in my class is a nurse,
Speaker 1: and the cool thing is is that and you know,
Speaker 1: she knows the posture of a nurse. She knows the
Speaker 1: verbiage and pronunciation of these difficult procedures, medications, or terminologies.
Speaker 1: And if she were to audition and be cast as
Speaker 1: a nurse, she would be amazing because she knows that
Speaker 1: experience and she's confident and she consider in that experience.
Speaker 1: With the knowledge and without I would never tell. But
Speaker 1: without telling them that she's a nurse, it just well,
Speaker 1: actually I would tell I would put it on your resume.
Speaker 1: So I take that back, who do want them? And
Speaker 1: walk back? I take that back, you should put it
Speaker 1: on your resume. But imagine how great she is. I
Speaker 1: had the pleasure of coaching Cardi b and Hustler. I knew.
Speaker 1: I knew when I got the script she was going
Speaker 1: to be amazing in that when you have the experience
Speaker 1: or the knowledge of your character's experience, you can't but
Speaker 1: soar because there's a comfort and an ease and like
Speaker 1: you not notice, I understand, I can relate right And
Speaker 1: then again, if you don't have the experienced, training is
Speaker 1: going to help you. I'm always going to go back
Speaker 1: to training. I'm always because when this was my experience
Speaker 1: when I first started working with Buster, Rhymes and Eves
Speaker 1: specifically because I was on the road with them for
Speaker 1: six years back and forth. The thing is is that
Speaker 1: when I would get off, because I worked with such
Speaker 1: brilliant directors, dps, other actors, I would learn so much
Speaker 1: from every show that I was on with them, And
Speaker 1: being that I was buster's coach or Eve's coach. I
Speaker 1: had the ability to roam around. And my main area
Speaker 1: on a set is what's called video village, and that's
Speaker 1: where the monitors are, that's where the director's cheers are.
Speaker 1: And let me just insert this because this might seem petty,
Speaker 1: but this is extremely important. Never, as an actor, make
Speaker 1: an assumption that you could sit in a director's chair.
Speaker 1: Don't ever do that. It's so disrespectful, and they do
Speaker 1: not want you to sit in their chair. I don't
Speaker 1: even care if you are a star. And let me
Speaker 1: tell you an example. I'm not going to mention names,
Speaker 1: but I was coaching a very very very very very
Speaker 1: very powerful superstar female and we were doing a film
Speaker 1: and her assistant sat in one of the executive producer's chairs.
Speaker 1: And I always have the freedom to be a video
Speaker 1: village because I have to watch the monitors to watch
Speaker 1: my clients. So she sat in the chair and the
Speaker 1: executive producer came up and she immediately got out of
Speaker 1: the chair and she was like, oh, I'm sorry. So
Speaker 1: he was like, no, no, it's fine, it's fine. Sit
Speaker 1: I'm good. Right. So I said to myself, in watching
Speaker 1: this situation, like wow, Okay, that's cool. He was cool
Speaker 1: about it.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: By the time we got to the trailer, his assistant
Speaker 1: was at the door, and his assistant told my client
Speaker 1: that her assistant can never sit in his chair again.
Speaker 1: Now he didn't even have the courage to say it himself.
Speaker 1: He said his assistant to tell my client, which I
Speaker 1: thought was really whack. But anyway, a chair, okay, never
Speaker 1: assume that, right. But what I would do when I
Speaker 1: got off the road is I would always come back
Speaker 1: and share the knowledge of every show that I did,
Speaker 1: not the specific you know, oh, I was coaching Eve
Speaker 1: on us on Barbershop one or whatever, but more of
Speaker 1: the things that I learned from the director, like and
Speaker 1: another insert. You guys need to read credits because what
Speaker 1: I am learning more and more in my classes is
Speaker 1: that you guys don't know anybody, and that's not good.
Speaker 1: How are you going to hold a vision for a
Speaker 1: career and you don't know what directors you want to
Speaker 1: work with or what producers you want to work with.
Speaker 1: Every director and producer is different. They have different visions, energy,
Speaker 1: they present different work. So you need to know who
Speaker 1: these people are. When I say a name, I said
Speaker 1: Charles King, in my class, and I think one person
Speaker 1: knew Charles King one of the most powerful person of
Speaker 1: color in this industry, and I was a part of
Speaker 1: witnessing his comeup. Need to know these people that puts
Speaker 1: a stamp on it even more when you're like, oh
Speaker 1: my god, I can't wait to work who will packer?
