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.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 1: I know actors want to get the job. I get that,
Speaker 1: but being remembered by casting director that is powerful.
Speaker 2: Meditation of the day.
Speaker 1: Surround yourself with people who are going to lift you up.
Speaker 1: Oprah Winfrey. When I first started teaching twenty four years ago,
Speaker 1: my heart broke to hear of the stories of actors
Speaker 1: who had no support in pursuing their dreams of being
Speaker 1: an actor. These were loved ones or close friends who
Speaker 1: try to discourage them from being an actor. Now, I
Speaker 1: would never tell anyone to disown their family or friends,
Speaker 1: but what I will say is that you need a.
Speaker 2: Strong armor to be an actor.
Speaker 1: You need to hear the voice of encouragement because this
Speaker 1: is a journey. When people speak of negativity, bless them
Speaker 1: in your head and move on. Fear is what stops
Speaker 1: everyone from living their true dreams. Don't let it stop
Speaker 1: you today. I will pursue my dream unapologetically. Before we
Speaker 1: get started, i'd like to remind everyone to look out
Speaker 1: for my new show, Inside the black Box. I'll be
Speaker 1: co hosting with the great Joe Morton. We'll be on
Speaker 1: Crackle Network real soon. I'll keep you posted.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Spirited Actor Podcast with me Tracy Moore.
Speaker 1: You know, the thing I love about this show is
Speaker 1: that I'm always bringing you the best of the best,
Speaker 1: the best working actors, and I have a wonderful team
Speaker 1: that always introduces me to the best of the best,
Speaker 1: and so I just want you guys to put your
Speaker 1: hands together for actor, producer, director, writer, Will.
Speaker 4: Cat liv.
Speaker 5: Hey, Will, how you doing?
Speaker 1: I am excellent, and I'm so grateful that Lean introduced us, and.
Speaker 2: Also that you got up early for us. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, oh yeah, I've rolled out of bed, but
Speaker 3: you know, well, I'm.
Speaker 1: Glad you're here, so listen. I just want to applaud
Speaker 1: you for your work. You know, a lot of times
Speaker 1: as a casting director, we know a lot of faces,
Speaker 1: but we don't, you know, know you, because you know,
Speaker 1: we see your work and we follow you. So I
Speaker 1: have seen your work for quite some time. And to
Speaker 1: have this pleasure of meeting you, I'm really excited that
Speaker 1: you're going to share with our Thestians.
Speaker 2: Who are on right now.
Speaker 5: Amen. Amen today.
Speaker 1: So let's start from the beginning. Will, How did how
Speaker 1: did acting start for you? Is this something that you
Speaker 1: wanted to do when you were younger?
Speaker 2: Where did it all begin?
Speaker 3: Not?
Speaker 5: Really?
Speaker 3: I was playing basketball in college, and you know, my
Speaker 3: thing was I was trying to be like Kobe, you know,
Speaker 3: but then you realize you're not jumping out of the
Speaker 3: gym like Kobe Bryant, You're not shooting the ball as
Speaker 3: good as Steph carry which is on fire right now,
Speaker 3: so you start thinking about different things.
Speaker 5: And I met a guy at the mall.
Speaker 3: I was buying some G units at the time when
Speaker 3: he was fifty cent had his G units going out,
Speaker 3: and the guy had the whitest teeth I've ever seen.
Speaker 3: So I asked him to said, brother, how you get
Speaker 3: your teeth? So White said, press white strips. I said, okay, cool,
Speaker 3: Where are you from? He says, I'm from Maryland. I said, okay,
Speaker 3: I'm from back that way. I'm from Alexander, Virginia to
Speaker 3: DC or a DC Maryland area.
Speaker 5: He says cool. I said, well, what do you do?
Speaker 3: He says, I'm an actor And I don't know why,
Speaker 3: but inside of me, he said, HM always wanted to
Speaker 3: try that.
Speaker 5: Well, you should come to my acting class.
Speaker 3: So when I went to his acting class, the class
Speaker 3: that he was going to as Bobby Chance Studios, expression unlimited,
Speaker 3: and I just knew that that's that was the path
Speaker 3: that I should go down.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: And you know, we all talk of we always talk
Speaker 1: and stress on this show about training.
Speaker 2: Because in my.
Speaker 1: Experience as a casting directors, people think that they can
Speaker 1: just say some words and that's it. How important is
Speaker 1: training to you, even to you know, considering the fact
Speaker 1: that you are a working actor today, how is it
Speaker 1: How important is it even to today?
Speaker 5: Well? I think it depends, you know.
Speaker 3: You know, some people may just have the gift and
Speaker 3: they can naturally fall into it and they might not
Speaker 3: need all the technicality what comes with acting, right, But
Speaker 3: every great artist must refine their gifts. So for me,
Speaker 3: I remember my teacher Richie Chancey saying, well, man, when
Speaker 3: your gift catches up with your talent. So what he
Speaker 3: was trying to say, You have all this will of
Speaker 3: gifts that you can naturally do things, but your talent,
Speaker 3: meaning your skill level, has it called up with the
Speaker 3: gift you So once that talent catches up with a gift,
Speaker 3: then you get Michael Jordan in his prime because everything
Speaker 3: makes sense. Now he can shoot the ball at will,
Speaker 3: or he give you the fade away. He don't have
Speaker 3: to go to the hole and dunk on you no
Speaker 3: more because he knows the game. So that's the beauty
Speaker 3: of studying. And you never stop studying. I'm always studying.
