Testimonials-

Mary has a unique ability to blend well-organized lessons with her knack for connecting individually with each of her students. I can attribute a tremendous upswing in my career directly to my work with Mary Stein.

I know she is highly capable and enthusiastic about making a difference for students and I recommend her without any reservation.

-Larry Kay

Author-“The Love that Dog Training Program”, Producer of “Positively Woof!” & “Animal Wow!”

Testimonial-

I have had the pleasure of working with Mary Stein, the actress, writer, producer, teacher over the past 15 years and am delighted with the opportunity to extol her virtues. Quite simply she is as focused, specific, funny, and intelligent as they come.

Her creative resources built on an adult lifetime television, film and theater are at the very highest level. I don’t know anyone who is more serious about her work, nor who takes greater joy in doing it. Her broad experience at the highest levels of the biz and the great deal of time she has spent studying and teaching it, make her a real treasure.

I have absolutely no doubt that her students will be delighted!

-Richard Clayman

Producer for “Norman Lear” and teacher at USC Grad School

“Nurture your roots…and your life will flower & fruit.”

Do you want to start the new year with health, clarity, joy, and energy for days? We all can use that, right? However, if you are an actor or performer….you are your instrument. If you expect to function at your best….Nurture your instrument. Help yourself out…try this!
Here is a really simple powerful thing you can do for yourself. It is based on a simple principle….”When your body is alkaline & oxygenated it creates a bioterrain that disease can not flourish in. Not only that. You will have immense energy & deeper rejuvenating sleep when you balance your system in this way. Create it as your baseline.”
How can you create this in your body? Read on…
1.) Use strips to test your ph balance daily. Purchase them online or at a drugstore or Whole Foods.
2.) Eat & consume as many greens as possible daily.
3.) Take chlorella 6 tabs daily. (You may need to build to 6 tabs a day.)
4.) Drink at least 8 glasses of water a daily with 3 alkalinizing drops from Alkazone in each glass.
5.) Exercise regularly & meditate daily.
6.) Stop drinking coffee or keep it to a minimum. Coffee depletes your adrenals which are like a battery to your body. It also creates acidity in your body.
7.) Make sure you are getting enough grams of protein daily. But, not more than half your body weight in grams. ie. @50g of protein if you weigh 100lbs. Too much protein makes your system acidic unless it is green protein. Chlorella is protein.
8.) Lastly, take a really high quality probiotic daily. This isn’t so much about alkalinity. This is about energy and joy. Which we all want to be our baseline. It is a powerful procreative place to come from. Probiotics actually have the effect of creating a happy chemical response in the system. If you find you have propensity to being sad or depressed…sort out the chemistry in your gut. Your gut is your second brain in yogic medicine. Simply sorting this out can have a profound effect on your affect. Probiotics is key. A cleanse may be in order too. ie. A friend of mine had been mildly depressed her entire life until she sorted out her gut chemistry using raw goat milk kefir which is a natural probiotic. After a few weeks she began waking in the morning happy for no reason. It was a huge breakthru for her. Imagine how much more she could create in her life from that as a baseline. Beautiful and so simple!

*If you still feel bogged down….it’s possible you have food allergies. Gluten & dairy are big on the list of common culprits. If you have these allergies you may not even know it. Gluten really drags people down if they are sensitive to it. Many are. If you feel this may be the case. Simply remove it from your diet for a month. Do a cleanse. Note how you feel without it. Then reintroduce after a month. And see how you feel. To life!

          First, I want to dispel any sort of idea that I see myself as some sort of authority or am a “know it all” about acting or the Hollywood scene. On the contrary, I have made a lot of mistakes and do my best to learn from them. I have worked some & intend to work even more. I have done some things really right. And when I do those things. I get amazing results. Those things work. My goal is to share those things that work and that have worked again and again for me and others in the biz. I also want to cite that as much as I am an actress, I am also a healer and life coach. Much of my study as an energy worker and yogi is devoted to tapping not only my full potential but, supporting others in doing the same. I have devoted as much time in the last decade  to evolve these skills as I have to my path as an actress. It evolved out of my determination to be the best actress and best person I could. To live my life in every way to it’s fullest. And empower others in doing the same if they so desire.

