Marisa Costa

Just got cast in ‘Twelfth Night’ at Shakespeare Orange County

admin — Fri, 03 May 2013 01:47:29 +0000

I just got cast as Olivia in Twelfth Night at The Shakespeare Orange County Summer Festival. Check out the link and stay tuned for updates, rehearsal logs, performance news and reviews!

http://www.shakespeareoc.org/current_season.php

“Why don’t you?”

admin — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:30:27 +0000

It’s not too late to talk New Year’s Resolutions. This year I decided to take a different approach. In years past I’d make mental lists of what not to do, how I was going to make this year better by abandoning bad habits. My New Year’s week, the week after the 1^st, would be chock-full with reminders to myself strewn on various scraps of paper in my planner, on my desk, and on my fridge about what not to do. This year I will not over eat. This year I will not procrastinate. This year I will not dwell on the past. I realize that it would be much more effective to modify the negative language and instead say, this year I will eat healthy. This year I will meet deadlines. This year I will live in the moment, etc. But what I realized this New Years is that I am tired of making the same resolutions year after year, positive or negative. I’m Fed up telling myself not to do things or to resolve to be different than I naturally am today. So . . . no resolutions this year. I’ve just too decided to be exactly where I am, doing exactly what it occurs to me to do. I hope this year you can cut yourself a break too. But if you still feel compelled to make a list for yourself of how you want to make this year different than the last, why don’t you take a page from fashion legend Diana Vreeland. Diana wrote a column called Why Don’t You? for Harper’s Bazaar in the 1940’s in which she pontificated on fashion and style. In each column she would make outrageous suggestions trying to inspire readers in original ways to introduce new bursts of life in to their home and heart. Diana wrote things like why don’t you . . .

. . . use a gigantic shell instead of a bucket to ice your champagne?

. . . have a yellow satin bed entirely quilted in butterflies?

. . . tie an enormous bunch of silver balloons on the foot of your child’s bed

. . . paint a map of the world on all four walls of your boys’ nursery so they won’t grow up with a provincial point of view?

. . . have a private staircase from your bedroom to the library with a needlework carpet with notes of music worked on each step — the whole spelling your favorite tune?

Why not approach this year with a kind of spontaneous exciting randomness like Diana? Don’t make lists or private promises of how you are not going to waste time and make the same mistakes as last year. Why not set out to waste time in fantastic ways and make bigger and better mistakes. Why don’t you spend an entire day finger painting on old t-shirts? Why don’t you throw a dance party and only invite one other person? Why don’t you sing? Why don’t you work on a role that you are not at all right for? Why don’t you show up at a casting office that says NO DROP OFFS with your headshot? Or call an office that says PLEASE NO PHONE CALLS? Why don’t you illicit change by actually changing? Got any other “why don’t you?”s

‘Fray’ Wins Best Feature at The UK Film Festival

admin — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 00:36:34 +0000

‘Fray’ wins yet another Best Feature Award at the International Film Festival in the UK.

Check the website to read more: http://ukfilmfestival.com/awards/

“My Wingman.”