Speaker 3: You know, different actors, different people, different behavior. Then it's
Speaker 3: different levels of study. And you got class study, then
Speaker 3: you got on set study. That's a whole other thing.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 5: That is its very important.
Speaker 1: That's an excellent point, and it's very rare that actors
Speaker 1: talk about that.
Speaker 2: But that is you know, I say that doing your.
Speaker 1: Self tape, that's one thing, right, and then you do
Speaker 1: a great job.
Speaker 2: You get a.
Speaker 1: Callback, that's another thing, and then you get the job.
Speaker 1: But the work really starts when you're on that set.
Speaker 3: Actually, the work really starts even before the auditions. Oh true,
Speaker 3: you know, it's how you show up in the world.
Speaker 3: How did you feel about yourself? I was doing an
Speaker 3: audition and my friend that was taping me in Atlanta, Tracy,
Speaker 3: she was taping another young lady and I'm going over
Speaker 3: my lines because I got to put the audition on.
Speaker 3: I had just got it, but I wanted to turn
Speaker 3: it in because I'm working at the same time. And
Speaker 3: I hear the young lady reading and it disturbs my
Speaker 3: spirit that I have to go down and take the
Speaker 3: computer from Tracy, and I say, hey, listen, you're more
Speaker 3: than enough. You keep trying to get the lines right.
Speaker 3: It's not about getting the lines right. But see, in
Speaker 3: your life, you feel like you never wanted an any
Speaker 3: chan You feel like you're too old to accomplish the
Speaker 3: things that you want to accomplish. So you haven't got
Speaker 3: an audition in a while, so you're banking everything on
Speaker 3: this one audition. You've already lost because now you're not
Speaker 3: free as an artist to just go and explore. And
Speaker 3: after we had that conversation, she begin to cry and
Speaker 3: then she did the take and it was amazing because
Speaker 3: now she didn't have all that weight on her that
Speaker 3: I have to do this, I have to get this right,
Speaker 3: I have ton't press the castle or if I have
Speaker 3: to do this. The casting director is always going to
Speaker 3: cast the role if the role shows up, not will
Speaker 3: If the role shows up, then that's like, that's the role,
Speaker 3: that's the person that I want. So when you have
Speaker 3: that mindset before you even get the material, it.
Speaker 5: Allows you even free to make mistakes because.
Speaker 3: Some of the beautiful moments come from when they're not
Speaker 3: rehearsed or when they're not you know, so planned out.
Speaker 3: So I think that starts at the beginning and then
Speaker 3: you work your way and then when you get on set,
Speaker 3: it's about do you have a good attitude? Are you
Speaker 3: going to show up when it's eighteen hour days? What
Speaker 3: are you going to do when they keep calling you
Speaker 3: out of your trailer, but they're not ready because they're
Speaker 3: waiting on the number.
Speaker 5: One to show up to the set.
Speaker 3: Right, you know, how are you going to maneuver around
Speaker 3: those things? Are you going to always hang your clothes
Speaker 3: up the same way that they came to you? Are
Speaker 3: you going to hang the trash up the same way
Speaker 3: that that trash was empty before you put trash in it.
Speaker 3: These are things that build excellence in yourself. It's not
Speaker 3: about the person recognized and that you put the tracks
Speaker 3: behind the door. It's not about the clothing department recognizing
Speaker 3: that you're put the close up. It is strictly about
Speaker 3: you and you being excellent and everything that you do well.
Speaker 1: You sound like you have an amazing spiritual foundation. You
Speaker 1: also sound like you motivate and inspire other actors in
Speaker 1: your work, which is great and so kind and generous
Speaker 1: of you. I have to say, from a casting director's
Speaker 1: point of view, there there's you know, there are thousands
Speaker 1: of people who are cleverly disguised as actors, but very
Speaker 1: few talented people.
Speaker 2: And that excellence and that.
Speaker 1: Work ethic that you are speaking of does not come
Speaker 1: from everyone.
Speaker 2: And you know, just in my experience over.
Speaker 1: Thirty years in casting, you know, you wonder why there's
Speaker 1: a certain percentage of actors that work and there are
Speaker 1: certain percentages that don't and the ones that you talk about,
Speaker 1: those are the ones that work. Because I believe, and
Speaker 1: you know, a casting director, we don't have a power,
Speaker 1: you know, unless we're producing. We strictly, highly recommend, strongly
Speaker 1: courage and beg and plead. But there are too many
Speaker 1: other element you know, producers and studio heads and all
Speaker 1: of that involved. But blessed, our words are matter and
Speaker 1: mean something. And I believe that the audition process is
Speaker 1: fifty percent talent and fifty percent personality.
Speaker 2: Because we have to we have to like you, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean.
Speaker 1: It is really come down to a director saying, out
Speaker 1: of these two women Tracy, who has the better personality?
Speaker 2: And when you you made.
Speaker 1: A point about getting somebody out of the trailer, I
Speaker 1: produced a film where our leading actor would not come
Speaker 1: out out of the trailer because his eggs.
Speaker 2: Weren't cooked properly. It's eggs.
