Actor

About – Acting

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Hello. My name is Ken and I teach acting classes. I’ve always loved acting but didn’t really get involved until my early 20’s when I got the opportunity to be an extra in the feature film Southpaw starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams. 50 Cent was also in the film. I was on this set for five days and really got insight into the process of filmmaking, especially observing the great director Antoine Fuqua.

Anyway, this led to more opportunities as an extra on some big sets including: Concussion, Love The Coopers, Mindhunter, and Banshee. These experiences are timeless even as an extra.

During this span I also received my Masters in Education, and a couple years later I was hired as an acting teacher. I still act, as well as teach acting, and know that a good original monologue can be hard to find.

As my passion for writing increased I wrote a couple monologues for students, based on some of their improv, and figured I’d share those monologues, and others I’ve created, for all to use!

Explaining Precisely What Jim Carrey is trying to tell us. Plus Jim’s Illuminating Quotes.

Posted on by in Lifestyle, Motivation, Self-Help, Successful People and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Acting has become a gateway to enlightenment for the actor Jim Carrey.

A big influence in this awakening came from what he learned throughout and after his role of playing Andy Kaufman while filming the movie “Man On The Moon.”

As Jim played the character of Andy he realized that we are all playing roles in our day to day lives; that we make choices each day, either consciously or unknowingly, and these actions lead us to where we are right now. Jim realized that we can take conscious actions, like actors do when preparing for & playing a role, which will guide us to becoming the person/character we want to become.

Each of us can choose to be the hero of the life we are living in, but many people live life only as a product of their environment, reacting instead of acting.

Like I said, some of this realization came to Jim when he went back to being “Jim Carrey” after playing the role of Andy Kaufman for months. If he can make intentional choices to become “Andy Kaufman,” then who really is Jim Carrey?

He thought. Isn’t that just a name he has been given? Our actions are what define us and turn us into the character we are, and we are all taking several actions each day.

 

Jim has realized that he is not the name he has been given. That he is not limited to the words we humans use to describe and live “life.” Most people don’t understand this and think Jim is crazy, but he is just waking up to who we all really are and I hope you will too. This quote of Jim’s just below shows his understanding that peace is beyond words and the things we have created:

 

“The peace that we’re after lies somewhere beyond personality, beyond the perception of others, beyond invention and disguise, even beyond effort itself.”

We are all so much more than the names we are given and we can all be more than the product of our environment but most people don’t make the choice to be who they want to be.

You can.

Shakespeare said “All the world’s a stage. And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.”

Jim is basically saying what Shakespeare said. Each day we all put an act on, whether we intentionally choose our act or not is up to us. Let these quotes guide you to taking control of your life, your “act.” Make a choice to become the character you want to be.

Below are some Jim Carrey quotes that may help you awaken to your true self and help you make choices that will lead you to living the life you dream of. Take action on your dreams. After all you are an actor of life.

“I’ve never been one to sit back and go, I’d better do what the audience wants me to do, because I don’t want to lose them.”

“It is better to risk starving to death than surrender. If you give up on your dreams, what’s left?”

“So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality. What we really want seems impossibly out of reach so we never dare to ask the universe for it. I’m the proof that you can ask the universe for it.”

“How will you serve the world? What do they need that your talent can provide? That’s all you have to figure out.”

“The effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is.”

“I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which, was that you can fail at what you don’t want so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”

“As far as I can tell, it’s just about letting the universe know what you want and then working toward it while letting go of how it comes to pass.”

“I don’t believe in hope. Hope is a beggar. Hope walks through the fire, faith leaps over it.”

“Flowers don’t worry about how they’re going to bloom. They just open up, and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful.”

“You are ready and able to do beautiful things in this world, and as you walk through those doors today, you will only have two choices: love or fear. Choose love, and don’t ever let fear turn you against your playful heart.”

“Life opens up opportunities to you, and you either take them or you stay afraid of taking them.”

“Desperation is a necessary ingredient to learning anything, or creating anything. Period. If you ain’t desperate at some point, you ain’t interesting.”

“I’m making a conscious choice to see challenges as beneficial so that I can deal with them in the most productive way.”

“When things are really bad the only thing to do is laugh.”

