NAIL YOUR NEXT AUDITION!  DON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES OVER AND OVER AGAIN!

1 hour of DAY OF or DAY BEFORE coaching (both on or off camera)

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:  info@toddthaler.com

Bio & Credits

Todd Thaler’s credits as a Casting Director date back to 1986, but he started as a “P.A.” for Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions, Woody Allen’s Personal Managers and Producers.  Soon after, he was assigned the position of “extras” casting, which he did on 14 of Mr. Allen’s films, starting with The Purple Rose of Cairo.  As a Casting Director, his credits include: Luc Besson’s The Professional, Todd Field’s Little Children, Sidney Lumet’s Running on Empty, Ed Harris’ directorial debut Pollock, Barbra Streisand’s The Mirror Has Two Faces, Stacy Cochran’s My New Gun, John McNaughton’s Mad Dog and Glory, Gavin O’Connor’s Tumbleweeds, John Turturro’s Mac, Illuminata, and Romance & Cigarettes, James Mangold’s Heavy and Copland, and Wayne Wang’s Because of Winn-Dixie, Maid in Manhattan, and A Thousand Years of Good Prayers.  Over the years, he has also cast many projects for television, including Peter Berg’s Wonderland, and the NBC comedy, Ed, for which he was nominated for the Emmy Award.  For the past decade, he’s been teaching at the Atlantic Theatre Company Acting School, and has been coaching actors (both on-set and privately) for equally as long.

a teachable skill!

The Joy of Less

By PICO IYER

“The beat of my heart has grown deeper, more active, and yet more peaceful, and it is as if I were all the time storing up inner riches…My [life] is one long sequence of inner miracles.” The young Dutchwoman Etty Hillesum wrote that in a Nazi transit camp in 1943, on her way to her death at Auschwitz two months later. Towards the end of his life, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “All I have seen teaches me to trust the creator for all I have not seen,” though by then he had already lost his father when he was 7, his first wife when she was 20 and his first son, aged 5. In Japan, the late 18th-century poet Issa is celebrated for his delighted, almost child-like celebrations of the natural world. Issa saw four children die in infancy, his wife die in childbirth, and his own body partially paralyzed.

I’m not sure I knew the details of all these lives when I was 29, but I did begin to guess that happiness lies less in our circumstances than in what we make of them, in every sense. “There is nothing either good or bad,” I had heard in high school, from Hamlet, “but thinking makes it so.” I had been lucky enough at that point to stumble into the life I might have dreamed of as a boy: a great job writing on world affairs for Time magazine, an apartment (officially at least) on Park

In the corporate world, I always knew there was some higher position I could attain, which meant that, like Zeno’s arrow, I was guaranteed never to arrive and always to remain dissatisfied.

Avenue, enough time and money to take vacations in Burma, Morocco, El Salvador. But every time I went to one of those places, I noticed that the people I met there, mired in difficulty and often warfare, seemed to have more energy and even optimism than the friends I’d grown up with in privileged, peaceful Santa Barbara, Calif., many of whom were on their fourth marriages and seeing a therapist every day. Though I knew that poverty certainly didn’t buy happiness, I wasn’t convinced that money did either.

So — as post-1960s cliché decreed — I left my comfortable job and life to live for a year in a temple on the backstreets of Kyoto. My high-minded year lasted all of a week, by which time I’d noticed that the depthless contemplation of the moon and composition of haiku I’d imagined from afar was really more a matter of cleaning, sweeping and then cleaning some more. But today, more than 21 years later, I still live in the vicinity of Kyoto, in a two-room apartment that makes my old monastic cell look almost luxurious by comparison. I have no bicycle, no car, no television I can understand, no media — and the days seem to stretch into eternities, and I can’t think of a single thing I lack.

