“There’s a sophistication to the work that cannot be denied…
And there is a choice to make…
Do you want to be the type of actor…
That is always dependent on luck…
In the hopes that your work goes well?…
Or do you want to be a skilled actor…
Where you have something that is sustaining you…
And your career…
So you know when you are losing your way…
You have your process:
‘Oh, I can rely on this to take me to where I need to go’…
No matter what kind of work you are doing…
You still have to look at the same kind of life structure when approaching the work…
What is apparent in life…
Is going to be apparent in the work…
You have to know…
What is getting in the way of what you want…
What you are doing to overcome what is getting in the way of what you want…
(Life, circumstances, relationships, needs within those circumstances and relationships, obstacles to overcome in order to improve circumstances and relationships, and doing all you can that is in line with the text to achieve those needs with the hope of living in one way or another some kind of peaceful, happy, successful, loving life as indicated by the givens of the text.)
You have to know your ‘in’ into those circumstances…
You have to know what stimulates you to go after the needs of those circumstances…
And be clear…
And specific…
About the environment…
And the time period…
But there has got to be something that gives you a starting point into the work…
Otherwise, it is always going to be (and feel) like a ‘cold read’…
And you are always going to get into the place of:
‘I don’t know what I am doing’…
Every time you work…
And then hope to dear God it goes well…
Don’t you get tired of always feeling like the work is going to be based on luck if it goes well?…
This is where we get into trouble if we are just depending and learning to do it all by ‘cold reads’…
Or we are just picking up the material and ‘doing it’…
Because then it becomes your own play…
It becomes your own world…
In which you make choices…
Whether they are instinctual, interesting, or not…
What do they really have to do with the actually full body of the text?…
What do they have to do with the world of the play?…
What do they have to do with the world of your character?…
And then what are you going after?…
Where are the instincts coming from?…
The play or script?…
Or an idea of the play or script without really considering and respecting the play or script?…
What are you doing and relying on when you have to do eight shows a week?…
The perfect test of action is..
Can you…
Do a play that is two and a half hours long…
Eight shows a week…
Or a film…
For weeks or months on end…
And most likely…
Completely out of sequence…
And still have a consistent..
Uninhibited…
And visceral performance…
As well as the vocal and physical stamina…
To do your job…
And tell the story truthfully…
Using the full spectrum your instrument?…
And do it all as if for the first time…
And still it all be about the story that the writerhas given to you…
And then still live in the moment based on that…
That is where your skill…
Your craft…
And your process comes into action…
And when it comes to your process…
The actor needs tools that will help him or her…
Physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually to do the work…
To have his or her back…
Since when has it become shameful to have a process?!…
Why is there so much recent guilt…
And even belittlement…
About having a craft?!…
Just as the ballet dancer needs to know all the technicalities to do a thousand faute turns…
The actor also needs to have a set of tools supporting him or her to do the work…
But it needs to be used in a way that is tangible and can actually activate the actor to live and breath in the work…
If you want to live in the chaos of the unknown or moment, you have to be aware of what is known to do just that…
It may not always be the same toolbox…
But the structure will always be the same…
What you know in life…
The character is going to know…
There is no if’s, and’s or but’s about it.
Any actor that has the talent…
And ability…
To be dependable…
And accountable…
Is an actor that has a long life in this business…
Whether it be stage or screen…
An actor that does the work…
Is an actor that works…
And continues to work…
And more importantly…
Enjoys the work that he or she is blessed to do…
Because it is no longer about one’s luck when it comes to the quality of the work…
It is all about a life long and well respected skill…
That you can then bring to your work…
We are so taught that the answers live outside of ourselves…
That we are always looking outside of us to fulfill us…
But the truth of the matter is…
We have to start learning to dig deeper within…
And know who we are…
Learn our power…
And then be willing to own that…
To bring that to our work…
But you have to know something…
If you stop where you are right now…
You are literally giving yourself an excuse…
To not succeed…
You have to give yourself every excuse TO succeed…
And that means going…
And deeper and deeper…
And never stopping…
Until you come to terms with everything that you are…
And once you come close to even tasting how powerful you are…
As a human being…
And as an artist…
Your whole world is going to start lighting up!”
