Auditioning from Home, Mockumentary Dreams & Dissecting UPGRADE | Ep. 32

MAX: 00:12
Welcome back to Two Unemployed Actors. I'm Max.

SAM: 00:14
I'm Sam.

MAX: 00:15
And we are coming to you remotely, but coming to you as normal on your favourite podcast platform. Don't forget to like and subscribe and leave some nice comments. Um and be really nice to us. And tell your friends and family, etc. Another update for you in the corona world. Oh, I promised I wouldn't mention that. C word again. I did it. I mentioned it more than once last week. I know we're all sick of it.

SAM: 00:38
Make it the R word and it's Rona.

MAX: 00:41
The Rona virus.

SAM: 00:44
The virus. It's a Rona special. It's a Rona special.

MAX: 00:49
Oh God. Well, regardless, regardless, believe it or not, there is some stuff happening. First of all, I just like to say my big head is blocking it on the camera, but I finished the Millennium Falcon. My Lego prop. Oh come on. I know. I know my Lego prop. I'm gonna have to send photos and post them on the Facebook page because it's it's amazing. I'll just move my big head. There you go. You should be able to see now. For those watching on YouTube, um, but I will post some on my social it's awesome. It's really cool. It's massive. Oh my god, but it's a great uh podcast prop from the Star Wars movies. I love it, I love it. So that that was my huge success. And I started that before the restrictions got even tighter on self-isolating. So there you go.

SAM: 01:28
Yeah. Well, Jess and I were thinking about going and buying um the Aston Martin DV5 to do at home now. So just some more Lego.

MAX: 01:36
More Lego, I know. I have to come up with some more projects.

SAM: 01:38
Um Yeah, exactly.

MAX: 01:40
I mean, I think we're all on the same page now anyway. But um so that happened. I and as everyone else is being remote now, I know uh lots of news you you watch the news now on the news networks, and uh whether it whether it's CNN or whether it's Sky News, you you can see the guests aren't in the studio now, they're being dialed in uh over Skype or you know their mobile or whatever dodgy audio devices they've got. But uh I was I follow uh newscaster in Australia called Tracy Grim Tracy Grimshaw and um she posted some photos on her social of how she's turned her spare bedroom into the a current affair set with a little cardboard sort of wooden tiny table uh with a tablecloth over the top and and and and her plasma in uh in the background and minimal crew and they're all and they showed a behind-the-scenes shot of them all spaced apart. It looked really good. So I said, fantastic on your commitment to keep bringing the news to us. Um by the way, can I can I use it as a self-tape studio before you go to air? So I'm waiting to hear back on that because I reckon I'm in with a chance. She liked the message, but that's not the answer I was after. I was hoping, you know, I can come in and because it's great, they've set it up for lighting and everything.

SAM: 02:51
But uh she's not actually gonna let you go in.

MAX: 02:54
Yeah, I mean, you know, not while they're on air, obviously, you know, because they brought us live, or just before.

SAM: 02:58
Of course, of course. Maybe when she's just eating breakfast or something.

MAX: 03:01
Minimal inconvenience. Like the crew don't have to be there, I know what I'm doing, and it's a spare room.

SAM: 03:05
So just before she before she wakes up, just while she's asleep, just do it.

MAX: 03:09
I'll I'll stay I won't touch anything, I'll stay 1.5 metres away from everyone in the family, and uh she won't even know I'm there.

SAM: 03:15
Yeah.

MAX: 03:15
So I'm just putting it putting that out in the universe. Um and and I had the full uh full mockumentary land in my lap, uh where I was playing the this homeless guy who's living in an alleyway by choice. It's part of his lifestyle. Very cool. Uh yeah, it's come back and look, it's an hour and it's a long hour. Uh I'm probably gonna uh Dar Darcy Prince is the is the guy who um produced and directed it. So I what I might do, I'm thinking I'm thinking I might chop it up uh uh into little bits and pieces and have some of my favourite pieces and maybe do Instagram TV or something like that and have a little bit because it's really in the theme of self-isolation, uh living on his own in an alleyway, wanting to be out of touch with everything he knew, his ex-job, his ex-friends, etc. So I'm gonna call it uh extreme self-isolating, and uh we'll have a have a have one every other day or so. So he he I'll I'll play I'll play a little just to give you an insight into this character. I this character I created called uh funny enough, Max, and uh he's down on his luck, he's been living by choice, in his words, in an alleyway for quite some time, and it's basically a tour, like a mockumentary, like a you're following him through his daily routines, his exercising, his thoughts on life, his goals. Um he's homeless, but he has them. He has them. So here we go. This is him talking about um a bit of exercising in his lifestyle. Brilliant's gym. Jim's pretty gyms. People want to take photos of themselves going to the gym. No.

unknown: 04:56
No.

