[NoHo Arts District, CA] – This month’s acting blog from Fran Montano of Actors Workout Studio focuses on “Oscar Comments.”
Each year after the Oscars, I devote time in my classes to give each actor a moment to debrief their experience of the Oscars. Like it or not, the Oscars are a big part of our industry, and we are a part of it. Often, issues come up for actors like jealousy, envy, inspiration, bitterness, feelings of failure, missing out, hope, failure, as well as no interest or no energy at all. I like to provide a space for actors to discuss and process their thoughts and issues.
The one thing I love about my students and most actors is their commitment to growing in their humanity and striving to be the best version of themselves in their artistic and personal lives.
I found the following post to be a great example. Thank you, Travis Michael Holder, for this. It is an inspiration and tribute to the passion and commitment of artists. You said it so much better than I could, so I copy your post here for my readers.
Post from Travis Michael Holder
From Austin Hudson:
Brendan Fraser was told his looks were fading as a Hollywood hunk. He was a medical liability on-set. He was just a late 90s matinee idol. A fluff performer with a handsome face and little skill. Tonight he took home Best Actor.
Jamie Lee Curtis was a ‘final girl’. A genre actress. Specialized in low budget trash, wasting her Hollywood royalty pedigree. Tonight she took home Best Supporting Actress.
Ke Huy Quan was a child actor. As he fell further into puberty, his roles dried up. He was the little Asian dork from those 80s movies, not a serious actor. He went 20 years without being cast because nobody thought he had talent. Tonight he took home Best Supporting Actor.
Michelle Yeoh was a Bond Girl whose looks were changing as she got older. An action star past her prime. Not ‘lead role’ material in Hollywood. Too old. Too unbankable. Too ‘Asian’ to carry a movie. Tonight she took home Best Actress.
Sarah Polley was a high school drop-out who was living on her own at the age of 15. She worked as an actress and writer during the day, and an activist by night. She was dropped by Disney for wearing an anti-war pin to an awards show, and a few years later, had her two front teeth smashed out by a riot cop during a protest over the Canadian conservative government. She wrote tonight’s Best Adapted Screenplay.
There are a million barriers in life. Good guys don’t always win. Underdogs don’t always win.
But some nights they do.
Cheers to the underdogs.
Till next year’s Oscars. All the best.
Fran Montano