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 biggiees Balls 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. Now. I know, I know actors want to
Speaker 1: get the job. I get that, but being remembered by
Speaker 1: casting director that is powerful. Meditation of the day opportunity
Speaker 1: does not send letters of introduction, Naomi Simms. We need
Speaker 1: to be able to recognize the signs that are before us.
Speaker 1: Miracles have a way of appearing through other people, or
Speaker 1: through something as simple as reading an article in a newspaper.
Speaker 1: When I am against the wall, I sit back, quietly
Speaker 1: and patiently wait for the right answer. I have learned
Speaker 1: to not only recognize the signs, but to expect them.
Speaker 1: I will have my antennas out and ready to grasp
Speaker 1: the right opportunity. Welcome to the Spirited Actor Podcast with
Speaker 1: me Tracy Moore, and going along with our theme this month,
Speaker 1: which is January is renewing your talent. I would like
Speaker 1: to renew your thoughts with my guests today. I get
Speaker 1: warm and fuzzy when certain people come into the room
Speaker 1: because casting director, truly casting director extraordinaire, Yolanda Hunt is
Speaker 1: with us today. And Yolanda is one of those people
Speaker 1: that I don't have to see her every day, but
Speaker 1: when I see her, the spiritual connection is there, and
Speaker 1: then I miss her more and wonder why don't I
Speaker 1: hang out with her? But I know she's busy, But
Speaker 1: this is a reconnection renewal. I'm just so happy to
Speaker 1: have you here, Yolanda Hunt. Thespians, put your hands together
Speaker 1: because you are about to hear the truth and We're
Speaker 1: going to dispel these myths because the truth is sitting
Speaker 1: and you're listening to the truth right now, Yolanda Hunt,
Speaker 1: put your hands together.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: I am beyond thrilled. Oh yeah, yeah. Are we going
Speaker 1: to schedule something because we're going to eat and we
Speaker 1: gonna chat. Yes, they're not ready. No, they're not ready
Speaker 1: for you, Yolanda. I'm going to start out by asking
Speaker 1: you to, you know, tell us a little bit about
Speaker 1: how you started as a casting director, your journey as
Speaker 1: a casting director, and then I need actors to whatever
Speaker 1: you use to document, whether you're physically writing on pen
Speaker 1: and paper or in your phone. There's going to be
Speaker 1: so many jewels dropping right now. Treasure Chess is here,
Speaker 1: Treasure Chess here we go, hope.
Speaker 2: Well, just to give you a little bit of a brief,
Speaker 2: you know, my journey.
Speaker 3: I started off on this little project called Poetic Justice
Speaker 3: as an intern, really little yes, And for one week
Speaker 3: I interned and Robbie came to me and said, we
Speaker 3: want to hire you as my sister.
Speaker 1: Okay, and that's Robbie reed, ladies, and I'm sorry.
Speaker 3: Robbie read, by the way, one of my mentors and
Speaker 3: along with my journey of my career has been fundamental
Speaker 3: to my career and especially my growth and to this day.
Speaker 3: And that started my journey. I got bit by the
Speaker 3: bug and it was.
Speaker 2: You know, no holds back.
Speaker 3: And then I you know, went on to did another
Speaker 3: project called Minister Society with Tony.
Speaker 1: Lee, another little project.
Speaker 3: Well, she was Robbie Read's associate, and then he became
Speaker 3: casting director for that. He brought me on that project
Speaker 3: and just kept going. And then Ralph Farquhar came into
Speaker 3: my life. Oh, and he gave me the opportunity to
Speaker 3: learn the back into production.
Speaker 2: Okay, so he brought me in a Moesha. So I learned.
Speaker 2: I was his assistant and I learned to do all
Speaker 2: of that.
Speaker 3: And he asked me when I wanted to you know,
Speaker 3: when the show got picked up, what did I want
Speaker 3: to do?
Speaker 2: I want to do casting.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's what I do, right, And so he
Speaker 3: got me and Kim Harden together.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 1: I love Kim Harden. Shout out to Kim Harden.
Speaker 2: Loved Kim Harden.
Speaker 3: That's another one of my mentors that definitely you know,
Speaker 3: is influential in my life today as well. She hired
Speaker 3: me and it's a funny story. She hired me to
Speaker 3: do Moesha, and at that time she didn't feel I was.
Speaker 2: Ready to be an assistant and she fired me.
Speaker 3: But you know what, that was an experien for me
Speaker 3: to know that I had to do better. So right
Speaker 3: after that, I got hired as an associate on with
Speaker 3: recub Bradmon Garcia, another.
Speaker 2: Vent Billy Hopkins, Yes, Billy Hopkins.
Speaker 3: And Garcia, they were partners. And then she branched off
Speaker 3: and did her own thing. She was doing Speed Speed Too.
Speaker 3: Oh okay, So I got put on and I wasn't
Speaker 3: the associate for Speed Too, and I was an associate
Speaker 3: for The Flood, starring a minie driver and Rickay Harris
Speaker 3: ress in Peace, one of my favorites all time. And
Speaker 3: it was just kind of like I just kind of
Speaker 3: took off from there. And did you know, I planted
Speaker 3: seeds to myself that I wanted to do, said I
Speaker 3: want to do a movie in New York. Two years
Speaker 3: later I was doing Crookland. I was here as an
Speaker 3: associate in Crookland. I mean, I've had such a great journey.
