In this Episode, Phillip Charles MacKenzie talks about the camera and how…”it really looks into your soul, and your soul better be available...” We talk about starting out with co-star roles and why owning your uniqueness, even when the role is small, is important and can get you more work.
Philip Charles MacKenzie is an award winning actor and director.
After graduating with an MFA from the Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Acting Program, he worked as an actor in regional theatre, the New York stage and in such films as "Dog Day Afternoon".
Moving to Los Angeles, he appeared in many of the most popular shows on television; "Cheers", "Family Ties", "Bosom Buddies", "Three's Company", "Remington Steele", "Newhart", "St. Elsewhere” as well as several Movies for Television. He was also a regular cast member in nine pilots and several short-lived series.
He played the role of the flamboyantly gay character Donald Maltby on the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed comedy series "Brothers" for the Showtime Network. For his work he won the Cable Ace Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series as well as garnering four more acting nominations and a nomination for Best Director.
“Brothers" afforded Philip the opportunity to move into the directing world, receiving a Best Director nomination in the process. From there Philip became a full time director in the half-hour genre directing such shows as "According to Jim", "Roseanne", "Frasier", "George Lopez", "Dharma and Greg", "Suddenly Susan", "My Wife and Kids", "Normal, Ohio", "Just Shoot Me", "Ink", "Living in Captivity", “Sonny With A Chance” and many others.
In 1998 he directed the feature, "Attention Shoppers". In recent years Philip has also written several screenplays.
Here in episode two, I talk with Don Williams, the Managing Artistic Director of the Art of Acting Studio in LA. We talk what he looks for in a potential student or actor for the shows he directs, as well as theater vs. film and TV.
Since 2002 Don has worked as Head of Acting, Managing Artistic Director and Chief Academic Officer for the Art of Acting Studio, Los Angeles and the Stella Adler Studio NYC. Don holds an MFA from the National Theatre Conservatory and BA from California State University Fresno.
As director, Don Williams off- Broadway: Lebensraum, Turn of the Screw, Look Back in Anger, Libidoff.
Regional: Waiting For Lefty, Marisol (LA premiere), Long Way Go Down (LA Premiere), Muckrakers (LA Premiere) Macbeth, Speed The Plow, Midsummer Night's Dream, the Laramie Project, Carrying, All in the Timing, Prelude to a Kiss, The Dining Room.
At New York University: The Shape of Things, Dancing at Lughnasa, North Shore Fish, , That Championship Season, Twelve Angry Jurors, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, the Rimers of Eldritch.
As actor stage: the Neighborhood Playhouse, 78th Street Theatre Lab, the Harold Clurman Lab Theater, New York University, The Producers Club, the Denver Center Theater Company, the Marin Theatre Company, the San Jose Stage Company, the California Shakespeare Festival, Theatre 1050 and the Hot Ink Play Series to name a few.
In this episode Laura and I talk about the voice and how UNrelaxing acting is, as well as her time in Moscow in the 1990’s and how things have changed.