Actors always want to talk about agents. And rightfully so: you can’t really build a career in Hollywood without an agent. There isn’t really a way to "pound the pavement" or "make the rounds" as we used to say. A good agent makes a big difference in Hollywood.

Without one, or even with one, you should do as much career-building yourself as you can. SAMUEL FRENCH BOOKSTORE (online, in Hollywood or Studio City) is an invaluable source. Not only do they have millions of scripts and books, but they have monthly updated mailing labels for casting directors and agents. How do you start? With friends recommendations, and a couple of books. Grab K. CALLAN’S agent book. K built a terrific career as an actress; respected and popular. And she’s written several terrific books on the industry. Keith Wolff’s THE RIGHT ACTOR is useful, though not always up to date. Use these books to begin to target agents who might be right for you… and start mailing them. Postcards with your picture (I recommend REPRODUCTIONS in Studio City for this service), pics and resumes, show flyers, jokes… whatever you have. Remember: so much of our business is brand recognition. You want agents and casting directors to think they know you, and to have a positive response to your name and face. Remember that they don’t always remember where they met you, they just remember that they know you. (Warning: no one wants you to see another Dennis Woodruff-ask around about THAT name!) So, market yourself wisely. Do plays, casting director workshops…and send out mailings. Try out LA CASTING, BACKSTAGE WEST, and NOW CASTING online. Check out SHOWFAX. Get familiar with IMDB.com.

Getting a good agent is difficult. Ask friends for recommendations, that’s the best way. Start to build a demo reel if you can get help and get equipment. Make an indy film (check out www.tooniceguysproductions.com for help). You’ll need tape or film on yourself. You’ll need to build your resume. Learn to be an actor. Get in a good class. Spread the word that you’re looking for an agent.

Mail your pic to casting directors, too. Maybe you’ll get lucky. But you’ll also be building your name and image recognition.

You can begin to build a good career without an agent. You can develop your career without one. But for the good projects… sooner or later you’ll need a good agent. And the problem is: it’s REALLY difficult to get a good agent if you’re not already making money as an actor. The exception is if you’re young and hot. That makes it easier. If you are, get READY (see above) and get GREAT PICTURES (I rec Bader Howar or Felicity Huffman), and start mailing. You’ll get bites. But make sure your work is ready. If you’re not quite young, and not QUITE Hollywood hot…. then start building yourself as an actor. Find your essence, market that, and study and work to be the best actor you can be. Work anywhere and everywhere you can. Spread the word, network, get out there…

That’s what I call most of the stuff I see: "good actors doing good acting". You see a lot of that around here. After all, this is Los Angeles… it’s the big leagues. There are a lot of good actors around here. When I sit in on auditions, whether it’s as a director, writer, producer, casting director, or just a guest… most of what I see is good actors doing good acting. But once in a while… some precious once in a while, something extraordinary happens. Something magical and personal and remarkable that makes it seem like only THAT actor could do what they have just done. That the words weren’t written by someone else sometime before. That what just happened wasn’t rehearsed and polished and planned. It didn’t seem like ACTING. It seemed REAL and I felt like I was spying and seeing something I shouldn’t have been seeing. That I truly was a fly on the wall. For me, this is GREAT acting. Something more than good actors doing good acting. It’s what I always strive for.

So, how does it happen? It happens, I think, when the work is PERSONAL. When an actor says "This is me. This is about ME." When you don’t care what "they" want, and you say "I don’t care if this is good or not, but THIS IS WHAT I HAVE TO SAY." What it’s like to be ME. I always start with the premise: this is ME. This is not about some character I have to find, this is me in this situation, with these circumstances. Sometimes I substitute things in my mind to turn up the intensity of my emotions. But I always try to make it truthful and personal.

