That One Audition with Alyshia Ochse

Live from NYC with Claire Coffee. From her first big job in LA on The West Wing, to her series regular role on NBC’s hit show Grimm, Claire has seen first-hand what it takes to take a career from recurring co-star to one of the leads of a major series. She shares how living as an actor in New York is different than in LA, how important improv was to expanding her work and community, and how she’s learned to speak up for herself and set boundaries on set. She walks us through life after a series regular role, and how she’s learned how to keep creating, even when things didn’t go how she expected.  Born in Marin County in Northern California, Claire Coffee graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois with a degree in Theater. She began performing on stage at age 5 in The Mountain Play Theater Company's production of "The King and I" in Mill Valley, CA. Not long after moving to Los Angeles, she was cast in The West Wing. Since then she has appeared on NCIS, General Hospital, Royal Pains, and is most known for her role as Adalinde Schade on NBC’s hit show GRIMM. In addition to her extensive television and film credits, she has also trained at The Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, and Improv Olympic. Recently, she has been cast in the anticipated new show LINCOLN, set to premier next year.   LINKS: IMDB INSTAGRAM: @clairecoffee TWITTER: @clairecoffee ARTICLE: 10 Things you Didn't Know About Claire Coffee VIDEO: I Was A Teenage Pillow Queen   

Beau Garrett is an American actress and model born in Los Angeles, CA and grew up in Topanga Canyon where she rode horses and was a competitive equestrian. She began her career appearing in GUESS advertisements in the late 1990s after being discovered by an Elite modeling agent at age fourteen. She first appeared on TV in the hit show Entourage in 2004 and made her feature film debut in the horror film Turistas (2006). She later portrayed Captain Raye in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) and Gem in Tron: Legacy (2010). Garrett would later appear as a regular on the television series Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (2011) with Forest Whitaker. She played Phoebe in the hit Bravo series Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce and In 2017 she signed onto the ABC series The Good Doctor. LINKS: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1683768/ INSTAGRAM: @blackdogtravels TWITTER: @beaujgarrett ARTICLE: Chad L. Coleman and Beau Garrett to Star In SAUGERTIES At Hudson Guild Theatre

Guy Nattiv is an Academy Award® winning filmmaker from Israel. His first American short film, SKIN, won the 2019 Academy Award® for Best Live Action Short, along with many festivals around the world United States, Best Live Action Short FilmFrance, 2019, Clermont-Ferrand, Audience AwardUnited States, 2018, HollyShorts FF, Best Short Film Grand PrizeFrance, 2019, ECU European Independent FF, Special Jury AwardUnited States, 2018, San Jose IShFF , Best Short Film. It was acquired by FOX Searchlight. The feature version, also entitled SKIN, stars Jamie Bell, Vera Farmiga and Danielle Macdonald, and premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival to significant acclaim, where it won the Fipresci Critics Prize. Its European premiere was at the Berlin International Film Festival, and will also be shown in April at Tribeca. It will be distributed globally by A24 and Voltage in summer 2019. Before coming to the USA, Nattiv was a lauded director in Israel, where his first feature, STRANGERS, was in competition at the Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals in 2008. His second feature, THE FLOOD, won the Generations prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 2012 and was nominated for six Ophir Awards, where it won Best Actor. MAGIC MEN, his third feature, premiered at Palm Springs International Film Festival in 2014, and also won the Ophir Award for Best Actor. A lover of the short form, Nattiv has been crafting award winning shorts for almost two decades. His first short film, THE FLOOD, won the top prize at Berlin in 2002, his next short STRANGERS won the Sundance Film Festival in 2006 and was short-listed for the Academy Awards® that year. His short film OFF- SIDE played over 80 festivals worldwide, including Tribeca and Locarno. LINKS: IMDB: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm1142235/ INSTAGRAM: @guy_nattiv YOUTUBE: Skin Trailer #FabFitFunPartner Interested in becoming a FabFitFun member? Be sure to use the code 'TOA' at checkout and get $10 off your first box! #fabfitfunpartner

When do you ask for feedback on your audition? What does the feedback mean? What is your intention for getting feedback?

