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[0:00] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Well, hello and welcome to Casting Actors Cast.

[0:03] Jeffrey Dreisbach: The podcast is taking a much deserved break over July, but we'll return with more fresh episodes in August.

[0:10] Jeffrey Dreisbach: In the meantime, please enjoy these encore episodes of Casting Actors Cast.

[0:18] Jeffrey Dreisbach: So sometimes actors will ask me if I have any advice to give to actors.

[0:23] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And of course, I have lots of advice to give to actors.

[0:27] Jeffrey Dreisbach: But lately I have been saying the following.

[0:36] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And they look at me really funny, like, what?

[0:40] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I'm going to explain what that means.

[0:43] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Get curious with PAW in just a moment on this episode of Casting Actors Cast.

[0:50] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Welcome to Casting Actors Cast, the podcast and video for actors.

[0:54] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Each week we provide practical, useful information to advance your craft and your career in the business of show.

[1:02] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And now, here's your host, Casting Director Jeffrey Dreisbach.

[1:09] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Well, hello.

[1:12] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And welcome to this episode of Casting Actors Cast.

[1:16] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I'm Casting Director Jeffrey Dreisbach with the McCorkle Group in New York.

[1:21] Jeffrey Dreisbach: How are you?

[1:22] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I hope you're having a really good day today.

[1:24] Jeffrey Dreisbach: You might have noticed that I said the McCorkle group in New York.

[1:27] Jeffrey Dreisbach: We're going to be changing our name.

[1:29] Jeffrey Dreisbach: It's going to go from McCorkle Casting to the McCorkle Group.

[1:29] Jeffrey Dreisbach: To the McCorkle group.

[1:37] Jeffrey Dreisbach: It turns out that the staff that we have, Rebecca and Nathan and Joe and Pat and myself, we just seem to have this really amazing chemistry.

[1:48] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And we, Pat and I really have thought about this a lot, and we really love what's happening right now with our organization, with our team.

[1:56] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And so we thought it'd be really fun.

[1:58] Jeffrey Dreisbach: In the fall, we'll be changing our name to the McCorkle group.

[2:02] Jeffrey Dreisbach: So it's just kind of a fun, cool new thing.

[2:04] Jeffrey Dreisbach: So I just wanted to share that with you.

[2:06] Jeffrey Dreisbach: But welcome to Casting Actors Cast.

[2:09] Jeffrey Dreisbach: This is the podcast for actors where we give tips and advice, talk about all things acting, career and acting and the business of show.

[2:21] Jeffrey Dreisbach: So I'm glad that you're joining us today.

[2:23] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And this is that moment in the podcast where I would like to say thank you so much.

[2:27] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I really appreciate you tuning in today.

[2:29] Jeffrey Dreisbach: The numbers and the feedback have been just really remarkable.

[2:34] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And I couldn't be more grateful to have you joining this amazing podcast community.

[2:40] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And I encourage you to check out the website, CastingActorsCast.com.

[2:46] Jeffrey Dreisbach: That's Casting Actors Cast, all one word.com.

[2:50] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Also, you get a free book if you go to the website.

[2:53] Jeffrey Dreisbach: You can fill out the dive into the talent pool form.

[2:56] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And what will open up is another menu that allows you to download this 100-page absolutely free book called Conversation Pieces Out of the Studio, The Voiceover Workshop for Professional Actors.

[3:10] Jeffrey Dreisbach: This is a book that I wrote about doing voiceover work, and I'm just giving it away.

[3:14] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Even though it's in some colleges and some university training programs, I thought it would just be just something that I'd love for you to have if you're interested in doing voiceover work.

[3:24] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Also, I have a little house cleaning to do.

[3:26] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I know in the past couple of episodes of Casting Actors Cast, I love mentioning and talking about Actors Connection.

[3:36] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Um, this is a wonderful organization.

[3:37] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I've been doing teaching work with Actors Connection for many, many years now, and I just love this organization.

[3:43] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And it turns out that for the past couple of episodes, I've been talking about a location in Chicago.

[3:50] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Turns out I am wrong.