“You can spend your whole life imagining ghosts, worrying about your pathway to the future, but all there will ever be is what’s happening here, and the decisions we make in this moment, which are based in either love or fear.”

“To find real peace you have to let the armor go. Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world. Don’t let anything stand in the way of the light that shines through this form. Risk being seen in all of your glory.”

“Fear is going to be a player in your life, but you get to decide how much.”

“This is the voice of your ego. If you listen to it, there will always be someone who seems to be doing better than you.”

“Beware of the unloved, because they will eventually hurt themselves… or others.”

“Fear is writing that script. And the working title is ‘I’ll never be enough.’”

“If you aren’t in the moment, you are either looking forward to uncertainty, or back to pain and regret.”

“Maybe other people will try to limit me but I don’t limit myself.”

“Originality is really important.”

“You’ll come up with your own style. That’s part of the fun.”

“I really believe in the philosophy that you create your own universe. I’m just trying to create a good one for myself.”

“There is a huge difference between a dog that is going to eat you in your mind and an actual dog that’s going to eat you.”

 “I’ve arrived at the place if I’m not taking a career risk, I’m not happy. If I’m scared, then I know I’m being challenged.”

If you know Jim Carrey you have probably heard this quote just below: 

“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.” (Is it that we all desire for more, yet when we get more there is another thing that comes to our minds that we want…Be happy now.)

“For the most sensitive among us, the noise can be too much.” (And it’s all just a bunch of noise, right?)

“My soul is not contained within the limits of my body. My body is contained within the limitlessness of my soul.”

“We had problems like all families but we had a lot of love. I was extremely loved. We always felt we had each other.”

“I refuse to feel guilty. I feel guilty about too much in my life but not about money. I went through periods when I had nothing, so somebody in my family has to get stinkin’ wealthy.”

“I’m the first to admit this whole salary thing is getting out of control. In the final analysis, it’s still about the work.”

I hope you enjoyed these illuminating quotes. I encourage you to continue learning every day as you awaken to your best self by making conscious choices. This will direct you to living as your ideal actor in this play of life. Please share and spread the message if you see what Jim Carrey is trying to tell us!!

Dream Big. How I got Involved with Acting

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The first time I remember wanting to be an actor was after watching Jim Carrey starring in the movie, The Mask.  I watched it on VHS! Do you remember those?

I enjoyed watching Jim in his many roles as I was growing up, and so he was one of the first people that gave me inspiration to become an actor.

But after getting a little older, I realized that “no-one” can actually become an actor..right?  Wrong.  If no-one could become an actor, how are there actors?  ..“Because they are born into it” or because they “got lucky,” is what many people say..  Oh.

That is the mindset when you grow up in a small town that is 2,000+ miles away from Los Angeles.

So I continued living my life as a kid with little responsibilities, focusing on school, athletics, friends and family….and catching crayfish

Kenny Thompson

I’m on the right side holding the crayfish above Peter’s head.  Thank you Ginny for the picture!

The older I got, the more people asked what I wanted to do with my life, because that’s what happens when we get older right.

I never really had a good answer for them.  I didn’t know what I wanted to do.  I think that most people don’t know what they want to do so they just choose a generic field to study and then they follow through with it.  They end up living a 9-5 life that they don’t really enjoy so that they can spend their money on a house that is used for sleeping and a car used for driving to work.

Alan Watts says “That’s just stupid to live like that.  Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way.”

Ask yourself “What do I really want to do with my life?”

After two years of being undeclared in college, I literally had to choose a major, so I chose Sports Administration with a Business minor.  I thought, “Well I like sports so I’ll try this.”  Throughout the next years when I got closer to graduating, the thoughts of what I want to do with my life came to me again.

I thought, “I think I would really like to be an actor.”  But not knowing how I could become an actor was a big obstacle for me.  Philosopher Alan Watts inspired me in his video “What if Money Was No Object?”

After listening to many of Watt’s speeches, as well as reading and listening to Ram Dass, Dan Millman, Dale Carnegie, Steve Jobs, Tim Ferriss & John Lee Dumas, I really knew that I didn’t want to work a 7-3, or 8-4, or 9-5 job that I did not enjoy going to for the next 30-40 years of my life so that I can retire and “be happy.”

