INTERVIEW WITH ACTOR JOSS MCWILLIAM

Today I have the immense pleasure of welcoming a very special guest, actor Joss McWilliam, to CINEMATIC REVELATIONS for an interview. Joss has acted in several motion pictures over the years such as THE EMPTY BEACH, THE COOLANGATTA GOLD [my review of the film can be found here] THE SUICIDE THEORY, and MAGDALA ROSE. In this interview Joss will be discussing his part in THE COOLANGATTA GOLD, acting, television, and role as an acting coach.

Welcome to CINEMATIC REVELATIONS Joss!

Athan: When did you first realize that you wanted to be an actor?

Joss: Thanks Athan. I did a bit of acting at school in a number of plays and quite liked it. Then bits and pieces at university. I tried out for NIDA in 1979 and could have got in, but for an all-night drinking session the night before my final audition. I was pretty young and wild and frankly not committed to the idea yet. I travelled overseas and saw some amazing theatre in Stratford and London. During a performance of Duet for One, starring Frances De La Tour, I was so enraged with the actor playing opposite her that I began to stand, to argue with him. Quickly sitting, I couldn’t believe that I had fallen for an imaginary situation. Mind you, it was great acting. That night, I decided that that was what I wanted to do.

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Athan: Where did you study acting?

Joss: On my return to Australia in 1981, I tried out for NIDA and didn’t last the morning. I then spent two weeks at the Ensemble but did not like it at all, so I dropped out and ended up studying privately with an actor called Brian Syron. This was two nights a week in Woollahra. He had studied with Stella Adler so it was in that tradition. When I started working, I feel like I threw a lot of what he taught me away, but at least he taught me to think like an actor. I feel like most of what I have learned has been on the job and I have had the good fortune to work with and learn from some extraordinary actors and directors.

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Athan: Your performance as Steve in THE COOLANGATTA GOLD was the linchpin for all the action in the movie, a young man of many shades, and moods, who was psychologically complex, and thoroughly compelling. What it is that drew you to the part of Steve?

Joss: In my second year with Bryan, I was spotted by Rae Davidson, a casting director at Forcast and asked to audition for The Coolangatta Gold. It was simply a chance to start climbing the greasy pole, an opportunity to start working. After I landed the job, I suppose I found parallels between the character and myself and drew on them for the role. I have always joked that I started at the top and have been working my way down ever since.

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Athan: THE COOLANGATTA GOLD had a prolific cast with yourself, Nick Tate, Robyn Nevin, and Colin Friels as the movie’s central focus, the Lucas family. What was it like working with these performers?

Joss: I had a wonderful time working with Colin and I had the sense he was looking after me. Instinctively, I was drawn to his personality and way of working. There are things that we joked about on that set that still amuse me now. He once gave me Hamlet’s speech to the players at the back of a Grips truck. The perfect acting lesson. I still think of him as my acting brother. Nick was fine, but from a different acting school than the one I was interested in and Robyn, for whatever reason, didn’t speak to me once for the two weeks we were on set. Go figure.

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Athan: THE COOLANGATTA GOLD was about an iron man endurance marathon, with many scenes of training, and the eponymous marathon race itself depicted in the movie. In preparation for the film, did you undertake a training regime, and what was your experience of this?

Joss: When I got the role, I wasn’t that fit, so I spent the next 3-6 months preparing. The week consisted of running many kilometres every second morning alternating with weight sessions on alternate days with the Manly Sea Eagles conditioner. I would swim 50 laps every second day and learn to surf ski on the alternate days. Then every evening I would learn Karate with Paul Starling for two hours. Exhausting. It was difficult at first, but I learned the transformative power of hard exercise and I became incredibly fit.

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Athan: In THE COOLANGATTA GOLD, Steve also attends karate classes, under the instructor of real-life karate master Paul Starling, who played his close friend and confidant. Did you also train in martial arts specifically for the movie, or was this something of which you had prior experience?

Joss: I trained with Paul in Sydney, specifically for the movie. I had no prior experience and since the film have never used those skills again.

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Athan: THE COOLANGATTA GOLD was directed by Igor Auzins, who also helmed the motion pictures HIGH ROLLING IN A RED CORVETTE, and WE OF THE NEVER NEVER. What was it like being directed by Mr Auzins in THE COOLANGATTA GOLD?

