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Welcome to One Hale of a Conversation where your host, James Hale, talks with Artists, Actors, and Creatives, trying to understand both where they come from, and how they tick. Join Us!
Maddi
This podcast is brought to you by MAD Company, a nonprofit theater company based out of New York City.
James
Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of one Hale of a Conversation. My name is James Hale. I am your once and future host for this podcast. I have the remarkable pleasure of being able to sit here in our new recording setup, um with my good friend Marco Voli. Hello Marco.
Marco
Hey.
James
How's it going?
Marco
It's good, man. I'm happy to be here. The setup is super comfortable.
James
Thank you. Yeah, we're... since you can't see us because it's a podcast, we are on a couch now instead of relatively uncomfortable chairs. Um, so right away, we see improvement.
Marco
Score.
James
Score. So, Marco, we met at LAMDA. Um, you were on the two year MFA program.
Marco
Yeah.
James
Um, my one year there was your first year there.
Marco
Mmhmm.
James
So you really got the brunt of COVID.
Marco
Yeah, um, I mean, kind of, right? Because it sort of… COVID happens in our… my third term. And so it was like, third term, fourth term…
James
Okay
Marco
Were pretty, uh, remote, you know?
James
Sure.
Marco
Um, I actually… I actually moved back, um. For a second and stayed at a friend's house in Seattle.
James
Oh, that's right.
Marco
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So I was doing... It was weird hours, right? Because I was sort of keeping up with London time in PST. Um, but honestly, like, I have a… my opinion on it… is… I actually feel really lucky that it happened when it happened.
James
Okay.
Marco
Because most of my training, like the training part of the two year MFA course.
James
Sure.
Marco
Was done, um, and it was before the structural changes happened at LAMDA. So…
James
Right.
Marco
Yeah. Hahaha.
James
A whole other conversation.
Marco
A whole other conversation, absolutely. But I still got like, so much, in-person time with, like, really, really, really incredible professors. So I guess I'm, you know, I'm probably glass half fulling it.
James
Sure.
Marco
But yeah, no, I mean, I actually felt, you know, while it sucked to have that disruption, the time that I had there was still so valuable.
James
Right.
Marco
And I sort of went, you know, this is happening. It's bigger than me. It's bigger than my acting training.
James
Right, right. I have no control.
Marco
Yeah. And, you know, like, it was a pandemic that happened and it affected all of our lives. And, you know, we've, we've gotten ill. We've lost loved ones… in comparison to that. You know, it was like, well, you know, if my education gets slightly altered in the grand scheme of things…
James
Right.
Marco
It's nothing for me to.. to complain too much about.
James
Well, it’s a…it's a very enlightened view to take.
Marco
Hahaha.
James
I was just…
Marco
Haha. It might the only enlightened view you get.
James
Well, fair. I just I was just overcome with rage the whole time. Um, but that's just me. We met at LAMDA. You are originally from Nicaragua.
Marco
I am.
James
You… I believe this is correct. You were living in Seattle before LAMDA. Is that where you grew up?
James
Is that…
Marco
Yeah.
James
Where you would consider you’re from? Like…
Marco
Kind of. Um, so I was born in Managua, Nicaragua. But then my family moved to a Finca, which is sort of like a large plot of land. Um.
James
Okay.
Marco
Where my father grew tobacco.
James
Oh.
Marco
But we moved to the, moved to Seattle at seven. Um, a hurricane had hit and just really destroyed my dad's crop.
James
Wow.
Marco
And he had borrowed some money from some people who weren't going to be very enlightened or understanding.
Marco
Um, so we kind of had to flee. But then, you know, eventually my… my dad was able to pay them back and I, I sort of went and visited Nicaragua, you know, once…once or twice a year to see my sister and family until I was about 11. I'm not sure what happened then, but it just got a little more complicated.
James
Sure. Your sister and family were still in Nicaragua? Your sister didn't go with you? Or is she older?
Marco
So my dad and my brother, they left first, um because my brother at the time was 20. And it sort of, you know, felt like if anybody was going to be targeted, it would be my dad or my brother… Where I was…I was just a kid.
James
Sure.
Marco
You know, I was um, I was six when they left. Seven when I left. And yeah, then my… my mom and I hung out in Jalapa, um, which is a town where, where we had our house. And then we, and then we left and kind of met them once they had landed and found jobs…
James
Right.
Marco
And a place to live…
James
Established themselves.
Marco
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But then, yeah, I grew up in Seattle, um, so I guess I consider myself from Nicaragua and I am Nicaraguan, but I also consider myself quite American.
James
Sure.
Marco
Because, you know, I don't have an accent. And I went, you know, I did most of my primary education…
James
Right.
Marco
And high school and everything and even my undergrad in Seattle.
Marco
So, yeah, I do have like a, attachment to being a Seattle...
