On Acting.

There is no such thing as becoming another character by putting on a lot of make up. You may need to put the makeup on, but what you're really doing is undressing yourself and even tearing yourself apart. And presenting to the public that part of you which corresponds to what you were playing. And there is a villain in each of us, a murderer in each of us, a fascist in each of us, a saint in each of us. The actor is the man or woman who can eliminate from himself those things that will interfere with that truth. - Orson Welles

Mr. Welles is a huge inspiration for me as a filmmaker and when I heard his take on acting it just made perfect sense to me. It's why I am at ease whenever I direct an actor. I get it. I am what they call an actors director. Probably because at one point I wanted to be an actor. Funny, I've never really told anyone that. I least I don't think so.

Growing up I was an extremely imaginative child. One memory that sticks out is dressing up in a robe, throwing on a backpack and any other gadget I could get my hands on and reenact The Goonies in costume. I was Data of course. I LOVED doing it, not just with The Goonies, but with almost every movie I watched. I was Gordie in "Stand By Me", Elliot in E.T. I wanted to do that, be an actor, show the world what i was made of! But damn I was a shy kid. I could barely speak in front of a classroom without getting all red and mumbly. So no, acting just wasn't meant to be for me. So I wrote.

What I'll look like for "NADA".

And here we are now many years later, 8 years into my career and yes I have acted. I even took an acting class many years ago and aced the shit out of it. I eventually grew out of my shy guy stage and embraced the fact that YES I have it in me. I am a natural as many of my friends will attest to that. But now I have my biggest challenge yet. My latest script : NADA ES PARA SIEMPRE" or "NOTHING IS FOREVER" is in pre production and I am the lead. Am I nervous? Kind of. The script is loosely based on a funky ass time in my life. A time I was completely lost, depressed and thought I would never overcome. But I did because here I am. What really makes me nervous and scares me a bit is reliving that time. Who wants to do over such a shitty moment in their life? I do! Weird I know, but for me I feel I won't be able to leave that behind until I do this. I need this to move on.

Preproduction is currently underway. My producer is friend and long time collaborator Brian "Cuojoe" Tolbert of DAGDAFILM. Shooting should begin around mid July. Look out for more updates in the coming weeks. Until next time.

Peace

Chris Jensen-Soto
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3786598/


BTW: If you missed my last blog please check it out and feel free to share. Thanks!
http://soconfilms.blogspot.com/2014/04/there-is-kind-of-beauty-in-imperfection.html