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Post by DeeDee on Aug 15, 2007 21:24:31 GMT
a chocolate suit even better NN ;D ;D Now DeeDee what on earth would you do with him in a chocolate suit lol mmm... now let me think
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Post by nightnurse on Aug 15, 2007 21:49:46 GMT
Oh good gawd...excuse me while I go off to my happy place ;D
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Post by Teebee on Aug 15, 2007 21:53:24 GMT
Oh good gawd...excuse me while I go off to my happy place ;D I'll bet you're in a happy place two of your favourites together ;D
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Post by PokerKitten on Sept 15, 2007 13:00:59 GMT
September's:
What do you think is the greatest musical instrument ever invented and why? I think possibly the synthesizer. It used to take 100 - 500 years for a new instrument to assimilate itself into the orchestral, musical experience. They'd come up with a violin and everyone would go crazy and the next 500 years would be all about how do we incorporate the violin into our music. Now every new single that comes out has an incredibly distinct, synthesized sound, which is tantamount to developing your own new musical instrument. That goes way past the best violinist anyone has ever heard because even the best violinist that has been heard in 200 years is only playing the same instrument that's been played for 200 years and his song will sound very similar to the "hacks" that had preceded him. But the engineer that comes up with a new synthesized sound that has a human resonance, it's as if he's made a whole new instrument and the possibilities from where I sit are endless. So, it's definitely keyboards, computers and synthesizers - and that's really hard for a guitarist to admit.
What was the last play you saw? I think it was The Master Builder by Ibsen starring Sir Ian McKellan. I didn’t enjoy it. It was the last chance I gave my local theater company after being let down too many times before.
It’s a great compliment for an actor to say that the person playing opposite them was “generous” in his or her performance. What does that generosity mean to you? Do you consider yourself a generous performer? Very good question! Generosity in film means that when you are off-camera acting for the other actor's close up, you give as much as you did in YOUR close up. It seems like a no-brainer that everyone would want to give as much in their off-camera work as their on-camera work because it helps everybody, but you'd be surprised how many perfectly wonderful actors are forced to work with stand-ins for their close ups, which are the most dangerous shots when the camera is so close to you and can pick up any lie. That's when you need your acting partner the most. It's unfortunate that at that time so many actors decide to head to the trailer. I consider myself a very generous performer. In fact, I think I give a better performance off camera than I do on. Because I have no pressure off-camera, I can improvise with impunity, trying to elicit some real reaction from my acting partner that they didn't plan on. Sometimes they get mad because I will change it up so dramatically, but I'm trying to give them a moment that's truly real, trying to make something happen for the first time - the camera wants to catch you being surprised. That's what makes good film. So if you stay in your trailer, half your job, you're abdicating.
If you could say one thing to Spike, give him a piece of advice, and/or converse with him about anything... what would you choose and why? Get over Buffy - you deserve better! (laughs)
How do you react to criticism, professionally and personally? If I wrote it, criticism is hard. I feel that anyone who is writing their inner life is doing something very brave and, in a way, is beyond criticism. How can you criticize someone for telling you how they feel? I have a hard time criticizing most artists who write their material for that reason actually. If they've been honest and brave and set it out there, if it's ugly or beautiful and if I don't think of it as worthy, it's probably my fault. So it's very hard for me when my own work is dissed. It's less hard, more mechanical, if I'm looking at a playwright and I feel like a play can work but I get a bad review, I kind of feel like I'm a mechanic working on a carburetor thinking I just need to add 3 cm to whatever and the thing will start on time and run like I want it to run. So it becomes less personal. If you write it yourself, it's very personal.
Either/Or
Bacon or Sausage? Bacon because it can be rendered crispy without ruining it.
Christmas lights - all white, or multicolored - blinking or not blinking? All white, blinking, but not in unison. I think that the Christmas tree is most beautiful when it approximates the original Christmas tree where real fire was lit and red, yellow and green blinking lights just don't do it. I like fairy light, as I call them, the white lights. They can blink or they can be steady, but I'm liable to put them up anywhere at anytime actually. I used to light my whole theater with fairy lights and I never had a better subscription audience in that season.
Next session: October 15
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Post by PokerKitten on Sept 15, 2007 13:06:52 GMT
Eeee, The Master Builder was the last play I saw too. But with Patrick Stewart. Depressing, but wonderful Defnitely!
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Cal
Mitch Brand
Posts: 392
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Post by Cal on Sept 15, 2007 14:52:11 GMT
Great Q&A! ;D Speaking of Patrick Stewart, I read somewhere that he's going to be appearing in Hamlet (I think it's Hamlet) with David Tennant next year. Now, I'm not really a fan of Shakespeare (I would never have gone to see Macbeth if it hadn't been James), but I have to admit to being very tempted. I love James' Christmas lights answer!