Today’s guest’s journey is a roller coaster ride full of defining moments, times when everything seemed to be working against him, but ultimately lead him to where he is today. From multiple heart attacks by the time he was 21 years old to getting cut from some of recent year’s most recognizable films, Eme Ikwuakor has continued to press on and shares how he took the deep dive into an artistic career.  Eme Ikwuakor is a triplet, born In Wheatridge, Colorado and the son of Nigerian parents (his father is a college professor in Nigeria). Attending the University of Colorado on a track and field scholarship, he was considering a sports marketing major until a college advisor recommended an acting course. Ikwuakor signed up and was quickly cast in the part of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird. It became a life-changing experience. Always fascinated by history and African-American rights issues, Ikwuakor then became heavily involved in the Interactive Theater Project in Colorado, a professional acting troupe that specialized in theater for social change. This experience became a great influence on his career goals. During this period, he was cast in Ink, the critically-acclaimed, locally produced, independent science fiction feature that won Best Colorado Film at the 2009 Denver Film Critics Society awards and was considered "one of the best films of 2009. (JoBlo)" This positive experience taught Ikwuakor a great deal about how to independently produce projects, market and take chances. Arriving in Los Angeles after college graduation with a B.F.A in Performance Theater, Ikwuakor took a series of jobs to support his acting and producing ambitions. His life-changing project, Chance, was a short dramatic film, which he wrote, produced, co-directed and starred in. Its insight encouraged him to drop his day job of three years and focus entirely on his acting career. Since then, he has never been busier. Ikwuakor's television series credits include Outlaw, Love Bites, Victorious, The Comeback, Silicon Valley, Castle, Hawaii Five-O and We Are Angels. In addition to Ink, he has been featured in the films The New Republic, Murder in the Dark and Not Safe for Work. He continues to work actively for social and political change. Currently, Eme is starring on ABC's, Marvel's Inhumans. LINKS:  IMDb INSTAGRAM: @ikwuakor TWITTER: @emeikwuakor Inhumans Trailer  

Do you sometimes struggle with deciding whether you should accept an audition or a job? Here are 5 questions to ask yourself that will help you make the decision! You must answer a resounding YES to at least 3 to take the job/audition, if it's a job/audition you're unsure about.

Sarah Baker is an actress and comedian born in the Washington, D.C. area. After graduating from James Madison University with a double major in Theater and English, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia where she joined the Whole World Improv Theatre as a performer, and later as a teacher. She also later became a member of the Sunday Company with the acclaimed Groundlings Theatre in Los Angeles.  She is best known for her roles in The Kominsky Method on Netflix, The Campaign with Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, and on HBO’s Big Little Lies. She has been nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award for her guest role on Louie, as well as for a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for The Kominsky Method, in which she stars alongside Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin. The hit show won the Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series and, as of January 2019, has been renewed for a second season. She is slated to appear as “Emily” in Ben Falcone’s Superintelligence starring Melissa McCarthy, premiering in December 2019.  LINKS:  IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1807222/ INSTAGRAM: @barahsakers TWITTER: @barahsaker KOMINSKY METHOD: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1807222/videoplayer/vi938195481

Getting to the truth of your WHY. Do you know why you are called to be an artist? Know why you’re going into this, know why you’re doing it, because the industry doesn’t need you.

Today we have a fascinating conversation with actor Russell Hornsby—from Grimm, Seven Seconds, and The Hate You Give—as well as FENCES, both on Broadway and in the film, his career is full of valuable lessons he’s learned. After twenty years in the industry, he shares how a long-term career was not a given reality for him, but rather something he’s had to fight for every step of the way. His advice is equal parts inspiration and tough love, so whether you’re just starting out or are a few years in, he’s got some healthy perspective about being honest with yourself, doing the work, and putting everything you have on the line for your art.  Russell Hornsby is an American theater, television, and film actor. He is known for his roles as Edward "Eddie" Sutton on ABC Family's Lincoln Heights, as Luke on the HBO drama In Treatment, as Detective Hank Griffin on the NBC series Grimm, and as Lyons in the movie Fences. After finishing his studies at Oxford, Hornsby moved to New York City and was subsequently cast in leading roles in Off Broadway productions of To Kill a Mockingbird (as Atticus Finch), Joe Louis Blues, and Six Degrees of Separation (as Paul). In the late 1990s, he decided to move to Los Angeles in order to transition into television and film. He has appeared in several different television productions including appearing in recurring roles in Haunted as Detective Marcus Bradshaw and Gideon's Crossing as Chief Resident Dr. Aaron Boise. His other television credits include Grey's Anatomy, Law & Order, and In Justice among others. He also played running back Leon Taylor in ESPN's drama series Playmakers. On the big screen, he has appeared in such films as After the Sunset, Big Fat Liar, Get Rich or Die Tryin', Keep the Faith, Baby, Meet the Parents, and Stuck among others. In 2000, Hornsby appeared in the Off-Broadway production of Jitney for which he won a Drama Desk Award and an Obie Award. He starred in the NBC fantasy drama Grimm from 2011 to 2017. In 2018, he played Isaiah Butler in the Netflix crime drama Seven Seconds. That same year, Hornsby joined the cast of the movie Creed II. LINKS:  IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0395203/ INSTAGRAM: @russoulhornsby  TWITTER: @russellhornsby SEVEN SECONDS TRAILER THE HATE YOU GIVE TRAILER

How to be a great "guest" on a TV show!