Reuben Cannon has cast such features as Tyler Perry’s Madea series, What’s Love Got to Do With It, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Color Purple. His MOWs and telefilms include The Josephine Baker Story, Roots: The Next Generations and The Winds of War. On the episodic front, he has cast House of Payne, The Boondocks, Matlock, The Rockford Files and Moonlighting, among others. Cannon received Artios Award nominations for both What’s Love Got to Do with It and the MOW, David’s Mother.
The frustration lies more in not using their gifts and talents than not being able to get an appointment with a casting director. I tell actors, “You have a gift and what you want to do is share it.” That working towards mastery will make you feel more like an actor because you are performing. That will help reduce an actor’s anxiety of not being able to see a casting director.
If we are really honest, we have to ask actors, “Why are you feeling frustrated? Is it because you are not working or because you are not using your craft?” I always tell young people to question themselves as to why they want to become actors. Are you doing it to become famous or more importantly, because life is not worth living unless you can express what it is you’re feeling?
Someone at SAG came up with the idea of Town Hall meetings and the various other SAG seminars that allow casting directors to come in, answer questions and address actors’ concerns, many of whom feel disconnected from the industry. I like to take part in those as opposed to some of the paid workshops because I don’t believe an actor should be required to pay to learn what I know. I can encourage actors and tell them there is no great mystery to becoming a successful actor. It is the investment and the time you put into it. There is no substitute for experience, training and for the process that comes forth with training. Your destiny does not lie in the hands of a casting director. Your destiny lies in your own hands. There are many roads to Hollywood outside Hollywood. We cast all over the world. One need not be here.
When we cast The Rockford Files MOW, we had to put a call out at 2:30 p.m. for actresses to come in and read at five o’clock the same day, meaning they had no time to read the script. We read several actresses. A few didn’t give a good reading because they didn’t understand the context of the character and where the character was at that moment. Then an actress came in and her talent shined through immediately. Her uniqueness, her skill, her commitment to the truth came through. Actors cannot afford to ever let a single day go by in which they don’t do something to invest in and to improve their craft. They can’t afford not to. The demands placed upon you, in television especially, require you to be at peak performance level at all times, twenty-four hours a day.
The way to stay at peak level is to do theatre. When you study the master actors, you find that they all have a solid background in the theatre. I am always impressed when I ask an actor about current projects they are doing, and they mention not the recent film or television work, but a theatre piece. That tells me a great deal about the character of the artist and their commitment to excellence. If I decided to stop casting and pursue an acting career tomorrow, knowing everything I have learned in the past twenty-five years of casting, what would I do? I would join a theatre company of experienced and dedicated actors and I would do as many plays as possible. I would not allow my instrument, my craft, to become dull.
So, first and foremost, actors have to invest in themselves, invest in their craft, invest in doing the work, and trust that the rest will all be provided. The rate of success is in direct proportion to his or her own commitment to the work. The other thing is not to second-guess yourself. Be aware of the work that you do in an audition. Don’t ever give less than you can. Don’t hold back on your creative expression. Give more, even if it’s too much. When you’re coming from truth, they’ll appreciate it. The great thing about casting is the discovery of how many ways a piece of material can be interpreted. There is both the way you read it and the way we hear it. And then someone comes in and gives something completely different and unanticipated. It’s true and real, and it’s coming from a wonderful place. That’s why doing too much is not the problem. The problem is doing too much that is not really you, and giving a performance that you don’t believe in. Don’t be afraid of being original. There is a voice inside all of us that is unique. Getting in touch with that voice and using it to interpret the material makes it distinct and beautiful. Don’t deny yourself and don’t let yourself be afraid to put yourself out there.
I think great acting comes from the depth of the soul; a combination of craft, personality and a sense of magic. Great actors also have a certain emotional availability. It is their humanistic side that we respond to—or their deranged side. I maintain that the camera loves a certain schizophrenia. The camera absolutely loves borderline craziness, and so does the viewer. We love it when we see a non-conformist. The camera magnifies a great performance and also a flawed one. That’s why you cannot afford to show anything but truth. When you are performing, you really have to be committed to the moment.
I live my life from a perspective of God, family, and career in descending order. When I take care of the spiritual and family aspects, the career side seems to take care of itself. I cannot say I have been successful in finding the perfect balance yet, because there have been times when I have spent long hours, even on the weekends, at work. Yet, I usually find time for myself in the early morning for my prayers and meditation.
Alice Walker once said something that I truly subscribe to. She said, “When an artist or anybody does something from the heart, it leaves a heart-print.” When an actor is performing from a base of an inner truth, that’s where the spiritual aspect comes from. When you really work from within, from the inside out, you are going to impact people. You are going to move them and elicit a response. When I watch actors, I’m always asking myself, “Where is their work coming from? Is it cerebral? Is it emotional? Does the actor believe it?”
Everybody has talent. It is the time and energy you have taken to invest in, to develop and to investigate the art that makes the difference. It is a very courageous thing to become an actor, because you are exploring parts of yourself that most human beings would never dare do. When you take that inner reality, use it to interpret a piece of work and then perform it, you rivet the viewers, you intrigue and fascinate them. It is that inner spiritual working and interpretation that I look for—whether it’s a guy playing Cop No. 1, or whether he’s playing the lead. Ralph Winters, the man who trained me, gave me one bit of casting advice that I have used as my basic guiding principle. He said, “Reuben, always hire actors who are superior to the roles that they have to play.” And that’s exactly what I have done. That way, the material is always elevated.
As a casting director, I always seek to elevate and enhance that which is presented as a script. I approach my work by thinking, “What can I do as a casting director to elevate the material? Which actors can I bring to this project who are going to enhance it?” Eighty percent of good filmmaking is good writing and good casting.
I really understand the angst of the actor from an experiential level as well as from an observational level. A lot of that stress and depression can be relieved if the energy and effort are spent exploring your craft and having a dedicated commitment to becoming an excellent actor as opposed to becoming a personality.
Every four years I take a class so I can be among actors. I go through the same process. I sing, perform, I’m judged. It’s invigorating and stimulating. We all need an outlet for creative expression. I really believe that the more people create positive outlets to express themselves, the quicker we will have a saner society. I sing for my sanity.
Reuben Cannon and Associates
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