         Now to the task at hand…”Mentors”. What is a mentor? By definition, it is an influential senior supporter. In Hollywood, they are essential. You can get a lot farther faster with the wisdom of those who have gone before you and already made mistakes and know the turf.  I have had some fantastic mentors. They have done everything from giving me advice with agent communication & contracts, advice about handling gracefully situations on the set, to how to create a wardrobe with each decade, to ….well, you get the idea. They are a huge resource! They can teach you detailed things you couldn’t possibly learn in a class. But, also become colleagues, brain stormers and refer you to others who may hire you or help you out in a pinch. Normally, I would target as a mentor someone who has acheived what I intend to acheive so they can guide me elegantly over hurdles they once navigated. Normally, I would approach them and request to take them to lunch. Or write them a query letter or call them requesting three 20 minute conversations where I could ask questions and learn from them. More recently, I have a mentorship that evolved very naturally with a gal I met in a Voice Over Workout Group here in Los Angeles. We were discussing acting and classes and work….and discovered we were both very simpatico & decided to stay in touch. We ended up having lunch together. Out of that lunch a very interesting thing happened.

I saw how I could help her out with her current goal. So, I made an offer to assist.  She saw how she could help me out with my current goal. And we made a deal. A trade. A dual mentorship. I am assisting her with evolving her TV Film career and she is supporting me in evolving my Voice Over career. It is a stunning trade. Each of us have shared so much inside information already….we a collectively on fire with our various goals. Seriously, the bits and pieces of info we contribute to each other are fantastically helpful. It’ a pretty rare form of mentorship in my experience and I am completely ingratitude.Thrilled!

There is a fantastic book called, “They Can Kill You But They Can’t Eat You” by the late Dawn Steel. It talks about her mentorship with Martin Scorcese which lead to her career as a Studio Exec. Funny that they say “there is no road map” in the industry. That simply is’nt true. One thing that is part of the road map is mentoring with those you admire and who have gone ahead of you. Those who are doing what you want to do. That’s about as clear as it gets. It works. It takes courage to put yourself out there that way. If I did it more, it would work more. It really is in your court to organize yourself and connect with a mentor. Most mentors are flattered. I knew someone who mentored with Jane Campion and another who mentored with Henry Winkler. They were completely honored to be asked. It works. It’s one piece of the road map. Stay tuned for more of the “Road Map to Hollywood”.

     I have a screenplay that is a political satire revolving around two, what i like to call, off-beat aunties. Nothing cliche about them though. We are not talking “Arsenic & Old Lace”. I began my odyssey writing the script with the idea to create a character that I could play and live into. Without going into too much detail here. I want to share a couple interesting observations about my journey with this piece of writing so far. I was working on the pitch for it with a very seasoned writer who clearly had great info to share & the inside scoop about what Hollywood wants. I also interviewed a script consultant to potentially help me develop the characters depth.  Both of these exchanges were with “old men” in Hollywood mind you. LOL.

     Ok, so the gent assisting with the pitch at one point asked with a rather derogatory tone, “The main characters are two old women?”  Obviously, highlighting that he thought it was a dumb choice.  The other gent who ran a prominent Film Festival for years… LOVED the characters and gave me a ton of positive feedback including saying, of course,  that two huge stars would need to & die to play these two leads. And, of course, one would need to be Meryl Streep. At this point, I am really into the script and less tied to having to play the character that originally I was writing for me. Just loving the journey. So, there is a scene where one of the 2 women is in Tango Class dancing with a young adonis and basically a plot point. It’s real & funny! Ok….so this consultant suggests the reason she is into the young adonis is because she desperately wants to recapture her youth. Which is, by the way, probably why older men date younger women….Am I right? Just guessing. So, I said, “Thank you. But, no thank you. That’s not who she is or what drives her!. These two women don’t consider themselves old or worry about trying to recapture their youth. They are too busy living life FULLY in the present.” . Ok, so where am I going with this. They rock!….and are incredibly foible filled women bound  for adventure, creativity, and setting glaring wrongs right on the planet.