Joss: The Coolangatta Gold was my first job and I honestly expected to get more direction than what I got. I have since discovered that most directors just expect you to know what you’re doing. The best directors are collaborative and will work with you to improve performance.

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Athan: Aside from your film work you have appeared in many Australian television shows over the years, from series such as Winners, The Flying Doctors, The Adventures of Skippy, and more recently in The Strip, and Home and Away. From your perspective, what are some of the most striking differences between film, and television production?

Joss: Both film and television at their best re all about storytelling. The most striking difference is the time given to tell the story. You have more time on a film set and there is more care taken on the shot and the content. Quality television is like film these days anyway.

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Athan: You have been an acting coach for over a decade at Angel Studios, which is a professional recording studio in Brisbane, Queensland. What it is that led you to this, and what provides the most satisfaction in seeing students thrive in their aspirations?

Joss: I have been teaching off and on for twenty years. Because acting is a precarious profession financially, I’m sure I took it up to make extra money. There is something satisfying in seeing students grasp the idea that you are trying to get across. I enjoy watching their confidence grow and it is extremely satisfying to see some, as I did, go on to have professional careers. As I was taught, so have I gone on to teach.

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Athan: Do you have any upcoming projects of which you would like to tell readers?

Joss: I did a fantastic show last year called Boy Swallows Universe. There is a chance that it may tour next year nationally. Other than that, I have nothing coming up. This may change overnight, but if it doesn’t and I never worked again, I have no regrets. It is 40 years since I auditioned for The Coolangatta Gold and I have worked on many great projects since then with some wonderful people and have travelled all over Australia.

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Thank you so much for your time today Joss, and for the insight you have provided into the art of acting, THE COOLANGATTA GOLD, cinema, television, and acting coaching. It has been wonderful having you on CINEMATIC REVELATIONS. You are welcome to return whenever you wish.

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Joss McWilliam links

+Joss McWilliam IMDb Actor Page

+THE COOLANGATTA GOLD movie IMDb page

INTERVIEW WITH ACTOR SAM GROOM

I have the immense pleasure today of welcoming a very special guest, actor Sam Groom, to CINEMATIC REVELATIONS for an interview. Sam has acted in many motion pictures over the years including ACT ONE, RUN FOR THE ROSES, FOR PETE’S SAKE!, THE BABY MAKER [my review of the film can be found here] and DEADLY GAMES, to name a few examples. In this interview Sam will be discussing his role in THE BABY MAKER, acting, television, and his position on the acting faculty at HB Studio in New York.

Welcome to CINEMATIC REVELATIONS Sam!

Athan: When did you first realize that you wanted to be an actor?

Sam: When my brother and I were young we went to 'the movies' almost every Saturday. We loved Cowboy, Tarzan, Pirate and War and Spy movies, almost anything with action and adventure. Afterwards we would go home and be those characters not act them but in our minds actually be them. As we grew up our focus turned to athletics. We were both pretty good and our dreams turned to being college and eventually professional athletes. In my senior year of high school I happened to see James Dean in East Of Eden and Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront. Unless you were young in the middle Fifties you won't completely understand what an enormous impact their work as actors achieved. Instead of the slick product of the past theirs was visceral and raw-almost embarrassing in its honesty. I thought THIS is what I want to do and be. My parents thought I was crazy but they supported me. When I had my first television success my Dad just walked around saying 'I can't believe it, I can't believe it!"

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Athan: Where did you study acting?

Sam: After secretly deciding to pursue an acting career while in college I began auditioning for every major school production. I was immediately cast as Dr. Stockman in Ibsen's ENEMY OF the PEOPLE and as Hamlet in Shakespeare's HAMLET. Although I read as much as I could I didn't formally study acting. I was simply lucky enough to be cast in shows and I learned by doing. (I don't necessarily recommend this method as I discovered later).During my last two summers of college I was hired as a resident actor in two professional summer theaters and after being married my senior year arrived in New York with a wife and very soon a son I had to provide for.

While working at night at a seaman's hotel, I was cast in a famous "live" hour long tv show, "THE ARMSTRONG CIRCLE THEATER" in a leading role. Actors such as Paul Newman and James Dean had done this show in the past. It was like a miracle after only five months in New York!

