Tag Archives: Matt Damon

Actors Who Make Their Own Work

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actors who make their own work, lake bell, tina fey, kristen wiig, greta gerwig, lake bell, brit marling, vin diesel. The rumour that acting is the hardest and most brutal industry in the world is unfortunately true, I have been an actor now for over 10 years. Yikes. Along the way I have realised that the only way to have a brilliant career is to write and produce your own stuff. Which is what I did with Prose & Cons. It is currently being edited.

If you want to be inspired, here is our list of the Top Actors Who Make Their Own Work.

Brit Marling

This American producer, director, writer and actress caused a stir with Another Earth. She was only 27 at the time. Now 30 and with 13 films under her belt. She was even on the front cover of Vanity Fair’s prestigious Hollywood edition. She has written four films and directed one.

Check out these personal quotes from her IMDB page:

“I always started writing in order to act. I don’t know that I could have the discipline to sit down and write if I was going to give it away. That would be too hard. But I love to act in stories that are outside my imagination because I can only conceive of so many things from my point of view. The thing that’s intoxicating about being an actor is that you get to live in someone else’s world for a while and I hope to do more of that. But I think I’ll never stop writing now because I’m wondering why there aren’t more representatives of women that are like the women we know. Where’s the film with the women who are complicated and strong and beautiful and sexy and interesting and of all body types? You don’t get to see enough of them. So there’s something important in attempting to write them for myself and for the insanely talented women out there.”

“[on why she decided to become a screenwriter in relation to her being an actress] How terrifying to surrender your life to being chosen all the time. Having to be chosen and re-chosen. Writing so that I can act became a way of having not more control over my future but not having to wait for permission. You can choose yourself. Hmm, who should play this part? I nominate me!”

Mindy Kaling

Started out as a writer for The Office and even wrote a character for herself into the show. At the age of 34 Kaling has created her own show, The Mindy Project, and was named as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2013.

Mindy knows she is different and makes fun of it: “I’m a minority chubby woman who has my own show on a network. I don’t know how long this is going to last!” She told Jon Stewart. She has 2.3million Twitter followers and refuses to diet.

Kaling wrote in her bestselling memoir Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me?: “I fall into that nebulous, quote-unquote, normal American woman size that legions of fashion stylists detest. For the record, I’m a size 8 — this week, anyway. Many stylists hate that size because I think to them, it shows that I lack the discipline to be an ascetic; or the confident, sassy abandon to be a total fatty hedonist.”

Emma Thompson

She wanted better roles so she wrote the screenplay for Sense and Sensibility, an adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel. The film got Thompson the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and a nomination for leading actress. She hasn’t looked back since. The 54-year-old has 60 films as an actor under her belt and another 12 as a writer.

Nia Vardalos

She kept losing out on roles so she wrote My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The film was a roaring success. Vardalos says: ‘I run into other actresses and we talk about the lack of parts for woman. At least I can write myself a part, which is an amazing skill to possess.”

Barbra Streisand

Streisand was the first woman to win a Golden Globe for directing after co-writing, directing and starring in Yentl. She was 41 and had already broken down a lot of barriers for woman. She started off as a nightclub singer and is now one of the most famous actress, singer, producer, director, actor and writers. Has never been afraid to send herself up. She has inspired generations of woman.

In her own words: “I arrived in Hollywood without having my nose fixed, my teeth capped, or my name changed. That is very gratifying to me.”

“To have ego means to believe in your own strength. And to also be open to other people’s views. It is to be open, not closed. So, yes, my ego is big, but it’s also very small in some areas. My ego is responsible for my doing what I do – bad or good.”

Lake Bell

The 34-year-old is making waves with her film, In A World. She has 35 credits to her name but made her own film this year. After being an actor for 11 years she sat down to write a script and won the prestigious Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival. She told Glamour Magazine: “When I first started auditioning in LA, I realised it was a clique; this guy’s got the monopoly on epics, this woman’s got the monopoly on tampon adverts. It was the perfect environment for a modern comedy.” “I wanted to make a movie’, she went on, “so I wrote a part for myself.”