Speaker 3: Then after that Best Man, Yes, Best Man kind of
Speaker 3: really put me on the map.
Speaker 2: I was a true associate on that project.
Speaker 3: I was like hands on from day one and just
Speaker 3: seeing how the handpick and bringing that great talent to
Speaker 3: Malcolm and Sam.
Speaker 2: It was just Malcolm brilliant.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Sam, by the way, and.
Speaker 1: I worked with Monica Calhoun. I coached you.
Speaker 3: Yes, Monica Calhoun is is. She's an extraordinary actress and writer. Yes,
Speaker 3: it's one of also one of my close friends.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 3: And she's still writing right now to this day, so
Speaker 3: she's got a lot of things going on with her
Speaker 3: as well. And that cast it just brought people to
Speaker 3: pay attention to what I was doing and what I,
Speaker 3: like I knew I had is that I had a
Speaker 3: mine for talent right and it was like, Okay, we
Speaker 3: can take a chance.
Speaker 2: And that's all. That's how she wrote.
Speaker 3: I moved to New York sixteen years ago and I
Speaker 3: was working at BET and I've been there in house
Speaker 3: freelance casting director ever since.
Speaker 1: That's a brilliant, brilliant journey and actors, I need you.
Speaker 1: I always stress for actors to IMDb dot com so
Speaker 1: that they can see the credit, to know the credits.
Speaker 1: But Yolanda, you have been a part of UH cinema,
Speaker 1: Black cinema history, like, these are classics that you're talking about.
Speaker 2: I feel so, you know, there's a lot that I've
Speaker 2: left out. Black Panther.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was gonna say those are all like I
Speaker 3: felt like when I was coming up into this, I
Speaker 3: was I was in the gut of great African American
Speaker 3: art being actually being on TV.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 3: So I was given that opportunity to work with the
Speaker 3: Keenan Irvy Wayians right and working on his variety show,
Speaker 3: and then I had that gave me a little real
Speaker 3: fast track of how I had to you know, got
Speaker 3: to call at ten o'clock in the morning and I
Speaker 3: had to have a cast by four.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: So that really gave me my my like chops. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and then you know, working on those kind of shows.
Speaker 3: And then I mean, my journey has been so long.
Speaker 3: Kingdom come getting to work, you know, with everyone.
Speaker 1: And she still looks the same. Ladies and gentlemen, you
Speaker 1: don't see her, but she doesn't. She look to say, yes, well,
Speaker 1: I think Paul and Will and may Hunt I attribute
Speaker 1: that to my care when we thank them too. Yes,
Speaker 1: but this journey has been so great. But I'm not
Speaker 1: done having that's my journey. I'm just getting right there.
Speaker 3: And now that I'm really starting to teach my acting
Speaker 3: classes here in the Tri State and we need coaching,
Speaker 3: and it's just been a whole other platform when I'm
Speaker 3: like so happy that I'm being able to share to
Speaker 3: people what I'm looking for in the room when they're
Speaker 3: coming to audition for me, as opposed to what you think,
Speaker 3: because you got those three minutes to shine, and if
Speaker 3: you don't give me those three minutes of what I
Speaker 3: remember you, then.
Speaker 2: You're going to need the fundamentals and I'm gonna try
Speaker 2: to give you to that.
Speaker 1: So one of the things that you said, and I
Speaker 1: can honestly say I went to one of your classes
Speaker 1: and you were a totally different you are as a
Speaker 1: caustie director, which I love. Yes, I mean, this is
Speaker 1: what we're talking about. We're talking about the truth.
Speaker 2: So absolutely, I feel like I'm unorthodox.
Speaker 3: You're not gonna go get oh, this super training and
Speaker 3: I'm going to get this kind of the Meisner technique, right, No,
Speaker 3: you're gonna get the technique of Yolanda that's telling you
Speaker 3: this is what you need to do when you get
Speaker 3: into a room to get a call back, which you
Speaker 3: know that's.
Speaker 2: What I know.
Speaker 3: This is what I'm I'm I'm actively working. This is
Speaker 3: I'm still casting. I'm still looking for talent, right, so,
Speaker 3: and I'm I'm looked to as the person that brings
Speaker 3: new talent. So I'm always looking for the underdog or
Speaker 3: somebody that hasn't had that exposure, or doesn't have an agent,
Speaker 3: or doesn't have a manager, doesn't have headshots. Those are
Speaker 3: the ones that really are the underdogs, right, And I'm
Speaker 3: always looking for those. And that's why I give that
Speaker 3: that platform and I do my acting classes to you know,
Speaker 3: give them the pillars that they need and the points
Speaker 3: that they need and those kind of molding that they
Speaker 3: need to become an actor, a real Thespian.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: And the thing about that casting room that you know
Speaker 1: we live in it, right And so I transition direct
Speaker 1: ninety seven ninety eight when I just came on board
Speaker 1: and really live with Buster runs and Eve as their coach.
Speaker 1: But the generation shift and they change.
Speaker 2: I want to.
Speaker 1: I want to you guys don't see the soul, but
Speaker 1: I want you to talk about because Yolanda, I feel
Speaker 1: like because I started my career in eighty seven at
Speaker 1: MTV and it was just myself and Kevin Powell. So
Speaker 1: in terms of people of color, Okay, I'm exaggerating, but anyway,
Speaker 1: there weren't a lot of people of color at that time.
