And we roll to a close 


The final days of Ruffian shooting approach 

I know the last couple entries have not been terribly specific when it comes to my acting work and things I have gleaned from being here in Louisiana. You have my apologies for that. I will be reposting some things from previous blogs here that may be more pertinent than keeping up with my comings and goings. Meanwhile a few more pics for you. Yesterday was the beginning of our weekend since we shoot Sunday through Thursday. As a free day when we were not in danger of being pulled in as a cover set, Nicholas and Christina invited me to join them on a pudding... an adventure. I'll explain the reference later. We drove into Arkansas to visit an Indian village and a gemstone mine. While neither were exactly as advertised we had a very nice time. Along the way we, discussed many of the issues facing the actors in our region... especially the agent/casting director conflict in the DC/Balt market and the southeast travel waiver issue (see entry "Weekend of March 12, 2006" for explanation). It is nice to get an experienced ear to listen to my issues and offer advice. They both had served on the board of SAG at one point so their opinions are especially valuable and rare. Here are a couple of pics from our outing... Christina and I sluicing our bucket of Earth for "finds"

and here Christina has found a shark tooth:


A couple of nights ago, when Marion Guyot was in town working with us we had a little get together in my room then went to dinner at Superior Grill here in Shreveport. The evening was great fun.. in fact, this is why I do what I do. You meet some great people and become friends sometimes. Marion, an actress from Atlanta, and I have worked together on and off since 1995 when we both did "The Almost Perfect Bank Robbery" with Rip Torn. She's a sweet lady, so she, Mike Harding from Charlotte, Nicholas, Christina, and myself shared a lovely bottle of 2002 Masi Campofiorin that I bought:


The socialization is what I love most. With other actors who work regularly you talk about most everything else but acting. You can just relax and have a good time. Novice actors are so hungry and on fire with their desire to act that they want to talk about it a lot. That is fine for a time, but it is important to have things to talk about other than shop. AH, good, turns out there IS something of value to say in this post.

Be yourself and cultivate your interests beyond acting... they make you a more interesting and well rounded person... and better company.

I cannot stress that one enough. If all you can talk about is the business then you're gonna get boring very quickly. Have more to offer... and listen a lot. I work again on Monday so I will do a wrap up report then. Looking forward to being back home on Tuesday. Love you all.  

Posted: Sat - April 8, 2006 at 12:31 PM          

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