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TRC006: Courtney Gains (Back to the Future, Children of the Corn) Talks About His Career, Child Acting, Music, and More

This week I speak with Courtney Gains who got his start in the 80’s with such classic films as Children of the Corn and Back to the Future. We talk about Courtney’s thoughts on child acting, how he’s been able to continue to work after several decades in the business, and how he continues to book work to this day.

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TRC005: Leaving Your Day Job To Pursue Acting With Gunner Wright

This week I speak with my friend and actor, Gunner Wright. I had the opportunity to work with Gunner a few years ago on my feature film, The Pinch, which we talk about briefly as well as many of his other credits in video games, voice over work, and a variety of feature films. Gunner begin his adult life working in the motorcycle industry and quickly figured out how to leverage that experience into acting gigs.
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TRC004: Building An Acting Career Far From Hollywood With Jared Bankens

In this episode I talk with actor Jared Bankens about his career and how he’s been able to land roles in a variety of projects all while living in Louisiana. He works throughout the South East and offers a variety of tips to actors who don’t live in Hollywood.

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TRC003: The Human Centipede to Lifetime Movies With Ashlynn Yennie

In this episode of the podcast I talk with Ashlynn Yennie about the early part of her career, moving to New York City, getting cast in The Human Centipede, and how she’s been able to maintain a career as a leading lady in a variety of female driven thrillers.

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TRC002: Building on a Big Break With George of the Jungle 2’s Christopher Showerman

In this episode I talk with Christopher Showerman about his big break getting cast in George of the Jungle 2, and how he’s been able to maintain his career decades later. We also talk about some of Christopher’s recent projects and he gives us the details about how exactly he got cast in some of those shows.

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Ten Little Rules for a Rockstar Theater Audition

Every actor should find the opportunity sometime to sit on the other side of the casting table, and that’s just what I did this past week.  Whether it’s for the web series you wrote and produced, the film you’re helping to cast, the showcase you’re directing, or simply being the reader for a new play that’s being cast in your community theater, seeing the flip side of casting is an amazing learning experience.  It’s the time when you as an actor get to step back, and take a long look at the audition process when you are not the one in the hot seat!  And after being on the other side this week, I was reminded of some super simple things every actor should remember (and some things no one should ever, ever do).

So here’s the set up.  I’m working again with a fantastic theater company this spring on their new show, which is a three month long collection of plays that rotate out as the audiences vote on their favorites.  I’m so thrilled to be directing for them, and happy to be working again in one of my top 5 favorite places in the world…the theater!  It’s a great space to work in, and we were lucky enough to have lots of actors come in. Let me tell you, I got a great lesson in auditioning from the people who were reading for us…
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Don’t Get an Agent!

Has anyone ever told you that before?  Well, let me be the first!  Actors worry all the time, but in particular about two especially itchy topics: the 10 lbs. the camera adds and how to get a kickass, killer, awesome agent.  Well, relax folks.  I’m saying it to you today: Don’t Get An Agent!

Okay, okay, I don’t mean don’t EVER get an agent, that would be silly.  Actors need agents.  We cannot, contrary to popular belief, do everything ourselves.  (I’m not the only control freak out there, right?)  Agents are the ones who get our talented butts into the auditions we can’t get into ourselves, they pitch us, they sell us, they work, work, work for us long and hard.  And they do it all for no pay, just like we do.  Well, they do it for no pay until we get paid…then they take 10%.  But the bottom line is that neither the actor nor the agent gets paid till work is booked!  We have a common goal in this biz… Read More

Workshops Work if You Work It

When I find myself in a rut in my acting career (and don’t we all have an intimate knowledge of some killer ruts in this business?) I turn to a trusted confidence booster: the casting workshop.  I know the topic has been discussed on the Right Cast before, but I thought I’d add my two cents, as I’ve been back in the workshop groove this month.  It’s a tough topic, because nobody agrees on anything, but I’ve got to argue the positive today.  Casting workshops work…
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A Star is Born in the Background – How to get Extra Work

Who wouldn’t want to win an Oscar?  Or star in a box-office smash?  Or argue with having their name in lights on the marquis? Not many of us!  You know what you never see on that marquis though?  The entire list of background extras that starred in that movie right alongside that box-office bombshell or leading man.

Ah, the life of the background extra.  If youv’e worked as an extra before, or even seen any of Ricky Gervais’ hilarious look at the life of background actors on his show, Extras, you might know that the job of an extra is largely uncredited, with long days in varying degrees of comfort on crazy sets that are often mindlessly dull.  So what’s the point?  The point is, the film & television industry would be nothing without those essential, overwhelmingly important set of cast members: the extras.

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