MAX: 04:57
It's like my diet, you know, it's all about everything around you, what's around you. Locally sourced, fresh stuff. From the rubbish, from the leftovers, from all sustainable living. That's that's what the kids are talking about, sustainability. Sustainable living. That's my lifestyle.

Speaker: 05:21
Well, I choose to live in the alley and have a little alley away from the alley. Not many people own lots of property. I've got two.

MAX: 05:32
So that's that's a bit of an insight into um into what to expect. Um and it's is it's he's filmed in a way and A you you're filming it?

SAM: 05:42
Are you like your character is filming it?

MAX: 05:44
No, no, no. Someone's there interviewing and you're sort of getting his responses. So um he's basically um he's he's kind of placed his effects on it to make it look like it's a really old sort of style. Like it's uh like a projector. Like a projector in a movie theatre. Anyway, we I'll give you I'll give you one more and then we can move on. Uh this is uh this is what his goal is.

Speaker: 06:10
My goal is to marry a rich woman, uh stay for a couple of years, and then just leave, so I can get paid.

MAX: 06:18
So it's not it's not the most rate goal. It's not everybody has uh a goal, that's his. It's it's probably a bit harder to achieve for him being homeless. But uh at least he has a goal. That's true. He's working he's living for something. Absolutely. So I'm gonna break it up and put it into little bits and pieces and get it out into the universe on um thanks to Darcy Prince on uh maybe Instagram TV or something. We haven't quite worked it out yet, but I've edited it down into IMDB credit? I don't think so. Don't think it's there, but um uh I've probably got about 20 little shorts that I can push out for of extreme isolation.

SAM: 07:03
On the conversation of projects, um, as we do. Uh I was going through my Facebook feed yesterday and uh came across uh Mullness posted that they were auditioning for uh like a young male for the lead role in an Aussie feature film.

MAX: 07:20
Okay.

SAM: 07:21
So that's pretty cool. And I I contacted my agent and I said, Um are you putting me forward for this and blah blah blah. He said, Yes, I'll already put you forward, waiting to hear back and more about the role. Um so that's really cool. And so I'm gonna I'm gonna audition and apply through the website which I asked Mark about already, and then he'll he's already put me forward, so it's a bit of both, so it can't really hurt. So hopefully, hopefully I'm probably I mean, I'll see I'll probably contact Grant Thompson, who I haven't seen yet, so don't worry, I haven't forgotten. Um because of obviously the Rona. The Rona, yeah. Um but I I'm hoping to contact him and see if I can actually do the self-tape with him. Yeah. Or just with at least with his guidance.

MAX: 08:08
Um it's a great idea. Like I I've I've turned up before with an acting coach, and I'm like, I've I've you know, you're off book, you've done it a a few different ways, you stretch yourself lots of different ways, and you've got the scene, right? You think you you're about to hit record, and then you go in and you know everything's sort of stretched and you're pushed and it's turned upside down a bit, and and and what you manage to deliver with a with a great acting coach um can be quite different, quite uh certainly better, one hopes.

SAM: 08:38
Yeah, they think it they think of things that you don't think of and and that's just really cool. So I'm uh like it's a Aussie feature film, we don't know much about it. Like the script for the itself tape isn't even from the film itself, it's still in development. It's just like kind of a general audition script, so it's not really from the film. So I we don't know anything. I think Mark is waiting to hear back about m like more about the role, but 18 to 22 year old male, so I'm smack bang in the middle of that, so that's cool. And so hopefully, hopefully, you know, I'm gonna practice the script, do it well, keep Grant's points in mind and his tips and skills and tricks and whatever and all his all his advice. He is a genius.

MAX: 09:18
Yeah, that's good. That's great.

SAM: 09:19
Hopefully that goes well. And they're still like obviously they're they're they're gonna push back the deadline for the audition tapes to be in because of coronavirus. But yeah, I think it I don't think it would be filmed until next year anyway, so they're going ahead with auditions and stuff. So that's pretty cool.

MAX: 09:33
If there's one thing we're used to, it's self-taping, so it will be fine.