(Recent inspiration from: Marcus Aurelius, Eckhart Tolle, Mark Manson, Ryan Holiday, Tony Robbins, Derek Sivers).

So even after knowing I didn’t want to have that 8 hour a day job at somewhere I don’t enjoy, I thought it would be a good idea to get my Masters in Education to become a teacher.

School was never that hard for me, but there were definitely some overwhelming times while I was getting my Masters Degree.  I had the end goal in mind, of getting this degree, so I knew that I was going to get things done whether I felt like it or not.

My First Movie

Anyway right before I began my Master’s Program, there was a movie to be filmed on my Universities Campus (I.U.P.).  That movie was Southpaw, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams and 50 Cent, directed by Antoine Fuqua.

When I found out about this, I asked myself, “How can I get involved with this movie?”  So I googled information about the movie and found that they were looking for people to play as extras in the movie.  I went to an audition for the movie, they asked some questions, took some pictures and I was on my way.

I didn’t receive a call for weeks, and the movie began filming so I thought that I was not going to get a call.

But one day, I was working as a Sports Information employee in the building where Southpaw was being filmed, the K.C.A.C in I.U.P. and I went to a bathroom.  As I was at the urinal, a man came into the bathroom and went to a urinal nearby (there were only 2 or 3 urinals).  So I struck up a conversation, asking him if he was involved with the movie.  He responded by telling me that he was the director.

It was Antoine Fuqua!  The man who directed Training Day with Denzel Washington.

Anyway, I asked him if he needed any help with the movie and that I would work for free.  He asked if I would like to be an actor.  And I jokingly said, “Well I have the face right?”  We both laughed after we washed our hands and were exiting the bathroom.  Once outside the bathroom he called someone over.  They came over and he told them to get my information down and put me in the movie.

I got a call the next day to be a character as a press/media journalist for the movie during the boxing scenes.  I got paid and also got to personally meet 50 Cent, while being in the vicinity of Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams.

Anyone who has worked on a movie set knows that they are long days, usually between 10-14 hours of work, with a lot of chill time in between shooting scenes.  It’s not for everyone, but I loved it.

I had my first taste of what being on the set of a feature film was like.  It was exhilarating.

I had met another actor on set who told me about an agency he was with in Pittsburgh who frequently sent out casting notices, so I got involved with them after working in this film.

They helped me get into two more huge movies and two tv shows.

The movies were: Concussion & Love The Coopers.

I played a NFL Employee in the movie Concussion and a Diner Patron in Love the Coopers.

The TV shows were: Banshee & Mindhunter.

I played an amish protestor as well as a news reporter in the show Banshee (did multiple episodes), and I played a police officer in Mindhunter.

I recently got into a commercial & a paid student film that I will talk about shortly.

Each set is a unique and wonderful experience.  There is no set that is exactly like the next, which makes acting exciting.  It’s also fun when you get to meet some pretty famous people and work with them.

While I was working as a police officer on the set of Mindhunter (which is on Netflix), I was able to meet and shake the hand of David Fincher, the director who also directed Fight Club, Se7en, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and many more.

David Fincher was awesome.  Everyone respected him on the set and he directed with a confident and knowing vision.  I was also able to talk a bunch with the two main characters, Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany.  They both were very nice to everyone on set and I could tell they were having fun while being serious about their work.

The food on big sets is also delicious.

Anyway, that all began in 2014 during the filming of Southpaw, which aired the next year in 2015.

2018

The year is now 2018.  I moved to Colorado in 2017 and landed an Acting Teacher job in my fifth month of living here.  I was a full time teacher in PA before coming to CO & substitute teaching every day.  I have a local agent, I filmed a real estate commercial in January that is now airing locally, and did a paid student film this past November which I had a blast doing!  That crew was so fun to work with.

I had an audition today, April 4th, that I think went really well, and I have another audition tomorrow.

A long time ago I had a dream of being an actor.  As a child I had a belief that it was possible to become a paid actor, until I grew up and found out that “no-one” becomes an actor.

I’m here to tell you that it’s possible.

Your dream is possible.

Feel free to message me if you have any questions about acting or how to get involved.  If you want to talk about the movies or shows I’ve been in, message me, & I’d love to hear about your acting stories!  Comment below or email me at Kthompson7814@gmail.com.