Speaker 1: So you know, I strongly I can't even emphasize enough
Speaker 1: for actors to really take in what you're saying. Here
Speaker 1: because work ethic is important, your personality is important. And
Speaker 1: my company is called the Spirited Actor because my concern
Speaker 1: is the spirit of the actor, is the morale of
Speaker 1: the actor, and the work ethic because that is a
Speaker 1: part of the process as well. So I'm grateful for
Speaker 1: those words because it's very rare that we hear about that.
Speaker 1: You know, it's always about, you know, chasing the job.
Speaker 1: We're trying to get a job, and I believe, you know,
Speaker 1: the joy is in the journey.
Speaker 2: That's what I believe, because you've got jobs.
Speaker 1: So now that you have a job, and let's start
Speaker 1: with Black Lighting you know, because you've been on that
Speaker 1: series for twenty two episodes.
Speaker 2: I believe. When I was doing my research, I.
Speaker 5: Don't even know how many episodes I've been on it.
Speaker 2: Well, let me tell you. Let me tell you. You've
Speaker 2: been on twenty two episodes. You guys. Wow, Now you
Speaker 2: talk about a work ethic.
Speaker 1: What is a day in the life of Black Lightning
Speaker 1: and especially Will with the COVID situation.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm gonna put a pin in that, and I'm
Speaker 3: gonna come back to that in a second. I didn't
Speaker 3: want to run over the title of your podcast.
Speaker 5: The spirited actor. I believe that when.
Speaker 3: A writer writes down a character on the page, they
Speaker 3: have written down spirit. That's why always tell actors, if
Speaker 3: you get the spirit of the role, you know everything
Speaker 3: you will need to know about that role. So it
Speaker 3: it allows you to tap in beyond what is written
Speaker 3: on the page. You actually get into the spirit of
Speaker 3: what the way the words came from. So I didn't
Speaker 3: want to run over your title because your title is
Speaker 3: so important. To always start in the spiritual first and
Speaker 3: then't make it physical.
Speaker 5: The words go in, then they must come out, you know.
Speaker 3: So I think that's very important and kudos to you
Speaker 3: for that because.
Speaker 5: That is a divine title.
Speaker 3: Now as far as Black Lightning and COVID, the process
Speaker 3: right now is I'm in La like Lightning was shooting
Speaker 3: in Atlanta. So you would test at Warner Brothers maybe
Speaker 3: three or four times before you get on the plane,
Speaker 3: or forty eight hours before you get on the plane.
Speaker 3: If your test is negative, then you get your flight,
Speaker 3: itenter aarya. It's all depending on if that test is negative.
Speaker 3: All your contracts are depending on if that test is negative.
Speaker 3: So you know, and right now, COVID is what I'm
Speaker 3: hearing is about ten percent of the overall budget, so
Speaker 3: it's a big part of the whole thing.
Speaker 5: And then you get there and right now what you're doing.
Speaker 3: You have to some shows, you have to you have
Speaker 3: to quarantine for about five days and then you'll be
Speaker 3: ready to go to the show. Then some if you're
Speaker 3: testing in a protocol, then you'll be able to go
Speaker 3: straight to set. So each each each production company has
Speaker 3: things a little different, but you're going to be taken
Speaker 3: to anywhere from three to three to four times a week,
Speaker 3: and that's pretty much that process, which is.
Speaker 5: Not bad, you know what I mean. I mean, you're
Speaker 5: guest star.
Speaker 3: You're getting paid two hundred and fifty dollars for it,
Speaker 3: so they compensate you for your time.
Speaker 5: If you're seriously regular.
Speaker 3: They don't put it in your contract already, so they're
Speaker 3: not gonna pay you for that.
Speaker 5: But you know, it's good that you know people are working.
Speaker 3: Sometimes it was a little difficult in the beginning because
Speaker 3: you're rehearsing with the other act, with the other actor
Speaker 3: with the masks. You know, that was a little difficult
Speaker 3: to get used to it if you don't feel that connection.
Speaker 3: But as it kind of rolled back, I think the
Speaker 3: ads and the producers was letting it be a little
Speaker 3: bit more lenient, because if we're on set, that means
Speaker 3: that everybody's negative, that's in that rateting. So you know,
Speaker 3: you might you won't really need the mask to run rehearsal,
Speaker 3: and some actors do. So you just fill out the
Speaker 3: comfortability level with different actors.
Speaker 5: Some people may be a little bit more concerned.
Speaker 3: You know, but once you know they call pictures up,
Speaker 3: you know, the mask come off, you do your thing,
Speaker 3: and then when they say cut with the mask back on.
Speaker 5: You know, it's just how how we go. But you
Speaker 5: know it's beautiful, no, it is.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I love the fact that actors
Speaker 1: are adaptable. I did a film in November and the
Speaker 1: budget was one hundred thousand just for the COVID testing
Speaker 1: of everyone, and so as a producer you start to think, wow, okay,
Speaker 1: you know, in the olden days we have this budget.
Speaker 1: Now we have to incorporate COVID. And then as actors,
Speaker 1: you know, I even though like you're right, there's a
Speaker 1: comfort that people have to have, whether wearing the mask
Speaker 1: and being on set, but you know, the physical aspect
Speaker 1: of being able to see the face to react and
Speaker 1: to get that energy. Has that been a difficult transition
Speaker 1: for you or you know, like I said, you guys
Speaker 1: are adaptingable.
