From the Midwest to Hollywood

Over the summer, I shared how people inside and outside the entertainment industry frequently mention a resemblance to Viggo Mortensen (see http://hansroberts.wordpress.com/?s=Viggo&submit=GO). Incidentally, thank you, Viggo fans, for your kind comments in this regard.

I ended the post by saying while I thought such a comparison was a compliment, it remained to be seen whether it would help my acting career.

On a small scale, it did help me get a recent audition. Before I even met a director, he was sure I was “perfect for the part! I saw your picture and knew you were the one!” The part was for a Russian mobster, very similar to the part Viggo Mortensen played in Eastern Promises. As you can see below, the style of my head shot in no way suggested a mobster personality.

My head shot

Through amateur studies in counseling, I have learned about a dynamic called transference. Each of us, every day of our lives, applies to current pursuits what we have learned from previous experiences. This includes impressions from people in our past. My theory is that when people experience Viggo Mortensen in a certain way (by watching him in a film), they expect the same of those who resemble him, be it in appearance or manner.

Consequently, I was excited about possible applications of this theory when I learned Viggo had a new role in a Western film, Appaloosa. However, his beard and mustache in the role certainly detract from any purported resemblance, so I do not expect any increase in calls for Westerns.

Cowboy Hans

Feel free to comment about Viggo rather than me–no fleas on me, but he is great.

In September, I auditioned for a short film based on a novel, directed by USC student Kat Lo. I did not get the role, but when I met Kat, I found her creative, thoughtful and interested in literature, just the sort of director I would like to work with. Not long afterward, she released a breakdown for another short film based on the novel London Fields. I prepared for the role of a snobby aristocrat, but Kat had me read for the part of a lower class, womanizing dart player named Keith Talent.

When Kat called to offer me the role, I was excited to get footage with my Northern British accent. It did not immediately strike me as a particularly difficult role; after all, I am an actor, and provided I look the part, I can play any role if I choose to act a certain way, right?

However, at the first rehearsal I was rigid when I needed to be loose. I was nervous when I needed to be forward.

Kat and I conferred about how different the character and I were. Keith Talent’s description included the following: “Dresses like a 1970’s porn star. Professional darts player. Often uses vulgarity. Smooth talking. Womanizing and cheating on his wife. Doesn’t care about other people’s feelings provided he gets what he wants.”

Kat suggested I invent an appropriate history for the character and practice in front of a mirror while focusing on how I ought to move. She also had me watch Trainspotting, saying Keith Talent was like a combination of Sick Boy (the pretty boy character) and Begbie (the rough one who is always beating others up). These activities were probably helpful, but certainly useful were her suggestions of what my character really wanted. Where I had focused on his desire for a certain woman, he also wanted to outshine the upper class patrons of the bar in conquering her.

After a work-filled weekend that included polishing up my North Country British accent, we performed our scene for Kat’s professor (Jeremy Kagen) and class. Most illuminating was Professor Kagen’s admonition that we discuss our relationships with all the characters in the scene rather than just those with whom we interact most.

When we shot the film a week later at a pub in Pasadena, the moment arrived when I blessedly forgot about my accent and preparation. This is not to say I ceased to employ the accent and preparation, but rather that I did so less consciously, thus allowing me to devote myself to the scene.

This moment was possible partly because I had done the work I needed to do. Also, I had the opportunity to forget about myself for awhile.  I hope to be able to do this more and more–to simply be a person and to be conscious of the other actors.

Filmmakers, if any of you are working on period pieces or projects with accents, please comment hear! British accents aside, I specialize in roles with Russian, German and French accents. I also speak French and Spanish fluently.