ActorLink Issue 3, May 2004
In the Spotlight - ActorWebs.com®
Client Jodie McClintock
We were thrilled to interview this talented and
hardworking actress.
ActorWebs.com: What are your latest
projects?
Jodie: I recently filmed the episode
D.A.W. on Law and Order: Criminal Intent which
is to be aired this Sunday May 16 at 9:00PM on
NBC. I play Pia O'Donnell, a notary at a NY
hospital who has falsified records for a doctor
and is interrogated by Detectives Goren and
Eames (Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe).
Coaching-wise: I have recently started a weekly
Shakespeare Workshop for Actors, I'm privately
coaching several students for callbacks for
upcoming Broadway shows including Dracula, the
Musical and Jersey Boys, and I'm directing a
one-woman Shakespearian concept show Tempest in
a Teapot for the NY Fringe Festival.
AW: How do you use your website? Has it
helped your career?
JM: Because of the dual nature of my
website, I use it to market and develop both
aspects of my career. The acting portion is used
as a reference and archival base for acting
credits through the years as well as for sharing
some photographic highlights that show range,
versatility, and how blessed I have been to work
with the best. When at an audition or in talks
with a casting director, I can refer them to the
web pages for more extensive information than
the usual 8x10 and resume can hold. Also the
downloadable resume is a convenient way for
prospective employers to have a hard copy
instantaneously. As a working actress myself, I
am in a unique position to guide my clients as
they create their own methodology and build
their careers. Most coaching clients who have
come to me via my website have checked out the
acting portion of the website first to get an
idea of my body of work, and to verify that what
I coach comes from a lifetime of experience
working as an actor. Hopefully, that history
enables me to guide them realistically through
the challenges that face the actor of today. The
coaching portion of the website gives any
prospective client a glimpse into my philosophy
and teaching technique, the kinds of coaching I
specialize in, and the curriculum for the
classes I hold. I believe in empowering actors
and making one's life and livelihood as creative
and fulfilling as possible. Along with that and
because of my extensive background in the
British Technique and Theatre, my mission is to
meld the British reverence for text with the
vitality of the American actor to make the work
active. In addition, each month I give timely
helpful advice and new inspirational quotations
in "Audrey's Room" to give you something new to
ponder.
AW: Where are you originally from?
JM: I am originally from Wilkinsburg,
Pennsylvania which is a suburb of Pittsburgh. I
came to NYC after getting my Equity card at the
Pittsburgh Public Theatre in 1980.
AW: How did you get your start?
JM: I won an acting scholarship to
Westminster College and got my B.A. from there.
After completing my degree, I worked at a number
of non-Equity theatres in Pittsburgh and
environs, eventually building up contacts,
credits, and AEA membership points that led to
my Equity card. With that, I moved to NY to
pursue my career and further study. I performed
in NYC showcases and regional LORT productions,
studied in conservatories, took graduate acting
courses, and eventually went to Oxford and took
part in the inaugural session of the
British-American Drama Academy where I worked
with one of my great mentors Earle Gister
formerly of the Yale School of Drama. That
particular summer led to my being asked to join
the Royal Shakespeare Company during its
Broadway and Kennedy Center rotating reps. And
then that led in a direct line to my Broadway
and West End debut in Sir Jonathan Miller's
production of Long Day's Journey Into Night with
the late Jack Lemmon. That was the great turning
point in my career. Up till that point, I never
had representation and had found all my work on
my own. I am certain that is why I continue to
believe that actor's must generate their own
work and paths and not rely on others to do it
for them even after gaining an agent or manager!
AW: Why did you decide to become an
actress?
JM: I always knew I was put on this Earth
to be an artist of some kind. When I was very
young, I was selected as one of 2 student
artists for a fine arts class at the Carnegie
Museum and Institute in Pittsburgh (the same one
I later learned that was attended by Andy
Warhol) by an art teacher, Mrs. Ruprecht, who
told my mother that it was not my drawing
technique that had singled me out, but my
tremendous imagination. As Einstein said,
"Imagination is more important than Knowledge".
From that point on, my creativity was nurtured,
and I found the best medium for my work was not
the canvas or oils or chalk but the canvas of
life, of stories told.
There simply was no other path for me.
AW: What's your favorite role that you've
played?
JM: There are several: Anna Livia in an
adaptation of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake,
Prossy in Candida, and Maggie in Dancing at
Lughnasa.
AW: Favorite Actress/Actor?
JM: Katherine Hepburn and I met several
times, and she has been and always will be a
wonderful inspiration as well as Dames Judi
Dench and Maggie Smith. Jack Lemmon, Dustin
Hoffman, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Sir Derek Jacobi
are the actors I most admire.
AW: What is the role that you haven't yet
played, but would love to play?
JM: Paulina in Shakespeare's A Winter's
Tale. I have only done a workshop and would love
to do a full out production. I think she is the
role I was born to play.
AW: Do you feel that a formal education
is important in the theatrical acting world?
JM: Absolutely. Acting requires
tremendous intelligence, searing analytical text
work, and great compassion, empathy and skilled
powers of observation. All qualities that a
formal education fosters. In fact, I believe a
true actor never stops learning until the day he
dies (and perhaps not even then). I will
continue to take class, coach, and grow forever.
AW: How long have you been teaching?
JM: I have been teaching for well over 20
years. It seemed that acting and coaching or
teaching have always co-existed for me.
AW: What do you most love about teaching?
JM: The best thing next to acting myself
is enabling and inspiring someone else to do so.