Speaker 1: I can't wait to work with? Like know who producers
Speaker 1: are out there in film and TV. And you only
Speaker 1: do that by reading credits. And there's a science to you, guys,
Speaker 1: a science. Most producers like to work with the same people.
Speaker 1: When you find good people and cool people, you always
Speaker 1: have them in your roster. So you want to know
Speaker 1: who producers are because producers hire maybe the same directors,
Speaker 1: and directors work with the same casting directors. They have
Speaker 1: relationships with casting directors, not all the time, but most
Speaker 1: of the time. And you need to know who casts
Speaker 1: for Martin Scorsese. You need to know who cast for
Speaker 1: Spike Lee. And you need to when you find out
Speaker 1: who these casting directors are, you need to IMDb dot
Speaker 1: com them and find out what their credits are and
Speaker 1: who what other directors say is man, this is a business.
Speaker 1: You got to do the world. Here are no shortcuts,
Speaker 1: you will be short changed. But if you want a
Speaker 1: career of longevity and you're serious, this is not work
Speaker 1: for you. This is a part of the fun and
Speaker 1: the joy and the passion in which you do as
Speaker 1: an actor. You have to do your due diligence out here.
Speaker 1: Find out who your trainers are. You know these classes,
Speaker 1: who these acting coaches. I was speaking to a mom
Speaker 1: and she was saying, like, this woman invested like oh
Speaker 1: maybe thirty thousand and like one of those you know.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to say, but you know those seminars
Speaker 1: or workshops or schools, and nothing came out of it
Speaker 1: other than some photos that her daughter took. But you
Speaker 1: have to do your due diligence and everyone that you
Speaker 1: work with needs to be current, needs to be relevant today.
Speaker 1: There was a time in the nineties when Janet Jackson
Speaker 1: song came out what if You've done lately? In the industry?
Speaker 1: That was like a motto. It was like, Okay, so yeah,
Speaker 1: you did that, So what are you doing now? What
Speaker 1: projects are you currently want? So training, do your due
Speaker 1: diligence to know who you're working with. Also training, try
Speaker 1: something new in twenty twenty four. If you've never taken
Speaker 1: a Shakespeare class. Take a Shakespeare class. Shakespeare is wonderful
Speaker 1: and it's a challenge for everyone, and you need to
Speaker 1: challenge yourself. Keep challenging yourself, keep stretching yourself as an actor,
Speaker 1: as an artist. Learn a new dialect. One of my
Speaker 1: students last night in my class did a British dialect
Speaker 1: and it was brilliant. There was nothing forced contrived about it.
Speaker 1: That was who she was in that moment. It was great.
Speaker 1: But got to do the work and she's not British.
Speaker 1: Got to do the work. Okay. The other thing I
Speaker 1: want to talk about is being kind, being courtesy, courteous,
Speaker 1: and knowing boundaries. You should always be kind to people.
Speaker 1: It doesn't cost anything to be kind, to smile, to
Speaker 1: say thank you, to say please, to say excuse me,
Speaker 1: be kind, common courtesy. This is what's usually taught in
Speaker 1: the household when you're young. However, I believe that things
Speaker 1: got turned around jilted during COVID because there was no
Speaker 1: socialization going on. So there's a generation that came out
Speaker 1: of that. And last year I had I was diagnosed
Speaker 1: with arthritis in my right hip. I was walking with
Speaker 1: a cane. I would be walking to the train and
Speaker 1: people would be knocking me over, knocking me over, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, I have a cane. Common courtesy also boundaries.
Speaker 1: Respect the boundaries. I know that my energy is rainbow
Speaker 1: and butterflies because I feel it, and that's what I
Speaker 1: want to promote. That's how I want to wake up
Speaker 1: every morning, rainbows and butterflies in cotton candy. However, I
Speaker 1: am a professional. I work as a professional. When you
Speaker 1: have my phone number, email, that doesn't give you access
Speaker 1: to me for twenty four hours a day. It doesn't
Speaker 1: give you access to me at nine am on Saturday morning.
