The old shipyard is deserted except for a small knot of people out at the
end of a pier. Their attention is focused on two young boys set slightly apart
from the group.
A man hoists a video camera to his shoulder. Someone shouts "Action!" and
everyone falls silent except for the two boys. They start talking about something
they've stolen. A minute or two later, the same voice yells "Cut!" A few minutes
later, the whole thing happens again.
This is one of the scenes in Little Criminals, a made-for-TV movie about
two boys who embark on a short life of crime.
Acting might seem glamorous, but more often it's tedious. In this scene,
the film crew has to work outside and deal with clouds and sunlight, and noises
from passing boats, airplanes and seagulls. There are a lot of factors to
control.
Say the director wants to see this scene shot from two angles. If one angle
of a scene is filmed in sunlight with the sound of a floatplane in the background,
the second angle must also be shot with sunlight and a floatplane. Otherwise,
the scene just won't work.
As leading actors in this film, Myles Ferguson and Brendan Fletcher are
right in the middle of it all. The next shot has the camera on Ferguson. He
must pretend to get excited about something off-camera that isn't really happening.
Then he must do it again, and again, and again. What could be so exciting?
This was Fletcher's first acting job for TV. Meanwhile, teenager Ferguson
has already appeared in several TV productions. Probably his most notable
part was Benny in an episode of The Highlander, a TV series. Benny was an
immortal kid who went around lopping off people's heads.
"The standing around is the bad part about the job," says Ferguson. "It's
a lot of fun when you're doing it, though. It's also a challenge, because
you're always auditioning and trying to beat out all these other kids. When
you get the part, it's just the best thing in the world."
Even though he's a new actor, Ferguson still has to deal with being a celebrity.
"I was walking in the mall last weekend and this girl -- I never saw her before
in my life -- said, `You were good in Highlander.' That was the first person
who I didn't know who just came up to me and said something like that.
"Everyone at school knows what's going on. If you aren't at school one
day, it's like, `How did the audition go?' Everyone comes up to you to talk
about it. It's good for the first few times -- you feel really special --
but then after five or 10 people ask you, it's like, 'Hang on for a minute.'"
Petrea Burchard has spent a lot of time acting, with appearances on CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation, The Guardian and other shows. Burchard's main source
of work is in voice-overs, and she's perhaps best known as the English voice
of Ryoko, the teenaged space pirate in the Japanese anime cartoon Tenchi Muyo.
She credits persistence and hard work for helping her get as far as she has.
Burchard says that those trying to break into acting should expect to work
just as hard. "The competition is fierce and you have to be good," she says.
Some of the best weapons you can have in your acting arsenal are a willingness
to express emotions, good communication skills, awareness of how to use your
voice and body and the ability to memorize. Basic stage training is important,
she says. So is training in movement, improvisation and scene study.
Most experienced actors have done all kinds of acting.
Gary Folka has been acting professionally in live theater for over seven
years. His last job was with the Greenthumb Children's Theater. The company
toured for eight months, performing in a play called Showdown and Nightlight.
While the odd TV role or commercial is rewarding financially, Folka finds
his true fulfillment onstage.
"There's something about being onstage, about being in the work, which
is the most exciting," he says. "You get to totally immerse yourself in a
different world or a different reality."
Audience response is another reason Folka enjoys stage work.
"Theatre is an active participation between the actors and the audience,"
he says. "Feeling that energy and feeling that connection is probably the
most exciting thing about it."
Karen Ceesay also loves the stage. She's a member of Whole World Theater,
an improvisation troupe. She also teaches acting and works in commercials,
movies and television. Ceesay got hooked when she was 10 after seeing a friend
perform, and took up acting herself.
Like Burchard, she suggests taking classes and honing your skills. Also
important, she says, is getting to know your classmates and finding out what
classes they've taken. Ceesay also recommends becoming an active member of
a professional organization with national or international affiliation.
"The more classes you take and the more events and functions at which you
regularly volunteer, the more you will find out what's really going on in
the business and how you fit in," Ceesay says. "Stay in the information loop.
But focus on what you can do to help other people, and not what they can do
for you. That will separate you from the pack."