The Acting Podcast

Ep. 58: Horror, Genres, & the Romance of Acting in the 80s! w/ Risa, Syd & Corey

Show Notes: Season 1!

Show Notes: Season 2!

Show Notes: Season 3!

It’s Horror month. Halloween… and all. 🎃

In the spirit of spooky movies, I talk with 2 of our amazing BGB Master Teachers, Sydney Walsh & Corey Parker, on Zoom (so you can watch!) about what it was like to act in the HORROR genre- they each have starred in a few iconic Horror Movies. We talk Horror movie acting, and acting in any Genre, plus what it was like to audition in the 80s and 90s when big filmmakers were in the room, along with Casting Directors (like me!) who collaborated with actors, brought them back in many times (for the same role and other roles), celebrated in their talent, and advocated for them! It was a time of true collaboration, when filmmakers figured out their movies with actors in the audition room. 

While those days are gone (and we’ve surely romanticized them 💘), we also fully believe and talk about how YOU can bring that same sense of liberation, exploration, discovery, and a collaborative spirit to the work you do on camera- in self-tapes, Zoom auditions, and on set- whether it’s a student film, a short you create, or a big show or movie. YOU get to show up with agency and generosity- with something to offer the storytellers… as a true collaborator. 

So… Listen in! There are fun stories here, as well as practical advice on how to work freely and boldly in any and all genres, AND how to show up in the same spirit in your self-tapes as we three felt “in the room” in the 80s! 

(Don’t forget to rate and review us so that we can reach more actors around the world!) 

Risa 👻

“I just grew up at a time where I couldn’t name one female director…or not a single woman would get on stage to accept a producer award at the Oscars…representation matters because if you don’t see it, you don’t know that you can do it. Being a woman on the other side of the camera was not something that I ever saw.”
-Ellyn Jameson

“Then the desperation went away and I had an ease in audition rooms that I’d never had before because I had a life outside of wanting someone to pick me.”
-Dominic Burgess

“It happened entirely because I was following the path that was put in front of me without a tremendous amount of judgment around it. And I’m a judgy motherfucker…if I can do this, anyone can.”
-Johnathan McClain

“Walk into every room, and everything you ever write, and everything you create, and just make it you, just authentically you. And most of the time, the people who’ll respond to it will love it because you’re being yourself and there’s only one of you in the world. And it feels amazing when you put yourself forward and people reward you for it.”
-Caroline Lindy

Guests & Resources:

Credits:

Producer:
BGB STAFF
Tech + Design:
Mitchell Braxton & Aswathi Menon
Music:
SAM DEWEES + ANDY ABELOW
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