[3:51] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I always thought that there was this location in Chicago, and there is not.

[3:55] Jeffrey Dreisbach: There has been talk about opening an Actors Connection or doing some programming work in Chicago, but my mistake, and I want to apologize, that was like not a really great thing to talk about.

[4:07] Jeffrey Dreisbach: But there are locations in Atlanta, in Los Angeles, and in New York.

[4:13] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And I just want to give a shout out to my friends at Actors Connection.

[4:17] Jeffrey Dreisbach: It's just been a wonderful organization.

[4:19] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Now, here's an if check it out, please, because it's ActorsConnection.com.

[4:24] Jeffrey Dreisbach: But what you're gonna find are people in the industry.

[4:27] Jeffrey Dreisbach: These are people who are working in the business, providing seminars and classes and all kinds of workshops and all kinds of neat things going on.

[4:39] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And we're talking about casting directors and agents and managers and directors and industry professionals who are providing really excellent, excellent classes and information.

[4:52] Jeffrey Dreisbach: They've been doing it for a while now, and it's just such a wonderful group.

[4:55] Jeffrey Dreisbach: So I wanted to give that shout out to everybody, and I again apologize.

[5:01] Jeffrey Dreisbach: It turns out that there was some discussion about some programming going on in Chicago, and I guess I had that in my head.

[5:07] Jeffrey Dreisbach: But you know, I'm in isolation, that's my shout out to Actors Connection.

[5:18] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I hope you're all doing really well there.

[5:21] Jeffrey Dreisbach: So let's talk about today's subject.

[5:24] Jeffrey Dreisbach: A little weird, I know, but get curious with PAW.

[5:29] Jeffrey Dreisbach: The reason I wanted to come up with this is that I've been racking my brains over the past week to figure out what would be a really interesting subject to talk about today.

[5:39] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And sometimes, you know, sometimes it comes really easily to me that I just go, oh my gosh, this is something I've got to talk about on the podcast.

[5:46] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And then there are other times like this week where so many different things are going on in my life, personally and professionally, that it feels like popcorn in the microwave where all this stuff is going on, and I'm having a really hard time coming up with something that's I hope that you would find really helpful and really useful.

[6:08] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And so I spent some time talking about this with Pat, and it just kind of hit me that I didn't want, and maybe I'm making a mistake here.

[6:16] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I don't know, you tell me.

[6:19] Jeffrey Dreisbach: But I really wanted to not talk about things that you can do during coronavirus.

[6:26] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I've done like three or four episodes about that.

[6:28] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[6:30] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And you know, if you're in isolation and you're not reaching out and you're not doing some of the things that you could be doing now, I'm concerned.

[6:38] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And I would love for you to get up out of your chair or your couch and take a walk and connect with some of your fellow actors.

[6:47] Jeffrey Dreisbach: That's all advice, and that's the kind of thing I've been talking about.

[6:51] Jeffrey Dreisbach: But I really wanted to just give some good solid foundational things for you to think about now, regardless of whether we're in coronavirus or not.

[7:02] Jeffrey Dreisbach: So it's not geared for us in isolation.

[7:05] Jeffrey Dreisbach: This is something that I a concept that I think would be useful to you anytime.

[7:11] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Even when things get back to some state of normalcy, I think that you're going to find some of these ideas useful.

[7:18] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And the theme that I discussed with Pat finally it came to light that I think the secret to having a successful career as an actor is to remain curious.

[7:33] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And if you're not curious, it's really time for you to get curious.

[7:38] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And when I say with PAW, I don't mean paw like grandpa, and I don't mean a paw like a cat's paw.

[7:46] Jeffrey Dreisbach: No, I mean the acronym PAW.

[7:50] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Performing actors, and what do you think the W is for?

[7:56] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Writers.

[7:59] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Performing actors and writers.

[8:01] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And the whole theme of today's episode is about getting curious.

[8:08] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I think sometimes we find ourselves in a locked kind of scenario.

[8:14] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Our environment is the same.

[8:16] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Our thought processes many times are the same.