“Being willing to outsource all of your creative decisions, especially to a first-timer like me, is very ballsy. I had no other choice than to make it the way I made it. And I felt very supported in that. When you write and direct your own film you basically know exactly what you want. Or you hope to. For the studio, it actually can make life a little easier, because if you have a bunch of questions they only need to call one person.”

Kristen Wiig

While Kristen had been in many films and was a regular on Saturday Night Live, she never really broke out until Bridesmaids. Kristen co-wrote and starred in Bridesmaids which was one of the biggest hits of 2011, taking $300 million at the box office and was credited for turning the tide for women in film. She has an amazing 60 credits to her name and we get the feeling the that she is just getting started.

In her own words: “If you’re creating anything at all, it’s really dangerous to care about what people think”. She also states that woman are asked their age more than men.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

They wrote Good Will Hunting and won an Oscar. They rest is movie star history.

Vin Diesel.

He couldn’t get the roles he wanted so he wrote a short film called Multi-Facials about being bi-racial. Steven Spielberg saw it and cast him in Saving Private Ryan. He is now a movie star and has a few franchises under his belt.

Lena Dunham

She made her first film in her parents New York apartment with a Canon 7D. Tiny Furniture was critically acclaimed and lead to the huge hit and cultural game-shifter, Girls. Still only 27-years-old but was 23 when she wrote, directed and starred in Tiny Furniture.

In her own words: “I was constantly preparing for auditions in a way that was crazy… and then I’d literally get cast as, like, a bouncing ball or a fat man or a security guard.”

Tina Fey

Made her name in Saturday Night Live and also is the creator, producer, star and writer of 30 Rock. She wrote a book called Bossy Pants and had two children. She returned to work not long after giving birth saying, “NBC has me under contract; the baby and I only have a verbal agreement’. Is their no end to her talents?

Greta Gerwig

Became known thanks to her association with the mumblecore film movement. The 30-year-old is the indie IT queen of the moment. Was brilliant in Lola Versus and stars in film-of-the-moment, Frances Ha, which she co-wrote with director boyfriend Noah Baumbach. Plays strong female characters.

 

What do you think?

Check out my new book, How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur, out now.  It tells you all about how to become a successful actor.

 

 

Elysium {Film Review}

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I have always admired and been inspired by South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp. He immigrated to Canada at the age of 18 and graduated with 3D Animation and Visual Effects program from Vancouver Film School in 1998. He became a 3D animator on various TV shows such as Stargate SG-1 and Smallville. Then he started creating short films in his home country, starting with Tetra Vaal in 2004, Alive in Joburg in 2005 and Adicolor Yellow in 2006. Blomkamp was hired to make a film adaptation of Halo with Peter Jackson but the project fell apart due to financial disagreements. So Jackson decided to give Blomkamp an opportunity many filmmakers would dream of; he was given $30 million to come up with any film project he wanted to make. That film turned out to be 2009’s sleeper hit, District 9. The film received rave reviews from critics and was nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Picture and 7 BAFTA nominations including Best Film and Best Director to Blomkamp. Now Blomkamp gives us first original sci-fi feature film, Elysium.

 

The story is set in 2154 Los Angeles, where the city is over-populated, health care is scarce and vast majority of the population are Mexican immigrants. Meanwhile, the wealthy live on an orbital space station called Elysium. There the air is fresh, served by obedient androids and robots and free of disease, poverty and war. They also have Med-Pods, a medical device where it can cure many diseases such as cancer. Max De Costa (Matt Damon) an orphan who has left his life of crime to work at a factory run by Armadyne Corporation who is owned by a billionaire CEO John Carlyle (William Fichtner). One day, Max gets himself into an accident at the factory by being exposed to radiation and only has 5 days to live. Max now sets his eyes at Elysium and plans to get himself cured. This raises awareness of Elysium Secretary of Defense, Jessica Delacourt (Jodie Foster), and she hires a sleeper agent named Kruger (Sharlto Copley).