Speaker 5: Not really, because the eyes are the windows to the soul.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, whatever your eyes are saying, your mouth and ears
Speaker 3: and face, your expressions will follow, you know. And even
Speaker 3: if it doesn't follow, you can look into someone in
Speaker 3: the eyes and tell that they're telling you the truth
Speaker 3: or if they're lying to you. I remember over Opportunity
Speaker 3: one of the greatest acts, you know, very great mentor
Speaker 3: of mind, and he said, well, you know, acting is
Speaker 3: just looking someone in the face and telling them the truth.
Speaker 3: And you know, and it's like that is it? At
Speaker 3: the simplits of it, That's what it is. How much
Speaker 3: shop are you telling? Even if you're lying, it's still
Speaker 3: your truth even in that line, at that moment in time.
Speaker 3: So you know.
Speaker 5: Yeah. So I mean, when.
Speaker 3: People have the mask on, you just look and then
Speaker 3: you go and then they take it off, you know, okay,
Speaker 3: and they may give you a little more, little less.
Speaker 5: It just depends on the artist that you're working with.
Speaker 2: That I love.
Speaker 1: I worked with Obabapa Tende in a film Carl Weber,
Speaker 1: The Preacher's son and got to know him.
Speaker 2: What amazing And then I got here. I got to New.
Speaker 1: York from San Francisco in eighty three and got a
Speaker 1: chance to see him on Broadway and dream.
Speaker 2: Girls and fell in love.
Speaker 3: That was it.
Speaker 2: That was it. That was my dude, great, great, great person.
Speaker 1: I want to ask you, Will, what is your dream
Speaker 1: role or what is that role that.
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 1: I don't feel like and this is just my first
Speaker 1: introduction to you, but I really feel a peacefulness to
Speaker 1: your journey. I don't feel a sense of urgency. I
Speaker 1: don't feel you tapping out on your recent scratch him.
Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, And it's such a pleasure.
Speaker 1: It's such a pleasure to breathe that in because that
Speaker 1: all of my friends are actors, all of them, and
Speaker 1: so I'm always you know. That's why I name my
Speaker 1: company The Spirited Actor. It's about the person inside the actor.
Speaker 2: That's our ar mantra.
Speaker 1: And so I feel like, man, I just feel at
Speaker 1: ease with you.
Speaker 2: What is that role? What's that role for you?
Speaker 3: I think I'm still completing some of the greats work
Speaker 3: that they laid down.
Speaker 5: It's like Sidney Poitier, he broke one part of the
Speaker 5: color Brier I the other.
Speaker 3: It's a be a beautiful thing when an actor can
Speaker 3: get on stage. And although I'm African American, you see
Speaker 3: me as an artist, you see me as an actor.
Speaker 3: I know the shell that I look, but all our
Speaker 3: shells will passed.
Speaker 5: You know. What will remain is the spirit will remain forever.
Speaker 3: So my goal is when I do work, is that
Speaker 3: you can see no color, because that allows me to
Speaker 3: be free. So now when I look at Rose, it
Speaker 3: may be Caucasian thirty five, but that may identify with
Speaker 3: my spirit, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 5: It may be you know, hey, yeah five.
Speaker 3: I may have to go to Spain get my Spanish
Speaker 3: up real quick, you know, and then maybe I'll be
Speaker 3: able to do that. So I want to be free.
Speaker 3: And that's the same thing I told Mara in Love
Speaker 3: Is when I was doing Love is Love and we
Speaker 3: were talking about it and I said, Marrow, your story
Speaker 3: means nothing if it doesn't touch somebody.
Speaker 5: That's right, And that's the goal.
Speaker 3: The goal is to go beyond what you're watching and
Speaker 3: actually having an experience. That's always been the actor's goal,
Speaker 3: even from when it was just theater back in Greece.
Speaker 5: And they was doing all that.
Speaker 3: They will tell you what was to come, what was
Speaker 3: to come in politics, what was to come in social
Speaker 3: what customs they wanted to introduce you to.
Speaker 5: And they still do it now with the news. They
Speaker 5: trying to introduce things.
Speaker 3: They slowly program you to get used to things you know.
Speaker 3: And so so the actor is so important to telling
Speaker 3: the world's story, almost like the comedian is the last newscaster,
Speaker 3: you know, because they able to say everything that the
Speaker 3: people won't say. That's why I love Dave Chappelle so much,
Speaker 3: because if Chapelle does not do his thing, then we
Speaker 3: don't get to go to another level and get the
Speaker 3: truth because there's no barriers on the comedian to do that.
Speaker 5: And so as the actor, the actor is the one that.
Speaker 3: Is holding the gems in the truth and the revelation
Speaker 3: of where the world needs to go. That's why I
Speaker 3: tell actors, never limit yourself. Never let nobody say, oh,
Speaker 3: you're just the actor.
Speaker 5: You're not.
Speaker 3: You study people all that. You have to study different cultures,
Speaker 3: different religions. You got to study so many different things
Speaker 3: to be well versed into the work that you're getting
Speaker 3: ready to do.
Speaker 2: So well said, so well said will. I met Dave Chappelle.
Speaker 1: When he was nineteen years old and I bought him
Speaker 1: to MTV and they didn't get him.
Speaker 2: They were like.
Speaker 1: Oh, well he's okay, and this is Ted DEMI was
Speaker 1: alive during then Joel Stillman who runs Hulu right now.
Speaker 1: And then two years later they asked me to bring
Speaker 1: him back for a show and I said, Robin Hood
Speaker 1: Ben and Tights.