Speaker 1: So work ethics and me and my work ethics and
Speaker 1: how I pushed myself beyond what the expectations were and
Speaker 1: I felt that that is the position that I was in,
Speaker 1: and so generationally, I just I want you to tap
Speaker 1: on some of that, but also talk about this generation
Speaker 1: that your experience in your casting world and their work
Speaker 1: ethics or beliefs.
Speaker 3: When I started out, you know, you had to do
Speaker 3: the work. You had to put the work in. You
Speaker 3: looked at you know, TV shows, you looked at movies,
Speaker 3: you you studied actors. You had to know actors' names.
Speaker 3: You had to know who people were. You had to
Speaker 3: know their resume. You had to know producers, and you
Speaker 3: had to know dire directors. You had to do your research.
Speaker 3: And I didn't have that Internet to do that when
Speaker 3: I was coming up, So I needed to do my research,
Speaker 3: you know, go look at their resume and really get
Speaker 3: you know, the actual work.
Speaker 2: Of what they things.
Speaker 1: Facts exactly exactly.
Speaker 3: The computers were, you know, we were just tapping into those.
Speaker 3: We were still using typewriters when I started work process,
Speaker 3: so exactly. You know, so I see that this generation,
Speaker 3: this wave of actors that I have seen lately, I
Speaker 3: feel like they're old. It's I'm not supposed to wanting
Speaker 3: to do the work. They don't want to do the research.
Speaker 3: And I really when doing this last project that I
Speaker 3: worked on one night in Miami, Gina King's directorial debut.
Speaker 2: Associated on that along with.
Speaker 3: Kim harden Is, the casting director, and I noticed that
Speaker 3: it took me about four months just to you know,
Speaker 3: get people to really audition correctly for Muhammad Ali and
Speaker 3: actually he was Cash's Clay at that time, so it
Speaker 3: was like people wanted to come in and they wanted
Speaker 3: to come in as Muhammad Ali, but it was like,
Speaker 3: did you do your research? Did you know who Cash
Speaker 3: as Clay was the Muslim? So it's like you have
Speaker 3: why he did that exactly, Like you need to do
Speaker 3: your research and know who these these talents are, who
Speaker 3: who Jim Brown really was, and then you know at
Speaker 3: that time and who Malcolm X was and what he
Speaker 3: was making the transition of leaving the Nation of Islam.
Speaker 3: People were not paying attention to that and they had
Speaker 3: to do their research, and I noticed that that's what's
Speaker 3: being done. It's like, if you're doing a bio on
Speaker 3: someone that is an existing person, wouldn't you want to
Speaker 3: do your research on them and be like them? And
Speaker 3: it's a highway. You guys have it now. You guys
Speaker 3: can go on the internet. You guys can go to Netflix,
Speaker 3: you can go to Hulu. There's so much YouTube. You
Speaker 3: can go to so many places now to do your
Speaker 3: research on actress. But they still still like, you know,
Speaker 3: it's the little baby steps that are going to get
Speaker 3: you the job and the work. No, and especially when
Speaker 3: you're dealing with a director that is an actor that's
Speaker 3: a child actor that comes it knows the journey that
Speaker 3: they have taken. So it's like an oscar exactly immy
Speaker 3: multi actress actress. So it's like you have to know
Speaker 3: that you're coming into audition for someone like that, then
Speaker 3: you have to she's done her.
Speaker 1: Work, absolutely, you do yours, That's right.
Speaker 3: So I try to push my students to do the
Speaker 3: research and to make sure that they know what they're
Speaker 3: doing when they step into the room, because I know
Speaker 3: what I'm doing and so they need to learn how to,
Speaker 3: you know, to do the research an actors period, and
Speaker 3: if you're doing a biopic, and.
Speaker 2: If you're creating a character, do the research stuff with
Speaker 2: your friends.
Speaker 3: I have done so much to try to help actors,
Speaker 3: and little do you know, people that my friends that
Speaker 3: are actors, they take my personality and it will create
Speaker 3: a character that has happened.
Speaker 2: I believe that it truly happens.
Speaker 1: That's great though, that.
Speaker 2: It truly happened. So I know that.
Speaker 3: I know that that's what you people you draw from.
Speaker 3: So that's why I try to act. You know, I
Speaker 3: try to teach my my my, my students. You know,
Speaker 3: the first choice is the best choice. Don't overthink it
Speaker 3: as an actor, right and just do your research. You know,
Speaker 3: you can never be too perfect at acting. We have
Speaker 3: the Denzel Washington still get coached. There's you know, there's
Speaker 3: actors Nicole Kidman's they still get coached.
Speaker 1: Jennifer Lopez introduced me to her acting coach on The Hustler.
Speaker 1: She was like, Tracy, I've been with him twenty years.
Speaker 1: Why would I leave him?
Speaker 2: That's the point.
Speaker 3: If you really are truly dedicated to this, then that's
Speaker 3: that's what you do. You do the work. And I
Speaker 3: also have come across and this is going to be
Speaker 3: a very touchy subject. Oh yay, that actors domestically are
Speaker 3: not so great with international actors. You know, our British actors.