Speaker 1: Because I wake up every day Monday through Friday at
Speaker 1: six am Saturday. To sleep to nine is golden time
Speaker 1: for me. And I don't work twenty four hours. I
Speaker 1: shut off at six seven o'clock really six o'clock. So
Speaker 1: to want to pick my brain at nine pm on
Speaker 1: a Thursday does not work with me. Respect the boundaries
Speaker 1: of the casting people. If they give you your number number
Speaker 1: Yolanda Hunt casting directors, she's this toth gracious. Same way
Speaker 1: she would give you a number, she would give your email,
Speaker 1: but respect the boundaries of that. Same with Elson, respect
Speaker 1: the boundaries of that Okay. Lastly, I want you to
Speaker 1: know your worth. I want you to value yourself because
Speaker 1: this business there's a lot of desperation that you can feel,
Speaker 1: that you can sense, and that you can smell, and
Speaker 1: desperation is not sexy or acceptable. Relax, rely on your talents,
Speaker 1: rely on your truths. If you're in an uncomfortable situation,
Speaker 1: talk about it, report it, because those things aren't supposed
Speaker 1: to happen. That's not what we're doing here. We're being
Speaker 1: other characters and filming it and presenting that word to
Speaker 1: the public at large. No one needs to be harmed
Speaker 1: or feel uncomfortable or pressured. And when you know your
Speaker 1: value of yourself, you really really try not to put
Speaker 1: yourself in a position that you will be in that
Speaker 1: but it's not you. There are predators out there, and
Speaker 1: you have to be aware. You can't be desperate for
Speaker 1: a role. You can't be desperate to make it. There's
Speaker 1: no place that you're going to go to make it.
Speaker 1: Once again, when you do great work, you are recognized.
Speaker 1: When you do great work, you're recognized. When you are trained,
Speaker 1: you do great work, you're recognized. Training will help you
Speaker 1: to do great work to be recognized and people will
Speaker 1: come for you. Have standards, Know what you will deal
Speaker 1: with and what you will to deal with. Be clear,
Speaker 1: crystal clear. Understand that you are in the room too,
Speaker 1: So that makes you somebody. Never put anybody on a
Speaker 1: pedestal haigher than yourself. What are you saying about yourself
Speaker 1: when you are in that room. Value your soul, value
Speaker 1: your spirit. Be protective of that, Be protective of your space,
Speaker 1: and stay in the knowing. You don't need to know when,
Speaker 1: and you don't need to know how. You just need
Speaker 1: to continue knowing that there is a role out there
Speaker 1: for you to shine in and to live your best
Speaker 1: life and what you passionately, passionately want to do. Well.
Speaker 1: That concludes my segment on refresh your talent actors, and
Speaker 1: I'm excited, Elsa. Elsa's going to come on and bring
Speaker 1: on our actors who have some questions for me.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, thank you for all of those gyms, Tracy,
Speaker 3: free class, all free class. Right right, So today we
Speaker 3: have two of our spirited actors. We have Miss Shamiah
Speaker 3: Lucas Shmia you can come. And we have Miss Devin
Speaker 3: Nikki Thomas Devan you can come on.
Speaker 1: Both of my favorite people's in the world. Let me
Speaker 1: just say, I'm gonna put this out here because I'm
Speaker 1: gonna pump it up. But Shamia is a dynamic artist,
Speaker 1: you guys, dynamics. Let me tell you when. Because my
Speaker 1: road now is directing. I want to put Shamia's art
Speaker 1: in my scenes. Beautiful And then you know I'm saying
Speaker 1: that because other directors and producers out there, Shamia, after
Speaker 1: we do the classes, the questions, I want you to
Speaker 1: give your email after you ask your question, or you're
Speaker 1: where people can see your work. Producers and directors can
Speaker 1: see your work, so they too can put your artwork
Speaker 1: on set. Yeah, beautiful stuff, Hey Devine, all right, I'll
Speaker 1: throw it to you all.
Speaker 3: So today, miss Shemir, you will be up first with
Speaker 3: your question. Can you hear me? You can unmute so
Speaker 3: we can hear your question. Oh, maybe some technical difficulties.
Speaker 1: Like Dolly, but it's plastic, it's plastered with a smile.
Speaker 3: So Devin, go ahead and ask you a question.