[8:19] Jeffrey Dreisbach: We don't necessarily feel like thinking outside of the box.

[8:24] Jeffrey Dreisbach: But if you get curious, I think you're going to find a lot of amazing things opening up.

[8:29] Jeffrey Dreisbach: A lot of wonderful things will be revealed to you as you start asking yourself questions that demand answers.

[8:38] Jeffrey Dreisbach: So when I say get curious with PAW, I mean get curious with performances.

[8:44] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And I'll explain that in a second.

[8:46] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Get curious with actors.

[8:49] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And I'll explain that in a second.

[8:51] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And get curious with writers.

[8:54] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I will definitely explain that as well.

[8:58] Jeffrey Dreisbach: So getting curious is something that I think is challenging right now.

[9:02] Jeffrey Dreisbach: But I think it's for me, I know it's always challenging.

[9:05] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I always want to remain curious to things.

[9:07] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I always want to remain teachable.

[9:10] Jeffrey Dreisbach: But certain times of my life, I kind of lose perspective of that.

[9:14] Jeffrey Dreisbach: I lose the idea that there are new things to be discovered, there are new things to check out, there are brand new things to find out.

[9:22] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Because if we find out about things outside of us, outside our circle, we're going to be finding out a lot of really great things about ourselves.

[9:33] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And I think that's this cornerstone of the reason about getting curious.

[9:38] Jeffrey Dreisbach: So let's go down the list of things I've made.

[9:41] Jeffrey Dreisbach: PAW P, so the acronym being PAW PAW.

[9:45] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Performance.

[9:46] Jeffrey Dreisbach: When I'm talking about performance, is I'm going to make a few suggestions to you, and I really encourage you to take a look, maybe jot these down if you can, and think about what if you've checked these out already, then by all means you don't need to do it.

[10:02] Jeffrey Dreisbach: But the idea being the more curious you are, the more your world will open up.

[10:07] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Now, if you haven't checked out the Actors Fund, the YouTube channel, Actors Fund YouTube channel, it's an amazing YouTube channel.

[10:19] Jeffrey Dreisbach: You're going to find all kinds of really interesting performances.

[10:24] Jeffrey Dreisbach: There are people making contributions left and right to the Actors Fund, and they're donating their performance energy and their time and their skill and their talent to putting together really interesting programming from a reading of movies and films and plays, just all kinds of wonderful things going on.

[10:46] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And you can really get a comprehensive overview of this if you go to that YouTube channel called The Actors Fund, the Actors Fund YouTube channel.

[10:54] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Please check that out if you haven't already done so.

[10:58] Jeffrey Dreisbach: That gives you just some programming that you can really kind of invest in seeing the kind of work that's being done now.

[11:04] Jeffrey Dreisbach: It's really, really valuable.

[11:06] Jeffrey Dreisbach: So I couldn't recommend it more highly.

[11:08] Jeffrey Dreisbach: The second on my list is Theater Mania.

[11:10] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Theater Mania.

[11:11] Jeffrey Dreisbach: So Google Theater Mania or go to theatermania.com and you're going to find all kinds of really great information about what's going on behind the scenes, industry stuff.

[11:23] Jeffrey Dreisbach: It's a lot like backstage.com, it's a lot like playbuild.com, but Theater Mania really has dedicated itself to providing a lot of really cool current information.

[11:34] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And that's a great resource.

[11:36] Jeffrey Dreisbach: But in addition to that, you sort of my hope is that you get an idea about the community, and you're going to feel a part of that community.

[11:45] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And I think that that's really, really valuable for us.

[11:49] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Being part of a community and not isolated, being part of a community really does infuse your own soul for lack of a better way to say it, with a lot of goodwill, good feelings.

[12:03] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And it's also taps into that creative side for sure.

[12:07] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Also, if you haven't checked out IMDB, Internet Movie Database, imdb.com.

[12:15] Jeffrey Dreisbach: This is a really great resource for lots of movies, television projects.