        So, here’s what is completely perplexing to me today….And this is me personally. I, who potentially, would play one of these “old women”……have never put myself together better or felt better…. OR attracted more attention from men in my life. And not “old men” only……I’m talking 20-30 year old range too. Seriously, it’s hot. The first few times it happened I thought I was going to lunch or dinner to be a mentor to them and then I was blindsided by testosterone. First few times, I was flattered. Now, I am simply curious what the heck is going on. Is it 2012 and everyone is stressed and grabbing whats out there to connect. BTW, my come back to their advances is something like, “What are you thinking, I could be your mother.”  She says aghast! I am not a cougar by any means. So, I am left with the thought that it may be possible that what attracts a guy to a woman in reality….besides a Sophie Vergara type….is her quality of aliveness and joy and humor and smarts….I don’t know.. Maybe that she takes great care of herself? So, is it possible that if this is true in life….that these men are attracted to whatever it is in an “older woman”….that maybe Hollywood could realize there is a market for smart, sassy, sexy, fun…women of any age. Cuz that’s how it’s showing up in my life more than ever. And, that is how I am writing these two off beat and very very alive women sexy women. Cuz that’s real in the world! What a concept….And it appears to be real in the lives of the men I am meeting too. So there Hollywood. Open your mind for a day….join us!

     My dear friend, Luc, called me the other day. She had a friend with a 22 year old son who was in undergrad school and had caught the acting-theater there. He was planning to quit school and move up to Los Angeles to do an 8 month Actor Training Program. She wanted my insights and advice. In an impulse to be of service to this young gent….I gave it some serious time & reflection. The following is basically, my advice to that young player. Pass it on to those you believe may benefit.

 1.) Get honest with yourself about why you want to be an actor. What is motivating you? If you are doing it cuz you truly LOVE everything about it and feel most yourself doing it and alive then it may be a great path to follow. If fame is something you are chasing…and really be honest with yourself about this…and this is nothing to be embarrassed or hide from because our culture promotes this so strongly. However, that is just smoke and mirrors created by the Hollywood machine to make money. And sincerely, if that is why you want to do this career….I recommend against it. Not because you won’t achieve it if that is your goal. But, largely because you will hurt yourself and at the end of the day end up empty handed. If fame is a by product of following your love of creating as an actor…. embrace fame by all means..it is part of the territory. Enjoy the nice things about it. But, if it is your motivating force you are off base & will be unsatisfied at the end of the day. Look at why you want fame. Really. What is that need? There are other ways to satisfy that need that will truly nurture you. Cuz here’s the thing. Acting is a total lifestyle commitment that will impact every single area of your life and take everything you have. The LOVE of the craft and storytelling and the crazy aspects of the business will feed you in and of itself. During the hard times the LOVE is what floats us. Regardless, of what shows up on your path. Cuz, it’s not like any other career. There is no road map and final destination. Even if it seems like some actors have arrived….it is still hard work. Actors continually need to generate and remake themselves at all levels. It is a generative career. So, get real with yourself. Look at your desires & needs realistically. This lifestyle, as you can see by the stats & self destruction of celebrities in Hollywood, it is a challenge on every level for most.

 2.) Understand the lifestyle choice. What do I value in my life and what lifestyle do I want? Be open to new and different and more. Try it on & see how you like it. But, in 5-10 years what is my bottom line. In 5-10 years… do I see myself doing this for a lifetime as a business? Or would I be happy making money doing something else and doing this as an avocation? Do I want to give it my full commitment and see where the chips land in say 5 years and then reassess? Set yourself goals and deadlines…then reassess whether you are making the progress you want.  In the meantime, till that deadline is met. Play full out at what you choose and don’t look back or question your choice during the period of time you are committed to it. So….timelines and reassessing and evaluating where you are at points and where you want to go and whats working and not are really important. Again, commit fully for a period of time that you set for yourself with a specific goal in mind and see where that takes you. Get in there and see the lay of the land. If something isn’t working then change things up. Look closely and analyze what you are doing and what works. Do more of that. Or approach it completely differently for a while if it isn’t working. Stop if it is unsatisfying & doesn’t make you happy for too long a period of time. Do something else by all means. You can always re-create yourself. Louise Hay started writing her books at 60 years old.

