From the Midwest to Hollywood

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.