Adventures of a No Name Actor
by Marco Perella
Overview
From the Publisher
Marco Perella is a very successful actor. Which is not to say that he is a famous actor. The co-star in some made-for-TV movies, a bit player in major Hollywood productions, guest star on a late night cable TV series-Marco has seen every aspect of what is, by anyone's account, an absurd business. Whether he has been hired to float down the Guadalupe River dressed in a Jester's suit, recruited to teach Kevin Costner how to dance, or paid $250 to stand in front of a plate glass window while a runaway convertible hurtles through it, screeching to a halt only inches from his body, Marco Perella has met his acting challenges head on. In Adventures of a No Name Actor, he recounts his experiences with a storyteller's eye for detail and a Texan's light touch, proving that you don't have to be famous to be funny.
Author Biography: Marco Perella's film credits include JFK, Lone Star, Varsity Blues, and Keys to Tulsa. He has co-starred in over twenty TV movies, and was a recurring guest star on the series 'Walker: Texas Ranger'. He lives in Austin, Texas.
My thoughts
This book was SO good! I laughed and laughed! Some people can pull off self-depreciating humor and some people can't, but Marco Perella does a fantastic job of it! I laughed at his expense from cover to cover! I love the way he throws around names -- big names, too! He's worked with some fine actors and actresses, and speaks so casually about them!
Something I really like about this book that sometimes goes missing in Hollywood books is that the author has limits. This isn't a goody-two-shoes book, but there are lines the author doesn't cross. It's refreshing.
Favorite Passage
There's considerable nervousness in the hall. I mean, adrenaline is always in oversupply before an audition, but this is real damp-palms stuff. Word has gotten around that Oliver Stone is raging unchecked throuh the assembled auditioning multitudes. There has been rending and tearing. This works on the imagination until you can see him in there now, reaming somebody exactly like you. Or throwing away the script and telling you to improvise. Actors are coming out of the audition room and making bug eyes at the rest of us by way of warning.
I am not afraid. I have an Italian father. I've been yelled at by professionals. Besides, I've got it scoped. Oliver was in 'Nam, right? He's into this Marine thing. Auditions are like boot camp to him. Trial by fire and all that. He's trying to see what we're made of.
He's like a lion on the savanna, scaring hell out of the antelopes. If they run fast enough they get to eat grass again, but if one stumbles ... Lion King moves in and disembowels it.
Anyway, I am ready for Simba. I've lucked out and gotten a scene where my character gets real mad. So when my turn comes and I'm ushered into the Presence I'm already primed to come across as one fast antelope.
Oliver is sitting in a great big peacock chair that absolutely dominates the room. THe man has actually made himself a throne. I resist the urge to fall on my face and grovel.
The motionless Stone says very little if anything to me. Dance, boy, dance. So I launch into my bit. Except when the script stops I'm just getting started. I'm supposed to be yelling at this witness, but since she's not there I'm kind of aiming my tirade in Oliver's direction. I go off on a complete improvisation, laced with the most colorful expletives I can pronounce. I'm stomping around and turning red and lacerating the air.
Finally I run out of gas and look up at the throne. As the Russians say, Is Miracle!
Oliver Stone, Lion of the Stoneleigh, is actually beaming at me! He's laughing! He loves it! I'm hired!