3.) A career as an actor has no road map. A degree in acting is not necessary. IMPECCABLE TRAINING IS NECESSARY FOR LONGEVITY. There are some amazing schools for actors that will give you a degree which may benefit you later if you decide you want to teach because you would LOVE to do that too or something else where a degree may be a helpful credential. However, if you are beginning your career and already creating something to “fall back on”….an acting career probably isn’t the career for you. There are no guarantees in this career except for those with complete commitment and strong intention.  When Denzel Washington was asked, ‘Did he go at his acting career with something to ‘fall back on’?”…he said, “That doesn’t make sense. I was determined to succeed. Why would I set myself up that way and give myself an out? I don’t need to fall back on something. I’m falling forward.”  Now, that said, to go to a great school like Yale or Juilliard and get a degree makes sense for many reasons. But, never in my estimation as a back up plan for the actor. There are many other reasons to get a degree as an actor from a great program. One reason would be that you give yourself the opportunity to get fabulous training for a period of time & build your craft without other distractions. You give yourself the opportunity to grow up a little and discover who you are and what matters. You give yourself the opportunity to fall on your face and make mistakes in a conservatory atmosphere and not on the job. You give yourself a chance to become literate about history and great writing and literature which can only serve to make you a better actor and feed your imagination. These are especially good reasons to sign up for a professional actor training program and possibly get a degree.  Do you need a degree to work as an actor? Absolutely not. But, to have longevity in this business….you need to study the craft and practice. So that when the opportunities come you are ready. And if they don’t come right away…you have the smarts to create opportunities. You don’t wait. Another reason to study your craft at a great school is to surround yourself with a community of friends and fellow artists that you can potentially create with and mutually support each other through the journey. These relationships if strong can lasy a lifetime.

4.) Find Mentors. People in the business who have gone before you and are where you aspire to go. Lots of them. Read about this in “They Can Eat You But, They Can’t Kill You” by Dawn Steele. Learn to cultivate relationships with these mentors. It is primary. The advantage is that thru these connections may come potential jobs & information from those who have gone before which will prevent you from making the same mistakes as they did & other connections and introductions. They have the inside scoop. You can excelerate your career progress exponentially. It is the language of the biz. You must learn to do this and be bold and smart about it and sincere. Be a passionate learner and be of service to them. Give back to them.

5.) Surround yourself with a community of responsible, positive, creatives that are like minded and equally brilliant and determined. Support each other, create projects together, share leads and information….play hard and laugh together. Stay away from dysfunctional irresponsible people who play victim. This will hold you back. Spot the good ones and cultivate friendships and working relationships with them.

6.) This is “Show Business” &  that means you need to be a business person about you & your career. Business is 50-75% of what you do. So, become a great business person. You are the product. You need to be disciplined and apply principles like any other business does. Keep stats and records and evaluate what you as your product objectively & creatively. Relationships & networking are key in all businesses. But, especially this one. People are the life blood of your flow. You need to get & stay smartly in the drivers seat.  Begin now to create a data base of contacts with notes about them and stay in touch cleverly. Use social networking strategically. Give gifts and thank you notes as a regular protocol to those who help you out.

Play full out! Have fun! You can always change direction. You will learn alot and enriched by whatever you choose to do! Trust your instincts! Good luck!

Break a Leg! Let me know how it goes….

List of Acting Schools I recommend:

“study with the best of the best”

Yale, Juilliard, ACT, ART, CAL Arts, North Carolina School for the Arts, Rutgers Meisner Program, Temple, Carngie Melon, NYU, Steppenwolf, Shakespeare & Company, New Actors Workshop.