Speaker 2: That brother is gone, but he's still my friend and
Speaker 2: blessed to this day.
Speaker 1: I've been on that journey since eighty five of you
Speaker 1: know from the embryo stages, and I think that's the
Speaker 1: beauty of the job of a casting director to know
Speaker 1: people before anyone knows their name, and to have and
Speaker 1: be that person to believe in you now.
Speaker 2: I believe in you now. I don't need you to
Speaker 2: prove anything do anything. I believe right now.
Speaker 1: And how can I be of service to you in
Speaker 1: terms of you know, as a casting director, I'll keep
Speaker 1: calling you in every time I have something for you,
Speaker 1: and I'll talk about you to my other casting difference
Speaker 1: and directors and producers as well.
Speaker 2: I think that's what about.
Speaker 3: I want the actor to hear what you just said,
Speaker 3: because as a young man, a younger man coming up
Speaker 3: in this game. We sometimes will think that the casting
Speaker 3: director is against us because they didn't we didn't book
Speaker 3: the role. You guys are the gatekeepers that are fighting
Speaker 3: for us when we don't see. So I want actors
Speaker 3: to know that the casting director is on your side.
Speaker 5: The director is not against you.
Speaker 3: Just because you didn't book five years ago with Tracy
Speaker 3: doesn't mean that you're not going to book today. Know
Speaker 3: a lot of times it's saying, oh, when he get
Speaker 3: this going, Oh, when she get this going, Oh, when
Speaker 3: she comes into herself, Oh this happens, then she'll be ready.
Speaker 3: Or sometimes they're just waiting for that right role because
Speaker 3: you're fitting into the person's puzzle piece. And sometimes your
Speaker 3: puzzle piece may just be too big, may just be
Speaker 3: too much liked, and so you can wait for that
Speaker 3: right puzzle for you to.
Speaker 5: Fit in, you know.
Speaker 3: And sometimes you know, when I'm in roles, I know, okay,
Speaker 3: well you got to pull it back just a little bit.
Speaker 3: You're not the lead of this. You must be in
Speaker 3: service to the lead. I know, I know what I'm
Speaker 3: capable of, but right now, it's just like when you're
Speaker 3: playing football, you got to run up a post route
Speaker 3: or you run up and out. Sometimes you just got
Speaker 3: to run the route and the ball to be there.
Speaker 3: It's not about you doing what you want to do,
Speaker 3: just run the post the ball to be there. Aaron
Speaker 3: Rodgers is going to hit.
Speaker 5: You if you're in your spot, and that's sometimes in life.
Speaker 3: You just need to be in your spot so that
Speaker 3: things may open up for you.
Speaker 5: And you never know who's your door.
Speaker 3: Sometimes we pray all the time, God open a door,
Speaker 3: open a door, open a door, and we think this
Speaker 3: mystery door will open. What he's telling you the door
Speaker 3: is Tracy. Tracy is your door for you to get
Speaker 3: where you need to go. So you have to know
Speaker 3: that people are doors. There was a door for me.
Speaker 3: Bickie Thomas has been one of my doors, one of
Speaker 3: my doors. Kim Coleman has been one of my doors.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 5: So Kim Harden has been one of my doors.
Speaker 3: I haven't worked with him yet, but Kim had told
Speaker 3: me something when I was abound twenty six. She said,
Speaker 3: will don't wait on this game to live your life.
Speaker 3: Don't wait on this game to not have children and
Speaker 3: not getting married. And she told me something that was
Speaker 3: so po I've been doing this over twenty years. A
Speaker 3: lot of things I didn't do because I was so
Speaker 3: focused on running my race with the cashing.
Speaker 5: Thing that I didn't do tonight.
Speaker 3: I didn't do this, I didn't do that, And all
Speaker 3: those things will come for her. But she thought, well
Speaker 3: enough of me to give me that gym that I
Speaker 3: keep to keep with me to this day. Because you know,
Speaker 3: the craftic comes. You know, you work six months, you
Speaker 3: may not work for two years. You know, what are
Speaker 3: you doing the meantime? You have more meantime than you
Speaker 3: have victories or so called losses, because nothing than it
Speaker 3: is lost, it just feels like a loss. But you
Speaker 3: have more meantime in between that time. So what do
Speaker 3: you do with that meantime? Just like oh by Betune,
Speaker 3: they said this simmy, He said, will you had the
Speaker 3: day that you arrived nineteen eighty two, you would have
Speaker 3: the day that you depart, whatever that day is. But
Speaker 3: the dash it matter in between those dates. God is
Speaker 3: going to require what did you do with the dash?
Speaker 3: The dash is important? What you spoke about journey, the
Speaker 3: dash is important. The dash, the dash, the ups and
Speaker 3: downs to saying no. The dash is what makes you
Speaker 3: who you are and refines your character is in that dash.
Speaker 3: No one's gonna say, oh, he's born in nineteen eighty two,
Speaker 3: e the part of this time, but look what he
Speaker 3: did in between those dates.
Speaker 5: That is what's that's what.
Speaker 2: Mappened, that's what matters.
Speaker 1: And I have to say, well, no one in nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty seven, when I became a casting director, no one
Speaker 1: gave me any insight, any tips. Really quickly, I called
Speaker 1: five casting directors, asked them if they could give me tips,
Speaker 1: if they could tell me how to be a casting director.