 

Elysium

The film is magnificent in scope and ambition. Blomkamp continues to bring social themes on class, immigration and even health care to his sci-fi blockbusters. It really is admirable that he decides to give the movie a lot more meat than what it really is on the surface. It was one of the main aspects I admired and adored with District 9, the themes of xenophobia social segregation (mainly inspired by Blomkamp’s experiences of the apartheid era in Cape Town). Subtlety isn’t the director’s specialty but the themes are approached head on and therefore make them relevant to current events that are not too fictional in its setting in the future. We see Max being the only Anglo-American citizen in Los Angeles, where the city itself has no identity or has since been long forgotten.

 

Matt Damon as Max portrays him as an everyday man and thus makes him a compelling lead. He has ambitions that are not too far from our own and makes us rooting for his success. When he is placed in a life threatening situation; he acts within a heartbeat, no matter how difficult the task may be. Jodie Foster’s Jessica Delacourt isn’t much fleshed compared to Max and only serves as a plot device to make the story go forward. Her accent is a little muddled, wasn’t too sure if she’s trying to be American or English or both? Also, the ADR work is poor at times (seems her voice was changed during post-productions for reasons that are not so clear). Though Sharlto Copley is the scene stealer of this movie as Kruger! He couldn’t be any different from his character in District 9; he is brutal but utterly entertaining to watch. He is absolutely relishing his job as a gun-for-hire and he will do anything to get the job done. It is quite refreshing to have a South African villain rather than being English, American or European in general. The rest of the cast do decent jobs in their roles; Alice Braga as Frey brings the heart to the story but like Foster’s character, isn’t fleshed out and comes off being the damsel-in-distress. The only downside of the movie is it’s slightly predictable where the movie is going but it doesn’t detract the quality of the movie as a whole.

Blomkamp is known to create photorealistic visuals and he continues that look in this film. It is absolutely gorgeous and richly detailed. Inspired by works of Syd Mead, concept artist who worked on designs for Blade Runner and Aliens. The film never once felt too futuristic, it all felt everything worked with a purpose and it didn’t need much to suspend your disbelief. The space station of Elysium does remind me of similar looking space station in Halo video game series but also had a mix of 2001: A Space Odyssey flavour to it. The visual effects for the cyborg robots looked stunning, every frame and pixel looked immaculate. The action sequences are intense but do have a sense the director likes to blow people up (a lot!). Though the director doesn’t shy away from the violence, every ounce of blood that is spilled is counted for and makes you feel every impact that is made. There’s even a scene where a character is put on a machine and it drew me in with fascination but also finding it very gruesome (will bring the meaning of reconstructive surgery).

 

Overall: another hit from director Neill Blomkamp. Doesn’t quite deliver up to the same level as District 9 but it’s another fascinating sci-fi/action movie that may cause some discussions (or debates). Incredibly exciting, beautiful visuals and the actors deliver great performances. Favourite movie of the summer. Highly recommended!

 

4 out of 5

Lady Gaga Tops Good Celebrities List.

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Lady Gaga Tops DoSomething.org’s ‘Top 20 Celebs Gone Good’ List; Sophia Bush Named ‘Fan Favorite’, Bieber Shoots up the Rankings this Year; New Trend is Couples

DoSomething.org, one of the largest U.S. organizations that helps teens take action on causes they care about, it released its fourth annual ‘Top 20 Celebs Gone Good’ list.

Lady Gaga continues her reign as the star who uses her celebrity to do the most good. Known for her support of gay rights, AIDS, and poverty, she focused primarily this year on bullying, even taking her thoughts to the White House in December. She also announced the creation of her own charity, the Born this Way Foundation, which aims to empower youth and lead them to a brave new society where each individual is accepted and loved as the person they were born to be.

Making a meteoric rise to number two this year is Justin Bieber , up from number 10 last year. His fast rise is due to his prolific work with Pencils of Promise, an organization that builds schools in Laos and Guatemala. Justin is also a consistent supporter of Make-A-Wish, raised funds for charity with his fragrance and holiday album, and recently distributed $100,000 to Whitney Elementary School in Las Vegas.