[12:21] Jeffrey Dreisbach: If you want to know who cast whatever project, if you see a movie that you like, you want to find out who cast it, this is a great way that you'll get those answers. You'll find all kinds of information about the actor, the producers, the writers. It's really a gold mine for doing that kind of research. And I don't want to say research like it sounds like, you know, you're in college or you're still in school or something. But remaining curious and asking those questions and then being able to have a resource to answer those questions really efficiently, boy, that is really satisfying. IMDB. Now there's a pro version that you have to pay for, but just start off with the IMDB, the non-paid version, and you're going to find a lot of really good, useful information for sure.

[13:13] Jeffrey Dreisbach: The last one on my performance of the PA series that we're doing today is taking a look at the American Film Institute, the American Film Institute, AFI. They have done an amazing job over the years of recording Broadway productions, Broadway shows, full productions. They have an archive at the American Film Institute where you can see the original Hello Dolly, for example, on Broadway. Find out what that schedule is. Check out some Broadway shows, really invest some time and get curious about how they were able to accomplish this amazing feat of recording all of these Broadway shows. And then if you can have access to get into watching some of those shows, by all means. It's a treasure trove of history and really amazing performances. That's the American Film Institute. So that sort of wraps up the P, the performance side of things.

[14:22] Jeffrey Dreisbach: The next is what we're going to talk about actors. I find it really fascinating, and I find it kind of just surprises me all the time when I bring up an actor's name and I'm teaching a class, for example, and young people in the class, they don't know who I'm talking about. It's like, wow, there's a whole world of actors prior to you that have really, you know, blazed the trail. And being curious about some performances and some actors in those performances is really useful research for you. The question that I think would be great for you to ask is what made some of these famous people famous. Now I'm talking not talking about the famous people now necessarily, because you got your Meryl Streep and your Robert De Niro's, and you know that's great, and that's all there. But there are some performances, and there are some actors who in their time were very, very famous, known for their acting work.

[15:26] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And I'm gonna throw out a few names, and I'm gonna tell you how you can do some of the research for this, in addition to IMDB, by the way. So I would love, if you don't know the name Red Skelton, Red Skelton, if you don't know who Red Skelton is, I implore you to please do a little research. Find out who this guy was. He was an actor, a clown, and he did some amazing film work and best known for his CBS television variety show. But I just would love for you to kind of do some research and figure out who Red Skelton was and then study his work, because I think that there's some masterful performing with him. A comedian, a really funny actor, a comic actor, and like I said, a clown, um, and really did a lot with pantomime and just really an amazing, amazing performer.

[16:25] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And on a personal note, I had the opportunity of meeting Red Skelton when I was under contract at Radio City Music Hall. And just standing in the elevator with like this genius performer, and him just smiling and just nodding and kind of greeting, and it's just something I'll never forget. And so I want you to check that out, and you'll see what magical things can be discovered if you look into Red Skelton. Another actress that I think is worthwhile taking a look at, Greer Garson. Greer Garson. Now you might not know who she is, you might not be that into the black and white films of the 40s, 50s, and early 60s. But if you check out the careers of some of these leading ladies, I would love for you to check out Greer Garson, a beautiful, amazing talented actress.

[17:22] Jeffrey Dreisbach: On those same lines, a little bit earlier in our film history, uh Edward Everett Horton. That's his name, Edward Everett Horton, an amazing comic actor. Um, I think he was rather young when he started, but he was one of those actors that was perennially more old than he actually was. I think he always kind of looked and played older guys. But really funny, amazing. And uh you'll see him so many different uh times in so many different films. It's just remarkable. So check out Edward Everett Horton. Also, an actress by the name of Joan Fontaine. I think it would be really fun for you to check out. Find out the movies of Joan Fontaine. So here's how you do that. All you need to go is to IMDB. Type in those names: Edward Everett Horton, Joan Fontaine, Greer Garson, and Red Skelton. Take a look at some of their work.