Speaker 2: They all hung up on me. I called them back.
Speaker 1: And said, I was a student at NYU. I was
Speaker 1: writing an article how underrated casting directors were, and that's
Speaker 1: how I got all the information to start to become
Speaker 1: a casting director. And one of the things that I
Speaker 1: used to always say, without actors, we don't have a production.
Speaker 2: I'm a casting director.
Speaker 1: I'm a liaison between you and the director, and I
Speaker 1: bring the two of you together. Without actors, we don't
Speaker 1: have anything. So who really has the power. And that's
Speaker 1: when I started teaching. When I felt I needed to
Speaker 1: empower the person inside the actor to be that actor
Speaker 1: and to be the best that they could be. I
Speaker 1: could talk to you all day. Now, I get it.
Speaker 1: Lian was going on and on on and on, and
Speaker 1: I get it. You are amazing. I have two more minutes,
Speaker 1: will okay? And I want to give them all to you.
Speaker 1: Whatever you have dropped the most amazing gems. If you
Speaker 1: got some more you want to drop, I'm giving you
Speaker 1: the two minutes.
Speaker 3: Well, I think the best thing that I can say
Speaker 3: is that you know what I did for Lynn and
Speaker 3: what I did for the other students in my Catlic
Speaker 3: Academy class is I always pray for them in my
Speaker 3: private time, and for people who will watch this, I
Speaker 3: pray that you don't give up, that you don't sit
Speaker 3: down on your gifts. Maybe you've been rejected, maybe you
Speaker 3: felt that you're not good enough, or you don't fit
Speaker 3: into the box that the world is calling.
Speaker 5: You to fit into.
Speaker 3: But there is a place for you, and you do matter,
Speaker 3: and don't let yourself be pulled away from what it
Speaker 3: is beating in.
Speaker 5: Yourself as a child.
Speaker 3: As a child, we're free to think and imagine all
Speaker 3: the things that we want to do. But life happens,
Speaker 3: meaning bills, meaning lost is Sometimes people dealing with COVID,
Speaker 3: you lose family, members and you begin to close up.
Speaker 5: And I remember macting coach Richie Chance, who said.
Speaker 3: Will don't lose that kid like thing about you because
Speaker 3: life was beating me up. And when life beats you up,
Speaker 3: you can't cry on c because you're building blocks in
Speaker 3: yourself because you're dealing with life. It's important as the artist,
Speaker 3: as a human being, to stay flexible, to stay moldable.
Speaker 3: Always be that potter and that clay on the wheel.
Speaker 3: Let the potter mold you. Sometimes you have to be crushed,
Speaker 3: but the crushing is the beautiful thing because after the
Speaker 3: crushing comes to victories. That's why you can never ask
Speaker 3: the cashier how much the olive oil costs. You have
Speaker 3: to ask the olive because the olive went through the
Speaker 3: crushing for the oil to come out.
Speaker 5: When TDJ spoke that.
Speaker 3: Message, I was in the crushing process of my life
Speaker 3: and I had to go through the crushing for the
Speaker 3: oil to come out.
Speaker 5: So maybe you may be.
Speaker 3: In the crushing stage, or maybe you're in this stage
Speaker 3: where your oil is shiny, but there will always be
Speaker 3: a crushing stage no matter what level you are at
Speaker 3: in life. So be relaxed, be of service, and the
Speaker 3: best is you have to come.
Speaker 2: You are the best. I am so grateful to have
Speaker 2: this introduction to you.
Speaker 1: You have blessed my audience, you have blessed my team,
Speaker 1: and continue blessing us.
Speaker 2: Will. I would love to reinvite you back to the show.
Speaker 1: You can talk some more, because there is a piece
Speaker 1: within you that is settling and I can only imagine
Speaker 1: that people who are fortunate to be your friend and
Speaker 1: be in your energy are very very grateful and they
Speaker 1: know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3: So one more thing I'll say real quick, because you
Speaker 3: made me think of an eagle. You know, when you're
Speaker 3: going through storms of life, don't rebuke the storm because
Speaker 3: the only way ego cleans its wings is in the
Speaker 3: middle of a storm. The only way and ego tests
Speaker 3: its pinions to see if they're strong enough is in
Speaker 3: the middle of a storm.
Speaker 5: The only way Ego.
Speaker 3: Goes to the highest heights is in the middle of
Speaker 3: the storm. Storms will come, but storms come to take
Speaker 3: you to your next level. So don't rebuke the storm.
Speaker 3: We all have storms of life, but the storm is
Speaker 3: meant to take you to the next level, just like them.
Speaker 3: Hater said, they didn't give you any information about being
Speaker 3: a cast and the record, but that storm took you
Speaker 3: to ask a question, took you to where you are
Speaker 3: now so that you can remember, Hey, you need haters,
Speaker 3: you need people to push.
Speaker 5: You to the next level.
Speaker 3: So be at peace, you know, because that storm is
Speaker 3: meant to bless you, not the harmony.
Speaker 2: Amen.
Speaker 1: Amen, we welcome storms unapologetically because you know there's light
Speaker 1: at the.
Speaker 5: End of the tunnel. Yes it is.
Speaker 1: Then everybody stand up, put your hands together for our guests,
Speaker 1: mister Will Catlet and Will we are blessed to have him.
Speaker 2: He's going to stay with us, you guys for class
Speaker 2: and session.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Spirited Actor Podcast with.