admin — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 00:23:37 +0000

In this business, they say, it’s all about who you know. This is a fact according to countless industry publications, blogs, books, marketing seminars, agents, casting directors, friends, parents, etc. etc. As a self-proclaimed/self- inflicted lifelong sufferer of chronic social anxiety, I find this fact to be more than a bit disheartening at times. I’ve always thought the world was divided into two types of people: those who were shy, and those who weren’t. From a very young age I felt I fell in to the “shy” category always feeling out of place in a room full of people; first at birthday parties, family reunions, and summer camp as a kid. Then as I grew older I felt equally anxious at high-school dances, and college parties, and now as an adult, at work parties and networking functions. It has always brought me comfort to read an interview and discover that shyness and social anxiety inflicts some of my favorite actors including fellow alumni Gene Wilder. I once heard him talk at the 92^nd Street Y in New York where he said “In front of a thousand people on-stage, I’m fine, but at a dinner party I want to hide.” A couple of times a year (I’m embarrassed to admit) I find myself binging at the self-help section of the nearest bookstore loading up on any and every book written on confidence building. I remember reading Larry King’s book on the art of the conversation which taught me to always ask questions. When there is a lull in the conversation, ask a question. This tactic worked for me for quite some time until eventually conversations progressed and I would find myself on the receiving end of a question and would freeze. These skills are important for us actors to hone. We have to be able to show interest towards someone else’s work and be able to talk about our own work in a confident and articulate manner. These skills are even more vital in today’s industry where the pool of actors is large and always growing. This is why many career coaches advocate a marketing approach that involves creating a network of fellow artists; actors, writers, directors, filmmakers; people who are making the movies not only sitting behind the casting table. It is important to go to networking events; films, film festivals, plays, talk-backs, Q & A’s and talk to people; participate in the panel discussions, strike up conversations. Now I am sure that none of this is news to any of you and you are all probably already actively networking. I just learned of a trick however that fellow introverts might find helpful at these said industry events. Get a Wingman. Sometimes you may lack the courage to approach someone. Your wingman will give you a shove. Sometimes your nerves will get the best of you and you suddenly go blank in a conversation. Your wingman will jump in and try to revive it. Sometimes you may find yourself in a conversation that isn’t going as planned but you don’t know how to end it. Your wingman can be there to offer you a graceful way out. A wingman is someone who supports you, brings out the best in you, makes you feel relaxed, gives you a push when you need it, and saves you when you need saving.

While networking at a film festival recently, my Mother became my wingman. We had just watched a film that we were both particularly moved by. When the lights went up and the panel discussion began I immediately came up with a comment/question that I wanted to ask the writer/director. I sat in my chair silently formulating my question. My heart rate accelerated. My temperature rose. That ever-familiar lump in my throat tried to lodge itself in my airway. I began the oh-so-familiar inner battle that went like this,

“Raise your hand you idiot!”

“No your comment isn’t interesting! You will sound like a fool.”

“If you can’t do this, what makes you think you can be an actor?”

“If the comment was smart, I would raise my hand, but it isn’t,” and on the battle went as the winner emerged from the rubble. In my silent despair I wondered why I am like this. Why do I get so nervous and waste so much time? While I was busy arguing with myself, the mediator ended the Q & A and I exited the theatre, head bowed in defeat, wingman in tow. The intervention began like this,

“Dammit Mom, I had something really interesting to ask.”

“Well why didn’t you ask it then?” I detected a bit of laughter in her voice which I took as a sign of empathy. I sighed out,

“I don’t know. I got nervous,” and shrugged. She smiled coolly and asked what my question was and as I told her, her eyes got wide and she started to nod in agreement. Not only was it a great question but now I had her wondering as to the answer too.

“Well there’s the filmmaker,” she pointed across the room. I only managed to shake my head once and barely got out the n-sound in the word no, when she grabbed my hand and practically dragged me over to him, tapped him on the shoulder, and switched places with me shoving me right under the director’s nose as he turned to respond to her tap. And before I knew it, there I was asking my question as if the whole build up had never even happened. My Mother acting in the role of my Wingman helped me break the ice (so to speak), and pushed me to do something which at first had terrified me. This experience taught me that a) I am articulate and interesting, b) my Mom rocks. Maybe your wingman isn’t your mom; maybe it’s your significant other; maybe it’s a best friend; maybe a fellow actor from a class, doesn’t matter. Just get one. Trust me, it helps.

“Rehearsing Dualities.”

admin — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 17:19:25 +0000

An actor lives a life of dualities. When it comes to a rehearsal process, these dualities are three-fold. 1) The actor and the character; on stage we create characters who may or may not have any living similarity to our own innate character. While some character’s seem to “make sense” to us at the on-set, others require time and work to understand. 2) The character’s inner world vs. outer world; as in life, characters on-stage have a public persona (the way they interact with the outside world) and a private persona (their internal life motivated by their own secret desires). Ellen Barkin said “Acting is a giving away of one’s secrets.” It is our job to find out what the character’s secrets are and slowly let them trickle out into the stream of the story. And 3) in the rehearsal room, the separation of the personal from the professional; every rehearsal space is filled with little (or big) artistic schisms and such discord is to be expected, in (what needs to be) such a collaborative space. Often times the actor has to balance the duality of appeasing their director while staying true to what their own inner artist is trying to express. Balancing these three dualities in the rehearsal space isn’t always an easy task and every rehearsal is a great opportunity to practice what doesn’t come easily. Here are some thoughts I had in my most recent rehearsal process in an attempt to find and maintain my own balance.

