Thursday, September 2, 2010

Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz, Isla Fisher, Christian Slater and Chris Rock.

What do these popular A list actors have in common?

Well, apart from the talent to make it to the big screen, it’s celebrity acting coach Michelle Danner.

Michelle is the person top Hollywood actors turn to when they need guidance on set. And now she’s decided to bring her expertise to Dubai.

We may not have produced any Oscar winners yet but Michelle says she’s hoping to find some pearls in the desert when she heads over to conduct two workshops in a couple of week’s time.

She’ll be hosting the sessions at Dubai Knowledge Village giving wannabe stars audition tips as well as all the tools they need for breaking down scripts and bringing characters to life.

We caught up with her to have a quick chat about her work with the celebs and why she decided to take up a career in acting.

“I always wanted to be involved in entertainment. 

As my father loved to tell the story that I entertained all the agents from the William Morris Agency when I was three years old on the coffee table of the living room doing impersonations of Ed Sullivan, Alfred Hitchcock and Judy Garland,” she says.

“I’ve just always known that I was passionate about the nuts and bolts of what makes a good performance and so I studied with great people from Broadway actresses Stella Adler to Uta Hagen to anyone I felt could cast a new interpretation on what makes a performance magical.”

For budding actors and actresses who may be unsure of their potential, it’s not Halle Berry looks or Ben Stiller’s wit, that makes someone a star - Michelle says the most important thing is dedication and the will power to keep going even if it seems to be taking a long time.

She explains: “I’ve encountered many people that have talent, but what I always say is, you have to have a talent for the talent. This means you have to be willing to go the extra mile and work really hard. I’ve seen people with less talent than others succeed by hard work versus another actor with more ability not work hard enough.

“Take time to reinvest in your dream.  If you take a small step every day towards your artistic vision I believe you can succeed.”  

Despite how confident they appear on the screen and how effortless and impromptu they make acceptance speeches look, Michelle says even the most famous Hollywood actors and actresses doubt their talents and have moments where they suffer from extremely low confidence.

“One of the things that’s always struck me when I sit down and work with stars, Oscar winners, and up and coming actors, is how everyone shares a common denominator - fear and insecurity.  

It always surprises everybody to know that, which reinforces one of the truths about this craft. It’s vulnerable to be an actor,” she says.

“When I sit down and work privately one on one with stars I do exactly the same work that I do with anybody else: script analysis, conversations about the character and trying many different choices until you find the one that is the most exciting and provocative.”

The entertainment industry is in Michelle’s blood. Her mother was a singer and her father was the president of the William Morris Agency, one of the largest entertainment agencies in the world. He opened their first offices in Paris working with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Sammy Davis and Edith Piaf. And although she’s worked with dozens of A listers, Michelle says certain ones always stand out.

“I loved working recently with Chris Rock. It was an intense process and we had a lot of fun, as you can imagine.

But also Chris is a very profound human being, so I found myself gaining insights working with him,” she says. And finally, how does she feel about coming to the desert to share her skills?

“Dubai is an exciting place where new and upcoming talent can be nurtured. I’m looking forward to coming. I’ve always known that I would teach internationally but I thought that I would be a little old lady with white hair when that happened and I guess it’s happening sooner than I thought!”

Tricks of the trade
Michelle Danner will be conducting two different workshops at Dubai Knowledge Village.

The first; ‘The Actor’s Golden Box’ will be held on December 10 and 11 from 10am to 4pm and will include an in depth lecture about analysing scripts, providing those who attend with tools to bring characters to life.

The second workshop; ‘On Camera Auditioning’, will take place on December 12 and 13 from 10am to 4pm and is a two-day intensive class designed to help students at television and film auditions. To book, for prices or for more information call 04 390 20 40 or visit www.edgemarcenter.org