Speaker 3: They feel like the British Is are coming over here
Speaker 3: and doing all the work. But guess what, British actors
Speaker 3: are doing a lot of work because they're learning our tongue,
Speaker 3: they're learning our native song, they're learning how to be
Speaker 3: to do our dialect. So why is it so hard
Speaker 3: for you to learn to do their dialect? They go,
Speaker 3: they come over here to do they do, do training,
Speaker 3: over go abroad and do training.
Speaker 1: There should be no and you should want to as
Speaker 1: an actor to work outside. I worked in Amsterdam recently.
Speaker 1: I taught a workshop, and why not go to Amsterdam?
Speaker 1: Why not explore outside of America to do work. But
Speaker 1: one of the things that I wanted to touch base
Speaker 1: when you were talking about the audition and people not
Speaker 1: doing their work, do you find that actors don't read
Speaker 1: action insides?
Speaker 2: No, they don't read the stage direction at all.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, they.
Speaker 2: No, it's not you. Oh it's not.
Speaker 3: And that's another thing that I teach my read the
Speaker 3: stage direction. It's telling you what to do in the scene.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's the most self explanatory thing ever.
Speaker 1: So I was coaching this actress and Gossip Girls coming
Speaker 1: back and I said, yes, but but they were cussing
Speaker 1: in the sides, and I said, ce w, it's on
Speaker 1: HBO Max.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, they did. They picked it up and so
Speaker 3: it's like a reboot. There was some cuss it.
Speaker 1: So I said to the actress, you know Gossip Girls,
Speaker 1: you know it was out before and she was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I know. And I said, well, have you seen any
Speaker 1: episodes of the and she was like no. And I
Speaker 1: was like, so what I'm gonna need you to do?
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna need you to see the episodes so
Speaker 1: that you understand they're bringing it back. So just so
Speaker 1: you can get an understanding, right, there was a line
Speaker 1: the character is an African American girl, and what the
Speaker 1: information that we did not have is who she was.
Speaker 1: But she has a line that she says to this
Speaker 1: white girl, Jane. She says, well, who are you an
Speaker 1: heir to the Kogate dynasty or the niece of the
Speaker 1: Earl of Kensington. So I said, do you understand the
Speaker 1: wealth of the school that you're going to? And she
Speaker 1: was like, oh, you know, it's like, you know one
Speaker 1: of the schools in Manhattan, like a private school, said no, no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1: The air Cogate air if you get fortune five hundred
Speaker 1: the richest people in the world. When that addition comes out,
Speaker 1: they list the heirs of like Walmart, Pampers, you know,
Speaker 1: and hers, Okay, all of them, and these people are
Speaker 1: like seventy eighty ninety. But when you deal with that
Speaker 1: type of money, you're getting installments, like every two or
Speaker 1: three years, you're getting millions, like you know, eighteen, you're
Speaker 1: getting millions twenty one. Like and I have a friend
Speaker 1: who is an heir, so I don't know how much
Speaker 1: she gets, but like she gets this money in increments.
Speaker 1: So these people seventy eighty nineties Kogate still getting money.
Speaker 2: So I said, you have to do.
Speaker 1: Your research to understand. And then it says the Earl
Speaker 1: of Kensington, this is not a sat earl and the information.
Speaker 2: I guess.
Speaker 1: My challenge is how do we help actors today because
Speaker 1: in this climate, I know what it's like to stand
Speaker 1: up for like twelve hours exterior Chicago coaching eve On
Speaker 1: barbershop sixteen hours a day six days a week, and
Speaker 1: I wrote this book on my day off for three months.
Speaker 1: So what do we do about the work ethic of
Speaker 1: these actors?
Speaker 3: I mean, we have platforms like this right here to
Speaker 3: be able to promote what they need to know.
Speaker 2: It's just it's on the receiver.
Speaker 3: And I could beat you in the head all day
Speaker 3: long and tell you know it's green, but you're gonna
Speaker 3: say it's blue no matter what.
Speaker 2: Right I can't.
Speaker 3: I can only give you all of the fundamentals that
Speaker 3: you need, okay, And I'm giving you all of those things.
Speaker 2: It's not in the orthodox way.
Speaker 3: It's the way that I know, as a working casting
Speaker 3: director expert in what you do, that this is.
Speaker 2: What I need to see. I need to see this.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you that this is whatever casting directors need
Speaker 3: to see as well. When you were walking into a room, right,
Speaker 3: I try to teach you the etiquette. You know, It's
Speaker 3: like I make you feel like when you walk into
Speaker 3: my room, like you've known me for years, but you
Speaker 3: don't know me. So there's a there's there is a boundary,
Speaker 3: there's a personal way of you coming in, be it
Speaker 3: feeling comfortable because I would be doing a disservice if
Speaker 3: I made you uncomfortable to myself and you because I
Speaker 3: need to cast a role. So if you're not comfortable
Speaker 3: in doing the character, how am I going to How
Speaker 3: am I going to get my cast role? So I
Speaker 3: set that promise, But people need to know the etiquette
Speaker 3: of it.
Speaker 2: You know, it's not you.
Speaker 3: Know, hey, home girl, no you know. And I've come
Speaker 3: across that because you too. Some people feel like they
Speaker 3: do know me in it. And that goes back to
Speaker 3: social media now allowing people to get closer to you
Speaker 3: casting director. You know, in the eighties and the nineties,
Speaker 3: we didn't have that connection.
Speaker 2: You didn't even know what I looked like.