SAM: 09:36
Yeah. Well, that's also Grant's um goal is to just get you more used to self-taping, because that's what the modern modern acting day auditions are now.

MAX: 09:45
It's too easy. And I and I think as as any audition at the moment, and I know that you know there's fewer opportunities, but there's still some opportunities. I think everything is self-taped at the moment because of the state of the world.

SAM: 10:01
Jess and I watched a movie the other night. It's called Upgrade.

MAX: 10:05
Yes, fantastic. It's an Australian film, filmed in Melbourne.

SAM: 10:08
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was it's written by and written and directed by Lee Wenells, who is Aussie. And so he's put heaps of Aussies in it. The majority of the cast is Aussie except the lead dude.

MAX: 10:20
Yep.

SAM: 10:20
Um, which is freaking awesome. And like I decided to message him, he hasn't gotten back to me, but like it hasn't I don't know if it's delivered in. But I decided to message him just be like, thank you for doing that, because it's so it gives you hope to see like Aussie actors in films and stuff, and it was a pretty cool film, like technically and and just the idea behind it I thought was really, really cool. I watched a lot of interviews on it afterwards.

MAX: 10:46
It's um it it's fantastic. I mean, have have you seen you haven't seen Invisible Man yet, have you? No, not yet. Because he he directed that. So did he? And that that was his first um movie that he directed. And so Invisible Man. Yeah, correct. Um it's part of like the new one. As in the the the yeah, and that's why it was filmed in Australia as well.

SAM: 11:08
Uh didn't he he directed upgrade though, right?

MAX: 11:11
Uh I don't think he did. Maybe he didn't. Um I'm j yeah, I'm having a look now. Hang on.

SAM: 11:20
He wrote Saw as well.

MAX: 11:22
No, yeah, it's the Blumhouse crew, but uh let me have a look.

SAM: 11:26
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

MAX: 11:26
Oh no, he did direct that. Yeah, he did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he so Lee Wan L yeah did the screenplay and um directed upgrade. Okay. And uh also the Invisible Man. And um we had a special actor event where uh we were able to um see the movie and then the movie upgrade. Um and then uh we had a little Q ⁇ A where he'd come in and and play a couple of scenes and talk through how we how we made certain choices in those scenes. Um it's really interesting to get that that insight. And he was really op he was really open to to taking questions from us um and really helped us sort of dive into a bit more about how he brought the story to life. When it came out, you went to to this um it was early last year, I think, or sometime last year. So I'd seen the movie already, and then it's just come on in, have an hour and a half chat with uh Lee 1L, and he basically had his laptop there with his mate, and they were sort of you know putting the laptop onto the big movie screen at the cinema and playing through a scene and then talking through that particular scene. Um he did a uh I think two or three scenes, and then yeah, it was it was a lot of QA, which was which was great, which was really cool.

SAM: 12:41
He was saying how how the STEM, the guy in his head, the robot dude, the robot in the dude's head. Um like his voice, Simon, I forgot his last name, who did the voice, was actually like voicing him in the studio behind like the set, but only Logan the lead dude could like hear him. So it was like what other people like the rest of the crew were just seeing the lead guy just talking to himself pretty much, which I thought was really cool.

MAX: 13:12
Yeah, and I can actually and that's great for an actor to be able to have it come to life a little bit more.

SAM: 13:17
Yeah. They could actually overlap dialogue and stuff and interrupt each other, which I thought was really cool.

MAX: 13:22
Because there's a lot going on between them.

SAM: 13:24
Yeah, yeah. And he was saying, I watched in an interview how uh Lee W what did he say? He oh yeah, he was saying he loves uh Lee Wan L loves shooting in Australia because unlike in America, you have all these um big professional crew members because they do all the Marvel films and all the multi-million dollar films here, and then in between those they just they work on indie ones as well because it's such a small industry anyway. Um so when he came and did his indie film upgrade, um he had like someone who had just finished filming Mad Max and the lighting guy had just finished with Martin Scorsese and all this stuff, and I and he was saying how that's really cool, and you just you just get such professional crew in Australia, I guess.

MAX: 14:10
It's great, and I think that's the benefit of having such investment in um uh uh uh into the arts in in whatever country you're in, you know, to get that level of professionalism because the big tentfold movies that come in with their you know $100 million budgets um bring on a lot of people and and and they upskill, you're absolutely right. They upskill on these movies, it's a great experience, and they can continue to use that in in the industry on indie movies, so it's fantastic.