I’m no Buddhist monk, and I can’t say I’m in love with renunciation in itself, or traveling an hour or more to print out an article I’ve written, or missing out on the N.B.A. Finals. But at some point, I decided that, for me at least, happiness arose out of all I didn’t want or need, not all I did. And it seemed quite useful to take a clear, hard look at what really led to peace of mind or absorption (the closest I’ve come to understanding happiness). Not having a car gives me volumes not to think or worry about, and makes walks around the neighborhood a daily adventure. Lacking a cell phone and high-speed Internet, I have time to play ping-pong every evening, to write long letters to old friends and to go shopping for my sweetheart (or to track down old baubles for two kids who are now out in the world).

When the phone does ring — once a week — I’m thrilled, as I never was when the phone rang in my overcrowded office in Rockefeller Center. And when I return to the United States every three months or so and pick up a newspaper, I find I haven’t missed much at all. While I’ve been rereading P.G. Wodehouse, or “Walden,” the crazily accelerating roller-coaster of the 24/7 news cycle has propelled people up and down and down and up and then left them pretty much where they started. “I call that man rich,” Henry James’s Ralph Touchett observes in “Portrait of a Lady,” “who can satisfy the requirements of his imagination.” Living in the future tense never did that for me.

I certainly wouldn’t recommend my life to most people — and my heart goes out to those who

Perhaps happiness, like peace or passion, comes most when it isn’t pursued.

have recently been condemned to a simplicity they never needed or wanted. But I’m not sure how much outward details or accomplishments ever really make us happy deep down. The millionaires I know seem desperate to become multimillionaires, and spend more time with their lawyers and their bankers than with their friends (whose motivations they are no longer sure of). And I remember how, in the corporate world, I always knew there was some higher position I could attain, which meant that, like Zeno’s arrow, I was guaranteed never to arrive and always to remain dissatisfied.

Being self-employed will always make for a precarious life; these days, it is more uncertain than ever, especially since my tools of choice, written words, are coming to seem like accessories to images. Like almost everyone I know, I’ve lost much of my savings in the past few months. I even went through a dress-rehearsal for our enforced austerity when my family home in Santa Barbara burned to the ground some years ago, leaving me with nothing but the toothbrush I bought from an all-night supermarket that night. And yet my two-room apartment in nowhere Japan seems more abundant than the big house that burned down. I have time to read the new John le Carre, while nibbling at sweet tangerines in the sun. When a Sigur Ros album comes out, it fills my days and nights, resplendent. And then it seems that happiness, like peace or passion, comes most freely when it isn’t pursued.

If you’re the kind of person who prefers freedom to security, who feels more comfortable in a small room than a large one and who finds that happiness comes from matching your wants to your needs, then running to stand still isn’t where your joy lies. In New York, a part of me was always somewhere else, thinking of what a simple life in Japan might be like. Now I’m there, I find that I almost never think of Rockefeller Center or Park Avenue at all.

[Editor’s note: an earlier version of this post included an inaccurate reference to the constitution of Japan. It has since been removed.]

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Pico Iyer’s most recent book, “The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama,” is just out in paperback.

Check Out: makingof.com

NATALIE PORTMAN LAUNCHES MAKINGOF.COM FOR FILM FANS

By Muriel Vega on April 29, 2009 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) 
Natalie Portman isn’t one to stand still for very long, and after her stint behind the camera in New York, I Love You, the actress is ready to teach (and learn from) others by creating an online film school. Along with a friend, Portman launched MakingOf.com, a chance for film fans interested in behind the scenes action to learn from the pros in Hollywood.
The film website already features video interviews with directors Ron Howard and Michel Gondry as well as actors Jason Bateman, John Krasinski and Billy Bob Thornton . The main goal of the online film school is to expose film-goers to the movie-making process and answer questions about their future filming endeavors. 

A dear friend, wonderfully accomplished actor, and renowned and revered acting teacher, George DiCenzo, invited me to attend his acting class.  I felt compelled to write about. 

Unbeknownst to his students, I, (along with several other actors auditing the class), was invited to see each of his students perform a 1-minute monologue.  The students were not told anything in advance, as a sort of ‘test’ to see how they would perform in this ‘pressurized’ situation (the situation being the attendance of a Casting Director and an ‘audience’ of other actors).