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Post by PokerKitten on Sept 15, 2007 14:56:20 GMT
I am a Shakespeare Bore, I'm afraid Oooh, I can see Patrick as Claudius (he's too vital and yum to be Polonius and they'd never waste him as a ghost,would they?). My my, what a fine night that would be!
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Cal
Mitch Brand
Posts: 392
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Post by Cal on Sept 15, 2007 15:34:45 GMT
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Post by PokerKitten on Sept 15, 2007 16:23:40 GMT
Oh go on go on go on go on ;D
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Cal
Mitch Brand
Posts: 392
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Post by Cal on Sept 15, 2007 16:33:43 GMT
Are you encouraging me to be naughty, PK? ;D ;D I'm definitely thinking about it! Hubby will probably kill me, though. I've already got a trip to the pantomime planned (but not booked yet) to see JB in Aladdin. And Stratford is only about an hours drive from where I live...hmm... ;D
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Post by PokerKitten on Sept 15, 2007 16:37:06 GMT
It's not naughty, it is life enhancing ;D I'd certainly go, if I could. It's been too long
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Post by PokerKitten on Oct 15, 2007 12:27:02 GMT
October's:
How do you overcome the judges in your head when you want to create? Really good question! I tell myself that I have a lot of love to give the world and I’m finding interesting ways to show it. I think that we are all beautiful enough and interesting enough to reveal ourselves to one another. So the only way I can be boring as an artist is if I shut down out of fear or self-judgment. If I’m brave enough to be myself, I always succeed.
The biggest lie about your industry is: That stars are treated well. The truth is that stars/actors in Hollywood are treated as slaves. It's not glamorous but it serves the needs of the power elite, which are the producers, the networks, and the movie executives.
Why Macbeth as a person? I understand what attracts you to the play in general, but what attracts you to the character as a person? Hmmm. Nothing. Nothing at all. The genius of Shakespeare is that his main characters have a hole in them that is to be filled by the person playing the role. If you ask who is Hamlet, the answer always is who is playing Hamlet. The experience of Hamlet or Macbeth is so universal. We all go through it. The job of an actor is to give his own specific experience, that it seems believable that a single human being would have this experience. To try to say that Macbeth is one way or another just limits Macbeth. Macbeth, or Hamlet, is everybody who has ever fought for their rightful place in the world, or has abdicated that rightful place in the world for something that they thought was better but turned out worse, Hamlet being the former and Macbeth the latter. What Shakespeare provides is the universal truth - what you have to provide are the specifics of your human experience. I react to the fact that Macbeth speaks to me - I've made the same mistakes. I feel like I am him, but I think that all humans are.
What gives you confidence? What takes it away? Making something that other people find interesting gives me confidence. Being only mildly interesting saps my confidence. Also, dirty shoes sap my confidence.
What song is currently in your head? “Hey There Delilah” by the Plain White T’s. Some people think there's only one true love meant for each person, while others think that any one of a number of different people might turn out to be the One. Transferring that idea to acting, do you think that there's only one best way to play a scene, or that any of a number of choices can be 'best'? The latter definitely in both cases. I hope it’s true in romance because I’ve messed up so many times.
If it didn't mar your chances for a role, what is one tattoo you've either considered or would be interested in getting? Tribal swirl on my arm.
Favorites:
Star Wars movie and why? The first one (episode 4). It was the most giddy, it was the most fun, it was the most thematically satisfying. It tells the hero's journey which is the classic crowd pleasing myth. Thematically you didn’t need anymore movies after that, but it was sure fun.
Late night snack: I am an actor in Hollywood and there is no such thing as a late night snack. They do not exist - you stop eating at sundown and you get to know your hunger. You'll be spending a lot of time with that bastard and you gotta know how to beat him. The more fat you're burning the louder the voice gets to eat and you have to know how to beat that voice down. It's an act of will every day.
Next session: November 15
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Post by nightnurse on Oct 15, 2007 15:38:05 GMT
Aww, poor baby not being able to snack late at night ...thats the best time !...and V say's his taste in music is spot on , Hey There Delilah is a fave of hers ;D
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Post by Teebee on Oct 15, 2007 15:52:18 GMT
E says exactle the same thing, in fact she has it as her ring tone to be honest I'm getting a bit sick of it I like his idea on the tattoo though although not at all practicle
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Post by PokerKitten on Nov 15, 2007 14:13:52 GMT
November's....
If you were in the Mississippi Delta and were down at the Crossroads (no soul selling involved), would you ask to be the greatest guitarist or actor? I don’t believe in the Crossroads. I believe that the Blues were created in response to slavery and had nothing to do with the Devil. The Devil can’t help me be a good actor either. I’m not afraid of the Devil.