“There are some interesting trends from this year’s list,” says Aria Finger, COO of DoSomething.org. “It’s dominated by young celebrities and we also see so many couples. Last year the list had its first power couple, Ashton and Demi who have now broken up, and this year there are a total of four couples. Doing good is definitely fun in groups.”

For the first time ever, DoSomething.org’s panel of social media and mobile experts incorporated Facebook voting to help them determine the impact of celebrities reaching an audience with their cause. The criteria stipulated giving money wasn’t enough to count as creating impact; instead, a celebrity needed to take an action others could emulate, like writing articles, building houses, or founding an organization. Facebook fans voted Sophia Bush as the first ‘Fan Favorite.’

The 2011 ‘Top 20 Celebs Gone Good’ list:

1. Lady Gaga
2. Justin Bieber
3. George Clooney
4. Will & Jada Pinkett Smith
5. Leonardo DiCaprio
6. Matt Damon
7. Ellen DeGeneres
8. Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie
9. Dwight Howard
10. Demi Lovato
11. Shakira
12. Ashton Kutcher & Demi Moore
13. will.i.am
14. Blake Shelton & Miranda Lambert
15. Nick Cannon
16. Lea Michele
17. Daniel Radcliffe
18. Miley Cyrus
19. Coldplay
20. Taylor Swift

“There are a handful of other celebrities who just missed the cut-off this year,” notes Finger. “We look forward to seeing what they will do in 2012.” Current speculations and predictions from DoSomething.org include:

* Will Jay-Z and Beyonce, Rihanna, and Justin Timberlake each use their massive popularity and talent for social change next year?
* How will Zoey Dechanel use her new star power for good?
* We suspect Bieber’s good heart will rub-off on Selena Gomez and catapult her to the list next year.
* With Tim Tebow being the most talked about athlete of 2011, we’re excited to see how he uses his celebrity for good in the coming year.

To determine the rankings, DoSomething.org used its research team and an expert panel, who focused on three elements: popularity, influence, and impact. The first two were calculated using each celebrity’s number of Twitter followers and Facebook likes, as well as their IMDB Pro Scores, Billboard Social 50 ranking, and number of ChaCha inquiries.

For full list and celebrities’ individual charitable impact, visit: Celebrities doing good.

True Grit Preview/Review. {Film}

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You can always trust the Coen brothers to go off the beaten track. Their films always have a large dose of the absurdity of life about them. True Grit is no exception. A remake of the classic starring John Wayne – which Jeff Bridges claims he hasn’t seen and deliberately didn’t watch. Those are big shoes to fill, and Bridges, who is having nothing short of a renaissance at the moment, fills the shoes and makes the character his own with gusto.

Although I have nothing against any specific type of film, I found it truly refreshing to see a good old-fashioned western. Which is exactly what this is.

Hailee Steinfield has the kind of part that actresses double her age would kill for. A perfect role model for women and girls everywhere. And she plays it perfectly. She’s a talent to watch. The scene where she rides her horse across the river is nothing less than brilliant. Matt Damon joins in the fun by making his Texas ranger just as kooky as the rest of the characters.

The Coen Brothers have made it clear that this is not based on Henry Hathaway’s version of the movie, but the Charles Portis novel. Their interpretation is as stunning and original as their other movies. The film truly transports you to a different, harsher and harder era – when there really was a wild west and even dead bodies were nothing more than a money-making opportunity.

There are a lot of good films coming out this year.. This is definitely one.

Stefans TV Picks; 21st June

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Monday 21st – Five, 23:00
What happens when a crew of anonymous criminals is put together to pull off a perfectly planned bank heist, only for it to go horribly wrong with pretty gruesome results? Only Tarantino knows. The films that Quentin has released into the world have often been viewed as masterpieces but his 1992 breakthrough movie still stands out as one of the best. I am of course talking about Reservoir Dogs. With brilliant writing and outstanding camera work (tracking shots that rival Goodfellas’ restaurant entrance for all you movie buffs out there) Dogs is an absolute must!

