The Struggle to Hollywood: Studying Other Performers

Studying Other Performers

            Bill Jones joined Johnny and his friends once again and he was discussing the importance of studying other performers in the acting business. If you want to break into the business you have to study the greats. If you want to be a comedian, you study Laurel and Hardy. If you want to master drama, you study Jimmy Stewart. This was Bill Jones philosophy.

            Johnny raised the question, “I’ve been in this business for five months and I still haven’t got a part yet.”

            Bill said, “In Hollywood, you don’t become a great until you study the greats and study what part you are playing. You have to with knowledge Johnny.”

            Johnny commented, “Could you give us pointers on what to look for?”

            Shawn said, “You should know that Johnny, I’m excelling with my acting career because I study. When I got that role as George Washington, I studied all I could about George Washington and the Revolutionary War. I even studied the British point of view of the story.”

            Bill said, “My point exactly. You need to be knowledgeable. It makes the role you play more believable.”

            Christy asked, “Does that mean if I want a role in that commercial, I study everything about that company before I get that role?”

            Bill said, “Yes, it does.”

            Shelton said, “That’s good, I like to read whatever I get my hands on and could memorize what I read. That’s why I got into acting.”

            Bill Jones commented, “That helps Shelton.”

            Johnny added, “One of my favorite performers is Ric Flair. He maybe a wrestler, but he knows how to put on a performance and have the crowd cheer and boo him on the same night. He is the reason why I wanted to be an actor. I might not have wanted to be a wrestler, but I enjoyed the acting part.”

            “I always idolized Jack Nicholson when I was a kid and he inspired me to be an actor. He always had a swagger about him and he knew how to get the viewers to dislike him and laugh at the same time. He had a dark sense of humor, but he was one of the best actors in the business,” Shawn said.

            Christy added to the conversation, “Jennifer Ainston is the reason I’m in this business. When I was a teenager watching Friends, her sense of humor combined with her on air sexiness got me hooked. She has the self-confidence and shows it threw her acting.”

            Bill asked Shelton, “What about you?”

            Shelton said, “Will Smith. He is a talent that has commanded the screen and has the talent to rap and now he is a producer. You can’t go wrong there.”

            They were learning to study their craft and modeled their acting after their favorite performers. However, in acting they needed to master it all. If they wanted their parts bad enough, then they would have to study their craft. This was their next step to stardom.