James
Sure, some pride.
Marco
Yeah, you know, flannels and Doc Martins.
James
Grunge.
Marco
Yeah, absolutely..
James
Sure, perfect. Yeah. So you got your… your BFA from Cornish College of the Arts.
Marco
I did. Shout out Hens.
James
The BFA in Original work. Hens? Wait, really? Hens?
Marco
No, we just made that up.
James
The Cornish Hens?
Marco
Hahaha. I actually think that’s…
James
Oh my God, I wish that were true. That would be my new favorite mascot instantly.
Marco
It could be! You’d have the fact check it. We just called it that.
James
That's amazing. Um, BFA in original works.
Marco
Mm hmm.
James
Um, I've… someone else that I talked to recently… might have been Mick… also got a BFA in original works. Or maybe Helena, I don't remember. Just walk me through the differences between a BFA in, like, Fine Arts in theater and a BFA in specifically original works. What does that mean?
Marco
Yeah, yeah, it's kind of cool. So, the way CORNISH works is that it's… it has… it's a… it's a full on art school. So, like, you know, there is, there's people who are studying music or studying fine art, who are studying design, dance, production design, film, etc.. Um, and in the theater part of that program, the first two years are pretty homogenous.
James
Right.
Marco
You kind of take every, you know, a lot of the basics.
James
Right. The core curriculum, whatever. Yeah.
Marco
Exactly. Yeah. It's a four year program. On your third year, you get to kind of pick a route. And the, the sort of straight acting route… is one way to go. And you have the musical theater route.
James
Right.
Marco
Which was a very different curriculum.
James
Yeah.
Marco
And then you had the original works route, which was kind of cool because it was everything that the straight acting route did. And on top of that, you took classes in directing and classes and playwriting.
James
Wow. Okay.
Marco
So yeah, it definitely added on quite a lot, you know, um pretty busy years. I think there was just… the only thing that was different is that there was one time where the straight acting course did a play and then the original works course… we, we wrote and then handed off our writing to somebody, directed somebody else’s writing.
James
Okay.
Marco
Llike a short fifteen minute kind of one act.
James
Sure.
Marco
Um. So we wrote something, somebody directed it, we directed something that somebody else wrote, and then we also acted in whatever we were cast in.
James
Right.
Marco
Um, and that was a really cool experience.
James
Yeah.
Marco
And I think for me, just the… the concept of having a more…uh… holistic understanding…
James
Mmhmm.
Marco
Especially like in theater, I wasn't thinking about film at that time then, if I'm being honest.
Marco
Um, I was really, really just nerding out on theater.
James
Sure.
Marco
And so the idea of like, you know, reading books and understanding what it means to direct something for the stage, how does directing, you know, influence what audiences ultimately see? Obviously, that's huge…
James
Right.
Marco
But to have a more in-depth and practiced understanding of that was really important to me.
Marco
And I also just, you know, I love writing. I still do. And that… for that to be fit into my schedule felt like a really good structure for me.
James
Yeah, absolutely. So obviously you… going to LAMDA for the MFA, and as a working actor now, you definitely pursued the acting side of all those experiences.
Marco
Yeah.
James
Was there ever a time that you thought, I actually want to move more into directing?
James
Do you, do you envision yourself one day moving towards directing, writing…
Marco
Maybe.
James
Doing any of that?
Marco
Yeah. So I started a theater company with some friends, um, in Seattle back in the day called The Core Ensemble.
James
Very cool.
Marco
Where I had written a couple shows for…and actually, you know, I wrote this 30 minute multi-media one act, um…
James
Okay.
Marco
And directed that and produced that.
Marco
And it was a super valuable experience.
James
Yeah.
Marco
Um while I… while I love directing and, you know, there is… there's so much creative specificity that you can have on a show when you're the director, right? You can really craft the vision and work with your different designers and your actors…
James
Right.
Marco
And different performers in whatever way that means. And you can really, really shape and build something to… to your tastes.
James
Right.
Marco
While it's collaborative…It is one of the, I think, most definitive sort of positions in that art form. It's also just a lot of like… leadership. And I love just being able to kind of do my job and get lost in it.
James
Right.
Marco
And, you know, be sort of playful with it and silly with it and neurotic with it, if that's what it calls for.
James
Sure.
Marco
And I think that in directing, you have to compose yourself in a different way because the job… there's so many more people who are relying on you.
James
Yeah.
Marco
To also be mediator and to have a really clear head. And I think as an actor… you have to behave yourself with professionalism, but you can really be focused and idiosyncratic onto the, the needs of… of that one particular job.
James
Absolutely.
Marco
And that sort of… that, you know, going deeper into that versus having the…what’s the word I’m looking for, uh, you know, a sort of larger point of view.
