Read Online It's All In the Playing by Shirley Maclaine - Free Book Online
Authors: Shirley Maclaine
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reading with other actors just for the fun of it. Don’t you want to see how it plays?”
Well, indeed I did. But I never expected an actor of Tom Hulce’s stature to do a reading for the fun of it.
Arm in arm we walked into the ABC building. Then I experienced one of the genuinely thrilling moments of my life. On a par with having my baby, winning the Oscar, and meeting Clark Gable! I saw SCRIPT READING: OUT ON A LIMB on the rehearsal-hall door. I opened the door, walked in, and found Colin, Stan, Dean O’Brien (production manager), two assistant directors, and a long table surrounded by actors who would re-create what I had lived and written about. The past five years flooded back. No one who hasn’t experienced such an evolutionin expression could possibly understand the impact of seeing your life and its characters about to spring to life in a professional environment. For a moment I felt like Sally Field. “You take me seriously—you like me. You like me,” I wanted to blurt out. But it was much more than that. This room was full of people about to rehearse a script that seriously and respectfully treated trance-mediums, extraterrestrials, disembodied spiritual entities, and UFOs as an alternative reality to traditional reality. It wasn’t a Spielberg fantasy. It was real. It was happening to me. And suddenly it hit me. Brandon Stoddard and ABC had thirteen million dollars’ worth of faith and belief invested in the credibility of my spiritual search.
We took our seats. We all introduced ourselves. Tom was the only actor I knew, but each of the others was an experienced “working” professional.
For me the reading was an event, the personal satisfaction notwithstanding. For the first time Colin and I heard the rhythm, the hidden comedy, the tension of the love story, and whether the interpersonalization of the characters worked. It did. There was more work to be done—but in the main it was all there. For me to play a love scene with an actor who was depicting a real man whom I had loved was an exercise in double vision. It was then that I knew I’d have no trouble re-creating myself or allowing another actor to portray a real-life character in my life with freedom. From that day on I began to come to work and get into the character of who I had been ten years earlier. That was the separation I needed. It was essential that I play “Shirley” with the skepticism and confused disbelief that had been part of my early spiritual learning process ten years previously.
Soon after that realization, I did the screen test with Kevin—except that I stepped out of character with very unpleasant results as a consequence.
Chapter 5
K evin and I arrived at the taping studio soon after lunch. There were several arrangements of flowers waiting for us from Stan and company.
Kevin sat in the makeup chair. The makeup artist didn’t realize she was making up a trance medium until fifteen minutes into the procedure. I think that was because Kevin mentioned that Tom McPherson might smear his eye makeup with a blindfold. When she asked who Tom McPherson was, Kevin actually told her. She was so fascinated she took three hours to “complete” his makeup. And all it consisted of was base color!
The entire taping crew was prepared for visitors from outer space or, at the very least, a tap-in from Poltergeist. It was the first of many times that I’d notice a kind of respectful silence prevail on the set whenever the presence of beings from the other side was expected. It was endearingly humorous, because as jaded as some of them were, each of them had a healthy respect for the possibility that it just might be true. Either that or it was Hollywood people doing what they do best—coveringtheir bases. Knowing how the butter for their bread spreads … “stay with the money.”
The crew was ready. So was Kevin. He had been studying his lines diligently and so (according to him) had Tom and John. The crew, of
Well, indeed I did. But I never expected an actor of Tom Hulce’s stature to do a reading for the fun of it.
Arm in arm we walked into the ABC building. Then I experienced one of the genuinely thrilling moments of my life. On a par with having my baby, winning the Oscar, and meeting Clark Gable! I saw SCRIPT READING: OUT ON A LIMB on the rehearsal-hall door. I opened the door, walked in, and found Colin, Stan, Dean O’Brien (production manager), two assistant directors, and a long table surrounded by actors who would re-create what I had lived and written about. The past five years flooded back. No one who hasn’t experienced such an evolutionin expression could possibly understand the impact of seeing your life and its characters about to spring to life in a professional environment. For a moment I felt like Sally Field. “You take me seriously—you like me. You like me,” I wanted to blurt out. But it was much more than that. This room was full of people about to rehearse a script that seriously and respectfully treated trance-mediums, extraterrestrials, disembodied spiritual entities, and UFOs as an alternative reality to traditional reality. It wasn’t a Spielberg fantasy. It was real. It was happening to me. And suddenly it hit me. Brandon Stoddard and ABC had thirteen million dollars’ worth of faith and belief invested in the credibility of my spiritual search.
We took our seats. We all introduced ourselves. Tom was the only actor I knew, but each of the others was an experienced “working” professional.
For me the reading was an event, the personal satisfaction notwithstanding. For the first time Colin and I heard the rhythm, the hidden comedy, the tension of the love story, and whether the interpersonalization of the characters worked. It did. There was more work to be done—but in the main it was all there. For me to play a love scene with an actor who was depicting a real man whom I had loved was an exercise in double vision. It was then that I knew I’d have no trouble re-creating myself or allowing another actor to portray a real-life character in my life with freedom. From that day on I began to come to work and get into the character of who I had been ten years earlier. That was the separation I needed. It was essential that I play “Shirley” with the skepticism and confused disbelief that had been part of my early spiritual learning process ten years previously.
Soon after that realization, I did the screen test with Kevin—except that I stepped out of character with very unpleasant results as a consequence.
Chapter 5
K evin and I arrived at the taping studio soon after lunch. There were several arrangements of flowers waiting for us from Stan and company.
Kevin sat in the makeup chair. The makeup artist didn’t realize she was making up a trance medium until fifteen minutes into the procedure. I think that was because Kevin mentioned that Tom McPherson might smear his eye makeup with a blindfold. When she asked who Tom McPherson was, Kevin actually told her. She was so fascinated she took three hours to “complete” his makeup. And all it consisted of was base color!
The entire taping crew was prepared for visitors from outer space or, at the very least, a tap-in from Poltergeist. It was the first of many times that I’d notice a kind of respectful silence prevail on the set whenever the presence of beings from the other side was expected. It was endearingly humorous, because as jaded as some of them were, each of them had a healthy respect for the possibility that it just might be true. Either that or it was Hollywood people doing what they do best—coveringtheir bases. Knowing how the butter for their bread spreads … “stay with the money.”
The crew was ready. So was Kevin. He had been studying his lines diligently and so (according to him) had Tom and John. The crew, of
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