“Creating Time & Space”
From “The Actor’s Workbook: Daily Practices & Exercises” by Mary Stein


If we are going to function effectively in life & in show business….it is paramount to create space in your schedule daily to be you. And preferably in a what feels like a safe space by yourself or with loved ones playing & creating in a spontaneous way. I will make a distinction here between doing this fruitfully as opposed to escapist behaviors that don’t engage one spontaneously, wholly, and relationally. Things like FB and Twitter, video games, TV & movies,…may seemingly feed us. Some study of media is vitally important.  However, these things if depended upon too often can be distractions and fill up space as opposed to create space for us.  Just more busy-ness in our heads. I find that going to the beach, kayaking, adventure travel, playing interactive sports, yoga, taking a hike, leisurely shopping, reading a thought provoking book, meditating, cooking a new dish, going to the museum, listening to live music or a DVD…..are often effective for me. And, definitely, going on a 2-4 week vacation now and again to touch the well spring within & rejuvenate is extremely good. I find I am more at peace and can think much more clearly when I take breaks and vacations. I can approach things with new perspective & make better choices. My essence is back energetically. Everything is easier when your rested and rejuvenated. If you are rushing all the time it pinches closed the valve to the flow of your vital energies, creativity, and juiciness. This essential energy is paramount in our work as actors and storytellers. That essence is your product. So make sure you take time daily to nurture it.  Be really choosy with what you commit to. Commit to less. And then  fully commit and play and give space for life to happen around your commitments. As an actor, the life of your character happens between & around the lines and between the people. It happens in that space. Deepak Chopra calls it “the gap” when meditating. That is where you and your essence reside. Own it, value it and cultivate it.

Absolutely commit to a strong clear plan of action. Along with commitment to cultivating your joy and essence and your being-ness as part of the plan. Creating your schedule with blocks alotted for specific things makes it possible to maintain a sense of control when you get the auditions and bookings at the last minute. The block of time for writing or working out or errands/phone calls can be bumped easily to later in the day. Your plan needs flexibility. Relationships takes presidence over your plans and getting things done…relationships are alive and are organic and your basic building block. As is it your basic building block in scenes as an actor. So plan, commit, and give space to yourself to go with the flow of your life force.

These ideas may sound self evident. But, so many actors I have coached are running on empty when they come to me for coaching. Chasing a dream and waiting for life to begin when they book that big job. Running here and there in a frenzy of over activity…..over committing. However, when one over commits then one actually lacks real 100% commitment to anything. Your stuck going in circles. This busy-ness is simply a smoke screen for something else going on. A self-imposed fear based block. It isn’t conscious. But, from where I am sitting as an observer, it is evident. And, completely counter productive. Some aspiring actors refuse to see the racket being played out year after year. And can’t figure out why it isn’t happening for them. They say, “I just can’t get a break”.  It’s sad if they continue with this trajectory because eventually they expire as a result making very little headway towards their dreams. There is large element of self deceit involved here. The results inevitably are frustrating and disappointing. So, get real….as I have said before. Your bookings will go up exponentially when you love and respect yourself enough to do less, commit 100%, and give yourself space in your day and in your life for you. I mean, think about it…would you hire someone running on empty & waiting for you to give them a break…..or would you hire someone vital and full of life, capable of 100% commitment that shows up with creative insights, answers, and extraordinary ideas that contribute to your production? It’s a no brainer. And I personally, am committed as an actor to being a surprising answer to a director and producers puzzle overflowing with originality and life force and ideas to bring to the table. If you are spread too thin, you most likely won’t be playing with the big guys and on projects of a high caliber. It takes full juice. If you truly want this…then “take a look at the man in the mirror” and change your ways. Daily.