James
Right. The the wider, the wider viewpoint.
Marco
Yeah.
James
Sure.
Marco
That just felt more… that called me more.
James
Absolutely.
Marco
And I also found work. So I was like, this is great.
James
Right. I think that's something that we don't talk about enough, especially in… as I talked to some actors, they are hyper focused on becoming the best actor that they can be… actor full stop, which at a certain level is admirable. You know what you want to do, you know what you're called to do. But I think one of the benefits of a liberal education, a BFA in fine Arts, is that you often are exposed to these other sides of… largely theater…
James
But some programs do go into film or other, other media.
Marco
It's such an interesting thing. Like, like,I think like every actor wants to be the best actor they can be…
James
Right.
Marco
Right? What does that mean, though?
James
Right.
Marco
You know, whatever I mean? Cause…
James
Sure
Marco
You know, you can… you can practice a certain set of skills or a certain technique or build a certain taste.
Marco
But like, you can only really be the best actor for whatever role you're playing at that time.
James
Sure, you can do the best job with this material that you can do.
Marco
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess. You know, I'm sure. I'm sure Daniel Day-Lewis would be great in a buddy comedy with… you know? But like Jack Black is going to be…
James
Right.
Marco
Amazing at that. Right?
James
That’s… Right.
Marco
But also, we don't necessarily… I'm not sure if Jack Black could bring what Daniel Day-Lewis brought to There Will Be Blood. You know?
James
I would love to see the Jack Black Lincoln.
Marco
Yeah, exactly.
James
It would be incredible. Someone make that, please. I just think there's so much value in an actor or any creative being able to step into another role…
Marco
Mmhmm.
James
Even if it's briefly, even if it's not necessarily a very fun experience.
James
I know for myself, uh, moving more into, like a producing role with Mad Company that I still feel myself as an actor first and foremost. But having now gotten so much experience with kind of every other part of the creative process, I don't know that it's made me a more skilled actor. My accents aren't any better, my physical body isn't more expressive because of the production that I've done.
James
But I'm a much better employee. I'm a much better artist.
Marco
Mmhmm.
James
I understand the medium of theater and everything else that we've worked in so much better…
Marco
Mmhmm.
James
And that I think is still super valuable. So when I hear an actor or someone who moves to the city and just starts taking acting classes, wants to be an actor, I always think that's great and you totally need to do that.
James
But you also need to immerse yourself into everything else because it's so much bigger than just your role…
Marco
Yeah.
James
Within it and moving around to all the different parts that make art happen gives you a full appreciation of what it is that we actually do, I think.
Marco
Yeah. Alan Rickman has a really great quote about that, where he's talking about like, advice to young actors…
James
Okay.
Marco
And, you know that I'm not going to… this is not a quote…
Marco
‘Cause I can't remember word for word…
James
Paraphrasing.
Marco
Yeah, Um, but, you know, essentially he's like, you know, he tells… he told his young actors who were asking for advice, like, you know, make sure to forget about acting here and there as well.
James
Mmhmm.
Marco
Because it's to be an actor. A lot of what it is, beyond the craft of it is your cumulative experience as a human being, right?
Marco
The lived in specificity of your perspective. And I think, I think that's really true. And, you know, being involved in other elements of what it takes to make a production or make a film are going to give a very, very, you know, much more specific to the task understanding of what goes into that. But it also just allows you to see things in different ways…
James
Absolutely.
Marco
And gives you new experiences that you're then immediately correlating to… to what you do.
James
Right.
Marco
Right? Um, so everyone should do it, I think everyone should give it a shot.
James
Do everything.
Marco
Yeah. Do everything. Haha.
James
What… So… you graduated.. do it all! That's our advice on this podcast.
Marco
Yeah. Hahaha.
James
Um. So… what year is it? It's 2023. You graduated - 2021. We did our showcase together.
Marco
Right.
James
You got signed out of Showcase.
Marco
Mmm.
James
And then in the last couple of years you've done a decent amount of work.
Marco
Yeah.
Unknown
What? What? I don't know how I'm phrasing this question, but how, how has your experience been just as an acting gun for hire? You've… you've been on several different stages all around. You've been in these kind of random shows.
Marco
Yeah.
James
How… how has the experience of actually working been? Compared to all the training that we have in the…
Marco
I mean, I mean, great um… on like the most basic level, it's nice to get paid to do what you do.
James
Sure.
Marco
Instead of paying it to do what you do.
James
Yep.
Marco
But no, but it's been really it's been really incredible. I, I really feel just super fortunate, especially because, you know, my wife works remotely, so she's been able to kind of join me through all of that. When you're freelancing in the theater, you often will have to travel places, right? So the last three shows I traveled to Seattle, I traveled to Florida, I traveled to Minneapolis, which is also like a, you know, kind of when you're working on a project… like you have like the text and the demands of that project.
