Christine Ebersole - American Academy of Dramatic Arts

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An interview with Carol Nadell, Owner and Founder of Selective Casting Working in Industrials Can you explain to us what an “industrial” is? I like to say that an industrial is a film, a video, a play with a purpose. It may be to educate, to train, to market. It can be very entertaining but, unlike other areas where the purpose is solely to entertain, an industrial has another purpose, usually to educate, as well. How much money can an actor expect to earn doing industrials? An actor can make as much money doing an industrial in one day as they will make in a week doing an Off- Broadway play. There is usually a flat fee – no residuals although the rules are changing. How did you become a Casting Director? I was an actress and I had a friend who worked in one of the major corporations – this was before there were independent casting directors – and they needed actors. I brought in my friends and the company was very happy with them and told me that this could be a terrific cottage business for me. Initially I declined, because I was an actress. When I left acting, I didn’t immediately turn to casting, it took five years. But I would do some casting occasionally. One day the New York Times was doing a story on corporate television and the reporter had heard that I was an “expert” in this field.The story came out and I was quoted, and people told me that I was good in business, so I took a business course, and in 1988 my agency, Selective Casting was born. It feeds me both financially and emotionally because I am able to help actors and run a business in a way that I would like to be treated. How do you audition actors? I bring actors in when I have something for them. I don’t do generals. I don’t see monologues; I hear them on scripts in a cold-reading. I sit with them and I talk to them and I get to know them.To be an effective casting director you have to like actors.When spending the time this way I get to form an impression of them. I like to say that I don’t have a pool of actors, I have a river – actors are constantly changing. How much input do you have as the CD? It depends upon the client.As a job comes in, actors will immediately come to mind.The initial session with the client is small – approximately 6-10 actors.The client relies upon me to be the screener. After the initial session I will be in the room with the director, producer and the client who will choose their favorites.They show their client (who may be a corporate client) their choices and then the field is narrowed down.There have been times when I have been asked for my input. And this is when having personal knowledge of the actor is important. What is a typical Day? It depends upon the industrial. Like on a soap, there is not a lot of rehearsal time.An actor has to do his homework. Acting is acting. It’s playing off someone’s behavior. It’s [an industrial] hard because it’s done for a purpose; they are not necessarily a piece of cake – it can be difficult because it’s not organic and the actor has to make it organic. There may be language that is difficult as in the case of an industrial for a pharmaceutical company. What is one of the more interesting projects you have worked on? I was working for a religious theme park in Branson, Mo. when I was asked to find an actor to play Jesus. I found an AADA alumnus for the part! Sometime later, the theme park was working on a piece about Adam and Eve, and they asked me to find the same Jesus. I called the actor, who happened to be vacationing in Singapore at the time. My client flew the actor in for one day to play Jesus and flew him back to Singapore. Any Pet Peeves? Actors who don’t come with a headshot, don’t take responsibility and who have such insecurities that they come in with a chip on their shoulder. Being so focused on getting the job as opposed to having the experience of auditioning. When actors come in they should make decisions and bring something to the table. I would rather see an actor make a strong choice, and from there I can make adjustments. Any advice? An audition starts the moment you come into the room. Be yourself and see it as an opportunity. I want actors to be wonderful as much as they want to be wonderful. In the end, it may not be the role for you but that doesn’t mean that you are not right for something else. We’re all in this creative collaboration together.We all have roles to play; you’re allowed to ask questions.As Kipling wrote, “If you can dream and not make dreams your master.” It’s a tough business. If you have the dream – pursue it. Give yourself five years and after those five years give yourself another five years…
Who is Training Ivana Shein, Toronto, Ontario “I chose AADA because I wanted to train with teachers who were living and working in LA”. Before auditioning for AADA, Ivana had studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre School in NYC and at the Public Theatre’s New York Shakespeare Festival Summer Lab. She had had two supporting roles in feature films but felt that she was missing a foundation. “I wanted the experience of waking up every day and going to study acting whether or not I was in the mood.” Ivana also studied playwriting at the National Theatre School of Canada and chose AADA because the Academy would allow her the freedom to continue to write in the afternoons while keeping up with the standards of a conservatory. Do you remember your audition pieces? Yes! Hermione from A Winters Tale and a piece from a play everyone should read that is a Canadian classic called The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine. I played Ernestine and in the piece she enters into their apartment really mad, so I used the door of the audition room. I remember the audition was in The Four Seasons in Toronto. And I thought to myself, if I work really hard, maybe one day I’ll be staying here as an actress. But what I really remember about that day was a feeling of excitement and that anything was possible. There was a lot of light in the Four Seasons that day. Tim Covington, Eastpoint, Georgia Tim participated in the drama program in his high school and took a drama class in his senior year. Did you consider any other training programs? Yes, I remember applying to Valdosta State University in Valdosta, GA and I looked into AMDA, but I did not apply there because they focus on musical theatre and that did not interest me. I wanted to pursue a career in film and I was confident that the Academy offered the training that I wanted. I chose the LA campus because of its location and my interest in film, but the Academy has opened my mind to acting in many areas. While at AADA Tim has played Tom Clayton/Agate in Waiting For Lefty, Jack in Boys Life,Tabu in Hotel Paradiso, Robert Obosa in Advice to the Players, Delbert Tibbs in The Exonerated and Sir Anthony Absolute in The Rivals. Do you remember your audition pieces? Yes! Tom’s monologue in The Glass Menagerie and Trinculo in The Tempest. Jennifer Fouché, Detroit, Michigan Before auditioning for AADA, Jennifer had been singing professionally for several years and had an album that went Gold in the UK. “A year or so before I came to the Academy I landed a role in The Cincinnati Black Theatre Company’s production of A Tribute to Motown. Once I got the role and found out I had to act as well as sing. I realized I loved acting on stage and that I could be as happy acting as singing but I knew in order to do that I needed the training. I only applied to this school. It was my mother (who had been an actor during the entire time I was growing up) who knew about the Academy. She and my father have always taught me to be specific in my goals and really go for what I want.” at AADA Do you remember your audition pieces? Definitely! I auditioned with a piece from Euripides’ Hecuba and for my contemporary piece I did Jeanette from Neil Simon’s The Last of the Red Hot Lovers. The Hecuba monologue is one that I keep in my audition repertoire. It’s so beautiful and powerful, not to mention it must be good luck since I got into the school! I thought I was a singer who would probably never act.The Academy showed me that all my life, I’ve been an actor who could sing... Declan Sammon, Dublin, Ireland Declan performed in plays and musicals in high school before enrolling in AADA. He first heard about AADA when his father saw an advertisement in the Irish Times in December of 2004. Did you consider any other training programs? Yes, I did consider other conservatories and actually was accepted into three schools in London (Arts Educational, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School).As tempting as each one of those were, the pure gravitational pull of New York City made up my mind for me. Do you remember your audition? Yes, very well. I auditioned at a hotel in London for Roger Croucher in January ‘05. I auditioned with a speech by Berowne in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost which was really a meditation on falling in love with someone not so easy on the eye! My modern piece was from All My Sons by Arthur Miller - George’s incendiary speech in the Keller’s house toward the end of the play; nice and explosive, so that’s why I chose it!
Page 1 and 2: AADA The Journal of The American Ac
Page 3 and 4: Legends of the Academy AADA celebra
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Page 9 and 10: Los Angeles Graduation Plays Necess
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Christine Ebersole - American Academy of Dramatic Arts

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