Off Script: The 'No' April Fools Episode

Summary
In this Off Script episode of the Late Bloomer Actor Podcast, I reflect on past April Fools' Day pranks and for the support I received. I also announce the integration of Off Script episodes into the main podcast and invite listeners to suggest topics for future episodes. I then discuss my experience attending a three-day masterclass with actor Les Chantery in Sydney in February. I discuss how intense the training was but that is was transformative.  

Takeaways

• April Fools' Day pranks can backfire, and it's important to consider the impact on others.
• Off Script episodes are now integrated into the Late Bloomer Actor Podcast, and listeners are invited to suggest topics.
• The positive results of training with Les Chantery.
• Regular commitment to acting training is essential to keep the skills sharp.

Find all information about Les Chantery, including his book and course.

Transcript

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David John Clark 0:45

Hey everyone and welcome to another off-script episode of the Lake Bloomer Actor Podcast . Today is April the 1st and , as much as I did contemplate it , there will be no April fooling in this episode . fools can can backfire sometimes . I remember a few years back that I posted on Facebook that I had a contact in the USA and through that contact I announced that I had been given a small role on the new upcoming Terminator movie . Now , as many of my friends know , I'm a huge fan of the Terminator series , even the later movies , and having actually met Arnold Schwarzenegger once , this gave the story a little more credibility . So perhaps it's the gullibility of Facebook or just people glancing over posts and not really thinking about it , but I got a lot of very positive feedback and congratulatory messaging on the post , which made me feel really bad when I had to announce it all wasn't truthful , that it was just an April Fools post , but I was really thankful and appreciative of all the support . The very fact that so many people took it as being real , that they thought it all very possible that I could land such a coveted role , was a great feeling to me and made it all the more harder to tell them it was a joke , so no April Fools from me today .

David John Clark 2:02

Firstly , I wanted to thank you all for your understanding of the changes in the Offscript series . The Offscript offshoot to my late Loomer Actor podcast initially started out as a separate podcast in late 2023 , with the initial weekly Monday episodes commencing in late November and included some great , albeit quick , episodes over Christmas and the new year from the USA . I was very fortunate to be on a three-week driving holiday with my family , traveling from New York at Christmas to Roswell , new Mexico for New Year's and finishing up on the West Coast , san Francisco and then finally Los Angeles , hollywood . But in hindsight I felt the Offshoot podcast was a poor cousin of the main podcast , but the concept of the Offscript episodes was still very exciting and possibly a great inclusion to the primary podcast rather than as an offshoot . So here we are with the Offscript episodes now as bonus episodes within the Late Bloom Rector podcast . So if you're not aware and haven't listened , you can go back to the earlier Offscript episodes and have a listen if you like . They were directly recorded on the ground in the US , so very worthwhile , I promise . And they will release on Mondays , but not every Monday . They will be ad hoc , as necessary when I have something worthwhile to put out . So if you have anything you'd like brought up in an Offscript episode , please let me know via social media messaging or email me at thelatebloomeractor at gmailcom . I'm sure I'd love to have you on board and we can talk about something . Whatever that comes up . So please reach out and let me know and we'll get an episode out there special for you .

David John Clark 3:34

Now to the crux of this episode . I've had a bit of a gap since the last Offscript episode in January . It's been a chaotic start to 2024 , but I wanted to talk about a fantastic course I completed in February a three-day masterclass with the wonderful Les Chantieri . Les is just wonderful . I've been following him for a few years now , after being very fortunate to have been an audience member on a Zoom interview with him . And then last year the Equity Foundation the Equity Foundation being the professional development arm of the MEAA , australia's Actors Union had a one-day special event with Les in Sydney that I just could not miss out on . So a great excuse for a couple of days away from home . My wife and I drove down and had a wonderful eight hours introduction to the training techniques of Les Chantry while Kelly ran around and caught up of one of our favourite cities , sydney .

David John Clark 4:27

Les is a NIDA trained actor and now trains other actors at NIDA , as well as his specialised audition techniques through his Les Chantry studios in Sydney . Les got his big break in acting opposite Vin Diesel in the cult sci-fi music Pitch Black , and then went on to work with Robert De Niro , al Pacino and Australia's Nicole Kidman , amongst many others . Les also holds a degree in the Bachelor of Economics , where he studied in neuroscience , psychology and behavioral economics . Now this sounds pretty heavy and outside of the acting realm , but this is where Les' approach is different and he blends all those learnings into an audition process how an actor can move from being an actor to being a real person on camera . Essentially , before I got to see his approach in the flesh , I read his book . Life in a Midshot Says it all Life in a Midshot , how to make it work in that space . I thoroughly recommend the book . It delves deeply into his process and will give you a great boost to how to make your scenes real and book the job from your self-tape or in-room audition .

David John Clark 5:33

After the one-day introduction to Les last year , I knew I had to have more and I signed up for the three-day intensive , which is everything the word intensive alludes to . It was pretty fun , but certainly eye-opening . And without giving away any of his secrets , I walked away a better actor . I feel the concepts and approaches that Les delivers are just mind-blowing . Without overselling it much , you start off on day one at one level and you go on a journey of self-discovery and by day three , three , you have a whole different outlook on your approach to audition prep and scene delivery . So my two cents worth for this off script episode is I really recommend you look into Les Gentieri if you haven't already , purchase his book as a starter and seriously consider his courses .

David John Clark 6:18

Now I'm not being looked after in any way . This is my recommendation as an actor and as a student that has followed him . So I'm continuing my training this month with a four-week follow-up to the intensive just to nail down some of the concepts more fully . So check him out . Links will be in the show notes of this episode and hopefully sometime in the future we have to have him on the show for a chat , because that would just be fantastic Part of my journey as an actor . My paths have now crossed with Les , so hopefully we can bring him on and talk about how our paths have crossed and what I've got from him . So thank you for listening in .

David John Clark 6:57

I've got a busy month ahead of me with a two-day course here in Adelaide with the wonderful Lou and Angela Heesom from Heesom Casting some one-on-one acting training in the room . So I'm really looking forward to that and it's going to be great to catch up with them as well . With the strike action last year and then proceeded before with the COVID virus and everything that went . I haven't seen them for a while , so it'd be great to catch up and get some training with them and see how things are going . And then I'm following up with the four sessions for four weeks or less . So a busy , busy month of training . When you get the chance , you need to have that regular commitment to keep the acting muscles in place , so to speak .

David John Clark 7:35

So , guys , that's it for today . Offscript is back . We've had that little bit of a break . I hope you enjoy these short , quick episodes . Thank you for listening .

David John Clark 7:45

I hope you've taken something away from today and , as I said , look me up online if you've got any questions or anything you want talked about in the future . We certainly can run it . Make sure you subscribe and follow on your podcast players that you're using and on YouTube if you're watching the YouTube channel . I really appreciate your support . We do need to put a call of action out there for you . I need to get for the algorithms .

David John Clark 8:10

If you can like and subscribe and leave a review on Apple or Spotify , the two primary ones where you can do that , that would be really , really appreciative of me for you to do that . That would be fantastic . So thank you very much . So all the best for the rest of the year , guys . It's April already , as you can see . I've got my gym shirt on , I've come straight from the gym , so I'm keeping up that going as well . So busy , busy , busy . So all the best , guys , and look out for the next episode of the main podcast releasing on the 15th . As usual , we will see you at either the next episode on the 15th or the next Offscript . So cheers , guys , and I'll see you on set .