It was The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

The evening began with the news that other industry professionals, were invited and just didn’t bother to attend, after promising to do so.  If I’ve learned anything over the past 25 years, it’s how to give back.  Actors, (and the hardworking professionals who train them) depend on us, (Casting Directors, Agents, Managers).  I, too, neglected to follow through on a promise to invite a colleague to join me and for that I am deeply sorry (especially after seeing how apathetic my colleagues were about fulfilling their promise).

Now to the work itself:

The first gentleman was older and clearly American.  Yet he chose a piece that required him to speak in what, I think, was a Italian accent.  It could have been German.  I’m not sure.  About accents:  WHY? Who is going to hire you to play an Italian (or a German or any other nationality for that matter), when there are plenty of actors with US Passports or Green Cards or H1’s of O1’s with REAL Italian (or German) accents that we would hire long before an American speaking with a really bad foreign accent?  Audition with your normal speaking voice.  Period. End of story.  This same gentleman also used some of his time to sing.  SING?  Singing has nothing to do with 1-minute monologues.  Leave singing to musical auditions when asked of you.  He used more than the allotted time and was asked to stop by the teacher.  As it should be.  1-minute is 1-minute.  Especially when there are 15 other actors waiting.

The next actor seemed incredibly inexperienced, nervous, and awkward.  He delivered his piece standing in stiff, frozen, ‘poses.’  I would have suggested he just SIT DOWN! Quote me:  ”The chair is your friend.”  Use it.

The next was a spectacular older woman!  Her work was lovely. So real.  My only criticism was its’ ‘size’…at times a bit too ‘theatrical’ and ‘broad.’  Actors tend to ‘overwork’ their auditions.  Don’t push.  Don’t force.  No need to ‘swing for the fences.’  A base hit is all that’s expected of you! Right?  Just get on base.

The next woman arrived on stage (each actor came in from outside the room and left after their piece ended), with a cigarette in a rather long cigarette holder.  It was the only thing  I remember about the audition.  It was that distracting.  Bottom line:  Props can be dangerous.  Skip ‘em.

The next young man, Robert, was a wonderful actor.  Great concentration, great focus.  He, too, chose to work with an accent but it was so spot-on it wasn’t the slightest bit distracting.  Hence: there’s an exception to every rule.  Still would have preferred to see him do something in his own voice.

The next young woman chose to direct her entire piece to a ‘single listener’ (a fixed point on the far side of the room, sort of above our heads).  I have alway found this to be unsettling.  No one speaks to anyone without shifting your focus elsewhere (like a cuticle? a car backfiring out the window? a cockroach walking by?).  Make sure that if you aren’t playing the real listeners in the room, you remember to shift your focus AWAY from the single listening spot every now and again.  

The next gal was spot-on!  Kate Hodge.  Looks great.  Sounds great.  Confident without being cocky.  Self assured without being self-possessed.  The shortest sweetest monologue of the night.  Real, honest, and FUNNY!  Great body language!  About the length of the audition:  we know in seconds if we care or not.  All the rest after that is overkill.  As they say in musical auditions: “1/2 the song, 1/2 the dance, and OUT!” Good rule.

The next actress was the first to hit one of my ‘peeves.’  She chose a ‘you’ monologue. This is one where the unseen ‘scene partner’ is the focus of the piece.  ’You’ did this to me,’ ‘You did that to me,’ ‘I hate you,’ ‘It’s all your fault.’  YOU YOU YOU YOU!  Actors often ask if we, the listeners, want to be addressed directly.  Some of us say ‘yes,’ others ‘no.’  I say ‘yes,’ but hate it when I’m suddenly the reason the auditioner is speaking!  Who am I? What did I do?  Why am I being addressed so hostilely, so accusatorially?  Not the best way to win friends and influence people.  Stick with ‘I’ monologues. ‘I remember when I was a little boy/girl,’  ’I was in the park and saw an old friend,’ ‘I tell myself over and over how strong I am.’  The next actress did a similar ‘you’ monologue.  Only in her piece she told me to ‘fuck off,’ and ‘kissing you makes me sick’!  WOW!  Harsh.  The next actress ALSO did a ‘you’ monologue. By then I was completely distracted and cannot remember anything she said.