Marco
But then, for like, your own work, to be in a new environment is just so incredible because you're going to get different stimuluses in just your day to day life that are going to impact whatever you put into that. And that feels like a really great way to break any, like, habits or any ideas of what I have…
James
Mmmm.
Marco
About a role before I get there.
Marco
And then once I get there, it's like, you know, a bunch of new people, a totally new place.
James
Right.
Marco
There's just a lot of different things to contend with. And I think no matter what, like, subconsciously that is going to seep into your work. You know, when I when I did Native Gardens in Florida.
James
Yeah.
Marco
I was in this like townhome and the company gave me a car and I was like, oh, like, um, you know, I went from before that I was I was bartending in New York and, and that's a very different lifestyle, bartending in Manhattan…
James
Yeah
Marco
To working on a theater project.
James
Yeah, your daily experience is...
Marco
Yeah.
Jame
Vastly different between, yeah.
Marco
And the character I played is quite a suburban character. Um, Pablo. He's like a… he's a lawyer, newly married, he's about to have a kid. And I sort of, you know, would uh, would get into my car in the morning and, you know, kiss my wife goodbye after making her breakfast, I'd go to work…
Marco
I go to rehearsals. Right.. And then I'd stop by the grocery store on my way back home uh, so I can, I can make Hannah dinner. And, and I was like, but I'm living in a much more suburban way.
James
Right.
Marco
Right now than I would be if I was say, doing this show off-Broadway. Right?
James
Yeah.
Marco
And that alone of it, I found really fascinating because it helped me really like ground… ground myself in the day to day life of things.
Marco
And I wasn't expecting that, you know, I wasn't like coming into it like, I'm going to… you know, be suburban…
James
Right.I'm going to method act the whole time.
Marco
No, but, you know, when things happen like that, it's like, what a…what a gift. What a, what a total gift. Like, you know, the universe in this way is conspiring.
Marco
It's giving you… it's giving me tools that I can take from.
James
Right.
Marco
To just find a new perspective that I might not have had.
James
Yeah, that's really, I… the difference between mounting a play like that here or something. And then doing it in Florida, I can imagine will be vastly different experiences and so useful to be able to bring that in, to your own, your own technique.
James
Do you approach, maybe initially every role in a similar way? Do you feel like you read a text and then follow similar pathways to get where you want to go? Or do you just…does something else happen?
Marco
Like on the most rudimentary level…like, sure, because it's like, you know, I get it. I'll usually read it…
James
Right
Marco
Like once and try really, really hard not to like, have a super distinct opinion about it that I can't, like, shake off.
James
Sure.
Marco
But then it, I, I think the, the real answer is no. It's like… once you, I usually start with like, just trying to figure out like, just what does my character, like, what's his perspective on…
James
Right.
Marco
Like, whatever's going on, and about life and, you know, how’s his colon, I dunno. And like, what… But, you know, like, I mean, kind of like…
James
Yeah, totally.
Marco
To a degree, it's like, you know, just… I once I read it, I, I kind of try and just like, you know, figure out who that person is.
Marco
And then it's about, like, what's its own? What's… what do we find in the rehearsal room? What do we… what are the things that I've missed? Like, really making sure that any inspiration that I got from reading it or thinking about it isn't so defined or set in that something else can't come around that might alter that.
James
Sure.
Marco
And like that….
Marco
That's the fun part because you… we learned a lot of techniques at LAMDA, right? And I think…
James
Yeah.
Marco
Most modern acting trainings are an accumulation of many different techniques. All of which are awesome. Like I, I think, you know, Michael Chekhov…
James
Mmhmm.
Marco
Has as much to say as Meisner.
James
Sure.
Marco
As Stanislavski is, as whatever, right? As Strasberg. I mean, whatever it is that you follow or what you like, like all these things are just different ways in.
James
Right, they're getting to the same place.
Marco
Yeah, but yeah, I think like the character and the process… the tone, the people around you, that's what informs me. So yeah, that, that was an answer. That, that was an answer.
James
Yeah, no, totally I… because I've talked to some people, um, and it seems especially at, at LAMDA, you're totally right. We learned a whole bunch of different techniques with the name of the guy… or the, the woman who sort of originated it.
James
And we learned them all very specifically. But then we were encouraged to sort of work in whatever way. I met a lot of actors who were not as fortunate to get that sort of breadth of theatrical training and all these different techniques. So they're familiar with maybe one or two, you know, at their undergrad they did Meisner and a little bit of Chekhov.
Marco
Mmhmm.
James
Um, at their… the studio they work at now...
James
It's strictly method, whatever it is. And so then they’re… they use that as their way in and it's a very specific way in. And I don't… I have yet to decide whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. I'm always envious of them because it's so clear what they have to do to get where they want to go.