Speaker 2: Sure, I don't know that there's a direct Can you
Speaker 2: hear me?
Speaker 1: Yes, so we.
Speaker 2: Hear uh, Miss Viola by Davidson. We hear mister Ji
Speaker 2: Henson talking about how you constantly have to prove yourself. Oh, like,
Speaker 2: it is so tiring, and to be someone who is
Speaker 2: like a baby in this industry. Did you want to
Speaker 2: you want?
Speaker 1: You can?
Speaker 3: I can?
Speaker 2: I can wait. I can wait to go until after
Speaker 2: Shemia goes to He's okay to be someone who is
Speaker 2: a baby in the industry working to get into that point.
Speaker 2: We feel that too, you know, just like you feel it.
Speaker 2: We all feel it. And it's hard, particularly for women
Speaker 2: of color, you know, to feel like you can be
Speaker 2: outperforming or out working. I'm not going to say better
Speaker 2: actor or better or whatever. I'm just going to say,
Speaker 2: like the work ethic, you know, and it still have
Speaker 2: to feel like you fight. And that's not it's not
Speaker 2: about a sense of entitlement, because I don't think too
Speaker 2: many of us come in saying that I should be
Speaker 2: given this thing. No question would be what do you
Speaker 2: say to help us kind of keep going? When you
Speaker 2: face in any industry, as a black woman in any industry,
Speaker 2: there's a constant like you could be an expert, like
Speaker 2: you have egots, black egots out here that still have
Speaker 2: to prove themselves. So what would your advice be from
Speaker 2: someone who has experienced and is seeing the ebb and
Speaker 2: flow of the industry to kind of not be angry
Speaker 2: and jaded. And what would you say to help us
Speaker 2: with managing.
Speaker 1: This. Well, the first thing I would say, which is
Speaker 1: so super important, are your words and the words that
Speaker 1: we use. Right, So instead of saying hard, say it's challenging.
Speaker 1: And why do I say that? Because when you face
Speaker 1: such challenge and you overcome it, you're stronger, you're more confident,
Speaker 1: and you have that rejuvenation of Because what I'm saying
Speaker 1: to you, Devin, the fight is never going to end.
Speaker 1: The fight started with Hattie McDaniels when she won that
Speaker 1: oscar for Gone with the Wind and she had to
Speaker 1: sit in a separate room. She couldn't sit in the
Speaker 1: main theater. So imagine that disrespect. So what I'm saying
Speaker 1: to you is that what you guys need to do,
Speaker 1: what we all need to do, is continue to have
Speaker 1: the fight in us because you can never give up.
Speaker 1: Like the Roger said, if I don't, how is Fantasia
Speaker 1: and everybody else is going to benefit off of you
Speaker 1: or your work We're benefiting right now. I'm standing you
Speaker 1: guys are standing on Hattie McDaniel's shoulders right now because
Speaker 1: she opened the door for you, Sidney Poitier, they open
Speaker 1: the door for you, right, So this is what you do.
Speaker 1: You say to yourself, Yes, it's challenging, but guess what, Devin,
Speaker 1: You're made for it. You got to stamina for it.
Speaker 1: And Devin, you are not. You are not a victim.
Speaker 1: You are a survivor. And more importantly than that, you
Speaker 1: take power in your own hands. Why rely on people
Speaker 1: who don't want you, because this is what's going to happen,
Speaker 1: Issa Ray, You're going to create your own awkward black
Speaker 1: woman and the numbers of YouTube are going to go
Speaker 1: crazy and then somebody's going to see it by it
Speaker 1: HBO insecure now people coming to her. Maintain your power
Speaker 1: because the fight is never Why are we still talking
Speaker 1: about this? Spruce and Elsa will tell you, I've been
Speaker 1: talking about it since twenty twenty when we sold Inside
Speaker 1: the Black Box and I'm like, damn, no bla black women.
Speaker 1: We need to And that's a part of why Inside
Speaker 1: the Black Box was created, to have a vehicle to
Speaker 1: are this with everyone because people didn't even know actors
Speaker 1: weren't getting paid. The majority of people before the strike,
Speaker 1: Oh y'all are rich. This after this strike. Wow, they
Speaker 1: don't They really not making money when you mapping it up.