In class, Marty and Maggie did a scene from CRASH. It was electric. Everyone felt it. He is of Asian descent, she is African-American and has Cerebral Palsy. The scene was fierce and it seemed as if anything could happen. They blew the roof off it. Afterward, someone asked them if they’d rehearsed at that intensity. Of course not. They just set parameters, boundaries of trust ("You can’t hit me"), and sketched it out. Then, they personalized it. It took our breath away. So, why doesn’t it happen more often? Because it costs you something. You have to go THERE. To that place. It takes rage and vulnerability, commitment, sexuality, fearlessness. It takes courage. It takes investment. It takes a tremendous effort to make choices that have RISK for you. Most actors are either misguided or don’t even think in these terms. Most actors are too lazy or self-conscious or vain. You have to WANT to be this kind of actor, It doesn’t just happen. But when it does, when something explosive and vital and fresh and real happens… it makes everything else look like ACTING. All of the people I know who are successful in movies are AUTHENTIC. They seem real. They don’t seem like actors. They seem like the real guy in the movie. Good actors often get callbacks… but it’s the real thing that books. 

Some people are great at business. Some people are great actors. Unfortunately, we in Hollywood have to be both. To be an actor in our business, you must constantly cultivate both sides. I wish it was as simple as just doing great work, and the rest would follow. It doesn’t. Constant mailings: postcards, new pictures, networking, new demo reels, notes, letters, meetings, workshops…. it never ends. And we really just want to ACT! Sadly, the system is clogged with people who are very good at the business side, and are mediocre actors. So much of our "business" work is just cutting through that clog…

In class we touched on both. There was a discussion sparked by Anna Corizon who, due to her recent success, had to make a choice about changing agents. There’s an old actor joke that changing agents is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic!

Anna has started out with the small, but good, agency which represents me. I have been loyal to them for many years and brought Anna to them. But, of course, now that she’s hit the big time, she’s being wooed by every "power" person in town. Her head is spinning. I advised her to stick with our agent and be loyal, and everything will come her way. But, of course, she has many big voices whispering in her ear. And perhaps I’m wrong… I don’t know. Many people have told me that my career is not bigger than it is, because I have been too loyal. That’s just me. My agent, a wonderful person and a very hard worker, has told me countless stories of now-famous people that she discovered and got started, only to have them bail on her when they hit it big. And now Anna…

She was too embarrassed to tell me, only left a message. She was crying and said that she was going with one of the big, "hot" agencies. What can I say? I wish the best for her and I want her to make the best of her opportunities, but she sounded terribly stressed and didn’t come to class. My agent left me three messages, also upset, about a letter from Anna to inform her that she was "moving on". It’s difficult, I know. I have often wished I were better at business. I can only advise people to follow their hearts.

I hope Anna will be OK… And I understand that she is riding a great wave right now…

Marty Lee and Tara did a kissing scene in class: a couple saying goodbye at the airport. They were frustrated afterward because it felt stilted and fake and uncomfortable. How odd it is that we actors are expected to walk onto a set and be immediately intimate with total strangers, in front of a room full of more total strangers!

We talked about how to approach these sort of scenes. It seems, first of all, that you have to establish trust between the two of you. Talk about the boundaries, and your objectives in the scene. I always try to look into the other person’s eyes, to listen to them, to connect with them. I try to find something I like about them, to begin to trick myself into falling in love with some part of them. Usually it’s easy. Rarely have I had to fall back on some technique… like "substitution",  which is something I was taught at the Strasberg school years ago: you simply imagine that the person you’re doing the scene with is someone else, a someone else who makes the scene work for you. The danger here, of course, is that you may drift off into some "actor-land"; and are no longer present in the scene. Some people prefer the more Meisner approach: look at the other person, listen to them, connect to them in the here and now, and go with it. Much as I described earlier. The weakness here, of course, is that perhaps your feelings for this other actor in the here and now, are not deep enough to serve the scene. But I usually find that if I spend a little time with the other actor, an intimate talk, a walk, a couple drinks… it’s very easy to connect and to fall into each other… which, of course, can cause another whole set of problems that I won’t go into here! Ah, the actor’s life… remember: techniques are only tools to help you solve problems. Usually good actors don’t need them because we are sensitive and open people with great imagination.

