Acting Inspired

The final sunset, the final thoughts. Groundlings, Kae Alexander, Friends, Surfing, Sea, Nature... Everything gets a mention in this one! The Last ep, recorded in LA :( Back to London Town! Where I will sleep and then chat to Kae about her whole experience!  ENJOY!

Went surfing and chilled with some cool peoples!  It has been a week of goodbyes and lots of love has been flying around!  Its been amazing and now we are nearly ready to head back.  Kae has one last meeting on Monday before the rush of heading back, so its not quite over for her.  Two more LA pods and then the trip is over and we will evaluate properly when we return! For now enjoy me talking rubbish... the seriousness is coming I promise. ENJOY!

I took Kae to the airport and said fair well for now! Went surfing in Malibu and shot straight back for my final class! I did not pass! (more to come on this later... after a think.) After finding out our results, we went to the pub for a bevy and I pressed play on me recording thingy. ENJOY!

Kae had her two final meetings of the trip and ended in the place she started at Universal Studios.  We experienced the worst traffic yet, making us very nearly late for the first time! When we got home this evening we were greeted with a cabaret to say goodbye from our flat mate and his buddy Emily, they sang, the danced, they speached? It was one of the nicest things in the world and made us realise that not only have we done all the meetings and adventures into California but we have also made an amazing base of friends out here in LA who we will never forget.  You will meet so many people out here and befriend folks doing all sorts and from all over so theres another perk for ya! ENJOY!

I go surfing, Im gunna get as much of this in as I can from now until the end... of time! Kae gets an audition and general meeting for tomorrow and find out the play she did at regents park last year has been nominated for an Olivier! I have my penultimate Groundlings class, which I now really want to pass as we come to the end of the term. We truly did get straight back into reality today and although sad about leaving, its an exciting thing to be coming back to the UK with these experiences behind us and a new adventure awaits! Big love to those of you checking this thang out... ENJOY!

This weekend we went to Big Sur and Santa Barbara. We drove down the open road along cliffs and through forests. We had some strange encounters, some lovely encounters and some culinary disasters!  We stayed with some full on hippies and some lovely chilled dudes who run a kids camp just like on Parent Trap!!! I will post photos and videos on to my website. www.actinginspired.com If you're out here and have a spare couple of days... DO THIS!!! ENJOY!

So we are off to Big Sur, as we leave this will be airing!  We are getting out of our heads and into some nature. We will be staying in tents and wood cabins along the Californian coast line to see what we can before coming back to lovely London!  We did have a brief chat about how we feel about the whole trip earlier today and I touch on this but will be doing a round up episode with Kae when we return.  Have a lovely weekend and try not to miss me too much! BIG LOVE... ENJOY!

I address my scatty-ness and try to figure out how to make a positive out of of a negative. Groundlings class goes back to being a little too relaxed for my liking. Kae and I plan a road trip to get us out of our heads and in to the beautiful nature around us before we cruise into our last week before heading back across the pond to London Town! ENJOY! 

Today I received a really lovely email from a great friend. It made me happy and sad and made me think for a minute about my situation here and at home and how we all feel shitty sometimes no matter what level of success we have within the industry.  Its another messy one, Im trying to work things out and be honest with myself and my thoughts. Its sounds like a kind of sad one but its really not. First of all I guess Im just tired, its pretty late! But also Im trying to work through my own mind, which is difficult on the best of days!  I come to the (sort of) conclusion that I need to decide HOW I want to work my way through this biz and that I also need to remember all of the other things in life that make me happy and do these things as much as possible to keep my self sane.  Have a listen and see if it makes any kind of sense to you, maybe im just tired and is all a load of waffle! HAHA! ENJOY!

I got excited and thought I was being all cool by doing todays episode on the way home in the car straight from the session. I apologise for a) my scatty thoughts, fresh from class, that had no time to settle. b) my terrible multi tasking. Which means theres some scattered thoughts about my class intertwined with a live commentary of my driving.  Just so you know, my phone/portable podcast device was on my steering wheel in front of me. We had a super aggressive no shit taking teacher as a sub for our regular teach who was away this week and I loved her. She really made me think about what it was we are trying to achieve and how we get to that. I think I needed shaking up and I felt I gained from her methods! ENJOY!

