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    Tony Amendola in the News

    From Backstage Pass:

    http://www.backstage.com/backstage/f..._id=1000618950

    Features West August 25, 2004

    Waiting for the Take
    By Jean Schiffman


    It's an existential thing--sort of like waiting for Godot. That's the way TV/film/stage veteran Tony Amendola describes one of the actor's main tasks on a set. The difference is, the scene will eventually be shot, although, after you've waited five, 10, even 20 hours, you may no longer believe it. Learning to use that downtime profitably while sustaining energy and focus can be a challenge. I talked to several pros to find out how they and their colleagues do it.

    Whether sequestered in their trailers for an hour or an entire day, or waiting on the set presumably briefly between takes, actors knit, do crossword puzzles, walk in circles, stretch, do vocal exercises, play cards, read, write, run lines, work on dialects, chat on the phone, nap, and listen to music. New York actor Deirdre O'Connell pays her bills and draws, bringing along her art supplies. Another actor reported seeing a trampoline set up outside Jim Carrey's trailer, and an entire gym at Robert Duvall's.

    Listening to music on earphones is helpful in two ways: You can choose music that will enhance your performance, and those headsets clearly and politely signal that you're not up to socializing. Scott Paulin, for one, has an iPod and builds selections that he titles according to the project he's working on. For example, for a Twilight Zone episode he listened to Peter Gabriel's "Rhythm of the Heat," which is "dark and apocalyptic but has a drive to it.... It was well suited to my character, a Vietnam vet who was lonely and living on the road," he says. And for a recent NBC pilot, playing a former hippie-turned-CEO of a big corporation, Paulin listened to Delaney and Bonnie's "Soul Shake." "That made me want to dance," he says. "It made me smile and feel bigger than life." Wendy Braun, playing a Southerner, listened to country music between takes. Suzanne Voss discovered that the Gypsy Kings work if she needs to be internally agitated or passionate; for sadness, she chooses something such as Cris Williamson. It all depends on the role.

    Two tempting between-takes activities can be potentially counterproductive: socializing and noshing. O'Connell had to wait five or six hours before shooting a crucial scene in Peter Weir's Fearless, a scene in which she's told her husband is dead. She spent the time wandering around the apartment set. In general, she says, "People want to socialize, so you usually have to protect yourself." A Walkman is a surefire way to withdraw.

    The socializing can be seductive, though, especially when there are old friends on the set. You have to know when it's not going to work for you. Lisa Pelikan observes, "If I don't socialize, people think I'm rude, and that's been a struggle for me over the years. I try to at least get out and say hi to everybody and then go back to my trailer. People probably think I'm very quiet and introverted, which I am. I don't know how they do it--playing games, talking." Paulin says he can socialize in situations where he's comfortable with the emotional through line of the piece and not worried about the next setup. But in scenes requiring emotional vulnerability, he retreats deep into the music, pulling his hat down covering his face. Voss says if she knows there are hours ahead, she'll socialize, but if she thinks another take or scene are coming up soon, she withdraws into her own bubble.

    Braun socializes but is careful to steer clear of negative gossip. For one thing, she says, you don't know who's related to whom; that P.A. could be somebody's niece, and gossip spreads like wildfire through walkie-talkies. Besides, negativity on the set is a downer. Amendola often puts socializing to good use: He hobnobs with the actors in his scenes, creating a scenario for family, close friendship, or romance. "If you're smart, you try to spend a little time with them and find out what they'll be bringing to the table," he says.

    As for grazing at craft services: Paulin recalls, early in his career, getting a call from his agent telling him that he'd landed a job in New Orleans. Paulin's response: "Great! Free food!" That's just how broke he was at the time. His agent's dry reply: "Scott, try to think of it as more than free food--think of it as a career opportunity." Paulin quickly discovered that two breakfast burritos made his early takes "much less enthusiastic than I thought they were going to be." Now, he limits himself to veggies on the set.

    Others confess they eat way too much. Kathryn Howell says she likes to imagine that craft-service goodies are calorie-free because it's a movie and everything's make-believe. O'Connell still remembers the green-apple-and-caramel-flavored lollipops on one set. "All that fat and sugar is so yummy," sighs Pelikan. "You end up going there for energy, a quick pick-me-up." But Voss eats very little, as she finds it dulls her senses and obstructs her emotions.

    Reading works for some people; others find it takes them too far into another world. On the set, the only books Paulin can read are mysteries. Raymond Chandler is a favorite. "I bet if you do a study you'd find mysteries induce the most tranquil mind waves," he theorizes. "They're like a soft wave carrying me into shore." Pelikan brings books along but never reads them. "I'm one of those terrible actors who want to stay in character," she says, laughing. Amendola reads, but it's often research for the role. Playing a graphologist on CSI, he browsed several books about graphology. Another time, playing a judge on Judging Amy who was trying a case about the Munchausen syndrome, he printed out studies from the Internet and brought them along to peruse.

    Watching the scenes that are shooting can be useful, especially if, such as Pelikan, you're interested in directing. Pelikan sometimes hangs out with the crew and asks as many questions as they'll tolerate. Some actors enjoy watching other actors' process while filming.

    Of course there are times when the waiting between takes is downright uncomfortable, and you just have to suffer through it. Howell was once stuck in a non-air-conditioned airplane. It was 104 degrees on the tarmac, and she was wearing a polyester dress and panty hose. Between shots she stood listlessly in front of a pump that was blowing in air. O'Connell says the hardest thing is to wait when it's cold. She gets physically tense, which is just what you don't want before acting. Pelikan, shooting Return to the Blue Lagoon on a deserted island with no trailers, huddled under a mosquito-ridden lean-to between takes, mostly in the pouring rain. The shoot lasted three months. She strived to maintain a meditative state.

    Sometimes wonderful things can happen between takes. Paulin remembers sitting around on the set listening to the late John Ritter tell stories about working with Milton Berle and Jack Benny, or about his own father [Tex Ritter]. "He'd make people laugh and feel comfortable, the way a mother telling a bedtime story makes a child feel comfortable," recalls Paulin. "When the director said, 'Folks, we're ready,' it was like no time had passed between when you'd stopped and when you were starting again. John took away that piece of time. His stories were never anything mean-spirited or mood-changing, but they'd make you feel bound together, a member of a company."

    Braun, looking for creative ways to pass the time, started painting silk flowers with glitter glue. "People liked them and wanted to buy them off my head," she says. So she turned her pastime into a cottage industry, distributing them to several stores. Every "goddess blossom" comes with a little spiritual message about embracing the goddess within. Braun gives some of the proceeds to Facing Forward, a charity that helps children born with birth defects to get reconstructive surgery--a significant choice for someone working in an industry that's all about personal appearance.

    "What started out to be filling time between takes has blossomed into this wonderful spiritual venture for me," says Braun. "It's a way of giving back, and channeling my creative side helps my acting." You can order her flowers at www.wendybraun.com. She adds, "As actors, we have so much creativity that we don't tap into because we're so worried about getting the next job. When you're too focused on one thing, there's a desperation." She's convinced that if you relax and open yourself up to your creative urges, good things happen.

    Amendola points out that as the old saying goes, actors are paid for looking for the job and for waiting between takes. The acting is free, because we love to do that. "Learning to deal with the time is part of the job," Amendola concludes

    |*|(*)|*|(*)|*|

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