Some actors get tripped up and feel daunted at the thought of embodying the idea of taking absolute 100% responsibility for their work & career. As if it is a burden. But, getting down and dirty and real with yourself is the opposite of a burden. This can be completely freeing and empowering leading to 100% commitment and fantastic results in terms of generating your goals and dreams. When you entertain yourself as 100% responsible for how your career is showing up and you don’t like what you are seeing….. Get still, get honest. Really. Tell the truth. Look in detail at what you are doing, who you are, what you want, what is working, whats not working, & what is missing….. where are you are falling short? I have a coaching client who had been on series. But, her career had stalled. I suggested she take 100% responsibility for this and she baulked at the idea. She said she was doing everything right. I asked her to tell me about what was happening. She said, “I have a great agent and manager and I get lots of great auditions. I come close and get positive feedback from the casting directors. I am in an acting class. I am doing everything I should. She said she had an audition later that day. I said, “Really? When? Have you worked on it?” She said, “No. I have to work till 3p and then have an hour and a bit to work on it.” I said, “Really? Do you want this role? Who is involved? Is it a good script and are the people involved exciting?” She said, “Yes.”  I said, “How many pages? And what kind of role is it?” “It’s 10 pages,” she said and a nice role.” I said, “You are crazy going in for that audition after working all day tired and with only an hours worth of preparation….along with no coaching. If you actually want that role….you need to ask them to reschedule your audition so you can prepare properly and hit it out of the ball park. It is beyond useless to go in with so little preparation.” She called her manager and they rescheduled the audition for two days later. Two things to note here….you gotta take charge and be real. If you can’t properly prepare in the time frame provided then ask them to reschedule or play hooky from work so you can prepare or pass on it. Secondly, the only feedback that is real is whether you get called back or book the role. Anything else is proverbial hot air and means nothing. Really. Casting directors are going to say you are great regardless. Unless you offended them. So, stop kidding yourself and demand more of yourself. You will be glad you did. And, if you really believe that you are doing everything possible to generate certain results that you desire… I suggest that you may need to learn to access more than your limited point of view and  your conscious mind. This is really digging deep and is a resource with vast information and power. Where is your consciousness out of alignment? Are you giving yourself and others mixed messages? Are you completely aligned with your conscious intentions and your subconscious mind? Where are you not giving full attention to what you are doing? I teach a technique that accesses the unconscious mind and aligns it with your conscious goals. It is extremely powerful and fun to use. It always gets phenomenal results. And, that is all that matters in the end here. That you have fun and ethically, lovingly, passionately generate your dreams.

If you really in your heart of hearts feel you have done everything you can and it is not working then well…you could also look at doing something else. At least, for a while.  If you have hit a wall. Don’t beat your head against it. You need to flow around it. Not torture yourself. You need to look at where the flow and joy is already happening in your life. Where are you drawn to flow. This can be subtle. But, that is where your focus & energy needs to go and you can build a new path from there. Get into a positive flow. If you are sure your acting career is your path then it will come back around. Don’t be afraid to let go for a piece…..or for a peace. :) All of that said,  if you can get still and take full responsibility and own up to what you need too do differently with joy….then you are in your power and things will begin to move and sizzle and flow. This is much much more effective than blaming the state of the business or something outside of yourself for you falling short and not generating your goals and dreams. When I was in New York City at the beginning of my career…I remember having a conversation with a commercial agent who was saying how slow it was at the time.  I said to her…..”It’s not slow for me.” Bizarrely, she turned out to be one of my agents. You could freelance in NYC then & I had lots of agents fighting to get me in on auditions.  In my mind….there is always work even when it is slow. Someone is always working and it better be me. I don’t blame my results on surrounding circumstances. Rise above it.

     It really is as simple as you aren’t going for it with 100% commitment. You don’t have both feet in the game for some reason. At a certain point, in my career when I was frustrated….I sat myself down and had a heart to heart with myself. I said, if it isn’t going to happen for me then I am not going to continue pursuing an acting career. To continue the way things were going would be ludicrous. So, I decided to give myself a time frame. I said to myself….if I don’t pop in my career…meaning making a serious living that I am happy with…. in 2 years, then I am out of here and doing something else. And a funny thing happened when I set that deadline. I jumped in and played full out in a way that I hadn’t as yet done. I went for it on every level. Bought new clothes, took a pivotal class, began sending postcards regularly, got an agent…..I was on it. And guess what? I popped. It works when you are fully and enthusiastically committed to generate something. When you create a deadline…it serves to up your personal stakes in the game. And that is when it really gets fun. Thats when I saw the results. But, it takes a certain amount of honesty to see that you are actually playing at it halfway….and to see what it looks like to play full out. It’s a very different game. And, frankly, when you do that…..there is no “no” in the room. Whether you get that particular role or not, those people will want to work with you. Maybe they will write in a role specifically for you….which people have done for me on 4 different occasions….or they will keep you in mind for their next project. But, you will be remembered….and eventually book. It is irresistably appealing when an actor is that committed to their game. So, have the courage to jump in the game like you never have before with commitment on every level of your being! That’s when it get really fun & satisfying!