In the movie House on Haunted Hill when the elevator appeared to be free falling, was it in the script to jump up and down or did they just type in something to the effect of interviewer/cameraman: "panic" and you improvised that action yourself? Yes, that is exactly right! I always thought that I would jump up at the last moment and save myself which I understand from Myth Busters that that wouldn’t work. I’ve also noticed that when people get very frightened they hop from one foot to the other, almost as if they want to run. I think this is very dear. So yes, that was my idea, thanks for noticing.
Which do you personally find more difficult: to apologize or to forgive and why? Way easier to apologize. I can admit that I am a jerk sometimes, life has taught me that; but forgiveness is really tough. I have perfected ostracization instead.
Have you ever spent like a THOUSAND HOURS working on a song all night, finally got to sleep, then wake up the next morning and think it sounds like s**t? (laughs) Yes, my notebook is full of them!
I was listening to NPR the other day and they said that Quentin Tarantino believes he was Shakespeare in a previous life. Any thoughts on that? I think it's hilarious. (giggles) Go Quentin! He’s right. There’s 120 million atoms from Shakespeare’s body that are right now in Quentin’s body, maybe he senses that – but it’s true for everybody. There’s a good book to read called “The Brief History of Everything”.
Why do you think "Angel" ended the way it did? Because they wanted a heroic moment for the cast and could only afford cold water so they dumped it on us all night long. I guess the point is that redemption doesn’t depend on survival.
When you are singing or acting on stage, does the emotion in a piece or song ever become almost too much to bear? Or does that enhance the performance, from your perspective? It happens and is to be avoided; it will mess you up. It will clog up your throat and you’ll sound like a frog. You have to stay a little bit away from the actual emotion.
Either/Or:
Stuffing cooked inside the turkey or on the side as dressing?Both – I love the stuffing. Cornbread with apples and sausage. But you have to know that the stuff inside the bird is way up fatty.
Are you a handy man or someone who can barely change a light bulb? Handyman - I ran a theatre for years.
Next session: December 15
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Post by Ditto on Nov 15, 2007 23:03:57 GMT
I find that last an absolute turn-on. I find a man what does so attractive.
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Post by nightnurse on Nov 15, 2007 23:13:45 GMT
LOL... You'll be dreaming of James in paint spattered overalls tonight Ditto ;D
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Post by PokerKitten on Dec 15, 2007 20:35:44 GMT
December's:
How do you feel about censorship in general and has your view of censorship changed since you had kids? That’s a really good question. I am adverse to any form of censorship but there are appropriate outlets. I’ve always felt that way. What is appropriate for a late night comedian is not necessarily right for a 3 PM television show.
Name something you've heard about women that tends to be true? Women are human beings. No other generalizations I can make - anything else would seem foolish. Everyone is an individual. Some women share more in common with me than some men.
As "Spike" you were asked to do a little bit of everything - from comedy to high drama. What do you find more difficult - comedy or drama and why? Personally I find comedy more difficult. Drama needs sincerity most of all but comedy needs sincerity and rhythm and every script has it’s own comedic rhythm. I’ve seen people go insane to try and find it. For Buffy it was easy because the comedy was very dry.
While most of your songs speak of emotions, there are also a few like "Lou" and "Button Down Vandals" which are simple narrative. How does the connection differ with the audience when you perform both types of songs and which do you find more satisfying creatively? It’s true most of my songs are navel-gazing songs, but I’m trying to get away from that and write songs about people who don’t exist except in my head. I think the audience appreciates when I climb out of my navel. It’s warm in there but a bit stuffy. The song “Lou” and “Button Down Vandals” are taken from my own life. They are actually not stories but my own history.
What has been the most significant period in your life so far--the time that made you what you are today? The period from 1996 till now starting with the birth of my son and caring for my niece. All other periods were just preparation.
My brother-in-law says Eric Clapton is a guitar god. Who is your guitar god? There are many gods in the pantheon of rock - let us take a stroll... Eric Clapton, Jimmy Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Axe, Edge, Lenny Kravitz, just to name a few.
What is your ancestry? English, Irish, German, French and quite a good bit of Scottish from the Buchanan clan. My family Marsters is in the book of Domesday and helped Norman conquer in 1066 – we were good at something so they called us Masters and gave us a good castle and some sheep and stuff.
Favorites: Pie and cake: I don’t eat pie or cake, stop asking me about food. I’m in training for “Dragon Ball” food is bad! Water is good! Harry Potter character: Snape. Snape. Snape.
Next session: January 15
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Post by PokerKitten on Dec 15, 2007 20:37:54 GMT
He's doing it again! ;D Alright there Norm? Done any good conquering lately? ;D
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Post by Teebee on Dec 15, 2007 21:02:04 GMT
"English, Irish, German, French and quite a good bit of Scottish from the Buchanan clan." Yaaaaaaaaaay ;D ;D knew he had that something extra ;D I love the answer about food.... lmao ;D
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