[18:19] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Then what you want to go is to go to Turner Classic Movies if you've got it on cable. TCM. I'm sure they must have an online presence as well. Or whatever your method of getting Turner Classic movies. I'm sure that's there's an online way of doing it. I'm sure that it's out there. But TCM has all of these old movies, and you'll find out when the movies of these actors are going to be showing. And you can really just sit back and check out the performances. So Turner Classic Movies is a really wonderful way of seeing some of these classic actors early on in the acting journals of filmmaking. And you will um you'll not be disappointed. It'll be really fun. I think you'll find it a totally enriching experience for sure.

[19:12] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And then finally, that's all that's our actors. Now we're going to go on to writers. Pa. Performance, actors, now writers. The thing about writers is I don't think actors are curious enough about the writers they're auditioning for. I don't think actors are as curious as they could be about the bodies of work that many, many playwrights have given us. And I'm also including in that, of course, the television writers, film writers, screenwriters. I think that there is really something to be said about finding a movie or a film, a television show or a play that you really like, and then making it a habit to really figure out what this person wrote.

[20:06] Jeffrey Dreisbach: And in fact, I love the idea of reading all of that writer's work. Really just indulge yourself with some of these writers, reading everything that they wrote. Figure out what they did and the style of writing, but it's also the period that they are living in or lived in. I think that there's just so much really wealth of knowledge and information if you're curious about writers. So I'm just going to throw a few writers out there. I'm not going to give you a lot about them. I just would like you to kind of do the research. If you haven't spent any time on some of the classics, there's one classic writer that I think you know the name, but maybe you haven't read all of their work. And I'm encouraging you to do so because it's just so rich and so full of wonderful material that I would love for you to get into. I think it'd be really valuable. That is Samuel Beckett.

[21:09] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Now everyone talks about Samuel Beckett. Everyone maybe knows a play or two about Samuel Beckett, but there's a whole body of work that would really be useful for you, I think, and really helpful if you're curious about the work of Samuel Beckett. So do that. Now that's going back in the past, right? That's an older writer. Let's talk about somebody more contemporary, somebody that's with us now and still writing prolifically. Um, Teresa Rebeck. If you don't know her work yet, please check it out. Again, there's all kinds of just Google the name Teresa Rebeck, and you're gonna see all kinds of work. Now, Teresa is a very, very prolific writer. She's written just amazing material. She's writing wonderful plays, and she's an awesome human being.

I know that she was in our office for a period of time, and uh both Pat and Teresa got along really, really well and just a delightful human being. Uh just kind of one of those great people, right? Somebody who you really hope is really nice and they turn out to be that. Uh, that's Teresa Rebeck, so I can't recommend her highly enough in terms of reading her material.

[22:25] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Also, Sarah Ruhl. Uh Sarah Ruhl is just doing such amazing writing and writing such amazing pieces. So I encourage you to check out Sarah Ruhl's work as well. Uh, she's just one of those kind of up and coming playwrights that I think everyone should be kind of uh tuned in on. And so those are my suggestions. So if you can read the entire author's work, if you do that research, your world will open up because you're going to see all kinds of different styles, all kinds of different characters. And for you, the actor, you're going to feel so much more confident about the kind of material that's being written now because you've done the research on what's going on from way back when to recently to today. I hope that's been helpful for you.

[23:18] Jeffrey Dreisbach: So remember to get curious with PAW. Remaining curious to me, remaining teachable to me is like the best gift you can give yourself. I know. I feel that way myself. If I can simply remain teachable and not know it all and really stay curious about those things in this business, boy, that's what keeps my energy going. That's what keeps me motivated, and that's what keeps me really, really excited about the future. Regardless of what we're dealing with now, it's all about what's going to be happening when we're over this, when we're moving towards a place of normalcy. It's never going to be 100% what it was, and it shouldn't be. We should come out of this bigger, better, and I think if we've done the work, it's going to have huge dividends for you and your career. I hope that this has been helpful to you.

[24:16] Jeffrey Dreisbach: Thanks so much for tuning in to Casting Actors Cast. I'm casting director Jeffrey Dreisbach. Thank you for joining Casting Actors Cast. Please don't forget to review, like, and share Casting Actors Cast wherever you get your podcast videos. Thanks. I'm Megan Grace Martinez.