-Excerpt from “The Actor’s Workbook: Daily Practices & Exercises” by Mary Stein

1. I love the idea of this movie. A guy and girl, who are “just friends”, decide to have a child together while maintaining their significant others outside this arrangement as a way to keep the sizzle in those relationships. You probably figured… it doesn’t actually work out so well. It has an interesting spin on male female bonding with children..and fun dysfunctional loveable characters. I loved Adam Scott’s turn right at the end when he realizes that he actually had fallen in love with the mother of his child. Fun ride! And, god knows, it is an enormous accomplishment to get a feature film made….from start to finish. Really. If a person can accomplish that….and it’s a fun ride. Bravo!!! And, I mean it. Bravo! Writing a script is an albatross that takes super human perseverance and focus. And this script and production was fun, great cast, and smartly shot for the most part. However, in this particular film, I just couldn’t stop watching Jennifer Westerfields incredible white teeth and coiffed hair and make up and clothes and lighting and her beautiful shots of herself. Seriously, almost every time she was on camera….I was like….ooooooh she is so perfect looking. I found it continuously jarring. It’s so challenging in this day in age I think to know where to draw the line in Hollywood….especially with HD. I saw Emily Watson in a powerful movie called  “Sunshine and Oranges” right before working with her on “Little Boy” down on the Fox Lot in Rosarita Mexico this fall. We were sitting in the make up trailer doing touch ups when she began gently to admonish her age and perceived flaws. And  I said to her, and this is true….”I see a real person and find your work so compelling I forget any perceived flaws. I’m really not watching that.” I know it is hard for us to see our flaws magnified on a big screen in HD. And, some people may snipe about your flaws….however, those people will snipe anyway. Shoot, some women were sniping about Julia Roberts lips on Facebook. Can you say “jealousy”. But, if we as actresses are so afraid of showing a flaw …that becomes distracting. And, frankly, perfection is not human and not so lovable. It’s distancing. I’m not saying don’t use pretty lighting and makeup. I’m just saying “Keep it Real”. We love you Jennifer exactly as you are….and greatly admire your vision and craft. Trust.

    

Thoughts on the film “Friends with Kids”

I love the idea of this movie. A guy and girl, who are “just friends”, decide to have a child together while maintaining their significant others outside this arrangement as a way to keep the sizzle in those relationships. You probably figured… it doesn’t actually work out so well. It has an interesting spin on male female bonding with children..and fun dysfunctional loveable characters. I loved Adam Scott’s turn right at the end when he realizes that he actually had fallen in love with the mother of his child. Fun ride! And, god knows, it is an enormous accomplishment to get a feature film made….from start to finish. Really. If a person can accomplish that….and it’s a fun ride. Bravo!!! And, I mean it. Bravo! Writing a script is an albatross that takes super human perseverance and focus. And this script and production was fun, great cast, and smartly shot for the most part. However, in this particular film, I just couldn’t stop watching Jennifer Westerfields incredible white teeth and coiffed hair and make up and clothes and lighting and her beautiful shots of herself. Seriously, almost every time she was on camera….I was like….ooooooh she is so perfect looking. I found it continuously jarring. It’s so challenging in this day in age I think to know where to draw the line in Hollywood….especially with HD. I saw Emily Watson in a powerful movie called  “Sunshine and Oranges” right before working with her this fall on “Little Boy” down on the Fox Lot in Rosarita Mexico this fall. We were sitting in the make up trailer doing touch ups when she began gently to admonish her age and perceived flaws. And  I said to her, and this is true….I see a real person and find your work so compelling I forget any perceived flaws. I’m really not watching that. I know it is hard for us to see our flaws magnified on a big screen in HD. And, some people may snipe about your flaws….however, those people will snipe anyway. Shoot, some women were sniping about Julia Roberts lips on Facebook. Can you say “jealousy”. But, if we as actresses are so afraid of showing a flaw …that becomes distracting. And, frankly, perfection is not human and not so lovable. It’s distancing. I’m not saying don’t use pretty lighting and makeup. I’m just saying “Keep it Real”. We love you Jennifer exactly as you are….and greatly admire your vision and craft. Trust.