James
They have… you know, you have step A, you have step B, you have step C, and then if it works, great. If it didn't work, you have these other pathways that your training has given you. And I feel like with us…
Marco
Mmhmm.
James
Having all of these different things, it can be kind of difficult to choose like, what tool do we get out of the toolbox for this?
Marco
I guess. Yeah. I mean, on… and I'm just speaking for myself, but like, hahaha, I like, I just want to make sure that I know you know exactly that, like, you know, there are technical things that you need to be exact about, right?
James
Right.
Marco
You need to find well, if you know, if you're working with any kind of physical impairments or gestural language or whatever, you know, those things can be shifted.
Marco
But like you do eventually, you know, want to have a really solid foundation.
James
Right
Marco
On those things, right? On the text, like, obviously, like if you know what you're saying, like don't don't tell me if you don't know.
James
Yeah.
Marco
Um, as the audience but like whatever needs to be done for me to feel a really, really like solid foundation…
James
Mmhmm.
Marco
That I can then just be in that moment and exist as that person and, you know, allow my synapses to fire so that whatever's happening can happen.
Marco
Like that's what matters.
James
Sure.
Marco
You know? So it's, it's like if, if, if you know, when I remember in college one time I was playing Baloo the Bear in Jungle Book.
James
Uh huh.
Marco
And like, I was having a kind of a hard time, I felt like I, you know, it was sort of like a children's theater kind of style. But I just thought that I was kind of playing at… I was being a little too, like, polite with it.
James
Sure.
Marco
And I didn't feel that I was giving the, the gruffness of the jungle for a children's show.
James
So tough…Right. Tough line to walk there. But.
Marco
Right, right, right. Um, So I, um, I set up a can of sardines in a studio, and I crawled around like a bear. And then ate the can of sardines while I pretended to be a bear. That's ridiculous, right? I'm not going to do that for a different...
James
Right. Pablo doesn't need that. Probably… in his suburban home.
Marco
No, No, he doesn't. But that actually, like, even though I felt like a total idiot…
James
Right.
Marco
And was like, what am I doing? It actually helped me. So, so, so, so much.
James
Yeah.
Marco
You know, with Pablo it’s like, really making a point of, like, keeping my facial hair in a very particular way and having like a ceremony of, like, being meticulous with, with my grooming that, you know, that part of it really set me up for that day.
James
Right.
Marco
So I think it's like whatever. Yeah, it's like, I don't want to… I don't want to be limited in that way. Like because nobody wants to get stuck.
James
No.
Marco
And, and like… it's a sub objective art form. It's not a science, you know, necessarily. So like to treat it with that kind of rigidity… while it can bring really great results, it's just like… kind of, but it also takes some of the fun out of it for me.
James
Right. So you're… you're, you're there for the exploration and you don't so much care how it happens as long as eventually you get to where you wanna go.
Marco
Yeah, fuck yeah.
James
Right.
Marco
Absolutely. As long as, like, nobody's getting hurt and you're being like a good collaborator and a kind person.
James
Sure, right. Right.
Marco
You know?
James
Right. Being a good cast mate.
Marco
Yeah. Do whatever you want.
James
I love that. So in… Pre LAMDA… and I assume post...Cornish…Go Hens.
Marco
Yeah, go Hens.
James
You had a bunch of work at different theaters in Seattle. Um, there's stuff from the Seattle Shakespeare Company, Seattle Public Theater, Seattle Rep, Strawberry Theater Workshop… Is that in Seattle?
Marco
Yeah, it is, that’s
James
Strawberry.
Marco
And that's… they're actually a really amazing company that has survived the pandemic.
James
Oh, amazing.
Marco
And if, if any of the listeners are ever in Seattle, I could not like… I just… such a shout out to that theater company.
Marco
They do incredible work. Really incredible work… all in studios.
James
Amazing.
Marco
But yeah, just some of my favorite shows I've ever seen in my life have been there.
James
Very cool. So all that, all that work pre LAMDA and then in the last couple of years a good amount of work post LAMDA. Do you notice a big shift in how you used to work and how you work now?
James
Did it change how you approach your role or did it just give you a better understanding of what you were doing or something else?
Marco
Yeah, no, I guess both. It gave me a way bigger tool kit. I also felt like, and I'm sure, you know, there'll be some teachers who, who, who will hear this and get mad at me.
Marco
But I did have to, like, unlearn a couple of things as well.
James
Mmm.
Marco
You know, when like, LAMDA has this incredible foundation in pure movement and pure voice.
James
Mmhmm.
Marco
Which are really wonderful things and, you know, part of pure movement, right, is the Alexander technique and understanding, you know, how to be neutral in your body. And that's… that's a wonderful thing.
Marco
And also, like if I'm watching a show and everybody's has a perfectly aligned spine, I just, I just don't buy that.