I continued to work regularly for a number of years relying on some natural ability and not formally studying. All that changed for me when I made a movie for television directed by the great Daniel Mann who was one of the founders of the Actor's Studio and director of Anna Magnani and Elizabeth Taylor in their Academy Award performances. After one particular scene he said that I was a "lazy actor". I was horrified. I was working as hard as I could. This lead me eventually to return to New York and to study with the great Uta Hagen. I discovered that what Daniel perceived as "lazy" was simply that since I never had formal classes there was a part of the acting process that I was not aware of. Knowing this I spent most of the rest of my career working in the theater and trying to perfect the techniques I FINALLY learned in class.

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Athan: Your performance in THE BABY MAKER as the charming, strong Jay was perfect. What is it that drew you to the role of Jay in this production?

Sam: What is most important for an actor is finding aspects of a character that he (or she) can personally identify with. For me this was not too difficult. Like Jay I came from a fairly conservative family background. Both my parents were college graduates. My dad was in the business world and many of our relatives were also in business or the law. People from that world generally have strong family expectations of a good life and further family success for their children. I know my parents did. The cultural conflicts that arose from the radical idea of having another woman carrying Jay's child and his building emotional connection to her despite his love for his wife were interesting ideas. The fact that Jay was a good and decent person was very appealing to me.

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Athan: What did you find most exciting about the experience of making THE BABY MAKER?

Sam: One of the most exciting aspects of making THE BABY MAKER was a call from my agent in early Dec.1969 telling me that the producer of a major film wanted to fly me to Los Angeles immediately. I was to meet with the director, Jim Bridges (who I knew) and Barbara Hershey (whose work I had admired) and read for a major role in a new film. Another [actor] was being offered the film. I happily accepted and flew my family to sunny California to spend two wonderful months living on the beach in beautiful Malibu while we filmed (five years later I bought the home and lived there for eight years).

As an actress, Barbara was very easy to work with. Unfortunately she was living with David Carradine and personally they were a bad combination. So working with her was fine but personally not so wonderful. Years later Barbara and I ran into each other on the street in Sherman Oaks and she apologized.

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Athan: For you, what was the most demanding, but emotionally satisfying segment of THE BABY MAKER?

Sam: Unlike plays which progress straight through from act one to act three in a dramatic line, films are shot out of sequence creating some difficulty for the actors in creating a truthful emotional journey for their characters. The BABY MAKER was a prime example of this difficulty.

The first scene and the last scene were filmed on the first day of shooting in a wonderful house (owned by Adam West of Batman fame) situated high above the ocean in Malibu. The actors had to make all the experiences from the beginning to the end of the script real to themselves although he (or she) had not lived them yet. The practical reason for this problem is financial. It costs a lot of money for film crews to move from one location to another so if more than one scene is to be shot at the same location they will always film them all at the same time.

The director, Jim Bridges, did something very rare in film-making. He had the entire cast rehearse for a week before shooting began, sitting around a long table at the studio working on our character's emotional truth. This was a great benefit to me!

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Athan: THE BABY MAKER dealt with the topics of infertility and surrogacy in a candid, but empathetic manner for all parties in the film. After acting in THE BABY MAKER, did you find that your perceptions of these subjects altered from what they were before appearing in the movie?

Sam: An interesting example of the perception of surrogate birth motherhood in 1970 when THE BABY MAKER was released was the huge difference in newspaper reviews in Columbus, Ohio (my parents’ home city). One reviewer loved the film and the acting. The second completely dismissed the film. His main point was that since the whole premise of a woman carrying a child for another woman was so unbelievable the film failed.

While we were filming, Jim Bridges told me that his idea for the film was inspired by speaking with a young (hippie) woman in Venice Beach, CA. who had twice carried children for barren women. She said she just loved creating babies.

As an actor I must have a vivid imagination to use as an aid in living truthfully under any given circumstances. When you combine that with the very truthful and appealing performance of Barbara [Hershey] and my own wife's often stated love of the creativity of being pregnant (we had three sons by this time) my perceptions didn't need much changing.

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Athan: Have you kept in contact with any cast members and crew from THE BABY MAKER?

Sam: Until the early 1960's the major studios (MGM, COLUMBIA, 20th CENTURY FOX, UNIVERSAL etc.) all had a long list of people (actors, directors, writers) under exclusive contract to the studio. They also had huge back-lots with sets of every description. As a result of this, these people would see each other frequently-either on set or eating in the studio dining room and lasting friendships would be created.