Speaker 1: So that's the first thing I would change my dialogue
Speaker 1: and say, it's challenging, but you are made to overcome it.
Speaker 1: That's why you're in it. And the other thing is
Speaker 1: is that there is a role out there for you, Devin,
Speaker 1: that I can personally guarantee everything I know in this industry.
Speaker 1: I've been doing this too long.
Speaker 3: I know that. I know that.
Speaker 1: I know. So you have nothing to be concerned about.
Speaker 1: You keep focusing on the great work that you produce,
Speaker 1: and I guarantee you you'll be in a position and
Speaker 1: you're gonna have a voice like Taraji you are. So
Speaker 1: build up your strength and your armor now because that's
Speaker 1: the next thing you're going to have to deal with.
Speaker 1: Don't give up the fighting. It's so worth.
Speaker 2: It's not that Thank you, first of all.
Speaker 1: And I know you're not. I'm not saying that you are.
Speaker 1: I know that it's frustrating, I know that it's tiring.
Speaker 1: I know that you know where do I replenish this energy?
Speaker 1: My God, and I'm older than you. But when I
Speaker 1: think about actors and when I think about the opportunities,
Speaker 1: when I first started, and I was just dealing with
Speaker 1: black and white. I was bringing people of color in
Speaker 1: on the low, you know, to now, oh my god,
Speaker 1: the terminology ethnically ambiguous. So there are changes, not the
Speaker 1: changes in which we all want at times, but it's
Speaker 1: people like you that can remind and then you know
Speaker 1: when you get that role that is going to exhibit
Speaker 1: your great work and people start coming up and make
Speaker 1: sure your team is like Sean Ringo said, if you
Speaker 1: don't have a team that can go see millions and
Speaker 1: even think that big, how are you going to get it?
Speaker 1: Let your team do that.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Okay, you're welcome.
Speaker 3: Okay, mister Miah, can you hear us?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can hear you. Hi, Hi everybody.
Speaker 3: Okay, so you can ask your question.
Speaker 4: Yes, So I like that question and I love your answer, Tracy.
Speaker 4: To the previous question, My question is how do you,
Speaker 4: in this time and day when everybody's just going to go,
Speaker 4: how do you solilify a moment where you're passing your
Speaker 4: favorite producer or you're passing your favorite casting director and
Speaker 4: you want to really connect with them, but you know
Speaker 4: you don't have that one though to talk. What's the
Speaker 4: best guess your elevator conversation.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, that's an excellent question. That's an excellent question.
Speaker 1: Both of these questions were great. Okay, the thing about
Speaker 1: casting directors and most directors and producers is that you
Speaker 1: don't really know what they look like. You know their names,
Speaker 1: but you don't know their faces. Right, So there's two situations.
Speaker 1: One I think of it and I feel like you
Speaker 1: know this. To me, I feel like you know most
Speaker 1: people's faces or you know names where like, if you
Speaker 1: were in an elevator with Let's say I could tell
Speaker 1: you Howard or Brian Grazier, you would know that that's
Speaker 1: Ron Howard and Brian Grasier, right, right. But this is
Speaker 1: what's worked for me, specifically being around celebrities and they
Speaker 1: everybody know them and come up to them. That ignorance
Speaker 1: is bliss. You play like you don't know them and
Speaker 1: you just have general conversation with them about doesn't even
Speaker 1: have to be about the business. Because what I've learned
Speaker 1: in working with celebrities, most celebrities they know their fans,
Speaker 1: they know they got fans, but they're people too, and
Speaker 1: it's very rare that people deal with them as people.
Speaker 1: They deal with them as stars and what you find
Speaker 1: is most of them want to be dealt as people.