James
Right
Marco
You know, it's a bunch of truck drivers.
James
Sure.
Marco
Like whatever. And so, you know, taking some of the… there is a way to do it, out of it was really important because like whatever… Again like it's just back to like whatever that project is, whatever that character is… like that's what it needs to be.
James
Right.
Marco
Not whatever my idea of acting is or my idea of a great performance is, or my idea what’s going to make me look good or cool, or this casting director is going to like me if they see the show.
James
Right.
Marco
Because I’m behaving in this way. Like that, that doesn't matter at all. So yeah, I mean, I learned so much and I got significantly better after LAMDA. I did. Um, LAMDA helped me open my heart.
James
Yeah.
Marco
And my body.
James
Yep.
Marco
And my voice, um, in ways I hadn't known before.
Marco
And like that, having that expanded of a toolkit of like knowing that my body can transform in this way.
James
Right.
Marco
That it can be physically expressive in this way, that it doesn't need to be pared down to my taste. It can be authentic. It can be coming from a place of… of inspiration.
James
Yeah.
Marco
And from the gut… like that does take time and work.
Marco
And that's one of the really beautiful things about that program is that that is instilled into you.
James
Right.
Marco
You spend so much time like, you know, crying because you didn't flick the air in a, in an emotionally expressive enough way or whatever. But…
James
That's, that's a real thing y’all. That uh, that's a real experience.
Marco
Hahaha, uh, you know Laban shout out.
James
Laban.
Marco
But, but yeah… but you know I am so, so like, so grateful for my time there because it really… it just opened me up to be able to do so much more and to allow for so much more.
Marco
I think that's the biggest thing is like… what I could allow for.
James
Right.
Marco
Um, expanded. Which sounds like, quite esoteric, but it's, it's not. It's like we have the little voice in our head that always happens when we're performing, right? That… that guides us and our performance when we're thinking, you know, no matter what we're going to, there's a little bit of us that's thinking about what we're doing.
James
Right.
Marco
Or performing.
Marco
You know, so often in life, though, yes, there's that. But sometimes things happen that break that social construct down and then we are just behaving because we are motivated to behave for whatever reason that may be. And LAMDA, and the training we got there really highlighted that that can happen in a performance. If you are allowing for your body to be free enough for your voice to be free enough.
James
Right. Getting out of your own way a little bit.
Marco
Yeah. And surprising yourself, you know, and then you can keep it if you liked it. Or don't if, if you don't.
James
Right. You still have choice.
Marco
Yeah, but yeah, that was really like a big, big, big takeaway from LAMDA. Just connecting, you know, my thoughts with my emotions and with my body. And then just working to be free enough within whatever construct we've created that I can still surprise myself and something really genuine can happen, you know?
James
Yeah.
Marco
Yeah.
James
That's beautiful.
Marco
Thanks man.
James
God, go LAMDA.
Marco
Yeah LAMDA.
James
They taught us well. We appreciate that. So what's next? What are you looking forward to? What are… where do you want to go? What roles do you want? Who's… who are you hoping calls you?
Marco
Yeah.
James
Tomorrow or this afternoon.
Marco
Well, I really, I really. I really want to work in film.
Marco
Um, that's… that's really just a big goal of mine.
James
Sure.
Marco
Whenever that happens is because I… you know, I want that experience and I think because pretty much all of my work I've done a little bit, but pretty much all of my work has been in the theater.
James
Yeah.
Marco
I want the experience of.. of what, of what that is like.
Marco
But what's funny is I like I think I want it to be a film that also feels like theater where it's like, you know, you still have scenes where you know…
James
Yeah, you want the best of both worlds.
Marco
Yeah, yeah, I do. I do. I'm really, I'm really excited for equitable and ethical agreements to… to be made.
James
Yeah.
Marco
So um, so that our industry can, can begin to pick up again.
James
Yeah. Ready for the, for the SAG strike at this point to end.
Marco
Yeah. I mean so like… let me ask you that question like do you think about… because I don't know if I do… I don't know if I like… like sometimes I'll read a role and I'll go like, oh, yeah, like I want to play this.
James
Mmhmm
Marco
You know, like you're… I'm inspired by it. It connects with me.
James
Right.
Marco
But like, do you think about, like, oh, I would love to play Iago or I would love to play a villain in a…
James
Yeah.
Marco
Whodunit, you know?
00;30;26;09 - 00;30;50;25
James
Yeah.
Marco
I would love to play a villain in a whodunit so….
James
Right.
Marco
Anybody's casting for that…
James
I'm here. Yeah. There's definitely a handful of roles that I think I very much want to do, partly just because there's a part of me that, like, I want to stand on a stage and say these lines. I want to be John Proctor at the end of 2 hours of the crucible and be able to say, I can't do this because it's my name.