Speaker 3: So, you know, social media came out to play the facebooks,
Speaker 3: and then you know people wanting to, you know, know more,
Speaker 3: and then you know, the avenues of technologies is getting
Speaker 3: bigger and bigger and bigger, and just trying to stay
Speaker 3: in the know of that, and you can't be archaic
Speaker 3: in our game.
Speaker 2: We have to be in the know.
Speaker 3: Even though I might not, you know, be on social
Speaker 3: media as much as I should be. I am active, right,
Speaker 3: I still try to stay active. I try to let
Speaker 3: people know what's going on with me because you want
Speaker 3: to know why I'm working. I want to keep you
Speaker 3: guys employed. So if I'm not on social media as much,
Speaker 3: it's just because I'm working to try to keep you
Speaker 3: guys working.
Speaker 2: And if not, I'm teaching classes to keep you guys
Speaker 2: working exactly.
Speaker 3: So it's a process and I'm constantly trying to stay busy.
Speaker 3: I have another sex seven week course coming, so let's
Speaker 3: talk about your classes. Where do you teach? Where can
Speaker 3: we get the information because actors need to be there. Well,
Speaker 3: I teach at Express New Work. In my new seven
Speaker 3: weeks course is going to be every Wednesday, sorry, January twenty.
Speaker 3: I give seven weeks, and I give you the fundamentals
Speaker 3: of what I'm looking for to get a call back. Okay,
Speaker 3: you're gonna do monologues, you're going to do comedy, you're
Speaker 3: gonna do drama, you're going to do improv. You're going
Speaker 3: to give me character build. I'm going to give you
Speaker 3: a character. I want you to build it and you're
Speaker 3: going to act it out.
Speaker 2: I give you.
Speaker 3: I do those things because you need to be able
Speaker 3: to be just as creative in the room as you
Speaker 3: are is doing an audition, because that's how you bring
Speaker 3: a character to life. So I try to give them
Speaker 3: all those fundamentals. And this is my next one is
Speaker 3: kids yay. This is my first challenge with that. I'm
Speaker 3: doing it with two other cast and directors who actually
Speaker 3: a casting director and.
Speaker 2: A talent agent.
Speaker 3: Charlie is out of Los Angeles and here he does
Speaker 3: his workshop here and Sandy Mendelha Mendenhall. She's like, you know, yeah,
Speaker 3: Sammy is more of a reality commercial talented cast in
Speaker 3: Virgil like she did kids say the dardest things, so
Speaker 3: she does like those kind of cat talents.
Speaker 2: And then it's me coming in showing the theatrical. Nice.
Speaker 3: So you got your talent agent, you've got your commercial
Speaker 3: and commercial modeling, and then you have your theatrical. So
Speaker 3: because those are all kids, that's great. And that's my
Speaker 3: one day seminar coming up on February first, February first
Speaker 3: at expresswork as well.
Speaker 1: So where can we actors?
Speaker 2: Event right? Event right?
Speaker 3: Got all of those guys my upcoming events, and then
Speaker 3: I promote everything on my social media. You're Line behind
Speaker 3: Entertainment on Facebook okay, and also my ig okay Casting Diva, all.
Speaker 1: Right, Casting Diva. Yes, we have a cast DIVA recognized.
Speaker 1: So in your classes, I want to ask you because
Speaker 1: I used to sort of gauge, right, like, let's say
Speaker 1: you have twenty students in your class. Out of those
Speaker 1: twenty students, how many are going to take your jewels
Speaker 1: and parlayed to the next level in their acting class?
Speaker 1: I mean, in their acting career.
Speaker 3: It's so funny you said that because the last class
Speaker 3: I just had, I gauged. I started off with twenty
Speaker 3: five students, wonderful, amazing. First class was like, oh my
Speaker 3: god too. They had to know what the work was
Speaker 3: going to be. Oh by the time I was done,
Speaker 3: I had six. So that's a third of my class.
Speaker 3: That's a third of the people that want to do
Speaker 3: the work, that actually want to learn, actually want to
Speaker 3: feel like they're doing something and not being given something.
Speaker 3: Because I also realized that people when they take my class,
Speaker 3: they think, because I am a vet in this game,
Speaker 3: they're going to get something out of this. Now I'm
Speaker 3: giving you all of the things that you need to know.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, it's not about you. You learn from me.
Speaker 3: You get an audition just so happens. Sometimes you might
Speaker 3: get blessed with that because you might be that talented
Speaker 3: at what are a project I'm working on at that time?
Speaker 3: I'm going to give you an audition. I give you
Speaker 3: shots all the time. I have students that I haven't
Speaker 3: seen in five years. Yeah, but I think about them.
Speaker 3: I remember for them. I've given them auditions. Right, one
Speaker 3: of my former students got I called me and asked me.
Speaker 3: She said, I really want audition for Coming to America too.
Speaker 3: It was a phone call away. I called Lea Daniels Butler,
Speaker 3: go out of the audition. She put herself on tape.
Speaker 3: That's the kind of thing is if I know that
Speaker 3: you are well worthy of that and you've done the work,
Speaker 3: they I'm actually going to do it.
