Question from my Brother
I’m writing on my new blog every day for thirty days straight. This is the fourth one.I asked my family and friends for questions about my career that I could answer during these thirty days. I’ll take a handful and answer them over the next couple weeks.
Before we get into it, I’d like to talk about the family that’ll be asking these questions. I love my big Catholic family. I’m the youngest of six kids born in San Antonio, TX to the two all-stars - Bob and Patty Pish. My oldest brother Bobby is twenty years older than me and is a Catholic priest. My youngest sibling Sarah is nine years older than me and works at NASA, unfortunately not with Mark Watney. My Grandpa Pish turned 98 this year. He fought in World War II.But the pièces de résistance are my ten nieces and nephews. I love them all with my entire soul. Nathan’s 15, Lucas is 15, Megan’s 13, Paige is 13ish, *Sophia’s 12ish, Isaac is around 9, Erin is also around nine, Brendan is potentially nine, *Caleigh is somewhere between 7 and 4, and Ava is definitely less than 2…I think. With such a big group, I’ve learned it’s best to be selective about what I remember about all of them.*Goddaughters.
Today’s question is from my brother Scott. He lives in Austin, TX with his wife and four kids. When I was a kid, Scott sat me down and had a heart to heart with me about how I was too old to still have a pacifier. When I was a bigger kid, he paid for me to go to a Spurs basketball camp. When I was a teen, I was his “practice kid” for a summer while his wife, Michelle, was pregnant with Nathan. Growing up, Scott took every opportunity to scare me, slap me, and beat me in basketball. And I get my sense of humor from him.From my brother Scott:What’s your pro-tip for all the kids today that are in your shoes five years ago trying to get into the acting business?Immerse yourself in the world. How? Three ways.Start working. Nike didn’t get it wrong: just do it. Either audition for a local play, film something short on your iPhone and edit it together on your computer, or take an acting or improv class. The quicker you get performing, the better. It doesn’t matter if what you do is bad, you’ll soon realize your failures are your greatest successes because you’ll learn from them. And those successes are the fastest shortcuts to more successes.If I was just starting, I would immediately enroll in an acting school (outside of college). If you’re going to study acting, I would suggest a place that teaches a Meisner curriculum over one or two years from the same teacher. Like the school I just graduated from in Los Angeles. I would surround myself with friends I met at plays and at school, and I would build a network of actors that were all as motivated as I was.Start watching. Movies, TV shows, plays. Study the great movies, TV shows, actors, and actresses. Watch the greatest acting performances. Start forming your own vocabulary for why they’re great.If I was just starting, I would outline several actors that are great and that I like watching. I would watch all of these actors’ movies. I would read their biographies. For me those guys were Marlon Brando, Sean Penn, Robert De Niro, Christian Bale, and now Tom Hardy.Start reading. Sanford Meisner’s On Acting, Stella Adler’s The Art of Acting, D.W. Brown’s You Can Act!, and anything else you find on acting.If I was just starting, I would buy these books and read them all on repeat. These are the kind of books that can be read multiple times and can become more useful the more you learn.I love all of this advice, I should take some of it. Play me out, Elvis.