James
Like I, I think that would just be an incredible experience to go through for myself.
Marco
Yeah.
James
Let alone being a part of a show like that I think would be so cool. But there are… there are moments and, in plenty of shows, a lot of Shakespeare. You know, I would, I would do any of the… I would do any Shakespearean part ever, which is maybe not a dream role so much as just a I want to work thing.
James
A lot of what I think about, though, and this is… might not be the healthiest approach is instead of like this is what I really want to do, I'm motivated more by like, I hope to do this soon because if I don't, I might not be able to. If I… you know, if I don't play Hal in Henry 4.
Marco
Yeah.
James
I might not get a chance to because he's a young man. I am not Benjamin Button, I'm getting older like…
Marco
Right, right.
James
There, you know there is a handful of people... Sir Ian McKellen just played Romeo at 82 or however old.
Marco
Did he really?
James
Yeah.
Marco
That’s amazing.
James
Yeah, was it Romeo? Or was it Macbeth? I can't remember. I didn't see the show.
James
It was on the West End. But regardless, Sir Ian McKellen can do whatever he wants. Not being him… there's a little part of me that has this fear of like the ticking clock. Like, I want to, I want to play Hal, I want to play Romeo, I want to play whatever character it is, who is… generally it’s age thing, who's a younger man.
Marco
Yeah.
James
Um, and especially on stage, like those moments are moving away. I want to play Biff in um, uh, Death of a Salesman, and at a certain point…
Marco
I was going to say how to succeed in business without really trying…
James
I mean, similar, similar shows.
Marco
Ehhh
James
But yeah, so definitely like things that I really want to play because they're beautiful. Also things that I want to have played, you know, I want to reach a certain point in my life and be like, Yes, I have played all of these Shakespearean or classical works as a young man because I was appropriate for them then.Um…
Marco
I get, I get haunted by, by Shakespearean roles. Um…
James
How do you mean?
Marco
Like, like um, like when I finish, like like I'll just use real examples. Pablo in native gardens, right? Like…
James
Mmhmm.
Marco
I did that, you know, and maybe it's because it's so recent, but like, I feel like I did that. I don't necessarily, like…would I do it again? I would love to. What a great role.
James
Right.
Marco
But I'm also like, yeah, you know, I did that.
Marco
I'm sure there's things I, you know, could have done better and, and I'm sure I could have gone deeper and etc.
James
Right.
Marco
But I do feel a sense of like, you know, not, not, uh, like something that's quantitative and qualitative. I'm not like, Oh, I want to go back and do it better. But I'm like, No, I did that.
Marco
I really felt like I gave myself to it and again, I'm sure there's things I would have done differently.
James
Right.
Marco
But with Shakespearean roles, I'm like, oh man. Like, I need to play that again. You know, like I played Romeo and I was 20, 20, 21, and I did it for four months and it was awesome. And I had, you know, a great team and it was, yeah.
Marco
But I'm like…
James
Was this at Seattle Shakes?
Marco
Yeah, it was their educational touring production.
James
Wow.
Marco
So we went all across the state of Washington into Idaho.
James
Oh, that’s so cool.
Marco
I played for different communities and a lot of schools.
James
A 4 month tour is significant.
Marco
Yeah, yeah, it was a lot of time on the road. We all got pretty cranky at each other.
James
I can imagine.Yeah
Marco
But they were… it was a lovely team. Um.
Marco
But that's like a role where I'm like, like I'm like, I wish, I wish I could play it again now.
James
Yeah.
Marco
You know, because I. Oh I see this and that in it, and I didn't have that perspective…
James
Right.
Marco
That I have now or like I just played Giacomo in um Cymbeline and that's another one where I'm like, oh yeah, you know?
James
Wish I could have that back.
Marco
Yeah.
James
Wish I knew now what I didn't know then.
Marco
And, and I’m ,and I'm not somebody who like, I'm like, oh, like doing classical texts means more to me than doing modern text because it doesn't for me, it doesn't.
James
Yeah, sure.
Marco
But I do think there's something about Shakespeare and some of those meaty roles where you're like, there's just so much in there that like, as my… as I develop as a human being.
Marco
And my understandings and my perspectives change.
James
Yeah.
Marco
The idea that I could go back and do that again in a different way with my new perspective?
James
Right.
Marco
That's like, oh I'd love that, you know, but that, that only that, that only happens if the stars align.
James
Yeah, it's a rare thing. I was just having a conversation yesterday, um, with a director friend of mine, Denitza, who we… as we were just chatting, we sort of stumbled on this idea of like, I am so grateful that we have Shakespeare and the Shakespearean canon as like almost like a… I don't know how to… like a guide post or a yardstick over not just ourselves as actors, but also like…
James
The.. basically the entirety of English theater, English speaking theater. You know, we can go back at any time and say, Here's Romeo and Juliet, here's what it means for me at this part in my life. For the world at this point in human history. 20 years later, here we go again. I have that. Like the play hasn't changed.