Speaker 1: Wow. Let me just say this. I love my casting
Speaker 1: director friends, and I celebrate them. So, if you thought
Speaker 1: this was the last time you were going to hear
Speaker 1: from Yolanda Hunt, you are sadly mistaken. Landa. You are
Speaker 1: coming back. There's too much to oh, thank you. I
Speaker 1: didn't even ask her. I apologize. I just assumed, sorry,
Speaker 1: will you come back?
Speaker 3: I just feel like there's things that still need to
Speaker 3: be covered. Yeah, I guess definitely. The Cassy Divas coming back.
Speaker 1: Yay, Okay, So in these moments that I have with you,
Speaker 1: I want you two things. One, I want you to
Speaker 1: share your pet peeves. Give us a couple of your
Speaker 1: pet peeves. Okay, my biggest pet.
Speaker 3: Peeve is, like I said, when you come into the room,
Speaker 3: you should never want to shake my hand. That is
Speaker 3: one of my biggest pet pees. I see fifty plus
Speaker 3: people a day. I don't want to give you anything,
Speaker 3: and I don't want you to give me anything that
Speaker 3: is really truly.
Speaker 2: That is one thing.
Speaker 3: I'm not a germophobe, but I just am conscious of
Speaker 3: the fact that I am dealing with a lot of
Speaker 3: people on a regular basis.
Speaker 2: Okay, I love it. My other pet pee don't call
Speaker 2: me maum, do not call me.
Speaker 3: Mout I dropped the mic. I agree, I'm not your mouth.
Speaker 3: I'm just a casting director. Yes, Miss Hunt, Miss Landa,
Speaker 3: I have no problem with that.
Speaker 2: But ma'am, I.
Speaker 1: Don't jenya flect exactly saying I just I'm saying I,
Speaker 1: like you said, nobody can see me what I look
Speaker 1: like right now, but I know I don't look like
Speaker 1: a mound. Okay, No, she does not, thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Okay, Yes, and.
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, do not say I'm sorry. When you're auditioning
Speaker 3: and you fumble, that should have actually been my number
Speaker 3: one because we go switch it. Honestly, when you're auditioning
Speaker 3: and that's that you're three minutes, I'm okay with you
Speaker 3: missing a couple of lines or you having to stop
Speaker 3: and start, because that's gonna make you better. But as
Speaker 3: soon as you say i'm sorry, you broke character, you
Speaker 3: broke my interest, you broke my whole attention. So now
Speaker 3: I'm gonna just go through the motions because now you're
Speaker 3: gonna mess yourself up even more because when you're saying
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, it's just like now you're fumbling, right then
Speaker 3: the bees, the sweat come out on your gros and
Speaker 3: then everything and then the little brow comes out, and
Speaker 3: then you're looking at me like for an answer, like
Speaker 3: I'm a lifeline.
Speaker 2: I'm not.
Speaker 3: I'm not a lifeline. Now, I'm just I'm watching you
Speaker 3: just do what you do, so don't say you're sorry.
Speaker 3: Give yourself three seconds, count to three, breathe, pick up
Speaker 3: from that last line and keep going. We're not gonna
Speaker 3: stop you. We're gonna let you go ahead and go
Speaker 3: because we want to see you shine. You want to
Speaker 3: see you deliver. We want to see you be able
Speaker 3: to win. So when you start saying I'm sorry, you're
Speaker 3: you're shooting your own.
Speaker 1: Self and the actors, I listen, I'm so excited because
Speaker 1: whenever I have a casting director, I feel like we
Speaker 1: speak the same language and I'm like, thank you, thank you, like.
Speaker 2: We do, we have our code of we do.
Speaker 1: But it's I just there's just such a comfort in
Speaker 1: knowing that there's someone like you that I am not
Speaker 1: consistently casting anymore, but to know in terms of casting
Speaker 1: and teaching that you are out there that honing these
Speaker 1: actors empowering because that's what you're doing when when you
Speaker 1: are talking about the etiquettes and when you're talking about
Speaker 1: research and all of this stuff is empowering. And so
Speaker 1: we need you guys to receive it. No, it is.
Speaker 1: It is. And so when we come back for part
Speaker 1: two of Casting Diva extraordinaiy Yolanda Hunt, We're going to
Speaker 1: have some other stuff that we're going to touch upon
Speaker 1: as well. But the great thing is is that we
Speaker 1: still have Yolanda for our next segment, class and session
Speaker 1: with Spirit Actor alumni who you know as well, Leanne
Speaker 1: Amado and Amani Patterson is going to be calling in
Speaker 1: for us.
Speaker 2: Okay, I look forward to it.
Speaker 1: I do too. Oh my god, my heart is filled.
Speaker 1: I could just levitate for the rest of the day.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3: Thank you for, like you know, allowing my voice to
Speaker 3: be heard to the actors that I would love to
Speaker 3: reach and meet.
Speaker 2: So absolutely well.
Speaker 1: We're also going to reinforce all of this information about
Speaker 1: your workshops and your classes for the adults and children
Speaker 1: as well. Thank you, You're welcome, oh man, okay, thank you.
