thank u! It definitely took some convincing to my dad that I didn't want to go to business school. But now they're definitely encouraging of my career. And to learn stagecraft I would say any solid theatre program will help you form a base, I got my BFA in acting from The University of Michigan, and couldn't recommend it enough. But there are tons of options out there. And to your last question, I would definitely encourage anyone who has an interest in acting to give it a shot, whether that's professionally or just getting involved in community projects, it's fun to create!
I'm primarily an actor in LA, but recently went behind the camera to make my first short film "Kodar: The Primordial God of Light and Ether", starring Maddie Ziegler. Ask me anything!
I think a lot of people would be shocked by the amount of "name" actors who still audition for roles. I'm not yet a "name" but have some friends who might be considered one, and they still have to grind and audition for pretty much any decent script/project that's put in front of them. Unless you really break into that top one percent of celebrity status, you're always fighting for the next job. Which is also why a lot of actors have started to make their own content, kind of flipping the power dynamics and giving yourself more control in your career as opposed to waiting for the phone to ring.
To be honest, I remember watching Toby Maguire's Spiderman when I was like 10 years old and then leaving the theater to go play a little league game and I felt like I was on top of the world and was literally a super hero myself lol. And Toby's Spiderman was such an average Joe of a dude that I felt like being in a movie like that felt more accessible. Since then I've had many more "cinefile" type movies that have inspired me (The Duplass Brothers, Tarantino, Wes Anderson, Nolan), but it was probably that Spiderman that set the wheels in motion.
Filmmakers: Spielberg, Scorsese, Gerwig, Nolan, Cameron, Cohen, Fincher (I also think the Duplass Brothers are always influencing the indie scene, they just produced the first entirely independent full television series that they managed to sell to Netflix for distribution)
Actors: It's always changing but my friends and I have a theory that the only actor in the world who isn't jealous of other actor's careers or worried about someone else getting the offer is Leo
For actors I think some of you may already know him but I did a movie with Lewis Pullman and I think he could (or might already be) the next big leading man. For filmmakers, Cooper Raiff (who's already had a lot of success) in my opinion could be winning Oscars one day.
I don't think I necessarily prefer one to the other, my ideal world would be directing and acting in the film a la Ben Affleck. I think it's much harder to get a movie off the ground and make something as opposed to just be a hired gun as an actor, so it's hard to compare. It's definitely an adrenaline rush when your'e directing a whole crew and cast and responsible for the whole day as opposed to just your scenes.
To help future acting roles I'd probably say learning to not take a director's notes as a sign that you're necessarily doing something "wrong" and rather they just want a different option in the editing room for flexibility. For instance Peter Farrelly would have you do a line like 20 different ways all in a row, but that wasn't because I was doing the line bad, he just wants the flexibility to have it different ways in the editing room to match thew tone of whatever the final edit ends up being. So basically as an actor, go easy on yourself.
If I could do it all over, I would work on the transition between Maddie finding out she has cancer into the cosplay with Kodar. That has been our main note, is that some people don't buy that this girl who just found out such devastating news would then be so flippant about playing into the cosplay with Kodar. I imagined it that she needed to do it as a way of coping with the bad news, but maybe it doesn't read clearly. So probably would go back into the script and figure out how to land that smoother.
Probably not, we've floated the idea of expanding it into a feature, but not sure how that would look yet. Right now just focused on writing and developing other material!
I’d say it’s the same amount of nepotism as pretty much any other industry. If you know someone or are related to someone important, you’re afforded more access and opportunity earlier in your career. But even still, if you have that advantage, you still gotta show up and do good work!
Most film sets don’t require tests or masks from my experience at the moment, but as recent as a few months ago they did. I shot Greatest Beer Run Ever during the thick of COVID and had to do a mandatory quarantine in Thailand in my hotel room for two weeks before being allowed to work (and then required to test every day and wear masks).
For Kodar we left it up to the individual, we encouraged to wear masks but didn’t mandate it.
Acting wise shooting a pilot in Canada, have a couple films coming out in the fall. Writing/directing wise I’ve optioned a script called “Coffin Club” about a group of elderly people who build coffins in preparation for their death as a means of coming to terms with mortality (it sounds depressing but I swear it’s a dramedy). Trying to get financing for that, and also writing my own feature that still needs some time!
Yeah so since the script was only ten pages it was written over the course of a day or so. But then revisions for a few weeks after that. Then pre-production, raising money, casting, hiring ur crew, that all takes at least a couple months. Then the shoot was only two days. And then about 6 month in post production editing, and then a few months trying to figure out how to release it! So all in, about a year and change.
Well thank you! That’s where my mind was when I made it, and I think I still believe that to be authentic. It’s just hard when you get the same note a bunch of times you start to think it’s correct
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Hi I'm Will Ropp! Ask me anything! ( youtu.be )
I'm primarily an actor in LA, but recently went behind the camera to make my first short film "Kodar: The Primordial God of Light and Ether", starring Maddie Ziegler. Ask me anything!
Maddie Ziegler stars in new dark comedy, I directed and wrote! ( www.youtube.com )
Would love to hear all's thoughts!
Maddie Ziegler stars in Dark Comedy Short Film ( www.youtube.com )
For all those that enjoy a good dark comedy!
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