James
We have the same text. And I… because it's so beautiful and you know the immortal words, for better or for worse, but whatever it is, and if it wasn't Shakespeare, maybe it would be something else. But we have this like for the last 400 years we've been performing these shows so we can see how… that's a way to measure how the world has changed.
Marco
Yeah.
James
You know?
Marco
Yeah.
James
Shakespeare will never fall out of fashion while we are alive. I mean, shouldn't. That would be insane.
Marco
I don't think it's going anywhere.
James
Yeah, I don't. I'm not worried. I just didn't want to speak that into existence.
Marco
There's enough of us. Enough of us.
James
Yeah, but, like, we can. We can use it as a yardstick for our own lives.
James
You know, you played Romeo at 21, like, in ten years. If you got the chance to do it again. Like, what an amazing way to think. Like, here, where here's where I am now, speaking the same words, doing the same show with whatever twists and turns and different stagings.
Marco
Yeah.
James
But we have that way… we can connect that.
James
It's not. It's just comparing apples to apples. It's not apples to anything else.
Marco
Yeah.
James
It is still the same words and I love that we have that.
Marco
Yeah, it's, it's, it's…
James
Just gonna sit in that thought for a minute.
Marco
Yeah. Oh yeah. You got a ten second pause?
James
Right. Insert commercial break. Love that.
Marco
No but yeah it's, it's, it's so saturated and it's, and how it's been studied and then when you do it then also this.
Marco
It becomes so personal. Yeah. You know, and I think it's like it's inherent that. I think it's, I think it's inherent. Are we as actors, like when we, we play a role, right? We spend a lot of time with that character's perspectives and psyches, you know, that takes up a big part of our day and we intentionally put a lot of focus towards that.
Marco
And I think that inherently changes us.
James
Yeah.
Marco
And like that's one of the most beautiful, I think parts of, of choosing to pursue a career as an actor is, is how those works of art go on to influence your life. And that's not something you set out to do. You set out to learn your lines and your character and do a show and, you know, do the basic demands of the job and then whatever else artistry you have and bring to that, but inherently that you leave slightly different.
James
Mmm.
Marc
And that is so, so cool that we get to experience that level of catharsis and self-inspection as often as we do.
James
Yeah, that's beautiful.
Marco
Thanks, man. You're beautiful.
James
Ha you're. We just have a couple of minutes left here before we want to let everyone go. In closing, I like this question because I think it reveals a lot about people.
Marco
Oh.
James
If you had never found the arts or theater, if you weren't a creative and actor, what would you be? What would you be doing?
Marco
I think if I didn't find the arts or theater or acting, I think I… And arts in general, right?
James
Sure.
Marco
Yeah.
James
Yeah. Interpret that how you will. But yeah.
Marco
I don't know. You know, like I… the younger version of me thought I would have gone into political science and been some sort of an activist of some kind.
Marco
But then the older version of me would probably just have been a cook and then got tired of that because I didn't make enough money. And the hours are too brutal. So I would have been a bartender, but then I would have got tired of that because I had talked to too many people and then, I don't know, I would go and chop wood and raise sheep.
James
Hell yeah.
Marco
That's probably…
James
Live off the land
Marco
Honestly. I mean, I dunno. I heard of it. Find some kind of way to make money where I could. I can be peaceful and hang out with animals and mountains around me and stuff.
James
That sounds like a beautiful life. I think you can do that and act. I think we can make that happen.
Marco
I would love to get there.
James
I'm going to live vicariously through you and pursue that goal.
Marco
No, no, we’re manifesting it, right?
James
That's right.
Marco
That’s what we’re doing.
James
It's happening here.
Marco
Yeah.
James
Uh, Marco Voli, thank you so much for joining us.
Marco
It's also just.. it's Marco Adiak.
James
Well, that's, that’s right. Marco Adiak Voli.
Marco
The middle name is, is, is, it's important to me just because it's, it's such a staple of my Nicaraguan side.
James
Absolutely. Thank you for correcting me.
Marco
Yeah, no worries.
James
It's been an absolute pleasure chatting with you. Thank you for joining us here.
Marco
Yeah.
James
On one Hale of a conversation. And any parting wisdom you wish to leave our listeners with?
Marco
I don't know. I love you, man. Listeners, have fun, enjoy your lives.
James
And there you have it. Thanks so much for listening.
James
Tune in next time as we continue our conversations. Have a wonderful rest of your day.
Marco
Bye.
Maddi Albregts
Thanks for listening. To learn more about any of the creatives who spoke in this episode, check out their social media links in the episode description.