Sunday, August 25, 2013

Episode #25 - Sheila O'Malley (Opening Night)



"You listen to great actors talk...and they always talk about the story. 'My role here is to do this part so this story can be told,' which is a wonderful attitude."

If you want to tell a story on film, you most likely are going to require actors, and hopefully great ones. But how does one talk about how actors do? Sheila O'Malley has more than enough experience in acting, and has become one of the most prolific bloggers of how to discuss the craft, so Peter invites her own to share her experiences and ideas about the profession. Sheila talks about her first acting love (James Dean) and her experience in The Actors Studio, before deciding to take the conversations of her friends and turn them into blog posts. The two also discuss many great iconic performances - Cary Grant in Notorious, Sissy Spacek in Badlands, Alain Delon in Le Samourai - and the way the different actors can approach different roles. Finally, the two work through a truly towering film, John Cassavetes's Opening Night, and examine how it both celebrates the world of acting as well as captures its most terrifying anxieties. 

0:00-1:01 Opening 
2:08-8:21 Establishing Shots - Short Term 12 / Trivia Round
9:06-1:03:33 Deep Focus - Sheila O'Malley
1:05:32-1:29:57 Double Exposure - Opening Night (John Cassavetes)
1:30:00-1:31:41 Close

Visit Sheila's blog, as well as her work on RogerEbert.Com, Capital New York, The House Next Door and Fandor.
Follow Sheila on Twitter.

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