On the rare occasions that I’ve had to have love scenes with people I just can’t stand, I usually have just tried to stay away from them as much as possible. If it’s a TV show or movie, it’s over very quickly for most of us anyway, and you just have to get through it and make it work. A play is far more challenging, as it goes on and on… That has happened to me also, once: where I had to be in love with someone I just couldn’t stand for the entire run of a play. It was a nightmare. But I did my best to make it work, to be nice to her, and to make her fall for me… I’m sure it wasn’t my best work… But, I lived. So much of it is just PRETENDING. Isn’t that what it’s all about? Isn’t that part of the FUN of being an actor? What a luxury to be able to fall in love over and over again! Enjoy it…. because the business part of it is not that much fun…. for me, anyway.

 When I leave the class some nights I feel as if I’m flying… literally walking on air. They inspire me so much: their vulnerability, their bravery, their recklessness and their fear. They teach me…

Tonight was one of those nights. Ethan rushed to class from shooting some Guest spot on a TV show because he didn’t want to miss his scene. He and Danny did ON THE WATERFRONT. It was terrific! Ethan poured his soul into his "I could’a been a contender" speech. Wow… I love how an actor makes everything his own by personalizing it… making it about HIM (or her, of course). Ethan was very moving. He’s a splendid actor: truthful, invested, and sensitive. I’m beginning to sense a little drinking issue, maybe… just my guess. He’s been here ten years from Chicago, and feels he’s "stuck" in the guest roles. I’m wondering if he takes a little nip before he works… He sometimes seems oddly sloppy, and has a darker edge… losing his like-ability, charm, and intelligence. I’ve worked with enough drunks in the regional theatres to spot it. They get slower… remember: alcohol is a depressant. It’s boredom in the regions… Here, perhaps, fear and insecurity. But tonight, he was on fire. He said afterward that he imagined that he was pouring his heart out to his agent… about how he feels his best years are drifting away and not getting shots at series regular roles or good parts in good movies. My god, so much of surviving in this business is staying sane! How can you continue to be vulnerable (that is, after all, our job: to feel)and yet develop a thick enough skin to not be destroyed by the overwhelming rejection and the unfairness and lack of progression of it all?

Danny, on the other hand, is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish, as they say. Also terrific: dark, moody, dangerous and unpredictable… and an obvious substance abuser… He is plainly high sometimes in class. Smokes a doob before scenes. And we have to listen to him endlessly rattle incoherently afterward… Many of the students won’t work with him. He treasures "spontaneity" above all. I do, too, of course…. but you’ve got to have trust, or there’s nothing. Danny’s one of those angry actors who worship Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke, Tom Sizemore… all those guys. Don’t get me wrong: those are terrific actors… But they are terrific actors whose self-destruction has cost them brilliant careers, IMHO. I’ve talked to Danny… he says he has "issues". I think of throwing him out of class, but I think he needs the support and I can see members of the class rallying around him, in a good way. I want to do that, too. Guess this is what it’s like to be a dad…

Chance and Viktoria Varga did a scene tonight from some little indie film I didn’t know. Very sweet. They’re both inexperienced, but so honest! They take my breath away. A couple of students mentioned that it was hard to hear them. I don’t mind that. We’re all working toward the camera here… Why else would they be in LA? But they have no bad acting habits. Totally unaware of the audience. No "performing’. I love it when I feel like I’m spying on someone. To me, that’s great acting!

A year or so ago, a young girl in my class said :"I love acting because when I’m up there, I feel like doves are flying out of my chest!" Wow… that’s profound. And that’s what it’s like…. So, today, I wish you just that: one of those moments when you feel like doves are flying out of your chest. That’s how I feel tonight…

It’s happening. I can see Anna’s life changing. A firestorm of activity. The buzz from her film (her first!) is huge. She’s swimming with the sharks. Her days are now filled with driving and meetings and lunches. The phone never stops ringing and every call is urgent. What is this?