Back in the Tam O'Shanter Art Class at Carnegie,
our teacher Mr. Fitzpatrick used to say, "I
don't care if you all actually become fine
artists after you leave this class, but you will
be the best educated audience for art and most
critical eyes to view and experience art and
life in a creative way." It is important to find
a "job job" that feeds your soul as well as
gives back to the world. That is why I feel such
great excitement when I see an actor finally
crack a difficult piece of text or get a part
that they have pursued. Coaching empowers the
client to better own their place on this planet
with confidence and joy. In a way, coaching can
be even more eclectic than acting a single role
in a production because in one day I can work
through and "play" Richard III, Blanche Du Bois,
Othello, Maria Von Trapp, and the Nurse in Romeo
and Juliet without ever leaving my studio in
Queens!
AW: Do you have any advice for people
wanting a career in the theatre?
JM: Study, never stop learning or opening
yourself to new pursuits, be vigilant and
observant, persevere with patience. There are
many paths to a career in this business, not
just one prescribed way. There are infinite
individuals in humanity, and we need all types
of individuals to be actors to mirror that
humanity. Blaze your own trail and know that
with time and patience many things are possible.
Be realistic in your goals but don't forget to
dream. God puts you where he wants you at any
given time, each obstacle is a lesson though you
may not understand that at the time, and when
you are at your lowest, trust that something
better is planned for you and is coming. Keep
hope and your fire alive.
AW: How do you get most of your acting
jobs - through your agent, or on your own? Does
your agent use your website as a marketing tool?
JM: Now most of my work comes through my
agent, but I will always work to help agency
submissions along - writing letters, making
phone calls, doing post-audition follow up or
thank you notes, searching out future projects
from varied sources. My agency is my partner,
but it is still my career and I take sole
responsibility for it. And finally I have found
an agent with whom I can work as a team.
Other than telling folks who want to know more
about me to check it out, so far they have not
actively used my website for marketing. In any
case, it is my tool for my dual career, and it
has been a smashing success. Old friends have
now found me through the website and gotten back
in touch. The other great thing is that when a
new student is coming to the studio for the
first time, they can download the directions and
a map and navigating Queens is no longer reliant
on hand scribbled notes and forlorn lost phone
calls. I couldn't be happier with my decision to
go with Amy and ActorWebs!
ACT NEW YORK 2004
The Actor's Pocket Guide to New York City
My Own Training
BA, acting, speech, and English, Westminster
College; Yale/Oxford: British American Drama
Academy; the Royal Shakespeare Company; and the
Actors Center. Privately my greatest mentors
have been Earle Gister, Robert Smith, Leon Katz,
and Patsy Rodenburg.
My Performance Background
Broadway and Off Broadway, London's West End,
Israel's National Theatre, guest artist with the
Royal Shakespeare Company, and regional
theaters, Film: United 93. Television: Law and
Order: Criminal Intent, The Naked Brothers Band:
Nickelodeon, PBS 's American Playhouse, Showtime
on Broadway: Long Day's Journey Into Night
My Teaching Philosophy
I believe in empowering actors. As a working
actor myself, I am in a unique position to guide
my clients as they create their own methodology
and build their careers. Because of my strong
background in British technique, my mission is
to meld the British reverence for text with the
vitality of the American actor to make the
script active.
What Inspires Me to Teach
The next best thing to acting myself is enabling
someone else to do so and sharing in his or her
success whatever form that might take. How
thrilling to breathe life into others.
Other Important Things for Prospective
Students to Know
I do both classes and private coaching sessions
here at my studio in Queens. Private coaching is
in monologue selections (classical and
contemporary) and polishing, cold-reading, role
preparation, sides prep, acting of songs,
commercial copy and general audition/image
issues with a specialty in general auditions for
graduate schools or overseas acting programs.
How I Would Describe the Art of Acting
With the text as the skeleton, our job is to
flesh out and breathe life into the character as
defined by the playwright, to provide the
actions inherent in the words using ourselves as
the canvas or medium in a truthful, graceful
manner.
What I Look for When I Interview a
Prospective Student
I look for a client who is engaged, curious,
committed; someone who desires to exercise their
imagination with unflagging energy.
The Kind of Student Who Gets the Most
Working with Me
Someone who is open-minded and flexible as we
explore innumerable possibilities in solving a
moment, is willing to rehearse outside class,
and comes prepared; someone with a specific
goal.
The Facts
Year Teaching: 20+
Address: 49-01 39th Avenue
Sunnyside, NY 11104-1007
Phone: (718) 476-2590
E-mail:
info@thequeensstudio.com
Private Coaching: Yes - call for current rates -
24 hour cancellation policy.
Admission Policy: Telephone interview for
private coaching. For classes: Sample Class day
once a year for auditing. Admission by
interview/audition.
Classes
Shakespeare Introductory: Sonnets, Soliloquies,
and Text
Fee: Call for current rates
Schedule: 5 weeks, 3 hours per week
Shakespeare on Film: Scene Study with
Monologues
Fee: Call for current rates
Schedule: Class usually runs in conjunction with
Shakespeare Introductory.
Intermediate Shakespeare: Scene Study and
Monologues
Fee: Call for current rates
Schedule: 8-12 weeks, 4-5 hours per week
Advanced Shakespeare: Playing with Passion
Into Performance
Fee: Call for current rates
Schedule: 10-12 weeks, 4-5 hours per week. This
class is conducted like a rep company in
rehearsal for several rotating Shakespeare
productions.