ACTOR VS THE CHARACTER

In the beginning of rehearsal, while you’re still in the early stages of exploring who your character is (i.e.: his/her background, desires, thoughts, flaws and motivations)… stay open. Allow for movement and change. If you set an idea in stone it will be harder to make new discoveries as you go through the rest of the rehearsal process.

Do not bring your own personal baggage in to a rehearsal, or leave the rehearsal with the character’s baggage. It is your job to show up 100%. Everyone has personal tragedies, disasters, or at the very least stresses in their day-to-day. Leave them at the door. The best and most consistent way to do this is to show up early with plenty of time to warm up, meditate, and get in to a neutral mind and body. Don’t skip this part of rehearsal. You have to start from a place of neutrality.

PUBLIC VS PRIVATE PERSONA OF THE CHARACTER IN THE PLAY

My character in “The Rover” had a very different public and private persona. In Public, she was an obedient daughter and sister of a staunch Catholic Family in 17^th Century Spain. In Private, she was a rebel and mastermind of a plan for her and her sisters to escape their home, in search of the free and debaucherous lives of gypsies at Carnival time. The play “gets good” when the Private and Public worlds collide because the stakes of the play depend on this clash. It was my job to create this multi-dimensional character so that the audience understands and connects with what is at stake. In order to do that, I had to dig deep and do the work. Usually this requires a commitment to work outside of rehearsal as well. For me it starts with script analysis first. Sometimes I find it helpful to color code my script. Pick one color for Private persona and one for Public and mark in the script when and where I think each one is operating

PERSONAL VS PROFESSIONAL OF THE ACTOR IN THE REHEARSAL SPACE

Actors don’t always agree with their directors. I have seen fellow actors storm out of rehearsal room and rebel in all kinds of ways. I remember in high school an actress that performed with me in Tina Howe’s “Museum” had decided on opening night that her character needed to be pregnant. When she approached the director with her idea it was, of course, immediately shot down; A) It was opening night and B) we were, after all, in high school. The actress decided to go on anyway with a pillow stuffed under her shirt aka Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl.” Funny? Yes. Professional? No. Of course being in high school the consequences were small, but certainly the anecdote holds true in a professional setting. Be a rebel, but don’t rebel. In other words, have a mind of your own, but don’t disregard your director’s. Find ways to insert your own ideas into your performance without a complete disregard of the way you’ve been directed. During my most recent rehearsal experience I saw an actor walk out on a rehearsal during a heated discussion on the meaning of a line. Do not take up rehearsal time arguing with your director or walking out on them. Both behaviors are beyond unprofessional and discourteous to the rest of the artists you are working with. Don’t be a stick-in the-mud. Listen to your director. Try their suggestion first and with all your focus and heart (don’t half-ass it). If it doesn’t work, trust that your director will see it and move you in another direction (maybe even your own). The bottom line is, you were hired for a job. If you don’t want to do it, you can always quit, but I’m of the mind that it rarely needs to come to that.

In closing here are my Top 10 Rehearsal Do’s & Don’ts. Hope you find them helpful. They work for me. If you want … you could copy and paste them into a word document, print them out, and tape them to the inside cover of your rehearsal binder or script. I did! Please share any more that you, my fellow actors, come up with. I would love to hear about your own rehearsal schisms and ways you meet the challenges of balancing so many dualities. Have a great rehearsal!