SAM: 14:43
So, how yeah, how are you going with the coronavirus lock-in? Is Fred okay?

MAX: 14:50
Fred Fred and I are spending a lot of time together, so uh we're we're we're still we're still on talking terms, on speaking terms, which is great. Uh he tends to talk more than me, but that's okay. Uh and then um you know getting out and exercising is is kind of the thing, really, just to keep sane, like while we can anyway. Like walking the dog to the coffee shop in the morning, try and support them with my takeaway coffee while I walk the dog and and try and still not try and turn them normal. I picked okay, I picked up my coffee machine today, but a little bit of an altercation in the store because they wanted to charge me again. I'm like, listen, I gave you guys 200 bucks back in October to fix it. You gave it back to me, said it was fixed, wasn't fixed. I came back, you did something else to it, and I I came home, nut, wasn't fixed. This is the third time I'm back, and now you want to charge me more money. It's like, oh, but it's we're not charging you labour. I'm like, well, I don't know what you're doing, but you're charging me again. We had we had a moment. We had a moment. Oh, they've discovered that it's actually another part. So I'm like, well, so you need to replace all the other parts that cost $200. I'm like, you know, just get your act together. So we had a bit of a moment, and then uh politely the manager stepped in and said, Don't worry about it, which kind of would have been nice ten minutes earlier, uh, because the person just absolutely escalated it, like, oh, you know, don't interrupt me. Uh you're not listening to me. You know, all those golden customer service moments that you just shouldn't hear. And there's Max going, I don't understand. I I paid for it to be fixed. What are you doing to me? I'm just an actor. Help. Help you. I need my coffee. So anyway, the good news is I've got the machine. It's it's it's back at home and it should be working now. Brilliant. Well done. So, anyway, I'll still try and support local cafes and getting out and about because I tell you what, it makes you feel a little bit normal in an abnormal world, uh, which is good. Lots of voiceovers too, bits of um uh corporate explainers as people try and and understand new new um company procedures and that as a result of the corona world. And um normal, you know, online ads. Online has been big. Um I I I I saw a post this morning from the casting agency Chicken and Chips, and it was around uh because I had a little bit of a webinar um yesterday talking about what's happening at the moment. And they're still seeing some uh briefs come through. There's still some work.

SAM: 17:18
Yeah, there's bits here and there, like the film and stuff, yeah.

MAX: 17:22
Yeah, I mean there's lessons from the GFC where those companies that continue to advertise through the GFC, through the downturn, were much stronger as soon as it finished. Um and sometimes it goes to more online content where it's a bit cheaper and a bit more effective at cutting through to exactly you know your audience as opposed to big budget, you know, ads. Um so there's still that. I I I mentioned that that yeah, I mean I've seen that with uh voiceovers and sort of pivoting more towards what I can do online, even some Brazini to camera stuff here um for corporate. So uh they said yeah, that's that's spot on. That's exactly what what what we're seeing more in that in that realm. So there's still work out there, it's just you've got to cut through a lot to get the right work. And there's a lot of people auditioning in VoiceOverworld at the moment. So people have just found themselves with a mic going, I need some money.

SAM: 18:15
Um but you have to sign up to voicevoices.com. It's like $500, isn't it? That's right. So people doing that.

MAX: 18:24
That's right. And and we know, you know, it's not as I know I've said in the past in previous podcasts, it's not as simple as just grabbing a mic and speaking. It's like, you know, an actor isn't just grabbing a script and memorizing lines. No. So are people paying that $500 though? I I don't know. Um I just know uh like I'm I'm much more particular on what I audition for too. Um whereas now people must be like, you know, well, I need lots of money and the income's dropped, I'm just gonna audition for everything, you know, whether I'm yeah, 100% suitable or not. So uh there was one audition for this morning, had 84 others that it auditioned uh within I think two and a half hours of it of it being posted. So um look, you know, work's still coming in, but uh it helps having a home studio and having a a client list and all that sort of stuff. Well, guess what happened on Sunday? It was my birthday. Oh, so I can't have a well I can't thank you. Can't have a birthday party, can't go out to the pub for drinks, can't go to a bar. So basically I met up with the five friends and went for and uh uh Fred had a mate there as well, little Ruby. Fortunately they they got on well. And um walked around Centennial Park, which is a really big park here in in the city of Sydney, and um I mean everyone was everyone was out. It was eight o'clock on a Sunday morning, everyone was there because of this um you know the the way the world is at the moment, and you have to be self-isolating. When they are out exercising, I mean everyone's there. And in fact, someone one one person she got hit twice, actually, people running into her because you know there was that many people on the path. I'm like, well, that's not social distancing, and there's big signs up, like roadwork signs saying, you know, social distance, it's it's a bit awkward. You have to sort of find your quiet spaces to to run around.