As a larger and larger percentage of the public watched TV, fewer and fewer went to the movies. In order to stay in business the studios sold off their back-lots for real estate projects (Century City) and no longer had actors under contract. Films were made on location around the world and the actors were hired only for one project. They would work together intensely for a time then be off to other projects and other cities.

That is a long answer to your question - not really. Scott Glenn and I had worked together in an off-Broadway production of 11 short plays by the top young writers in the theater called "Collusion Course". It got great reviews and ran for a year. One of the plays I did was written by Jack Larsen (a partner of Jim Bridges) so Scott and I knew each other before THE BABY MAKER and were friends.

Immediately after the film we all went in different directions. I was under contract to Another World in New York so I had to return. A year later I was in Toronto beginning a series called Police Surgeon and had dinner with Jim Bridges who was filming scenes of his film Paper Chase there. A few years later I had dinner with Jim and Jack Larsen in L,A. and visited with Scott and his lovely family at his home in Topanga Canyon. Again we all went off in our different directions. As I said I only saw Barbara once on the street.

My wife became ill and I spent much of my time in those years trying to hold my family together and continue with a career at the same time.

It took all of my attention.

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Athan: THE BABY MAKER was directed by James Bridges, who later helmed equally diverse motion pictures such as THE PAPER CHASE, THE CHINA SYNDROME, and URBAN COWBOY. What was the experience of being directed by Mr Bridges in THE BABY MAKER?

Sam: Before filming THE BABY MAKER Jim Bridges had been a screen writer (or as most screenwriters in Hollywood – a re-writer hired to improve another writer's efforts). This can be very lucrative. But Jim had never directed a film. Wisely, Jim cast his film with good people, had a week of rehearsal before shooting began, and then pretty much left his actors alone. He was very supportive and easy to work with. As is apparent from the quality of his next films he learned very, very quickly.

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Athan: You have starred on many television series, both daytime and nighttime, over the years such as Another World, The Edge of Night, Gunsmoke, Hill Street Blues, The Love Boat, and Law and Order, to name a few. What for you were the main differences when comparing television, and film?

Sam: The main difference between films and TV is speed. Not only speed of filming but speed of casting and of script writing as well. With the last series I did (Otherworld) the casting was completed, literally, the evening before filming began. The writing of the following episodes was just as delayed. This was not unusual. For some reason studio executives in television seem unable to make decisions until the last possible moment.

Theatrical films are entirely different. Scripts go through many rewrites before financing is in place then a careful search for a director and actors takes place. (Interestingly my casting in THE BABY MAKER was against all norms. Jim had wanted me since seeing me in Collision Course but he had to finesse the casting. He auditioned many known film actors, turned them down one by one until time was running out and the part had to be cast.  I was not well known in the film community so Jim had to create a situation where a quick decision had to be made. When Barbara and I met and read our scenes together the producer was pleased and agreed to the casting).

Most hour long series episodes are filmed in seven days. Television movies take about three weeks to film. Contrast this to theatrical films that take at minimum six weeks and with complicated special effects a great deal longer.

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Athan: You have been an acting coach in HB Studios New York for many years. What is it the you find most rewarding in this position?

Sam: My primary method is teaching from my mistakes-this is what I did wrong or what I failed to do. It seems when students have concrete examples-very personal in my case-they more easily accept and remember the guidance and incorporate it into their work. Finally I relate something the wonderful actor and director Alan Arkin told me -before every performance he says a simple prayer - "Dear God if there is anyone in the audience whose pain I can relieve through laughter or I can help through a clearer understanding of the human condition, please allow me to do so today!" I only wish I had known this from the beginning!

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Athan: Do you have any upcoming projects of which you would like to tell readers?

Sam: As to future projects I am always looking for something that would be interesting to direct since at my age (I hate to say it) there are very few good roles being created for my work as an actor.

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Thank you so much today for your time Sam, and for the insight you have provided into the art of acting, THE BABY MAKER, cinema, television, and acting coaching. It has been wonderful having you on CINEMATIC REVELATIONS. You are welcome to return whenever you wish.

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Sam Groom links

+Sam Groom IMDb Actor Page

+THE BABY MAKER movie IMDb page