Search Results for '"doubt'

More Momentum

Published
by
david chiu
on Tuesday February 28, 2006
· Filed under: On Stage
.

On Sunday my acting coach told my partner and I that we were done with our scene. That’s not to say that we performed the scene perfectly, but more of that we demonstrated that we understood the scene and the characters and were able to present a believable interpretation of the scene. I know for myself, I would still need a lot of work to add in a believable Bronx accent (I left out the accent on Sunday’s performance) and I would also like to add the little nuances that would make my character slightly creepy and introduce doubt to the audience (only makes sense since the play is called Doubt). But ultimately my coach was happy because he could see me become more grounded and connected in each moment. I wasn’t trying to “act”. He said that right now their goal with me is to really ground me as an actor and help me exude more confidence as a leading man.

Last Sunday I appeared on the show Restoration Realities with my wife. It’s a show about restoring old houses and in the show the two hosts walk us through a couple of projects. That was fun and we got a new screen door too.

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“Daybreak” !

Published
by
david chiu
on Tuesday February 21, 2006
· Filed under: Acting, Auditions, On Stage
.

Another apropos project title for my life at this moment.

I just received notice of a last minute theatrical audition for TONIGHT. It’s a recurring guest spot on the show - which I think is a new action/drama pilot. This is the kind of opportunity I’ve been waiting for. No pressure of course. There’s 5 pages of sides for the audition and this is just a pre-read with the casting director. This is where the training kicks in. I need to break down the sides, make some choices and plan out my actions. At the very least I need to show the casting director what I have to offer as an actor - even if it might not be right for the part. This is a pretty big casting agency so if I can impress them they will remember me for future projects.

I feel pretty good momentum with my acting this week. On Sunday, since my scene partner was not in class, I performed Vin Diesel’s monologue from Boiler Room. I received a very positive critique from my acting coach who was impressed that I was able to memorize that amount of text within two days. One of his few criticisms was that, as a person, I have an essence of culture and refine-ness and no matter how tough or how harsh I act, even though I’m able to pull it off, you can still see that essence of culture and refine-ness. He said that after working with me for a year, he sees me more as an Asian Pierce Brosnan than some street-tough guy I’m always trying to portray. Personally I never would have thought that. But after telling H, she agreed. I guess I’ve been really fighting against my “true self” trying to be something I’m not as a result of my insecurities. In the past I found strength in trying to be “hard”, cold and indifferent. Now I’m finding out that I will find true strength in letting go of and just being myself.

I just find it so ironic that for months I’ve been working on a play called “Doubt” and now that I have been working on my own personal feelings of doubt I now have an audition for a show called “Daybreak”.

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Breakthrough!

Published
by
david chiu
on Monday January 23, 2006
· Filed under: Acting
.

I had a breakthrough in class on Sunday. I was on stage and I felt no pressure to “perform” I just played the scene moment by moment. I felt more relaxed and natural than I have in a long time. I think it helped that before class Lisa told us that we should never try to please a casting director, teacher, etc. She said “F*ck them”. Do it for yourself, not to please anyone else. Do the work because you love it, because this work is your art.

Of course we still have some work to do on the scene. But I feel really good about the progress we’ve made. I’ve also really come to appreciate the brilliance of the play - DOUBT. I feel lucky that I was assigned such a great piece of work. Lisa has artistic reasons why certain pieces are assigned to actors - she is trying to mold us all, stretch us and help us grow artistically. I don’t know what specific reason I was given this play but I am thankful that I have the opportunity to really work on it.

On another note, I had this crazy idea and posted myself on Ebay…

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Breakthrough!

Published
by
david chiu
on Monday January 23, 2006
· Filed under: On Stage
.

I had a breakthrough in class on Sunday. I was on stage and I felt no pressure to “perform” I just played the scene moment by moment. I felt more relaxed and natural than I have in a long time. I think it helped that before class Lisa told us that we should never try to please a casting director, teacher, etc. She said “F*ck them”. Do it for yourself, not to please anyone else. Do the work because you love it, because this work is your art.

Of course we still have some work to do on the scene. But I feel really good about the progress we’ve made. I’ve also really come to appreicate the brilliance of the play - DOUBT. I feel lucky that I was assigned such a great piece of work. Lisa has artistic reasons why certain pieces are assigned to actors - she is trying to mold us all, stretch us and help us grow artistically. I don’t know what specific reason I was given this play but I am thankful that I have the opportunity to really work on it.

On another note, I had this crazy idea and posted myself on Ebay…

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DOUBT = Stage Meltdown

Published
by
david chiu
on Sunday January 8, 2006
· Filed under: On Stage
.