January 5, 2019by Mario Campanaro in Acting, Actor, Artists, Inspiration
“I think it is those moments…
Where you feel like you just cannot go any further…
Those moments when you feel like you are going to crumble to the ground…
And you are going to fall apart…
That actually become the moments…
That defines you as an actor…
And an artist…
Because it is those moments…
That ask you to ask questions…
Of what you are doing…
And why you are doing it…
And when you really confront those questions…
You get in touch with the love you have for the art form that you have chosen…
It asks of you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps…
No matter the circumstances that are surrounding you…
And find that fire within you…
Find that passion within you…
Find that perseverance within you…
That overcomes any obstacles that are standing in your way…
So that you are able to laser focus your mind…
And your intention…
On fulfilling the pursuit of your dream…
The pursuit of your love in art…
In acting…
Whatever you are pursuing…
And it is those things that open your vocabulary…
So you are able to put that understanding of the human condition…
In whatever kind of work you are doing…
But it is those moments…
That really shows us how strong we are!”
2019 Allow Your Inner Phoenix To Rise!
December 31, 2018by Mario Campanaro in 2019, Actor, Alchemy, Artist, Inspiration, Phoenix tagged Phoenix
It goes without saying that 2018 was quite a complex year full of many peaks and valleys…
We have all witnessed some incredible victories/evolutions/expansions/awakenings/healings/transformations around our great big globe…
Some of them due to nature’s divine intervention…
Some due to happenstance…
And some of them due to the ever present light and goodness that still lives within humanity…
We have also witnessed many inexplicable tragedies/losses/sufferings/despair/confusion/anger/rage/destruction around our great big globe…
Some of them due to natural disasters…
Some of them due to happenstance…
And some of them due to the still ever present darkness and evils that still lives within humanity…
And within the immense rollercoaster of all those ups and downs, one thing remains certain…
We made it through to another year on this great big globe…
And depending on the lens we choose to see life through…
It could be a blessings or it could be a struggle…
We always say this coming year is going to be the year…
And it is…
Because it is all we have and we are still here, kicking and breathing…
WE ARE ALIVE…
This new year, like every new year, is our individual chance to take what we have learned through all the ups and down and build upon it for the better…
To not make obligated resolutions…
But to make personal choices that allow each and every one of us to be better than we were yesterday…
Not just for ourself…
But for all…
To take a look at what we don’t want in life so we can damn well choose what we do…
To face what no longer serves & cast it out in order to make room for what does…
To allow ourselves to make the decision to no longer settle for impossibility…
To rise to the occasion to what it means to be evolved living in an evolved world…
To take everything that we have been given yesterday…
The good & the bad…
The dark & the light…
And use it all as the creative flame to rise like the Phoenix to our most beautiful Selves today!
The power to our own transformation lives in the palm of our own hands…
And with that…
December 27, 2018by Mario Campanaro in Acting, Actor, Selfie, Social Media
No matter how slick we may seem in that moment…
No matter how together we try to look at that moment…
No matter the costume we use to define who we want to be or how we want to appear in that moment…
There will always be that little kid in us reaching out for that big warm hug for one reason or another…
That awkward teenager still struggling with some kind of insecurity for one reason or another…
That overwhelmed adult still trying to figure it all out for one reason or another…
And that beautifully complicated story within each and every one of us is worthy of being shared, witnessed, and experienced…
But we have found a new way of telling our story these days…
A way that is simple and quick…
A safer way…
A way that keeps our story guarded and filtered through an App and a little blue screen…
A way that we (pic)k and choose how we want the world to view us…
And the story we want to world to believe…
We take #SELFIES….