She looks to me for help… for guidance. What do I know of THAT? I know ACTING. I know dedication and hard work and study. I’m a loyalist. Old school…I tell her to stay true to the work. Surround herself with good business people. Trust them and let them do their work. She looks at me with those deep and innocent eyes… eyes that will soon fill a movie screen at 40 times their natural size, eyes that will cry to the hearts and souls of moviegoers like  a coyote pup stuck in a metal trap. She looks at me, with trust and innocence… and all I can say is trust yourself. Trust your work. I make some calls. I do what I can. But this is beyond me.

I’ve never been close to that. My existence is different. I am an actor. She, I dare say, is a movie star.

And so it’s happening. We all wish her well. She’s a very sweet kid. Good Christian values. Her cousin looks out for her. The world, at least for a minute, is her oyster. Perhaps she can learn from Gina, or Emily… those in the class who’ve had a quick hit of the narcotic ether of fame… how it can disappear even more quickly than it appeared. She seems a solid kid. Works hard and loves the craft. Not particularly ambitious… gifted with that joyous elixir of beauty and goofiness. A Latina Julia Roberts, maybe… hmmmmm…

She has friends here. A family in this class. A network. A home… I feel responsible for her. Like I must protect her…

I suppose this is what it must be like to have a child. Wish us well. We are such stuff as dreams are made on…

What an interesting group of characters has assembled themselves around me here. Hollywood is bizarre magnetic material. Such a variety… all driven by some dream, some need. They do inspire me tremendously. They make me laugh, think, remember… Sometimes they break my heart. Yes, sometimes I probably want to slap them… But not much.

Are they talented? Who knows… What is "talent" anyway? Can you teach someone to be a good actor? Yes. A great actor? No. That’s a gift. I don’t have it. I’ve seen it. I saw Meryl Streep onstage, and a young Laura Linney. Amanda Plummer, Phil Hoffman… the gift was there. Obvious. I’m sure Brando had it… The rest of us? We have to just work hard. And then bury the work so that it doesn’t show. No one wants to watch your homework!

Anna Corizon has the gift. Everyone sees it… except perhaps her. They all have… something. Souls, maybe? Passion? A need to tell a story. Some seem so "normal"… That’s how I was in acting school… one of the "normal" ones that no one noticed… until I got up to work. Ethan reminds me of me. He’s a good, solid working actor: lots of Guest Stars and small parts in movies. Very respected by everyone in class. He tortures himself with bigger dreams. I know that feeling. That drive… There’s something haunted, yet charming about his work. Wish he could harness the combination. But at this point, seems he can do only one or the other.  ’Wreck" is a character! Rock singer who wants to "cross over"! Talk about torture…. I just want to say: "Act like you sing, man! Just let it come out. Nice and easy." Easy for me to say… 

The young ones… so beautiful and full of hope. Franchesca and her group… Victoria Gonzalez. Chance… Chance! Who in Kansas names their son "Chance"?!? Some librarian in love with Tennessee Williams, I guess. Little Jimmy Caramillo, trying to avoid the gangs and so in love with Anna! Tomas… Liz Liu.. something deliciously evil about that kid.

Evil… hmmmm. What a commodity. Gina Alameda is the personification of it all. Talk about a "type"! Wow… If I looked like her, I’d be a very rich man! Of course… I’d be very confused… but that’s another story.  Trapped by her looks… Aren’t we all? When I look at her, I just think: thank God I am not your father…Tara Jo Tanner… Emily, trying to find herself after fame and her marriage fleeted when she didn’t look 19 anymore…

The older ones amaze me. Starting anew. Finally doing what they’ve always dreamed of, but were too afraid. Naomi, Kate… Andy Stein. Wow. Talk about heart. Marty Lee, who’s a detective or something. Ricardo Ortiz works in a prison, I think. The amazing fortitude of Maggie Charles.

Eccentrics: Who is Cactus Jimmy! A nut or a genius?! I love that guy… Crazy Johnny, who thinks he’s DeNiro… Isabel, who seems right out of a lesbian leather dream (and proud of it!), Mike Azimi, a devout Muslim who comes here secretly without his family knowing because he has this pure, pure love of acting. His mnemonistic little cousin, Sabil, who hides his secret from the family, but remembers EVERYTHING… amazing… and scary. 