The next fellow was an actor named Michael. Great work! Sat in a chair and just told me a story.  A simple, honest, truthful, REAL story.  Sounded like it had happened to him.  Not some character he was enacting.  Great body language too!  Seemed so at home.  Not the slightest bit self conscious or self-aware.

The next broad was great!  And I say broad, because it is her stock in trade!  Low to the ground with a great GREAT speaking voice.  Raspy and gravelly!  Only comment was that she overdid it!  IF IT AIN’T BROKE DON’T FIX IT!  It’s called GILDING THE LILY.

1. To adorn unnecessarily something already beautiful.2. To make superfluous additions to what is already complete.
The next young woman did a very emotional monologue.  These are always dangerous to attempt especially when you’re not ‘feeling it’ that day.  They always seem forced and pushed.  Sometimes just simply saying the words without worrying about the scripted crying is enough to convey the deepness of the emotion.  If you’re blessed with the ‘Meryl Streep Gene’ do these kinds of pieces.  Otherwise, stick to easier fare.
The only thing I remember about the boyishly handsome next actor was his swaying. Again, SIT!  Immediately absolves you of this concern. 
The last fellow managed to provide another of my peeves.  A monologue about acting.  NO NO PLEASE PLEASE NO!  On top of which it was delivered to big, to broadly, too theatrical.
A One-Minute Monologue should be nothing more than a moving snapshot of who you are.  As close to who you REALLY are as possible.  Not some circus act.  Not some freak show.  Not some foreigner if you’re American.  Not some hostile accusatory meanie yelling at me.  Just YOU.  I.  I am THIS.  What you see is what you get.  Take it or leave it.  Preferably TAKE IT!
I cannot stress the importance of on-going scene study classwork for actors.  It gives you the chance to keep your instrument in tune.  It gives you the opportunity to see other actors work and learn from it (sometimes what NOT to do!).  
Beg, borrow, or steal to pay to study with George DiCenzo before he raises his prices!
FIN 

Here is a portion of an e-mail I recently received:

Thank you so very much for taking up your time to talk with me. I’ve rewritten my resume and am interviewing with several photographers for headshots. However, there is one last question I should have asked you: what do you think I could be marketed as? That may sound like a broad question, but I liked and understood your comments about my old head shots, so when looking for new ones I think I need an idea of what I could be marketed as. I would obviously prefer mature roles over child roles.  I have been told by a manager, that I have an “indie” look.  Is there a market for me to play dark, dramatic, “indie” roles?  Or is it better to show my teenage side? If you have a moment, let me know what your thoughts are on this.

My response:
i hope this response isn’t too ‘esoteric’ but here goes:

as far as doing a great photo session, i don’t think it’s necessary (at all!) for you to be concerning yourself with the question of marketing.  how you look right now and, more importantly, how you ‘feel’ right now is ALL you should concern yourself with.

it is a triumph if you come away with a really simple, truthful, honest, (and most importantly, unselfconscious!) representation of your ‘essence’ captured in a photo.  
it’s simple really.

my favorite shots are ones that seem effortless…with zero concern about how you WANT us to perceive you…rather, in a kind of (i like to say) state of ‘repose’ (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/repose) at rest. waiting.  perhaps THINKING about a reaction.  but, it’s the moment BEFORE that reaction.  (and by ‘reaction,’ i mean anything the photographer might say to evoke some expression from you.  i like the shutter to capture the moment before the reaction INSTEAD of it.

think NOT about anything else.

hope that’s helpful!

Casting Director Profiles

David Mamet

True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor 

Scott Mc Cloud, Making Comics.