Tuesday 30 June 2015

Jurassic World

I've just watched Jurassic World. I didn't enjoy it. My expectations were to see some dinosaurs and hear the Jurassic Park theme tune again and, yeah, we hit that expectation pretty well. The thing for me that just kept making me feel that little bit more annoyed was the amount of stereotypes. The predictability of the plot, I guess, was always going to be clear but did the film have to hit these stereotypes so hard on? I don't want this to sound like a film review because the thought that lingered in my mind through the film was that, for an actor watching, is this what I'm aiming for? Am I working so hard to be that lucky person to finally hit the big time to play a character seen so many times before to say terrible lines? If I'm a young kid wanting to be an actor and seeing this film as the highest of the high then I'd think I don't have to really do all that much acting. I just have to get good at saying cheesy lines and looking good when they say action. I summed it up in my head as a classic bullshit blockbuster. It in no way deserved it's billion dollars. It also made me think if, as actors, we have a right to be unhappy with who we are playing and what lines we're given. If we have a case to be unhappy with filmmakers giving us one dimensional characters and shitty lines. Is it the filmmakers responsibility to not only make a great film but also test the actors ability with a really brilliant deep character and natural sounding lines? It pissed me off.

It also made me think about what kind of actor I want to be. My love of acting started with heartfelt moments in genuine feeling stories where you felt it as much as the character on the screen was. You were right there with them and tonight really uninspired me. I choose a great role over a great price any time. I'm not here to sell out. I'm not here to sprint to the top and burn out straight after. I want to play characters that people will fall for, love, cry for, and be there for every emotion they go through. Jurassic World did nothing. I felt like it was out to tick enough boxes to make a decent movie and the title and history of the films would carry it the rest of the way to big money. I'd be perfectly happy indie filmmaking on no budget with a story that will excite and characters that people will love rather than just painting the audience bland. You were an important watch Jurassic World. I hope I never fall to the hands of a predictability ridden film like you.

Friday 12 June 2015

I Turned 26

So here I am walking home from London Bridge because the weather is brilliant. It's an hour and a half walk but screw using a stuffy tube for half an hour. And I'm thinking to myself what if luck is saying fuck waiting until 30 for your break to come. This is the start of something now. The tilt into more jobs starts here. I've been shortlisted for a feature film, doing another TV advert next week as well as auditioning for an Irish TV advert and waiting to hear back from another advert that will see me travel to Greece to film. What if the break came now? What if I decided not to be sensible and think that this is it. I'm going to start getting famous right now. If I dare myself to relax into the notion that every job I go for is mine I wonder if people will see a change. A successful man has walked into your room whether you give him this job or not.

Confidence is everything. Without it I move back to Bournemouth thinking it was worth a try but we always knew we'd end up back here. With it I'm a focused determined success and people will know that from how I carry myself. One of my heroes is short of confidence at the moment and I can see how much of a difference it makes. The stamina of my determination is always tested but hasn't made a dent yet. I'm a really fucking good actor and I deserve to be getting better jobs. People shouldn't confuse arrogance with determination because whether anyone else does or not I believe in myself wholeheartedly. And if I lose confidence along the way I will need people there to remind me of who I am and how hard I can fight to be a success. One of my best friends once said to me "in my eyes you're already a success because you said you'd move to London and you're there doing it right now" and that made me think no matter what I've had the bravery to do it. But I'm a perfectionist and I demand to not leave London until I've made it. It's crazy what a difference I feel turning 26 in growing up and being more focused. I hope and have faith when I turn 27 I'll still be in London fighting.