Tuesday 22nd – E4, 22:30
Any fans of Family Guy will know that the last few seasons of a once great cartoon started to run dry. The creator/writer, Seth McFarlane, needed to come up with a new concept to save the franchise and so he gave us The Cleveland Show. A spin off from Family Guy, The Cleveland Show follows the adventures of long suffering character Cleveland Brown as he moves back to his hometown of Stoolbend, Virginia with his 14 year old son (who is constantly hopping between genius and idiot) and meets up with old friends and his highschool sweetheart. As part of E4’s Toonsday, they are showing the entire first season again, so make sure you catch the first episode and get reminded of what good cartoons are like and don’t worry about the danger of spin-offs, this is much more Frasier than Joey.

Wednesday 23rd – BBC 1, 14:15
I know, I know, not everyone is digging the football, but this is an important game. After Robert Greens terrible butter covered hands and last weeks game that made me realise that even someone like me could be a professional footballer, today’s Match of the Day Live will show the game that will decide whether England are in the rest of the tournament or not. As we face Slovenia I shall be wearing the three lions on my shirt, singing along to The Great Escape theme and asking all, even if they don’t like the game, to cross their fingers for our boys to win. EN-GER-LUUUUND EN-GUR-LUUUUND EN-GUR-LUUUUUND

Thursday 24th – BBC 4, 21:00
Ever since I’ve been a teenager I’ve loved the band The Eels. The creative force behind the band is that of lead singer Mark Oliver Everett known simply as E. Always one to shy away from the spotlight until he is on stage, in Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives: Mark Everett we see a rare glimpse into the life and history of E as he travels America finding out more about his father, a genius who developed the theory of parallel universes, yet was unable to build a relationship with his son who saw him as a stranger with whom he lived. For fans of the band, Parallel Worlds will help identify the meaning behind E’s deeply personal lyrics, for those not familiar or who don’t like The Eels, this show will be like a brilliant version of Who Do you Think You Are!

Friday 25th – BBC 2, 21:00/Channel 4, 22:00
What’s all this then? Two selections? That is right my friends, a nice double bill for you tonight. Starting on BBC 2 in Are You Having A Laugh? David Walliams presents a documentary all about the use of disability in TV. With input from actors and comics including Stephan Merchant, Dom Joly and Ben Miller, we’ll see the attitude towards how disability has been portrayed over the years and how it has changed to become, sometimes questionably, used in comedy today. Straight after over on Channel 4 we have the glorious return of The I.T Crowd. The BAFTA award winning sitcom is back for season 4. Once again we shall get to join the (primarily basement situated) adventures of Moss, Roy and Jen. This week Jen decides she wants more from her job and applies as Entertainment Manager and asks the boys from I.T to help her find ways to amuse her boss’ business connections.

Saturday 26th – BBC 1, 18:05
His enemies have formed an alliance against him, his assistant has been shot, his Tardis has been destroyed, the stars are all going supernova and the Doctor is trapped in the Pandorica. The finale of Doctor Who promises to be action packed and full of answers to so many questions and my inner geek is waiting with huge anticipation for the last episode. Although after this I’m really not sure how I’m going to fill the hour between 6 an 7 on the following Saturday evenings!

Sunday 27th – E4, 23:00
This week opened with one of my favourite filmmakers and I felt it would be nice to close it with another, that filmmaker is Kevin Smith. Dogma (the fourth in Smith New Jersey Chronicles) tells the story of two angels, Bartleby and Loki (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) who are trying to find a way back into Heaven after being banished for reasons including getting drunk and flipping God the bird, while Bethaney Sloane (Linda Fiorentino), after being given a Holy Quest by the angel Metatron, tries to stop them. It is as much a study in, and questioning of dogmatic faith as it is an outlet for Smiths love of dick and fart jokes. This was the first of his films I saw and instantly got me hooked on Smiths writing style and his returning characters Jay and Silent Bob. Cleverly written and thought provoking when your not laughing, Dogma shows the side of religion you never see in church.