Speaker 2: Me Tracy Moore and you know where we are.
Speaker 1: Class in session my favorite, and we are still blessed
Speaker 1: to have Will cat Lit with us. So sit down,
Speaker 1: sit back, because you know he's going to drop some
Speaker 1: more jewels on us.
Speaker 2: We have Spirit Actor loved I and our writer in residence.
Speaker 1: Lean Amado, heyleen Ry, and we have Julisa Caprie Spirit
Speaker 1: Actor alumni.
Speaker 2: Hey guys, and Elsa is going.
Speaker 1: To put on her other cape and she's going to
Speaker 1: read the narrative for you, Will.
Speaker 2: So is everyone ready? Hmm? Yeah, Okay, so on action Elsa.
Speaker 4: It's a stick up written by Leam a model exterior
Speaker 4: sidewalk to day. Pam is following Jess down the street.
Speaker 2: I cannot believe you got me doing this. What happened
Speaker 2: when we ride together? We die together? No?
Speaker 4: No, this is just dumb.
Speaker 2: Well what about laying in life out for bread? Are
Speaker 2: you serious? I know you were not using a Bible verse.
Speaker 1: We're prepping a rob a candy store.
Speaker 2: No, I am not doing anything. Okay, so why did
Speaker 2: you come in? I came to make sure that nothing
Speaker 2: happened to you. Oh you really do rob for me? Whatever?
Speaker 2: Just throw inside, Jess, ladies have arrived.
Speaker 4: Pam gets to the door, gets the door for Jess
Speaker 4: and continues to follow her through the aisles.
Speaker 3: You know, all the years I've known you, this is
Speaker 3: like the dumbest ship that you've put up with, all
Speaker 3: because your man thinks that you don't have.
Speaker 2: A wild side.
Speaker 4: Like that's so stupid that you didn't follow this?
Speaker 2: Okay, whatever, Look, I wouldn't be so cracking yourself. Then
Speaker 2: why I don't know how to be wild? Okay? Well,
Speaker 2: can you just hurry up? My palms are sweating?
Speaker 3: Man?
Speaker 2: Oh, can you just shut up. Look, I am nervous
Speaker 2: as it is you're nervous. I just saw my entire
Speaker 2: career flash from my eyesing you're the one that's nervous.
Speaker 4: A simultaneously break convo to smile like the little girl
Speaker 4: passing by.
Speaker 2: Career. Shut up, you should be thanking me, but you
Speaker 2: need to loosen the hell up. Jess, I am good
Speaker 2: the way that I am. Okay, why does she get
Speaker 2: away from me? I don't want to be able to see
Speaker 2: you around me in case you know what, Please, that
Speaker 2: will be the best thing that happened to you. Look.
Speaker 2: I just saw Marcus's new girl, and she looks like
Speaker 2: a bad bitch. And you over here sticking up a
Speaker 2: candy store in your librarian skirt. Everything just changed. What
Speaker 2: kind of bad bitch? The type of does some shit
Speaker 2: like this black eyeliner tat it up?
Speaker 5: Sure?
Speaker 2: A little titty Okay.
Speaker 4: Sam starts grabbing shit stuffing into her purse and pockets.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 5: That's good.
Speaker 4: Jes laps Pam on the ass and they split up.
Speaker 2: It's a stick up. See wow, thank you ladies. Stick
Speaker 2: up all right, I'm gonna throw it to.
Speaker 5: You will well.
Speaker 3: It's hard to kind of do it on this because
Speaker 3: I can't see them on the same screen, you know
Speaker 3: what I mean.
Speaker 5: So I'm flipping. I'm flipping back and forth.
Speaker 3: As you know, Lin gives her lines, and at least
Speaker 3: it gives her lines. But it's it's cool though, because
Speaker 3: I can hear it. Okay, the moments that I like
Speaker 3: were the most quiet moments in this in this piece,
Speaker 3: you know, before Lynn has grabbed the candy, because those
Speaker 3: are the real moments. So what I would say is
Speaker 3: that even in both of you guys as acting, it's
Speaker 3: always find those moments that are the most truthful. And
Speaker 3: if you find it when the script, it may be
Speaker 3: way down in the script, but that would indicate how
Speaker 3: you're supposed to play and what the transitions will be,
Speaker 3: because if you find that real moment, then you'll know
Speaker 3: as you're tracking what to get to from the top
Speaker 3: to the beginning.
Speaker 5: So like you can tell.
Speaker 3: That the young Way doesn't really want to do this,
Speaker 3: and blah blah blah they in the store, then they
Speaker 3: want to stick up, you know. But when it came
Speaker 3: to that real moment about being a bad d, I
Speaker 3: t h to me that was the turn of the
Speaker 3: scene and so you can have those moments even more
Speaker 3: in the beginning. But other but other than that, I
Speaker 3: thought I thought it was great from what I can see.
Speaker 3: It's something I can't really bring it now because I
Speaker 3: would have had to see y'all. You know, I can
Speaker 3: look both of y'all at the same time and I
Speaker 3: can say, Okay, she gave that line like this, he
Speaker 3: gave this.
Speaker 5: Line like that.
Speaker 3: But uh, Jalisa, you you have great instincts, you know
Speaker 3: what I mean. It's just a matter of time before
Speaker 3: things really pop off for you.
Speaker 5: And I've seen you because I've saw one of your monologues.