Speaker 1: They want to know what the weather is, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. They want to know what's going on
Speaker 1: about you know what I mean. So my thing is
Speaker 1: that you're more empowered when you're not a fan and
Speaker 1: when you're equipped with information. Because when we did live auditions,
Speaker 1: and people would come into live auditions and specifically when
Speaker 1: the director and the producers were there during a callback,
Speaker 1: the actors that excelled, whether they got cast or not,
Speaker 1: they got remembered were the ones who came in and
Speaker 1: they didn't list all the Spikes credits because Spike knows
Speaker 1: his credits. They would find something that something about Spike
Speaker 1: or something he liked that no one knew, not the
Speaker 1: obvious New York knicks, and then that would spark a
Speaker 1: conversation with Spike like oh so you know that, and
Speaker 1: then a conversation ensues. Next thing you know, Samia uh take,
Speaker 1: because Spike was classic for this should be if he
Speaker 1: liked you as an actress, he would say. Samiah called Jason,
Speaker 1: which who was his assistant for years, and Jason would
Speaker 1: have a message or something some but you want to
Speaker 1: you want people to remember you and people remember, they
Speaker 1: don't remember fans, so always you know, and doing your
Speaker 1: due diligence now and just knowing who people are, take
Speaker 1: advantage of that. But I would never speak of the industry.
Speaker 1: I would speak of life because they never get an
Speaker 1: opportunity to do that.
Speaker 4: So then so then in that case, after you have
Speaker 4: that normal conversation, then your due diligence after that is
Speaker 4: to follow up with an email or some type of
Speaker 4: communication with them to.
Speaker 1: Say, hey, we passed by blah blah blah. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: can kind of lead with the here's what I have, okay,
Speaker 1: because then at that point they're going to want to
Speaker 1: help you, you know what I mean. Then because they
Speaker 1: had such a great conversation, brief conversation and they're like,
Speaker 1: so what do you do? Should be up and you're like, well,
Speaker 1: I'm an actress. Really well, you know what, you should
Speaker 1: get your picture and resume, real, get your stuff to me,
Speaker 1: here's my car, here's my email. Just emailing to me.
Speaker 1: Because what people do is they make such a big
Speaker 1: deal out of people that a lot of these people
Speaker 1: believe it, you know what I mean, But there are
Speaker 1: people who don't, and the ones that don't They're like, okay, great,
Speaker 1: thank you. I appreciate you, love the complements. But how
Speaker 1: can I help you? Thank you, You're welcome. Wow, those
Speaker 1: are both great questions. Thank you, Devin, thank you, Shemiah,
Speaker 1: thank you elsa great question.
Speaker 3: Absolutely all righty.
Speaker 1: So when we come back on the Spirited Actor Podcast
Speaker 1: with me Tracy Moore, we are going to do class
Speaker 1: and session and we're going to have a monologue you
Speaker 1: guys today it's a monolog Welcome back to the Spirited
Speaker 1: Actor Podcast with me Tracy Moore. And you know we're
Speaker 1: going to do class and session. But before we start
Speaker 1: class and session, I just want Chamia to give you
Speaker 1: her information and please go to her link and look
Speaker 1: at her amazing artwork. Producers, directors, so Shemia give them
Speaker 1: your link.
Speaker 4: Yes, my website is www dot Shemia Amore art dot com.
Speaker 4: That is c H E R M I A A
Speaker 4: M oh you are art. And that's also my Instagram
Speaker 4: as well, Shamia more Arts and if you want to
Speaker 4: look at my personal I have some beautiful images there
Speaker 4: in content it's Shamia Moore by itself.
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you so much to mea thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you. You go see her work myself. I'm telling you,
Speaker 1: thank you so much.
Speaker 3: Guys, have a good night, all right, all right, all
Speaker 3: right you too.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Okay.
Speaker 3: Elsa classic session where we got last in session. So
Speaker 3: today we have Miss Devin, Nikki Thomas back. Welcome back, Devin, Devin,
Speaker 3: and we are going to spotlight Miss Devin and her
Speaker 3: monolog Yay, So Devin, when you are ready, We're ready.
Speaker 2: Okay, I'll slate at the end. Trust I don't trust
Speaker 2: none of these men, not Jack or nobody else. See
Speaker 2: these men, they're liable to do anything. See they wait
Speaker 2: to they get one woman locked and tied up with them,
Speaker 2: then they turn around and see if they could find
Speaker 2: another one. One's just as good as the other. I
Speaker 2: don't pay them no mind. See, I ain't never met
Speaker 2: a man that meant nobody no good. They go around
Speaker 2: and make all these babies, and they leave you to
Speaker 2: take care of them, talking about they want to see
Speaker 2: what's on the other side of the hill. I make
Speaker 2: sure I don't have me no babies. My mama taught
Speaker 2: me how to do that. See many coming. He ain't
Speaker 2: gonna be tied down with no babies. I had me
Speaker 2: a man one time. I thought had some love in them.
