1. What do you think makes a great actor?

Believability, consistency in performance and range of characters.

2. What do you think makes a great director?

Someone who can tell a good story, hire good actors and leave them alone and trust that they will give you what you want.

3. What's the best thing a director can do to help an actor?

Audition them and make sure they can do the part. Then leave them alone and trust that they will give you what they gave you at the audition.

4. What's the best thing an actor can do to help a director?

Know your lines, show up early, give the director full attention when he is talking to you.

5. What is your background in this industry?

I have worked as a successful talent manager, actor, casting director and acting coach for more than 36 years. I founded and own Gentle-Force Artists Group in Los Angeles and Springfield, Missouri, and I’m the past president of the prestigious Talent Managers Association in Los Angeles. I also served on the Executive Council for the National Association of Artists Managers (NAAM). As an acting coach, I formed the Creative Actors Workshop and taught Heather Locklear, Tea Leoni, Sela Ward and many other stars. Currently, we have classes in Springfield and St. Louis. I’m also the immediate past president of the Missouri Film Alliance of Springfield.

6. Why did you become involved in acting and teaching?

I grew up as a musician and once was under contract to RCA. I was always intrigued with acting. I studied, found out I could do it and proceeded from there. While studying, I created my own technique because I was not too enthralled with the Modern Day Method and that’s what they were teaching at the time. What proved to me that I was on the right track with my process was the attention my work was getting in class. I was taking acting from the Chamber Theater in Hollywood where they taught the Modern Day Method. I became the darling of the class but I was using my own process. One day in class the instructor was going on and on about my work and how this is what true great acting is and I said, "Well, I’m not using the Method I’m using my own process." They kicked me out of the class. I then started taking acting from Charles Conrad, and one day there was this older man watching class. After class, this older man came up to me and said, "I don’t know what you are doing but whatever it is keep doing it." I later asked Charles who that was and he looked at me like I had a hole in my head. That was Sandy Miesner. That is when I knew I was on the right track. I feel the evolution of acting has been Modern Day Method, Miesner and now my process. "The creative process of life, a way of acting and a way of life." My process was bringing total believability to my work and my teachers were accepting it. After that, my career started taking off. Teaching was not something I ever planned on. It is a long story in a nutshell, but I basically taught a class as a favor for some friends, found out it was my real calling, bought them out, renamed the workshop Creative Actors and gave up acting. Here we are 36 years later.

7. What have you learned about the business side of acting?

That it IS a business. Actors have to learn how to survive while pursuing a career. The business itself is all about money and budgets. And as you can see from my bio and resume, I also became a talent manager and was also elected president of the Talent Managers Association of Los Angeles. So I got to see it from both sides.

8. Who are your favorite actors and why?

Hoffman, Deniro, Kate Blanchard, Hackman, and of course, Anthony Hopkins. There are many more. Believability, range of characters, depth of performance and their dedication to the art of acting make them my favorites.

9. Do you have any stories of techniques actors have used?

Since I teach my own technique and use my own techniques, I don’t pay attention to what others are doing. Bottom line is if the work is totally believable, I don’t really care how the actor got there.

10. What are your favorite books on acting and why?

Only one. "An Actor Prepares" by Stanasloskky and only one page in the book. He writes, "He created his process to get the actor totally involved with the play until the play overcomes the actor. At that moment, the actor will not have any recall about what he was doing. The actor is totally working from the subconscious and that is what I call brilliance on the stage." My whole process that I have developed teaches the actors how to work from the subconscious.

11. What do you look for in an aspiring actor?

Dedication and commitment.

12. What is the most important thing you learned as an actor?

It is a business and also a highly skilled art form. It takes time and hard work to master it.

13. What's the worst thing a director can say or do to an actor?

Hire the wrong actor. If the actor can not give him what he wants on the audition, keep looking. Never settle and hope you can get a performance out of an actor on the set. The director does not tell his crew how to do their jobs. A good director hires good actors and leaves them alone. That is why the audition process is so important. No screaming. A director should be calm and confident at all times.

14. What is an "actor's director?"

He must have a complete vision of his film. He encourages his crew and actor through his confidence in himself and the story. He is calm, approachable and knowledgeable.

15. What can you do to keep an actor interested and comfortable?

If you have to keep them interested, you have hired the wrong actor. True actors live to act. As far as comfortable, treat them the way you would like to be treated.

16. Why do you think some actors get famous while others don't?

If we had that answer, we would be somewhere sitting on a beach enjoying ourselves. That has been the mystery of Hollywood since the beginning. A natural likeability helps.

17. What should be the primary concern of an actor?

Studying and mastering their craft. Without that, you can’t proceed forward.

18. What have you learned as a casting director?

Actors are actually very fragile even though they are confident in their work. Any creative person is. As a casting director, you have to let the actor know that you are on their side and be very supportive. This way you will get the best from them, and it will help you in the process of deciding which ones to callback and see the producer and director.

19. When should an actor get an agent and why?

After they have studied and are totally confident in their work. The reason you need the agent is to help you get auditions. Also you have not mentioned managers and the important role they play in the development of an actor’s career. They used to call them personal managers and just as this suggests, they are very much involved in all aspects of the actor’s career. They help with reviewing contracts, decision-making, image, PR plus much more.

20. How should an actor go about getting an agent?

In LA, there are many approaches. They have showcases that agents and managers go to looking for talent. Doing plays and sending out invitations to agents and managers. Word of mouth. The traditional way is to get the agents' and managers' guide and do a mail out of your picture and resume with a letter of introduction requesting an interview. That is why your headshot is so important; it must stop the person from throwing it into the trashcan.

21. What do you consider a trained prepared actor?

An actor who has obtained total confidence in their work. An actor who is totally confident in the art of cold readings or performing from the written page, and total confidence in their memorized work. This means being able to perform any scene that is given to them.

22. What questions do you think are most important as a casting director?

Actually in most casting sessions, questions aren’t asked because you have the actor's resume. You might ask about a particular part or director they worked with. But in most cases professionally, the actor comes in, says his hellos and reads and leaves. Just that simple.

23. What should an actor look for in selecting a film?

Most actors, unless they are a star, will normally take a part if it is not against any morale standards that they have.

24. What do you think a director should look for in selecting an actor?

The most important aspect of selecting an actor is are they what you are looking for in the character. This you can tell the moment the actor walks in the room. After that, you pray that they can act.

25. As far as filmmaking and acting, what do you think Missouri offers that other places don't?

There is some beautiful scenery in Missouri that can be made to look like many places around the world. There is a long list of not just actors but many other people who have come from this area. The locations, the pool of talent to pull from and the willingness of people to give their support to filmmakers. Also, now actors can get professional training in Springfield and Saint Louis where most areas may have acting classes but not on the scale of professional training that we provide. Since we have been here and Saint Louis, there is a contingency of actors who have trained with us and through our guidinance have made the move to Hollywood.

26. What is the best piece of advice you'd give an aspiring actor or filmmaker?