The Void

"Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life. Well, valuable, but small. And sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So goodnight, dear void."

-Kathleen Kelly, in 'You've Got Mail' 

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Please Answer

What song gets you out of a bad mood?

What song captures how you feel when you're down?

What song captures what life is all about?

Which song feels like it was written by you?

What song reminds you of someone you've not seen in a long time?

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Etta James

She died and I'm not going to claim I was a big fan, but wow, her voice was something. How often does a voice like that come along? And even when a talent like that does comes along, how many have the discipline and self-belief to follow through?

Michael Jackson's impact was obvious, it reverberated throughout the entire world. Yet someone like Etta James gets into you differently. She turned up on compilation discs and your old lover's mix tapes. You found her in your parent's Vinyl collections. 'At Last' described love coming along after waiting forever, in a way so few other songs ever did.

And that's her legacy. The voice, the songs; the famous ones and whatever our personal favourites might be.

Etta probably hasn't crossed my mind at all in recent years, but what a beautiful thing that, hours after her death, I can be walking through the streets of London, profoundly moved by what I'm hearing through my headphones.

I've not found much meaning to life. It all seems so random -- we can only hold on to loved ones and our memories. But It's made all the more sweeter by these angels who turn up out of nowhere and leave a film or a song that burns into our consciousness and stays there for the rest of our lives.

Don't you think it's magic when that happens? Etta James is, we are told, gone. And sure, if you believe in the religious stuff, she might be floating on a cloud some place, catching up with Elvis. Instead of all that, we can see, she is more alive than ever before - all across the world - as people reach for old records, hunt her down on YouTube and stream her rarities on Spotify.

I can't get enough of this voice. It's only when they die that we truly focus on who they were -- just like in ordinary life. Something sad about that but, in the end, it gives some meaning to all of this insanity.

Her death is sad, but, to briefly evaluate; the fact she lived at all has made my life better.

And that's why the artists are important. That's why you'll pick up a pen or a guitar or a paintbrush tonight and tomorrow and the day after that. The only thing that lasts is what we leave. 

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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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