Speaker 2: Came home, he was packing his trunk. This man say
Speaker 2: to me, the time come when even the best of
Speaker 2: friends must par said that he would give me a
Speaker 2: special delivery some old day. I watched him drag that
Speaker 2: trunk out and down to the train station. So I say,
Speaker 2: if you're gonna be sending me a special delivery, then
Speaker 2: I won't gonna be here to get it.
Speaker 1: See.
Speaker 2: I done learned that the harder you try to hold
Speaker 2: on to these men, the easier it is for some
Speaker 2: guy to come and take them away. I done learned that.
Speaker 2: That's why I don't trust nobody but the Good Lord above,
Speaker 2: and I don't love nobody but my mama. Thank you.
Speaker 2: That's Molly Cunningham from Joe Turner's Coming Gone by August Wilson,
Speaker 2: and I'm Devin Thomas.
Speaker 1: One of my favorite, favorite, favorite favorite anything August Wilson.
Speaker 1: First of all, I just want to say the purpose
Speaker 1: of a monologue is we're not involved, meaning casting directors.
Speaker 1: We don't tell you what monologue to choose or do.
Speaker 1: That's your choice and you have the freedom. And the
Speaker 1: purpose of a monologue is to showcase the versatility in
Speaker 1: your talent. And for us to see that. So in
Speaker 1: terms of the purpose of the monologue, you've achieved the
Speaker 1: purpose of a monologue. I applaud the consistency of the dialect.
Speaker 1: It's so annoying when actors are not able to maintain
Speaker 1: that consistency. So you need to be applauded for that
Speaker 1: because that's really big. Okay, because you people can start
Speaker 1: off wrong with a Jamaican accent and then break it
Speaker 1: up and mess it up during the course of the dialogue. Okay.
Speaker 1: The other thing is the character, your characterization, like because
Speaker 1: you've had some type of negative, challenging experience with men
Speaker 1: in your own personal life, and I don't know to
Speaker 1: what extreme. It could be sixteen years old and I
Speaker 1: was in love with your first boyfriend and he broke
Speaker 1: up with you, whatever, whatever your experience is the comfort
Speaker 1: and the ease of you being able to do this
Speaker 1: monologue and to take the diet like it wasn't a monologue.
Speaker 1: I felt like I was listening to somebody else, not
Speaker 1: Devin tell a story. So this is what I mean
Speaker 1: by authenticity. When you know the experience, have the experience,
Speaker 1: and you merge that into the character's experience, it just
Speaker 1: makes it like I didn't know. I wasn't watching Devon.
Speaker 1: I was watching this woman you took Devin left the room.
Speaker 1: You look like Devon, But you know, and I love
Speaker 1: when people when actors do monologues and they have to
Speaker 1: make a choice of that man's voice you took it to.
Speaker 1: That shows texture in your talent, right because I saw
Speaker 1: him and that transition that you had, just that break
Speaker 1: of energy and pacing. It gave me. This monologue embodied
Speaker 1: everything that I needed to see to say, I know
Speaker 1: what who I'm doing. I know how to cast you,
Speaker 1: I know how to talk about your talent. And lastly,
Speaker 1: one of the things that you're so dynamic at, Devon
Speaker 1: is your breath. You talk about other great actors, but
Speaker 1: you need to know that somebody is going to talk
Speaker 1: about you one day in the same way, because when
Speaker 1: you take those breaths, that's what makes it real because
Speaker 1: it's not a run on sentence. It's not like this
Speaker 1: one consistent thought. You break it up and it's so
Speaker 1: engaging to watch. I know when I watch Devin, she's
Speaker 1: gonna nail it. I know that. And if she doesn't,
Speaker 1: which I don't think about, it's because maybe you didn't
Speaker 1: get the information. I just need to give you something,
Speaker 1: but you're gonna get it. Whatever you need, you take it,
Speaker 1: you absorb it, and then saying, I personally don't ever
Speaker 1: need to see an audition from you, A real I
Speaker 1: know Devin's work. Thank you.
Speaker 2: That means a lot to me.
Speaker 1: It's the truth, it's the truth. It's the truth. Man.