After three hours of rehearsal today and days of trying to do a Bronx accent for the play DOUBT, the culmination was me having a meltdown on stage with sweat dripping off my face. I tried to work past my anxiety but it was too late. I had to stop the scene. I felt like I had failed. I had spent two months working on self confidence and tonight served as a little test to see how much confidence I had gained. None. Although I did feel more confident just being myself on stage during my critique. The anxiety arose from several things: the fact I was trying a heavy Bronx accent which I knew needed a lot of work, the fact that I didn’t do all of the steps to prepare the scene like I have been taught in the two year program, the fact that my teacher from my second year taught tonight, the fact that the scene felt awkward from the moment I opened my mouth on stage. It all contributed to my self doubt and anxiety. As my wife told me tonight, I need to have the confidence and charm on-stage that I do when I go for job interviews. I don’t put much into job interviews since to me it’s “just a job” which I can easily get anywhere else. I’m relaxed, at ease, confident (on the verge of being cocky) and very sure of myself. I don’t worry what the interviewers think of me. That’s how I need to be on stage. Tom said tonight that people like Russel Crowe are stars because they ooze confidence. They believe in themselves and the characters they are playing and they don’t care what other people think. They just are. So I still need to learn to be onstage and just “be”.

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DOUBT = Stage Meltdown

Published
by
david chiu
on Sunday January 8, 2006
· Filed under: Acting, Life
.

After three hours of rehearsal today and days of trying to do a Bronx accent for the play DOUBT, the culmination was me having a meltdown on stage with sweat dripping off my face. I tried to work past my anxiety but it was too late. I had to stop the scene. I felt like I had failed. I had spent two months working on self confidence and tonight served as a little test to see how much confidence I had gained. None. Although I did feel more confident just being myself on stage during my critique. The anxiety arose from several things: the fact I was trying a heavy Bronx accent which I knew needed a lot of work, the fact that I didn’t do all of the steps to prepare the scene like I have been taught in the two year program, the fact that my teacher from my second year taught tonight, the fact that the scene felt awkward from the moment I opened my mouth on stage. It all contributed to my self doubt and anxiety. As my wife told me tonight, I need to have the confidence and charm on-stage that I do when I go for job interviews. I don’t put much into job interviews since to me it’s “just a job” which I can easily get anywhere else. I’m relaxed, at ease, confident (on the verge of being cocky) and very sure of myself. I don’t worry what the interviewers think of me. That’s how I need to be on stage. Tom said tonight that people like Russel Crowe are stars because they ooze confidence. They believe in themselves and the characters they are playing and they don’t care what other people think. They just are. So I still need to learn to be onstage and just “be”.

1 Comment

First Doubt in 2006

Published
by
david chiu
on Friday January 6, 2006
· Filed under: Acting
.

I think it’s so ironic that I was assigned scenes from the play “Doubt” to work on for class. I first started working on the pivotal scene between Father Flynn and Sister Aloysious a few months ago but then stopped going to class for financial reasons.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t all that excited on working on the play. The material made me a little uncomfortable and it would be a real stretch for me to play a priest in the 50’s with a Bronx accent. But that was the point - to stretch me artistically as an actor. So now it’s 2006 and my beautiful wife has signed me up for scene study class as part of my Christmas present. Yesterday I was told that Lisa (my acting coach) still wanted me to work on scenes from the play so I’ve now been paired up with a different actress to work on the scene between Father Flynn and Sister James. I was also told that Lisa wants to see the scene “on it’s feet” (memorized with blocking) this Sunday. A 5-page scene memorized, blocked and with accents prepared in 3 days - no pressure right? Luckily I found the Doubt website along with some video previews. I gained so much more insight on the play and the characters by just watching the 2 minute clip. It also really helped inform me of how the Bronx accent should sound.

So I have blocked off a couple hours on Sunday before class to rehearse with my new partner. This will be a good test to see how much more confidence I have gained as an actor after studying materials on self confidence.

0 Comments

First Doubt in 2006

Published
by
david chiu
on Friday January 6, 2006
· Filed under: Acting
.

I think it’s so ironic that I was assigned scenes from the play “Doubt” to work on for class. I first started working on the pivotal scene between Father Flynn and Sister Aloysious a few months ago but then stopped going to class for financial reasons.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t all that excited on working on the play. The material made me a little uncomfortable and it would be a real stretch for me to play a priest in the 50’s with a Bronx accent. But that was the point - to stretch me artistically as an actor. So now it’s 2006 and my beautiful wife has signed me up for scene study class as part of my Christmas present. Yesterday I was told that Lisa (my acting coach) still wanted me to work on scenes from the play so I’ve now been paired up with a different actress to work on the scene between Father Flynn and Sister James. I was also told that Lisa wants to see the scene “on it’s feet” (memorized with blocking) this Sunday. A 5-page scene memorized, blocked and with accents prepared in 3 days - no pressure right? Luckily I found the Doubt website along with some video previews. I gained so much more insight on the play and the characters by just watching the 2 minute clip. It also really helped inform me of how the Bronx accent should sound.