SAM: 20:15
Yeah. How old did you turn? And then like 40.

MAX: 20:18
44, not 60. Thank you very much.

SAM: 20:21
The big six-zero.

MAX: 20:23
44 and very immature, as this podcast proves every week. But um so yeah, it was it wasn't quite the normal birthday celebrations, but you know, I'm alive, I'm healthy, so I can't complain too much. And I've got and I'm working, so you know, that's that's the hat-trick these days. What's it called?

SAM: 20:50
Broadchurch.

MAX: 20:51
Okay, so you started watching Broadchurch. Is it religious?

SAM: 20:56
No. No, it's a town, uh I don't know if it's fictional or not. Um in England, but it's really, really good. It's got like David Tennant in it. Oh. Olivia Coleman.

MAX: 21:06
So David Tennant, he was the um Doctor Who, wasn't he? At one stage.

SAM: 21:11
Yeah, yeah, yeah. One of them.

MAX: 21:13
One of them. Yeah, I know this.

SAM: 21:15
Yeah, yeah.

MAX: 21:16
I know. The favourite's still the one I grew up with. I can't remember his name. Oh, Fred's off.

SAM: 21:20
Oh, hello Freddy.

MAX: 21:22
Someone, someone a leaf flew past the door. I think so. Well the other time he got to hear you before I could plug in the mic properly, and he started to run around going, what's going on? He's a bit confused. He's like, Where the hell's Sam? I don't understand. Where's the extra attention? But fortunately he can't, he hasn't, he hasn't clocked you, he can't see, and he can't hear you, so he's just barking at whatever it is. That's the other benefit with a quiet neighborhood, he can hear things like blocks away, so I don't know what he's barking at.

SAM: 21:47
Oh yeah.

MAX: 21:48
Anyway, so how is broad?

SAM: 21:50
So it's like a crime thriller thing, like uh someone dies and Yeah, so it's so in season one, no spoilers, but it's right right the the first episode, the whole season is about trying to find um this eleven-year-old boy's killer. So this eleven-year-old boy is killed in this town. It's a small town, everyone knows everyone. Um and David Tennant comes in, but it's it's very it's like you're on the edge of seat the whole time, and the whole season is about finding this killer, and then season two we've just started, but that's about the court case. And then I have no idea what season three is about. There's only three seasons, but Okay.

Speaker: 22:26
I'll have to have a look.

SAM: 22:28
Um they're good, and David Tennant plays a detective who comes in from somewhere else, so he's on the genius that's helicoptered in to solve it. Yeah, but has had a kind of that old chest nut.

MAX: 22:40
Is he a tortured hero as well? Has he lost his family in a car crash or something? Are we talking like Mel Gibson level of police, you know, tortured hero moments?

SAM: 22:49
He like kind of I think he lo he uh something happened to him in a past case with another dead child and he failed the family. Oh, but I won't I won't give too much.

MAX: 22:58
This inner turmoil, this this torturous moment that he must overcome. Yeah, he's come back for redemption. Every good gritty detective has one of those stories.

SAM: 23:07
But I'm I I haven't I haven't watched many British TV. Like I I've grown up watching American stuff. And I think the first one that I've watched is Sex Education. And then like fully actually tried to watch was Sex Education and then now Broadchurch. I I haven't watched too much.

MAX: 23:23
Yeah, it's great. I mean, well, first of all, you know, Netflix, you got so much great content from so many different countries. It just opens up a whole lot of great stories and cultural insights and Well actually, this is on SBS on demand or whatever it is. Oh great, because that's free. We love that.

SAM: 23:37
Yeah, it's free and free.

MAX: 23:39
I have to say, Netflix have it's gone to standard definition now because there's so many people at home watching Netflix. It's like the internet's just gone blur. They're loving it. They're loving it. They're downgrading the content from HD to SD for everyone just so they can get enough out there. All right. You've been listening to Two Unemployed Actors. I'm Max.

SAM: 23:57
I'm Sam.

MAX: 23:58
And we'll be back next week. Don't forget to like and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.