Speaker 1: I champion you guys, so you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: But da work Den, And and again you know, my
Speaker 1: goal always is to create a platform so that other
Speaker 1: people can see. But Devin, like I said to Sam
Speaker 1: Jackson when he was running after me on the street
Speaker 1: on dcal the Avenue, and he said, you're the casting director.
Speaker 1: People tell me I need to know. And I said,
Speaker 1: I think you're going to be all right. I think
Speaker 1: you go be all right. True story, all right when
Speaker 1: we come ELSA.
Speaker 3: Thank you, absolutely, we have such great with me.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Devin. We are Den all right telling you
Speaker 1: the Spirited Actor crew Jackets twenty four work Den, Thank you,
Speaker 1: that's good, that's good.
Speaker 3: All right. We're spruce. We're not we weren't finished with
Speaker 3: the segment, no, but.
Speaker 1: Spruce watered a couple on. So now here are we go?
Speaker 1: Make him a part of it. So Spruce all listen everybody,
Speaker 1: This is my This by producers Spruce Hidry and he
Speaker 1: also is producer inside of Black Box. So Spruce, will
Speaker 1: we come back when we come back to your show?
Speaker 3: Okay?
Speaker 1: I have a give love? Can I do that? Yeah?
Speaker 1: You can give love, Give all the love you want.
Speaker 1: I want to meditate a little bit too. Okay, all right,
Speaker 1: we can do that. All right, We'll be back. Welcome
Speaker 1: to Kudos Corner. Kudos Corner is where we put a
Speaker 1: spotlight on spirited actors and their achievements in their current work,
Speaker 1: and this week's Kudos Corner puts the spotlight on spirited
Speaker 1: actor alumna Amber miller Moore. Amber Miller Moore has been
Speaker 1: a busy working actor over the past few years. Her
Speaker 1: starring role in Love Falling Is The Easy Part just
Speaker 1: debuted via YouTube and Damon Dash's new media platform, America
Speaker 1: New Network, while the film by for Now will premiere
Speaker 1: on multiple BT platforms this spring. You can also check
Speaker 1: her out as the no nonsense federal prosecutor in season
Speaker 1: one of the scandalous TV series Hush. Three more projects,
Speaker 1: including a starring role in Harold Jackson's the novelist, and
Speaker 1: supporting roles in for what It's Worth and Treacherous Behavior
Speaker 1: are also anticipated for release this year. In addition to
Speaker 1: her time on screen, Amber is a dedicated acting coach
Speaker 1: who leads the youth division and teaches the business side
Speaker 1: of acting at the McKinnon School of Acting in Maryland.
Speaker 1: Kudos to Amber Miller Moore And now it's time to
Speaker 1: give love. I just want to say that it's really
Speaker 1: urgent that we check on each other each other and
Speaker 1: not check on each other work wise or what are
Speaker 1: you currently doing or have you been cast checking in
Speaker 1: on each other's spirit. We need to do spirit checks
Speaker 1: because a lot of people during this time are having
Speaker 1: a challenging time just living in this hypocritical world that
Speaker 1: we live in. Sometimes I live in this world and think, Nah,
Speaker 1: that's not real, or this can't be happening. You have
Speaker 1: to be able to ground yourself in your reality, in
Speaker 1: your peace, and in your solace because there's a lot
Speaker 1: of distractions, a lot of things going on that if
Speaker 1: we put our attention on all of these things one
Speaker 1: hundred percent, it would be mentally, physically and spiritually exhausting.
Speaker 1: So every once in a while, check on your friends,
Speaker 1: you know, and again, don't talk about the business, talk
Speaker 1: about their lives, talk about you know, vacations, but just
Speaker 1: avoid for a couple of minutes, maybe a couple hours.
Speaker 1: Just disconnect yourself from the noise and make sure we
Speaker 1: check on the spirit. Don't forget to look out for
Speaker 1: us on our new show, Inside the Black Box. My
Speaker 1: co host will be Joe the Legend Morton. It's going
Speaker 1: to be the Spirited Actor Podcast on Steroids. We'll be
Speaker 1: streaming on the Crackle network. I'll keep you posted. Thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us on the Spirited Actor Podcast with
Speaker 1: me Tracy Moore. I look forward to our next Spirited Podcast.
Speaker 1: Thank you,