And as we buy more into the #SELFIE way of expression…
We disconnect more and more from each other’s STORY…
We by no means get the REAL picture…
We get those sexy shots…
We get the abs…
We get the duck lips…
We get the slinky clothing…
We get the body-ody…
We get the #JustWokeUpLikeThis…
We get the #OnSet or #ActorsLife
We get that staged “Ooooh, did you just take a pic of me?!” picture…
But miss the REAL picture…
Do we share the REAL us?…
Are we sharing the REAL us?…
Or do we filter who we are based on what we think is most desirable to the world?…
Do we stage things to stand out among millions of pictures to somehow be noticed?…
To somehow hopefully be seen…
To somehow stop that finger scroll in its track and have that little heart tapped…
Do we continue to share what we think the world wants to see of us just to be ‘followed‘, ‘friended‘ and ‘liked‘?…
Have we gotten addicted to the dopamine rush from social media interactions and even possibly stardom?…
Has all this become that crucial?…
Has it become that important?…
We no longer share our experience through our words and feelings…
We do it through abs, bikinis, and smizing…
We commune through a one-sided finger flip and not a conversation at a roundtable…
We share a quick pic that is glanced at for a millisecond…
And then someone…
Known or unknown…
Or by that infamous paid bot used to get those ‘likes’ and ‘friends’ and ‘followers’…
(ps, I hate to tell ya, but that bot ain’t fooling anyone-spend your dough on something more important)
Makes a quick decision about it…
And then chooses if that picture is a ‘story’ worthy of being ‘liked’ or not…
And that is how we are learning who each other is these days…
All based on a quick pic…
And we miss the most important part…
The REAL us…
The happy, the sad, the funny, the scary, the sweet, the bitter, the strong, the healthy, the sick, the powerful, the successful, the struggling, the rich, the poor…
The vulnerable…
The FULL picture…
And with that said, there is nothing wrong with what we are sharing…
There is no judgment to what we are all sharing
The pictures are beautiful…
They are fun…
But they are not the FULL picture…
So every time you find yourself comparing your life to what you are seeing on that screen…
And feel in one way or another…
That you have to be just like that…
Or that you wish you could be just like that…
Or something more than you are…
And feel this unconscious competition…
That brings out that “I am not enough” internal tape recorder…
Just remember the reality of what you are perceiving…
Staged, (Pic)ked and Chosen moments…
For the sake of ‘friends‘, ‘followers‘, and ‘likes‘…
A filtered photo album…
And the truth is…
Each other’s story is way more interesting and accurate than what the limited #SELFIE reveals…
Because let’s face it…
Our Life is way more than just our #SELFIES.
When Acting No Longer Becomes Complicated…
December 8, 2018by Mario Campanaro in Actor, Approach, Artist, Craft, Self
“I think one of the biggest obstacles actors face…
Is this idea that they are not enough…
That who they are…
Are the core level…
Is not enough…
To bring to the material that at hand…
And so that is when acting no longer becomes fun…
That’s when acting becomes complicated…
That’s when acting becomes really heavy…
And stiff…
And there’s like this paralysis in the space…
Because they are trying to fit themselves into this idea approach…
Of what they think is suppose to be revealed…
In regards to the circumstances…
And what’s missing…
Is we’re looking for you to reveal yourself in those circumstances…
We’re looking for you to bring the accumulation of your life experiences…
And put them in these circumstances…
And see what happens…
And it’s when we get away from the idea…
And the blueprint…
Of how we think things are suppose to go…
And what we are suppose to be…
That we start to experience this exhalation in the work…
We start to experience this freedom in the work…
We start to experience fun in the work…
Because we then allow ourselves to ride the rollercoaster of the scene…
Because we are not shackled by ideas…
We’re running free…
By using ourself as the instrument…
And seeing where it goes…
In those circumstances…
And when we allow ourselves to really own who we are…
Acting no longer becomes complicated…
It makes sense…
Things make sense…
It becomes easy…
It becomes fun…
It becomes free…
So I think the more we escape…
From the idea of what we think we are supposed to be…
And own who we are…
The more our work becomes this alive thing…
That we get to witness…
And it’s beautiful…
Because we see this human being…
Having a real experience…
In a public way…