Speaker 3: This is actually the first time me seeing Lynn and
Speaker 3: you got this thing sense, this this this flair, this beauty,
Speaker 3: this rulnerability you know which is which is interesting and
Speaker 3: I believe that will be your ticket to get to
Speaker 3: where you need to go the writing and all that too.
Speaker 3: But you just pop when I'm watching you. You pop
Speaker 3: off the screen, you know, So don't put the acting down.
Speaker 5: It's there.
Speaker 3: It's just a matter of walking into the right situation
Speaker 3: for you, you know what I mean.
Speaker 5: For both of y'all.
Speaker 3: You know when I saw because Jalicia is a piece
Speaker 3: that she did. I'm like it was one that Viola
Speaker 3: Davis did. Correct, Yeah, Princess, I'm like, I like she
Speaker 3: gave Biola for her money in that audition, you know.
Speaker 3: And so that's one of those things that I talk
Speaker 3: about because sometimes you got all that fire, that's a
Speaker 3: movie star fire, and sometimes we're trying to put that.
Speaker 5: Into a coach star and a guest star.
Speaker 3: It's not going to work there, right, So don't so
Speaker 3: don't you know, be discouraged. It's just a matter of
Speaker 3: a moment for the both of you. Yeah, I thought
Speaker 3: it was great.
Speaker 1: Well, you are so generous and so kind because these
Speaker 1: are words that I say to both of these I
Speaker 1: don't both of these ladies.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to tell you how many years because
Speaker 2: they live in ranges age range.
Speaker 1: However, I echo those words because I when you get
Speaker 1: a chance to go to Alabama and see and go
Speaker 1: to the museum and see the work that Julisa did
Speaker 1: in this monologue, it bought.
Speaker 2: Elson and I to tears.
Speaker 1: We cast this museum for Byron Stevenson and literally just
Speaker 1: she had there was no dry eye in the room
Speaker 1: when Byron directed it and we filmed it, and amazing.
Speaker 2: So and Leenn.
Speaker 1: I just remember just a young kid and her dad
Speaker 1: putting money in my hands, saying after a showcase, she's
Speaker 1: doing your next class, and I.
Speaker 2: Was like, I don't know what my next class is.
Speaker 2: He's like, I don't care. She's gonna study with you.
Speaker 1: And loved her as an actress and now as a
Speaker 1: writer as well.
Speaker 2: So I just want to thank you again.
Speaker 1: Will you are wonderful, And ladies and gentlemen again, put
Speaker 1: your hands together for our guests. Will cat Lit And
Speaker 1: you know I'm gonna call him again, you guys, because
Speaker 1: you know how we do we can we bring you
Speaker 1: back on.
Speaker 3: More gym, one more Jim, one more gym, one more Jim.
Speaker 3: The people that the people that ever watched this, and
Speaker 3: I'll tell this to my students all the time.
Speaker 5: Don't wait on the job to celebrate.
Speaker 3: Go eat your favorite meal, go cook your favorite meal,
Speaker 3: go to the restaurant of your choice, and celebrate before
Speaker 3: the job comes. Every time I've done that, a job
Speaker 3: has come to me. Me and my wife were saying,
Speaker 3: I think it's time to celebrate. There's no job insight,
Speaker 3: money baby low at the time.
Speaker 5: But as soon as we do that.
Speaker 3: We're now pushing the envelope for the celebration to come.
Speaker 3: We just did it last night. You know where a
Speaker 3: buddy of mine has been, you know, at that point
Speaker 3: where he's been getting jobs, but it ain't really popped
Speaker 3: off just yet. I said, brother, let's just celebrate. Let's
Speaker 3: celebrate what is about to come. And we did that
Speaker 3: last night. And I'm excited because I know he gonna
Speaker 3: get a phone called hey.
Speaker 5: I got this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you know, but we already celebration, so it
Speaker 3: has no choice but to come.
Speaker 5: So don't forget to celebrate.
Speaker 1: Well, we're gonna celebrate you before we make off. We're
Speaker 1: gonna celebrate. We'll tat with ladies and gentlemen. So we
Speaker 1: will be back up the Spirited After podcast with me
Speaker 1: Tracy Moore for Give Love and now it's time for
Speaker 1: Give Love. Growing up in San Francisco, California, dreaming of
Speaker 1: being in the entertainment business was just that a dream.
Speaker 1: I didn't know how challenging it would be. All I
Speaker 1: knew was prayer and I believe God would make away.
Speaker 1: So in nineteen eighty three, when my two friends left
Speaker 1: for New York City, that was my chance. I was scared,
Speaker 1: but I did it anyway, I got on that plane,
Speaker 1: faced my fears, and planted my feet in New York
Speaker 1: City for now thirty nine years, no regrets and grateful
Speaker 1: to know that when you allow fear to live in
Speaker 1: your head, you miss out on the greatest life that
Speaker 1: you can ever imagine. Be fearless, don't forget to look
Speaker 1: out for us on our new show, Inside the black Box.
Speaker 1: My co host will be Joe the Legend Morton. It's
Speaker 1: going to be the Spirited Actor Podcast on Steroids.
Speaker 2: We'll be streaming on the Crackle network. I'll keep you posted.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us on the Spirited Actor Podcast
Speaker 1: with me Tracy Moore. I look forward to our next
Speaker 1: Spirited Podcast. Thank you,