Speaker 1: And next we'll have class and session with Spirited Actor
Speaker 1: alumni Leanne Amado. Welcome back to the Spirited Actor Podcast
Speaker 1: with me, Tracy Moore and Yolanda our casting director of
Speaker 1: Stoord and they are casting. Diva is still with us
Speaker 1: and I'm so excited. Thank you, Landa, thank you for
Speaker 1: still having me. Yeah we go kidnap. You look want
Speaker 1: some good spirited stuff though, absolutely yes. So we also
Speaker 1: have Spirited Actor alumni Leanna moatdo helean Hey, so glad
Speaker 1: you're here. Okay, I apologize, and spirit Actor alumni Emani
Speaker 1: Patterson Imani Hey, Hello, Hey, we're great, Thank you so much. Okay,
Speaker 1: so let's get started, you guys. So this is how
Speaker 1: we play this game, Landa. I will read the slug
Speaker 1: lines the action, and then Leanne and Imani are just
Speaker 1: going to read their lines, and you know, we're going
Speaker 1: to breathe life into it for Yulanda so that she
Speaker 1: can give you guys some constructive criticism, and then we're
Speaker 1: going to read it again. Lani and I will not participate. Okay,
Speaker 1: here we go. Interior living room night. Rebecca and Eric
Speaker 1: sit at the opposite end of the couch. The tension
Speaker 1: fills the room. Eric leans forward.
Speaker 4: Do you want to talk?
Speaker 1: Rebecca glances sharply at Eric.
Speaker 5: You know what's funny to me? Now?
Speaker 2: You have lots of.
Speaker 4: Conversation, Rebecca, I don't know what to say.
Speaker 5: Well, I cannot take another apology from you.
Speaker 1: Eric.
Speaker 4: Rebecca, I am sorry.
Speaker 5: I'm not accepting your apology.
Speaker 4: What do you want to do?
Speaker 1: Rebecca laughs and cries at the same time.
Speaker 5: You want me to make this easy for you. You want
Speaker 5: me to end this. God, you're so pathetic.
Speaker 4: I'll accept my responsibility, but approaches him.
Speaker 2: But what.
Speaker 5: I have some responsibility in this?
Speaker 1: Eric walks away. She stands in his way.
Speaker 5: No, no, no, don't walk away from me.
Speaker 2: What do you mean?
Speaker 1: Eric tries to get away without touching her.
Speaker 4: All right, Becca, all right?
Speaker 1: Rebecca slowly backs off.
Speaker 4: She sits, I never meant to hurt you. It wasn't
Speaker 4: supposed to happen this way. I had too much to drink.
Speaker 1: Rebecca laughs.
Speaker 4: I got a lift share I was on my way
Speaker 4: home to you.
Speaker 1: Rebecca tears up.
Speaker 4: What are the chances that my ex girlfriend would get
Speaker 4: in the car. It didn't mean anything, I never does.
Speaker 5: Do you want this to work?
Speaker 2: Eric?
Speaker 4: Of course I wanted to work.
Speaker 5: Even after you had sex with your ex Yeah, ex
Speaker 5: girlfriend on your way home engagement party. Yes, you don't
Speaker 5: think that might be a problem.
Speaker 1: Eric paces thatca.
Speaker 4: It meant nothing and it will never happen again. I
Speaker 4: promise you that.
Speaker 5: Yeah. I really want to believe every word coming out
Speaker 5: of your mouth.
Speaker 2: But I can't.
Speaker 1: Rebecca removes the ring from her finger and places it
Speaker 1: in Eric's hand.
Speaker 4: Keep it, you deserve it.
Speaker 1: Scene. Eric walks out the door. Okay, thank you, thank you. Wow, Okay,
Speaker 1: it's on you.
Speaker 3: First off, you guys have a good chemistry together, but
Speaker 3: I am going to have you do it again and
Speaker 3: leanne the key thing is is that when she's doing
Speaker 3: those stage directions, when she's making those those points that
Speaker 3: you laugh, and then you need to add those in
Speaker 3: that incorporate that because it makes us seem a little
Speaker 3: bit more real, and just watch out for the beats
Speaker 3: that you guys are allowing the space and didn't have
Speaker 3: the real moments. You know you've experienced some kind of
Speaker 3: you know, heartbreak and maybe not this magnitude, but you
Speaker 3: know that you've had that, and you're pleading should be
Speaker 3: really sincere. I should be able to really know that
Speaker 3: you're dead wrong for actually sleeping with some of your
Speaker 3: ex girlfriend on your engagement. That's what I want to feel.
Speaker 3: But I definitely want you to pay attend to the
Speaker 3: day stage direction because those are they're they're playing a
Speaker 3: factor with you giving your emotion off.
Speaker 1: Okay, Okay, so Emani and Leanne, I'm not reading the
Speaker 1: stage direction, but you know where those moments are. Okay,
Speaker 1: so let's incorporate what Eolanda has given you. Take a
Speaker 1: breath and you guys ready, okay, yes, and action?
Speaker 4: Do you want to talk?
Speaker 5: You know what's funny to me now you have lots
Speaker 5: of conversation.
Speaker 4: Well, Becca, I don't know what to say.
Speaker 5: I cannot take another apology from you, Eric.
Speaker 4: Beka, I am sorry.
Speaker 5: No, I'm not accepting your apology.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what.
Speaker 4: What do you want to do?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 5: You want me to make this easy for you?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 5: You want me to end this?
Speaker 2: You're pathetic.
Speaker 4: I'll accept my responsibility, but what.
Speaker 5: I have some responsibility in this? No? No, no, no,
Speaker 5: don't walk away from me.
Speaker 2: What do you mean?
