All In A Day's Work

Yesterday I preached about being on time. Today I was late.

We got on the train. Everything was going well, until a woman came over and asked if it goes to the airport.

We said yes.

And then some passenger said no.

And we said what?

And he said no.

Turns out it didn't go to the airport and it didn't go to our film location but it did go to the seaside.

We didn't believe the passenger and stayed on for an extra stop and then realised we should start believing the passenger. The woman looking for the airport told us she had an interview for an airline as a plane designer, which frankly we didn't care that much about but she seemed to be in what us Brits affectionately refer to as 'a pickle'.

So, me, the production assistant and the airplane designer got off the wrong train and went to look for the right one.

I made a joke about how she should've designed a train instead of a plane, but she didn't laugh. It's understandable, as she was late for the biggest interview of her life.

And then I asked her why she didn't fly to the interview.

The production assistant gave me the 'why are you such an idiot' look and then we left the airplane woman alone and went in search of the right train and I'm pretty sure at some point we arrived on location.

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The Kid In The Front Row Screen Acting School

1. Cinema has been around less than 200 years. No-one can claim any technique is perfect. The art is still developing.

2. Don't yap on about your technique until you're awesome. Nothing worse than an actor yammering on about some teacher with an unusual name, when they can't even remember their lines.

3. Turn up on time.

4. Don't make diva like demands, you're just an actor, and there is nothing inherently special about that.

5. And when I say 'just an actor' It's not a put down, It's just that It's just a job, a career choice, like anything else.

6. Be in it for the long haul. People want to be cast when they're 24 and pretty but there's nothing interesting about being 24 and pretty.

7. Watch films. No excuses.

8. Be careful not to zone out after three takes. Stay in the game.

9. Get clarity from your director.

10. Make decisions about your character, bring it to the table. A director has the vision but you have the inner life. The more you believe in it, the more a director will leave you alone to work.

11. Be the one actor on set at 3am in a frozen cold field who doesn't moan that It's 3am in a frozen cold field.

12. Find something about yourself that you love and don't let anyone shake it. Start at that very point whenever you feel nervous, unsupported or lost on set.

Main Points: Turn up on time, be in it for the long haul.

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Collaborators

Pick them carefully.

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New Ground

You reach a dead end. You have the same thoughts, same complaints, same answers.

You're torn between getting away from yourself, or fighting deeper into it.

Watch a film, go for a walk, read a self-help book, whatever you think will pull you through. But nothing you purposefully do, will.

Creativity is when you all your knowledge, talent, ambition and ideas find a new pathway. And then you're free, you can flow non-stop, and your complaints become opportunities, and life feels good again.

You can't force it, because you don't know where the path is. But without getting lost, you never find new terrain.

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Band Of Brothers. Michael Kamen. My Grandfather.

He says it's nothing like the real thing, he dismissed it. Same with Private Ryan. But It's as near as I'll ever get to the real thing cause I'm just a lucky Kid who can sit around making lists of Top 5 War films. But he really lived it, and lost people.

'Band Of Brothers' was a profound show for me. It captured everything I love about my Grandfather and his generation. I mean, they stood up. They did something. It's immeasurable.

So I'm listening to 'Band Of Brothers Requiem' (composed by Michael Kamen) on repeat and it hits me on a level hardly anything ever hits me. The world is so different now. We're so lucky in Europe, and America, but how often do we really appreciate why?

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