Actors and their Roles

Los Angeles, CA—Aside from being a licensed investigator and an investigative TV news producer, I’m an actor and a member of SAG-AFTRA since 1997.

I watched the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman play his very diverse roles with absolute envy.  Hoffman walked away with an Oscar for playing Truman Capote.  Capote was a flaming Gay toad with a real gift for writing that was very comfortable with his bizarre persona.

Hoffman by all accounts was a straight guy with a longtime girlfriend with three children.  He simply had a gift to make any character he played really believable.

Hoffman became his characters, bringing real life to the words written in a film script.  That took tremendous discipline that was very inconsistent with his apparent drug addiction.

My first acting coach at Arizona State University made it clear to me that if I was afraid to look foolish or strange before an audience I’d be better off not acting.   I thought of how I really only wanted to play the roles of the cool guys!  Boy was she ever right!  I simply had to let go of any ego.   

When you’re an actor it’s the casting directors decide what you are going to play.  Most often when you get picked for a role it’s not the one you auditioned for! 

I never once turned down a role.  I got some strange ones indeed.  I played roles such as the testosterone challenged Bob “Bitch Tits” in a stage production of Fight Club.  The rocker Meatloaf played that part in the film.

I played a scary sodomizer, Zed in Pulp Fiction again on stage.  The great line in this film everyone remembers is, when Bruce Willis says, “Zed is Dead.”

Last but not least, I was asked to help develop a very Conservative political and comedic TV talk show host.  However I was required to do this in drag!  It was a Sarah Palen type gun loving “lady” named Zelda McCorville.  This was before Palen became the Republican candidate for Vice President. 

Zelda was somehow resurrected later for two independent films.  Zelda’s TV talk show however never made air.  I was actually having fun in this ridicules and insane role!  

The best-published reviews I ever got were for my Fight Club role. 

I learned one thing about playing these parts, the audience really notices you!  They remember the Zany characters long after others are forgotten.

I don’t know what my next role will be but I’m prepared for anything!  Bring it on please, I need the money!

Watch here as Zelda goes to the Gun Range!

Noemi Schlosser is a Globe Trotting Actress Living Life One Adventure at a Time!

Actress Noemi Schlosser with Crimefile News Blogger Paul Huebl

Antwerp, Belgium—This terrific city is home to writer, director, singer, actress and comedian Noemi Schlosser.  Noemi has traveled to Chicago, L.A., Israel, Spain and all points in between putting up entertainment.  Each project is a new and exciting adventure for this talented lady.  It is also a lot of very hard work.

A while back on one of her visits to the USA she sat down with me for an exclusive interview.  Noemi is bright, funny and delightful.  I spent the day with her taking her to such places as The mausoleum where the late actress Marilyn Monroe is interred, the L.A. Art Museum and the headquarters of the Screen Actor’s Guild where I’m a member.

For me my visits with Noemi both in Chicago and L.A. have been a real treat!  I look forward to our next meeting perhaps in Europe.  I have to say I’m proud to count Noemi as a dear friend!

Enjoy my interview below with this fine lady!

There is Life After Police Work! This Retired Policewoman Rocks!

Lorraine Iwan

Los Angeles, CA—For those that don’t know I’m a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild.  I attended a SAG function a couple of years ago in Hollywood and met a hopeful young lady actress.  Her Name is Lorraine Iwan and she happens to be a retired New York city policewoman.

I don’t know how old Lorraine is but she seems way too young to be retired. She packed her bags and relocated in LA LA Land so she could bring a little reality to cop dramas but she can also sing!   

Hollywood is a tough place to compete and make a living as an entertainer.  Lorraine was out making the rounds trying to get noticed.  Her credits are slim right now but I think that’s all about to change! I really hope that Lorraine get’s a top Hollywood agent and can see her dream come true.  

She just posted this video and I’m sure you’ll agree with me that there is life after police work.  Rock on Lorraine!

Belgium Star, Noemi Schlosser Shines Over Chicago!

Los Angeles, CA—Most of my blog visitors know that beyond my day job as a PI and investigative TV news Producer, I’m also an actor.

Somehow I developed a new friend on Facebook who is a gifted actress/comedienne fresh from Antwerp, Belgium. Noemi Schlosser has recently been in some projects put up in Chicago’s Lincoln Avenue Theater District.

I was hoping to grab an interview from this gal in Chicago but it just didn’t happen. The good news is she paid a visit to Hollywood and I snagged an exclusive interview with the stunning thespian.

Additionally I had the good fortune to show her around town. I took her to places like Marilyn Monroe’s grave, The Screen Actor’s Guild and the Los Angeles Art Museum for an entire day.