Today we beached the hell out with Kevin Shen... It was awesome we went to Malibu the surf was great for our (basic) needs, we caught some awesome waves and made some friends! Kae and I wandered around Santa Monica and really got into some holiday vibes!  We saw a great busker in Santa Monica and it reminded me of the class yesterday and connecting to text through song. We ended the evening with a beer and a bunch of shrimp @ The Shrimp Loves! Twas niiiice!  We had a great day, I hope you did too! ENJOY!

Today I went to what I thought was going to be an hour long masterclass on singing for Actors. It turned out to be a three and a half hour class that I couldn't leave because after the first dude was worked on and poured his heart out I wanted to see every one of them. Im still processing the class as it was a lot to take in, so tomorrow hopefully I will have digested it properly and give a more coherent idea of what I saw, but my initial response is that its as good a class as everyone says... and I realised I miss being in a full time artistic training. The chat with Ryan Stuart is also here and he is such a positive dude always following his heart and "just doin' it!" We were in the car on Venice beach, watching the Sun slowly fall into the Pacific Ocean where we had previously been getting smashed upon by Neptune's Wrath during our surf session. Ryan is a great dude and it was lovely to hear his story. ENJOY!

Kae had a hang over and I had a late lonesome night so we were tired and slow this morning! We got ourselves together and headed for the beach for a Brits in LA meet up... I was reluctant to do so and I try and work out why that might be! My insecurities pop up and I have to learn to cut it out! It was lovely to meet some new folk and catch up with some old mates. I ended up really enjoying volleyball and I think its a really good idea to meet up with a few people that you have a lot in common with. It opens opportunities and is a great way to make friends!  Im back alone again as Kae has gone out on a mad one with the lovely Paul! ENJOY!

Kae has another audition in Venice... Exactly where we wanted to go, post audition! Had some good grub and a beer at the Venice Ale House. Hired some boards and rode some waves! We record the podcast for Ryan Stuart's interview. On the way home I expressed some thoughts about my situation that scare me. ENJOY!

An interesting Groundlings class! And Kae's friend bought us lunch!  SCORE! ENJOY!

Im trying so hard to fight this bloody cold! So today was pretty relaxed and we tried to take it easy. Kae had a general meeting with a studio that have connections with folks she has worked with in the UK and realised how helpful that can be.  We then met up with our old friend Dani on Melrose Ave. and had a hipster ginger shot to be healthy and then to balance it out, I enjoyed a hearty meal... I realise the value of having a parking space in LA and decide its time to get serious about this whole groundlings thang!  ENJOY!

MAN FLU HAS STRUCK!  I feel like I'm about to keel over! but on a positive note my improv has improved! Me and Paul hit the arcade and had some Tacos, I went to my class and Kae went off galavanting around the desert.  I completed my meeting of Ryan's family members and find his bro to be as inspiring as the rest of his family! He' a film maker and we chew the fat at a local bar after my class. ENJOY!

We surfed, Kae rode the first wave she caught like a pro... Even tho we were surfing like zombies! I snapped my board clean in two. We played Settlers of Katan and Kae won! BOOM! ENJOY!

We went to San Francisco, partied hard and had a nice break in a wicked city! When in LA you are close-ish to a bunch of really cool towns and cities so if you feel you need a break from it all on a weekend, hop in a car and take your pick!  We had a great time, we stayed with my friend Ryan's lovely family, got hammered and recharged. We are surfing early tomorrow morning and then will see what this week has in store for us! ENJOY!

Kevin Shen joins me on a hike up Runyon Canyon! We huff and puff our way up the steep dusty slopes and Kevin tells us all about being an actor from California, moving to London to work in the city and deciding to become an actor full time, produce a play and make it back to LA for pilot season! We chat about everything from his journey to becoming an actor and setting up a production company, to fighting racism in London with Theatre and being a London based American actor in LA trying out pilot season... WOW He is awesome. A very Pro active and inspiring human being.  I cant wait to see what you think! ENJOY!