DON’T CEMENT YOUR INITIAL IDEAS

DO STAY OPEN TO NEW DISCOVERIES

DON’T BRING YOUR PERSONAL BAGGAGE INTO REHEARSAL

DO ALLOW TIME FOR A WARM UP

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

DO SAY YES

DO ASK QUESTIONS

DO VOLUNTEER YOUR IDEAS

DON’T TALK NEGATIVE ABOUT ANYONE ELSE

DO REMAIN POSITIVE

‘Fray’ mentioned in The Hollywood Reporter

admin — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 19:38:15 +0000

Check it out!

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/fray-delusions-grandeu-exquisite-corpse-project-movie-336411

Marisa Costa shines in ‘Fray’ – Read the review from The Inside Reel

admin — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 19:34:52 +0000

“Fray” works in a similar capacity with an applicable construct in terms of its progression but with a relatable angle that makes it all the more heartbreaking as its progresses. It follows a well meaning Marine back from Afghanistan after an injury leaves him with a gimp leg. This impairs the possibility of him getting work in an already squeezed economy. Slowly but surely, despite his continued perseverance, he can’t seem to get ahead. He is helped along by his teacher-turned-lover (Marisa Costa), who slowly falls in love with him. Costa undeniably anchors the film with such a luminescence which balances the brooding but powerful functionality of Bryan Kaplan’s performance as Justin. The key within here is structure and making sure these relationships pay off in the end without conceding the need to spoon-feed. “Fray” does this beautifully contrasting the dark but brilliantly forest backdrop with a sense of foreboding.

The Inside Reel is an award winning nationally broadcast television program and website which covers the film and television industry. Featuring celebrity interviews, behind the scenes segments, industry commentary, and film festival coverage. Broadcast on both cable and closed-circuit to over 100 college campuses on SirkTV (formerly Zilo Networks), the show is now in its 10th season and reaches over 5 million viewers.

Inside Reel Specials have also been broadcast on PBS New York and Los Angeles. Marilyn Moss of The Hollywood Reporter called The Inside Reel: Digital Filmmaking special “a must see for anyone who loves movies.” The program has been sponsored by Fujifilm USA for over 7 years and other advertisers have included Paramount Home Video and HBO. The Inside Reel archive has over 4000 interviews with actors, producers and directors.

“Fray and its talented team shine with a quiet strength that will draw the audience to them and leave them asking for more.” – Dances With Film Co-founder Leslee Scallon

admin — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 19:24:00 +0000

Visit the link below to read the full review.

http://www.danceswithfilms.com/buzz_road_trip.html

‘Fray’ showing in London

admin — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 15:17:29 +0000

Fray makes its UK premiere at The East End Film Festival on July 6th. Click on the link below to learn more about it and to purchase tickets.

http://www.eastendfilmfestival.com/

‘The Rover’ at the Old Vic Studio

admin — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 15:02:17 +0000

My play opens at the Old Vic Studio on June 28th. I play the boldest of the three Spanish sisters who turns the world upside down, breaks all the rules, and proves to her sisters that they can live the lives they want.

“There is no altering destiny, sir.” – Valeria, The Rover

“SEX and SWORDFIGHTING” might well have been the pitch had Hollywood been around when Agent 160, aka Aphra Behn, penned her wild, swashbuckling comedy in 1677.
The monarchy restored, the Cavaliers returned and Aphra Behn finds time, between being a spy for the Crown in Holland, being an inmate of a debtor’s prison and (possibly) being the mistress of James II, to storm the Restoration stage with this triumphant crowd-pleaser.

Set back in the years before the Restoration, we meet a roving band of exiled Cavaliers intent on a drink-fuelled weekend of debauchery at a Spanish Carnival. Equally out for adventure, we find three Spanish sisters, masked and dangerous.

Who will be pursued? Who will be the pursuers? Uncover all in this careering crucible of wit, ribaldry, mistaken identities, romance and frayed tempers.

For more see oldvic.ac.uk

The Rover
Thu 28-Sat 30 Jun
7.30pm
2.30pm (Sat & Thu mat)
£15/£10 concs
All tickets £10 on Thu 28 (matinee only)
Ages 12+