Apparently, Die Hard action-star Bruce Willis, will be making his Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery. The best-selling 1987 novel was already adapted for the screen with Kathy Bates and Jame Caan, so I’m wondering how they will adapt it, yet again, for the stage. Actress, Elizabeth Marvel (House of Cards) will step into the role of Annie Wilkes, which was originally portrayed by Bates and earned her an Academy Award. Personally,I think it would be interesting if Kathy Bates were given the chance to play her famed character onstage. I honestly think that even after twenty-five years, Bates could pull it off. Who knows? It’s still early in the process, so there might be a chance for her to win a Tony for the same role in which she won an Oscar. But, I’m interested to see what Marvel does with the role. The characters of Paul Sheldon and Annie Wilkes have become so iconic within the horror/thriller genre that I think an audience may have a tough time seeing anyone else but James Caan and Kathy Bates in those roles. The good news is, that many film-goers may not be aware of, that Willis has Off-Broadway stage experience. It’ll be very interesting to see him “back on the boards” after nearly thirty years. However, I don’t want to be too quick to assume its fate yet. We’ll just have to wait and see until the curtain goes up in the fall.
What do I have in common with Steve Martin, Tina Fey, James Franco, and Andrew McCarthy? We’re actors who are also writers. You read that correctly, Andrew McCarthy is, in fact, a writer. He’s an award-winning travel writer. Check out some of his stuff on National Geographic Traveler. Now, I’m not talking about actors who all of the sudden want to “write” their memoirs, and get a ghost writer to do it for them. I’m talking about people with actual skills, who do their own writing. As a matter of fact, Tina Fey and Steve Martin actually STARTED OUT as WRITERS. I’m guessing they did it while they were pursuing acting as well, due to the fact that they are in both realms of the industry. Granted, there are those actors who have also written screenplays or stage plays, and blogs, but that’s a different type of article all together.
I started acting when I was around the age of 8, maybe 9. But I started making up stories as soon as I could talk. I even had an imaginary friend when I was 5 who I would tell my stories to. Her name was Jinglelyn, and again, I was 5. When I actually learned to read and write, writing took a back seat to performing onstage. I had found my passion for storytelling on stage. And I loved it. It’s my first love. Telling stories, no matter what shape or form, is what I love.
What I find funny now, is the fact that my parents kept giving me journals on my birthdays or Christmas, and I never really used them. I wasn’t really a “dear diary” type of girl anyways. It seemed sort of silly to recount my day on paper. I started writing short stories and plays, and when I got to high school, I helped start up the creative writing club at my all-girls, Catholic high school. I wrote stories, parts of novels I was working on, and seriously wanted to become a writer and an actor when I grew up. I was involved in anything creative. I sang in choirs, acted in the school plays and wrote stories. My English teacher even gave me a writing award my junior year of high school. When I got to college, I majored in English because I love the element of story-telling, plot and characters. I thought it would help in the acting realm because I was able to learn about the different things that make up a good story. It was sort of like four years of script-analysis. I acted throughout college, even directed. My senior year of college, I got my first headshots and auditioned at my first major theater convention, which led to moving to NYC to study at Circle in the Square Theater School.
Within these past six years, I have been acting and putting writing on the back burner. I got my union cards and even pursued stand-up. The closest I came to writing, before starting this blog, was stand-up comedy, which I still love because you can create your own material. I started this blog because I wanted to get back into writing, and I wanted to write something from the perspective of an actor who was going through the ups and downs in their career. Not someone who is washed-up and giving advice. I’m still in the trenches and being in a career “lull,” I have been writing about what I love. Movies I love, movies I loathe, anything and everything that has to do with the industry, with a unique perspective. It seems like I’m in good company of those who came before me. If you use all of your talents, it can lead to something. What that is, I don’t know. But I am pursuing my writing and my acting. So I guess I can add a back-slash to my job description. I’m a writer/actor. And I’m so glad you are reading my blog. Thanks.
George Clooney doesn’t do accents. He told that to a casting director when he was first starting out, and they loved him for his honesty. The “special skills” section is exactly what it sounds like. Special. Skills. It lists the skills that you possess as a human being that you can utilize in the acting world. Know a language? GREAT! Put it on there! Dance? Sing? Play an instrument? Great! Great! And, great! Put those on there. But don’t lie. Don’t say that you are fluent in Spanish when you can barely say, ” ¿cómo está?” And if you can’t carry a tune or tap dance like Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, you simply don’t possess that skill. Lying on your resume will never, never help you. And don’t try to be funny and say, “Good in bed.” That won’t help either. Seriously.
I always have the number of years of experience listed next to my skills, just in case. But if I don’t possess a specific skill set, I simply don’t put it. Here’s a list of things I can’t really do:
The List of Skills I Do Not Possess:
Juggling (I tried once and failed miserably. I remember my father had bought me a kit after we went to the circus.)
Ballet dance (don’t even get me started. I just can’t. I have some basic movement skills from tap and jazz dance training, but that’s it. And even with that, I still end up looking like spastic chicken)
Yodel
Ride a unicycle (I really want to know who can)
Play the drums (But I want to learn)
Yoga (I’m really not that flexible. It’s sad.)
Ice Skating (My dad made me a makeshift rink in the back yard when I was 3. Then he stepped on the ice and it cracked and broke. That’s as far as I got on the ice skating front.)
Rollerblading (I CAN rollerSKATE, but the blades are whole different story.)
Ski (Again, I was around 3 years old, the skis were yellow. I went down a bunny hill. End of story.)
Whistle (It might be the title of a musical. But that doesn’t make it true.)