So I have blocked off a couple hours on Sunday before class to rehearse with my new partner. This will be a good test to see how much more confidence I have gained as an actor after studying materials on self confidence.

0 Comments

It’s Working

Published
by
david chiu
on Monday December 5, 2005
· Filed under: Fitness, Life, Nutrition
.

I think it’s working. I’ve been following some of Anthony Robbins suggestions and have been spending time every morning being thankful for everything I have going for me right now, plus I’ve also done the mirror exercises, reassuring myself of who I am, all the positive attributes I do have and what I have to offer to the world. It reminded me of a scene in “Cool Runnings” where one of the stronger characters forces his teammate to look at himself in the mirror and say “I see strength, I see power, I see a bad mother f*cker who won’t take no for an answer”. I also tried anchoring feelings of confidence by remembering those times and events in my life where I was full of confidence - even cocky. I then anchored it to a physical stimulus. But later I realized that just thinking about triggering the anchored feelings triggered the feelings without having to use the physical trigger. I also started reading up on the Sedona Method which teaches people to release negative emotions. I think this is a very important component in gaining self confidence and if I’m able to release the negative thoughts and emotions related to self-doubt, I will definitely have confidence.

On a different note, I decided to try eating a handful of raisins with some gatorade before my workout tonight. It definitely did the trick! I had great energy and motivation to push myself pretty hard.

today’s nutrition
breakfast: 1 cup of raw colostrum berry kefir, apple pie Lara bar

lunch: balance bar

snack: cherry pie Lara bar
pre-workout: raisins, gator aid
dinner: wheat penne with pasta sauce, bread, matcha green tea, Alive! multi-vitamins, wild salmon oil


today’s workout
approx 4 hours of NEAT
hammer incline: 2×25lbs/12, 2×35lbs/10, 2×45lbs/8, 2×55lbs/6, 2×55lbs/4 (explosive moves)
bench: 2×25lbs/10, 2×35lbs/8, 2×50lbs/6, 2×50lbs/4
incline bench: 2×25lbs/10, 2×35lbs/8, 2×35lbs/6
dips: 10reps
pec deck: 60lbs/12, 80lbs/12, 100lbs/10, 120lbs/8, 140lbs/6

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The first step towards the positive

Published
by
david chiu
on Tuesday November 1, 2005
· Filed under: Life
.

“Everything in life happens for a reason.”

I definitely believe this. Even more so tonight as I put down my notebook on the coffee table next to the play “Doubt“. This was the play that was assigned to me in my scene study class and that I have been working on for three weeks now. How appropriate this all seems now that my last major critique was that I doubt myself and my abilities and therefore am preventing myself from living truthfully on stage. So on my continuing quest for self worth and self confidence, today I started listening to “Get the Edge” by Anthony Robbins. I’ve never listened to him before but I’m familiar with his work through his appearances on other shows on TV. Honestly I was skeptical at first but after listening for 10 minutes I realized that this guy really knows what he’s talking about. It’s not all smoke and mirrors or hype. There is a very positive message with practical suggestions presented in a very down to earth way. The “Get the Edge” series is actually a 7 day program and today I finished listening to the first day of the program. Here are my notes:

• If you only live up to what is expected of you, you won’t live an extraordinary life.

• Where do you spend most of your time emotionally?
   If I’m honest with myself, I would say I spend most of my emotional life being dissatisfied and frustrated.

• Emotion is created by motion. The way you walk, talk and gesture dictates your emations and psychology.

• If you want to chang your emotions and psychology, change your motions. Learn to use and master your body. Move, breathe, gesture differently. Create dynamic movement.

• We spend most of our lives in a box. We live in a box. We wake up and get in a box to go to work where we spend all day sitting in front of a box (the computer) in a box (an office or cubilce) contained by a bigger box. When we leave work we go back to a box where we sit in front of another box (the TV) then go to sleep and repeat. IT”S TIME TO BREAK OUT OF THE BOX.

• Don’t “should” all over yourself (I should exercise, I should eat better). Just do.

• There is no “trying”. You either do or you don’t do.

• Wake up every morning and spend the first hour doing the following:
  •Get up and start walking, jogging, etc.
  •Spend 10 minutes being thankful for everything you have.
  •Spend 10 minutes meditating and breating 10/40/20
  •Visualize obtaining goals and focus on your wants.
  •Exercise at 70% effort while reciting incantations outloud
  •Celebrate future successes

• Capture a “magic moment” everyday.

• Success begets success / happiness begets happiness

• Life IS beutiful. Take the time to notice it.

• Live with passion today and everyday.

These notes are so perfect for personal growth and growth as an actor. I’m so glad I’ve found the tools to help me become a better artist and person.

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