Speaker 4: Hmm, I'll write that guy? All right? I never I
Speaker 4: never meant to hurt you, all right? Was it supposed
Speaker 4: to happen this way? I had so much to drink,
Speaker 4: I got a lift share, I was on my way
Speaker 4: home to you. What are the chances that my ex
Speaker 4: girlfriend would get in the car? Didn't mean anything?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 5: It never does. Do you want this? Do you want
Speaker 5: this to work?
Speaker 1: Eric?
Speaker 4: Of course, someone at the work.
Speaker 5: Even after you had sex with your ex girlfriend on
Speaker 5: your way home from our engagement party. Yes, and you
Speaker 5: don't think that might be a problem.
Speaker 4: That's as it meant. It meant absolutely nothing will never
Speaker 4: happen again. I could promise you that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I really really want to believe every word that's
Speaker 5: coming out of your mouth, but I can't.
Speaker 4: You keep it you deserve it.
Speaker 2: And see much.
Speaker 1: They listened to you.
Speaker 3: Besides, I don't know, I'm glad. Yeah, that's what I
Speaker 3: consider myself. Workable actors that take direction and apply it
Speaker 3: and use it and go ahead and redo the scene
Speaker 3: and actually make me feel I felt like that second
Speaker 3: time around, you guys were more into it and felt
Speaker 3: it and it might be channeled to somebody else's relationship
Speaker 3: or your own or a present or current, you know,
Speaker 3: a previous situation, but it actually was in corporate.
Speaker 2: I believed it. I didn't want to pay attends to
Speaker 2: the paper. I wanted to pay at terms to the
Speaker 2: actor me too.
Speaker 1: Wow, great direction, miss Yolanda Hunts, and thank you, Amani Patterson.
Speaker 1: We appreciate love you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I'm a menum you and Moni. I'm looking
Speaker 2: forward to seeing and meeting you.
Speaker 1: Okay, Somni, this is this is how it's going down.
Speaker 1: This how's going down because your lot is coming back.
Speaker 1: So when Yolanda comes back, I'm going to have the
Speaker 1: date and then you come in live and you and
Speaker 1: Leanne will have another scene.
Speaker 2: To work with the hands on.
Speaker 1: Yes, okay, so that's that's a date that's done. Okay,
Speaker 1: thank you, so much Leanne, and I was getting ready
Speaker 1: to cry.
Speaker 2: Leanne always you know, she's a tears man, She's passionate
Speaker 2: about her craft.
Speaker 1: She is I'm going to levitate today because of the
Speaker 1: love that I have received on this show. I can't
Speaker 1: even tell you Landa like how you've touched my spirit
Speaker 1: and it is just it's beautiful to know that after
Speaker 1: all these years, we still know each other.
Speaker 2: I know we still are in touch.
Speaker 1: With each other.
Speaker 2: That's wonderful thing.
Speaker 1: And we love each other. So this has been a
Speaker 1: really really powerful, powerful show and you guys have to
Speaker 1: tune in again because part two is going to be
Speaker 1: even more explosive. I'm going to ask you to put
Speaker 1: on seatbelts for part two because I know, listen, she
Speaker 1: what and I know you all just go go home
Speaker 1: and she gonna be like, yeah, I guys, bring it.
Speaker 1: You allowed to bring it for part two. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much, thank you, Thank you guys out there as well. Yay,
Speaker 1: and thank you again Amani for jumping on board.
Speaker 2: Okay, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Yay, thank you, thank you for class in session. And
Speaker 1: now it's time forgive love. So I went to Amsterdam
Speaker 1: in October and incurred a large amount of expenses on
Speaker 1: my cell phone. And I'm not going to say who
Speaker 1: the carrier is, but I called my carrier to see
Speaker 1: if I could negotiate some of these additional fees, which
Speaker 1: kind of exceeded into like six hundred dollars, right, So
Speaker 1: I called the carrier and the guy picks up the
Speaker 1: phone and he says, hello, miss Moore, how can I
Speaker 1: help you? My name is Jesus. You cannot make that up.
Speaker 1: I said, excuse me, sir, what is your name? He said,
Speaker 1: my name is Jesus. I said, are you sure your
Speaker 1: name's not Jesus. He said no, my name is Jesus.
Speaker 1: I said, thank you, Jesus. I know a miracle is
Speaker 1: going to happen now because Jesus is on the phone.
Speaker 1: And he was like, yes, miss Moore, I will see
Speaker 1: how I can help you. He said, can you hold
Speaker 1: on the line, Miss Moore. I said, yes, Jesus, I
Speaker 1: can hold all the line, knowing that a miracle is going.
Speaker 1: Happy Jesus. So he put me on hold and he
Speaker 1: came back and he said, miss Moore, I think we
Speaker 1: can help you. I said, oh Lord, thank you Jesus.
Speaker 1: I knew you were going to help me, Jesus. I
Speaker 1: knew from the minute you picked up the phone, Jesus,
Speaker 1: that you were on my side. Jesus, I am here
Speaker 1: to tell you. Signs are everywhere. What are the chances
Speaker 1: that I needed help? And Jesus answered the phone. The
Speaker 1: moral of the story is pay attention to the signs.
Speaker 1: They are right in front of you, and Jesus is
Speaker 1: always on the line. Thank you for joining us on
Speaker 1: the Spirited Actor podcast with me Tracy Moore. I look
Speaker 1: forward to our next Spirited podcast. Thank you