Any time spent with a stunning woman who’s half my age is indeed quality time!

Noemi is working out the details for a performance at Chicago’s Palmer House as I write this. I predict big things for this gal that you all will be seeing and hearing about in the future.

Sit back and check out the exclusive interview Noemi granted to Crimefile News at the Los Angeles Bat Cave.

Sela Ward Flying High at 55!

Los Angeles, CA—One of the perks I have as a member of the Screen Actors Guild is the privilege of attending the SAG Foundation’s, Conversations. It’s a somewhat intimate affair with well known actors in a small theater with no more than 100 seats.

They usually show the latest project the actor is involved with on the screen and later they bring in the actor who is interviewed by various Foundation moderators. Afterwards the actors usually spend time with those fellow actors that want to meet them.

Over the last several years, I have attended Conversations with actors including Maria Bello, Camryn Manheim, Tom Selleck , Jill Hennessy, Christan Slater and several others.

Tonight it was a special treat to spend some time with the stunning and beautiful Sela Ward. At 55 she looks amazing even up close and personal. Ward can compete with any other beautiful woman less than half her age. Ward has a Golden Globe, two Emmys and a bunch of nominations to her credit.

Instead of bringing in her latest episode of CSI New York Ward brought in an actor’s reel of her best work. Scenes from films with Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, Burt Reynolds, Kevin Costner, George Clooney, Hugh Laurie and many others were on the reel.

That was enjoyable to say the least but the last scene was a recent audition she prepared for a casting director. Ward is a consummate pro who has demonstrated that she is absolutely fearless. These days actors use those wonderful pro-sumer HD cameras and shoot whatever their agents tell them the casting directors are looking for. They then submit the material electronically for consideration.

When I said Ward was fearless that self made audition scene in the reel said it all. Ward is in a dressing area of a bedroom wearing a white top and long and somewhat tight skirt. She talks about and displays a girdle and without hesitation put her feet into it pulling it up under her skirt. The girdle is beyond too tight and Ward struggles with it making gyrations that were absolutely hilarious. As soon as she gets the monster on, catching her breath she pulls down the skirt, checks her rear in the mirror and exclaims with a smile it was well worth the effort! Ward is indeed a great and versitle entertainer.

The sign of a great actor is they are able to leave their egos at the stage door. Ward chronicled her career and gave her fellow actors numerous tips and was indeed inspiring. Ward also did not hold back revealing hurtful and thoughtless remarks made by rude casting directors and such about her efforts during auditions. Ward has learned how to use those remarks like a sword to prove them wrong.

Ward stuck around to visit with all the lucky actors that wanted to meet and chat with her. I told her I’d love to work with her in any project. She gave me a warm and wide smile thanking me. I told her I hope to see her working longer than the legendary Jessica Tandy.

To Sela Ward and the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, I say a lot of actors were inspired like I was tonight. Thank you all for another terrific educational opportunity.

In 2002 Ward published her first book, titled Homesick. Part inspirational story, part memoir, the book tells Ward's quest for a balance between the comforts of her small-town childhood and her big city way of life. The book appeared on the New York Times bestseller list.

You can get your own copy of Ward’s book right here at Amazon.com.

An Actor’s Strike On The Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Los Angeles, CA—As a long time member of the, Screen Actor’s Guild, I’m watching the movement toward an actor’s strike.

In Los Angeles acting is a tough game. Unless you are closely related to, sleeping with or have decapitated some Hollywood big shot's prize horse and put put that trophy in his bed your chances of making a decent living are really slim.

It’s the agents who control who does or does not work. For the unemployed or underemployed actors there are auditions with endless driving, waiting and all manner of roadblocks. For example you must pay for your own parking during auditions. Hundreds of actors are submitted to producers for nearly every single role.

I know may actors that are lucky to get five tiny parts in an entire year. For that they are compensated at $759.00 per day for speaking roles. The Internet and related new media threatens actors on any residuals. The Internet has no control and actor’s products are subject to perpetual play.

Yes there are a small percentage of actors that are multi-millionaires That’s not a reason to not pay the lesser exposed actors who after all make these films possible.

Actors I know are always one step-ahead of the bill collectors, landlords and starvation as they live hand to mouth. Too many of these SAG members are reduced to prostituting their services to non-union producers just to eat. Too many lives have been shattered on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams by poverty.

Even during these hard times I’m in favor of a strike. Entertainment always has done well even during the Great Depression. With a zero percent interest rate investing in movies seems less risky and handsome returns can still be made. To the producers I say Pay up or do without.