A LIST OF 10: ADVISE TO THE ACTOR

IVANNA CHUBUCK

1. Make sure that your overall Objective provides a primal human need that creates
a universal journey, one that everyone in the world can support and cheer for. In
this way, all people/audiences from every corner of the world and every segment
of society can relate to it and therefore change and grow from the experience.

2. Don’t play the character, BE the character – find your personal connection that
relates to the character on the page so you can always be present and in the
moment – needing what you want from a truthful and necessary place.

3. Never play the victim: we never support a person in real life that feels sorry for
themselves. We always love and support a person who, against all conflicts and
obstacles they face, no matter how horrible their circumstances, will still fight to
overcome and WIN!

4. Celebrate your flaws, fears and insecurities – it is what makes you interesting and
special.

5. Never color the underbelly of your work with sadness. Sadness creates lethargy,
and inertia – the inability to make moves. Anger is a fuel that makes us do
things that in normal circumstances we would never do. I always say, “Anger
moves mountains, sadness digs a hole.” It creates passionate behavior.

6. Humor, even in the darkest of dramas, is important to bring into your work. You
can’t see the dark, without the comparison to the light. Humor also makes the
experience of watching a play, movie, or television, a more enjoyable experience.
Chekov’s plays are filled with satire (humor) alongside of profound drama. This
is why he is such a celebrated playwright that has stood the test of time. You’ll
find this is true of Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, Mamet, Noel Coward,
Samuel Beckett, Sophocles, Oscar Wilde, Aristophanes, George Bernard Shaw,
Harold Pinter, Jean-Paul Sartre, and all the great authors that have historical
value!

7. Sexuality is key to creating chemistry with the other person. And Chemistry, or
lack of it, can make or break the success of a movie (t.v. show or play). Sexuality
is also something that -- no matter someone’s religion, geography of where they
live, language barriers, moral priorities, intellect, socio-economic stature or
occupation, is something everyone all over the world understands and relates to.
We, being a human animal, have primal needs, and the most important need that
is inherent in all human beings is the need to procreate. Making your co-star, and
your audience feel that you are sexually accessible is what makes a star. All
people, everywhere, would rather spend time with someone who they are sexually
attracted to, then by someone they are not. By bringing sexuality into the work,
 as one of the layers, makes the actor/character desirable and therefore someone
you want to see again and again.

8. Take risks, never play it safe. There’s more satisfaction for the actor, and the
audience when choices are made from fearlessness. Bottom line: Fear is
antithetical to art.

9. Greatness is in the details. It takes a lot of work to create the details. But if we’re
duplicating real human behavior, we have to duplicate the complicated nature of
being human too.

10. Have a strong work ethic. Success in ANY field takes time, and work. Lazy is
for losers. Its those that work really hard on their script analysis, rehearse a lot,
and take the vast amount of time it takes to create a real three dimensional human
being – are the winners. This is true of all the stars that I’ve worked with.