“In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast” features in-depth conversations with today’s most noteworthy actors and creators. Join host and Awards Editor Jack Smart for this guide on how to live the creative life from those who are doing it every day. This episode is brought to you by UCLA’s Professional Programs at the School of Theater, Film & Television.
Whether you’re just starting out in entertainment or have been paying your dues for years, let Ryan O’Connell and Punam Patel be your motivational coaches. The two Emmy-nominated stars of Netflix’s “Special” join the podcast together this week to provide actionable advice to fellow actors and creators, including on how to advocate for oneself as an artist.
“You can trust your own instincts no matter where you are in your career,” says Patel. “Because I know, especially starting out, the world and the industry can feel so new and so overwhelming that you’re like, ‘Well, what do I know? I’m just lucky to be here! Let me just trust everyone around me.’ Always [come] back to your gut as your compass and be like, ‘Well, actually, yeah, I may not have the years of experience or the knowledge on the details of this contract. But I know in my gut what feels right and what I’m worth.’ ”
“Walk around with the confidence of Rob Schneider circa 1998,” offers O’Connell. “When you’re a marginalized person, I think the biggest hurdle sometimes can be yourself and believing that you deserve the things.... Just [believe] that you deserve to be there.”
A childhood dream of becoming a TV writer led O’Connell, born in California and trained in New York, to writing on the series “Awkward,” “Daytime Divas,” and “Will & Grace.” Patel studied journalism and theater in Florida, then comedy in Chicago, before moving to Los Angeles and booking the CBS Diversity Showcase, “Kevin From Work,” “Time For Bed With Punam Patel,” the upcoming “I Love This for You,” and more.
“Special,” which just premiered its second season, is based on O’Connell’s memoir, “I’m Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves,” which in turn came from the blog writing of his 20s on living as a gay man with mild cerebral palsy. One of Hollywood’s only properties to center disability in an authentic, compelling, and warmly funny way, “Special” stars O’Connell as Ryan, (essentially a heightened, younger version of himself), Jessica Hecht as Ryan’s overbearing mother, and Patel as his coworker and friend Kim. All three actors and the series itself received 2019 Emmy Award nominations, after a long development process, with the guidance of Jim Parsons’ That’s Wonderful Productions, brought the show’s first season to Netflix as a 15-minute comedy.
“ ‘Special’ is about a woman in her mid-50s, a curvy woman of color, and then a gay guy with CP,” O’Connell says, pointing out how rare any such character remains in show business today. “Ordinarily, on any other show, they would be like the sidekick. And now they’re all the main characters. All these things that we’re used to seeing as the side dishes? They’re all the main course.”
Patel, the only actor O’Connell and the team auditioned for the part of Kim, says “Special” is an example of how to give voice to communities typically underrepresented in film or TV. “We really got to celebrate all those things about her instead of being like, ‘Look, we hired a fat, brown girl! Let’s talk about her being fat and brown in your face.’ [O’Connell] and all the writers did such a brilliant job of normalizing her, but still celebrating all these specific things about her as well.”
How To Audition for Netflix The two also discuss how to navigate the portrayal of intimacy on-camera—“Just be really, really honest about what you’re comfortable with and what you’re not, and don’t apologize for that,” advises Patel—and why building a comfortable, collaborative set is in everyone’s interest. “It’s really important to nurture a really positive environment,” says O’Connell, “because I will get the best work from everybody that I’m hiring. If they feel free to do whatever the fuck they want, it’s only going to make the end product be that much better.”
“Try and really build a full life for yourself,” adds Patel. “It’ll enrich your work. And it’ll keep you from sucking the joy out of the work because you’re not putting too much pressure on it. Make sure you’re balancing your life and building a really full, well-rounded one.”
Listen to this (hilarious) interview wherever you tune into podcasts. And don’t miss thoughts from Backstage casting insider Christine McKenna-Tirella, whose casting notice recommendations this week include a stroller commercial and a feature film from Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner.
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