Back To One

The Brooklyn-based actor Anastasia Olowin stars in Shaun Seneviratne’s “Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts,” which just had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. She has such a command of the screen and brings so much life to her character, it’s hard to believe this is her first feature film. On this episode, she takes us back to her training at NYU’s Experimental Theater Wing, her 8 years producing and acting in new work for the stage, and the 10 year journey to bring “Ben and Suzanne” to the screen. She talks about the collaborative process at the heart of the production, her fascination with various kinds of stories, what it means to be a “how” not “why” actor, and much more.

Back To One is the in-depth, no-nonsense, actors-on-acting podcast from Filmmaker Magazine. In each episode, host Peter Rinaldi invites one working actor to do a deep dive into their unique process, psychology, and approach to the craft.

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As a working actor, Ryan Czerwonko’s credits include “The Endgame,” “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire,” “Cherry,” “Paint,” and “Watchmen,” to name a few. He’s also the artistic director of Adult Film, an exciting Brooklyn theater and film group where he acts, directs, and teaches. His latest project is a year-long exploration of Chekhov’s “Sea Gull” that will culminate in a limited engagement in Manhattan in May and a documentary on the whole process. On this episode, he explains why Chekhov is so important to him and what he set out to do with this ambitious endeavor. He gives us a deep dive into his very specific preparation process and takes us through the various techniques and approaches he has collected and adapted for his own use and combined into a curriculum for his students. He uses his recent time on the set of a movie as an example of being in the present moment and using your current thoughts and feelings as the driving force of your work, which is a major tenet of his approach. He explains why Stella Adler and Nikos Psacharopoulos are so influential to him, why tension is good, “acting” is bad, how he learned to stop worrying and focus on the work, and much much more.

"Sea Gull" Info and Tickets

Back To One is the in-depth, no-nonsense, actors-on-acting podcast from Filmmaker Magazine. In each episode, host Peter Rinaldi invites one working actor to do a deep dive into their unique process, psychology, and approach to the craft.

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(Photo by Matt Street)

His work in series like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “13 Reasons Why,” and “This Is Us,” has established Brandon Scott as a captivatingly talented actor. His latest is the new MAX series “The Girls on the Bus,” where he plays the jilted ex-lover of Melissa Benoist’s journalist character, who now needs his help because he's the new press secretary to the leading Presidential candidate. He talks about the process of building connection between two people that are supposed to have a past, and how sometimes that can be done in simple ways. He describes the impact Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini had on developing his sense of play while shooting “Dead To Me,” explains why directors showing “collaborative curiosity” is so helpful, why his process starts with stress and fear, plus much more!

Back To One is the in-depth, no-nonsense, actors-on-acting podcast from Filmmaker Magazine. In each episode, host Peter Rinaldi invites one working actor to do a deep dive into their unique process, psychology, and approach to the craft.

Follow Back To One on Instagram

Cooper Raiff is the writer, director, producer, editor and star of one of my favorite films of the year, “Shithouse,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the SXSW Film Festival this year. The 23 year old has filmmaking instincts and a sophisticated perception of people, and himself, that belies his years. In this episode, he tells a miraculous story of getting Jay Duplass to watch his short film, and how he became instrumental in getting "Shithouse" made. He talks extensively about his time at the Dallas Young Actors Studio and how that foundational work instilled him with the tools he needs to tell his story on both sides of the camera. Plus why it was important for him to inject a specific kind of love, comfort, and caring into the film, the brilliance of his co-star Dylan Gelula, why he’s not afraid of losing his voice in the film business, and lots more. ("Shithouse" opens Friday October 16th)

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For one year now on this podcast, I have talked to dozens and dozens of actors about their approach to the craft of acting. There are few living non-actor directors whose thoughts on this subject I feel would be worthy for this archive. Mike Leigh is on the top of that list.

Listening to actors talk about their working experiences has made me think of an analogy. They are like fish people, showing up on a set expecting some water to work in but mostly finding dry land everywhere, and, for the most part, having to supply the water themselves. Taking this perhaps odd analogy a little further— when these fish people act for Mike Leigh, it is like working completely submerged in a safe, life-size aquarium with constant fresh water pumping in.

He starts without a script. The actors build their characters from scratch in collaboration with Leigh, using someone (or a composite of many people) in the actor’s life as a foundation. They then move and “be” that character privately in the presence of Leigh alone before getting together with the other cast members for long improvisations, durning which Leigh “distills” the story into what he wants to shoot. This goes on for many weeks before shooting begins. When it does, the actors have already not only built an entire backstory for their characters and lived as them, but they’ve also worked out creatively and practically everything they’ll be shooting. It is the most organic and actor-centric process in the history of filmmaking.

There are many reasons why movies are mostly not made like this. Firstly, the amount of money spent on non-shooting days makes no sense to producers and money people. Therefore it’s hard to put this kind of thing into a budget. But also, many actors who are not familiar with this approach have misconceptions about the process and are resistant to the idea of not having a script, which they take as lack of control. But I believe examining Mike Leigh’s process will shed light on what works best even for actors working on “normal” film projects. Then, at least some of these aspects, even truncated versions, can be applied to any director’s process to yield better results and happier actors. Even actors working without aid from a director can manifest the phantom guidance of Mike Leigh and benefit greatly in any project.

In this woefully brief half hour, Leigh talks about a few aspects of his work that should act as a starting point in understanding his unique process, and also points out certain procedures in the mainstream of the craft that might ring as counterproductive when seen through Leigh’s lens.

The proof is in the pudding as they say. When films like “Naked,” “Life is Sweet,” “Vera Drake,” “Meantime,” “Another Year,” “Secrets and Lies,” “Happy-Go-Lucky” (to names just a few) contain, consistently, the great performances of our time, it leads one to believe that maybe this guy might be onto something.