And the mysterious ones… they captivate the most. Their secrets. Mystery is a marvelous essence in an actor… I never had that. Of course not: I’m Mr. Sunshine! (yeah, right…) Karen Franco, Chloe… Vickie Brock!  What’s HER story? (Somehow… there’s more to this woman than "The Christian Den Mother", I think.) Marie… and Bobby Wyler. All the others….

What do they want from me? What can I give them? I still think I’m 25, but I can see in their eyes that I’m not. There’s a sadness in that for me. I wish sometimes that I were among them. Working, dreaming, loving, discovering, reaching, failing… growing. With everything ahead of me. Actually, that IS how I feel! LOL… What am I talking about?

I’d like to be a great teacher… or better yet, a great GUIDE. I’ve always wanted to be great… never anything less. I think that’s why I’m still here. It means everything to me… hmmmm.

Thank you for stopping by to find out more about The Hollywood Acting Class and me, Michael Sunshine. Check back I’ll be updating my blog often. ~Michael

Beginnings and Passages.

I’m Michael Sunshine. Yes, that’s my real name. It’s alot to live up to, but I try. I’m an actor. I just turned 50 (How did THAT happen?), here in the City of Angels. I’m celebrating 30 years being lucky enough to be a professional actor. It’s a privilege. I’m a survivor. I’m a dreamer. I’m not famous. I’m not rich. But I’m still here.

A time to celebrate. A time to give back.

The Hollywood Writer’s Strike has just ended. The weather turns warm and the breeze is full of Springtime. My favorite baseball team looks great in Spring Training. The Academy Awards are upon us… I’m filled with hope. Yet again.

I grew up on a farm. It taught me that life has cycles: seasons come and seasons pass. Crops are planted, they are nurtured, and they are harvested. Babies are born and there is death. After the coldest winters… spring will, eventually, come again. And so, I am, eternally the optimist. Yes… Mr. Sunshine. My agent calls me a Missionary of Acting. Perhaps… I do know that you can’t walk a block in Hollywood without tripping over a bitter actor. They don’t call Hollywood Blvd. "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams" for nothing.

But I love it. I love the life. I love the challenge and the longevity of it. i am an artist. I survive. And I’m living the dream.

Time to give something back.

And so I started this Hollywood Acting Class. A crossroads of dreams and lives and hearts and talents. Where passions are put on display, and human beings paint with the oil of their blood. Thanks for joining us…

Drama in the business of drama.

What a celebration! They’re so beautiful… The winners and the losers. Absurd, isn’t it? "Losers"? Who’s a loser at the Academy Awards?

I amaze myself! Here I am., at this age, at this point in my career… and I still watch the show with full emotion! Starry-eyed, with a lump in my throat… my speech never far from my lips: "Oh, I have so many people to thank… but really, most of all, I feel so lucky! To be here. To be among you. To be so honored and… to be an actor." Wow…

It’s very inspiring. And that’s really what it’s all about, I think. Inspiration. How can you KEEP GOING? Where do you find inspiration in this work? In this world? You must look for it. Everywhere… wherever. What keeps you going? What keeps you dreaming? What keeps you from giving up? Because there is SO MUCH POSSIBILITY in this life… If you can just keep yourself going. Cultivate a richness in your life. Give. Love. Risk…

I get so much from these students: this class is a trainwreck of humanity! They are so afraid, and they want so much TO MAKE IT HAPPEN! I wish they could see: it IS happening. They are not only living the dream… they ARE the dream. THIS is the dream. Don’t wake me up.

I just keep going. Work hard and love life. Time passes so quickly… Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow… and before you know it, it’s yesterday and yesterday and yesterday. The secret is in today. The hope is for tomorrow.

Spring will come again. I believe in Karma… Do unto others… Convince yourself that you’re the one. Against all odds.

That’s my mantra: "I’m the one". I never say it outloud. But it’s always inside me. Van Gogh, fighting his despair over never having sold a painting, said "but as long as I paint… I AM A PAINTER!" Keep painting. Whatever your canvass may be.

I’d like to thank the Academy…