The Year of Celebration

Life is good. Really good. Celebrations are in order as I've officially gained representation with Crescent Management . I'm very excited to join this lovely agency with lovely people. When I went in to meet them I immediately felt at home and really adored all the members. So, hopefully, I'll start getting some work and keep moving forward. In other news, I just am elated at the moment. I'm remembering to take my meds and I've quit all my anti-anxieties and flushed them down the toilet. I realised that for nearly four years not a day went by that I wasn't completely present. I was unable to respect my feelings. No matter how I felt I wanted to change it. If I was up I'd take and drink whatever I could to make myself more up. If I was down I'd want to be in oblivion so I couldn't experience that. Now, I'm realising I'm human and that it's natural to encounter the ups and downs of everyday life and process them appropriately. Life h...

On Sunday night I saw the new Tom Hooper directed film adaptation of 'Les Miserables'. Feeling raw, I came out of the cinema into the darkness of the night. For the first time since being in Vancouver (and possibly ever) I was grateful for the gloom and rain, because the dramatic streak in me revelled in the pathetic fallacy. I did not trudge home as per usual, shivering and blinking away the rain. Instead I glided alone along the pavements that "shined like silver" and indulged in some self-examination. Sporadically, there will be films I watch that touch me in unimaginable ways. That remind me of cinematic magic and the reasons I need to be an actor. I love writing and for the last year I've questioned whether I could be content doing just that. The answer is yes, that I could be content, but that I am never as ignited as I am when I am performing. That's what this film reminded me of. I have had experiences in theatre and performing where I have been ...

Today is my friend Lee Hirsch's birthday, and in celebration of him I'm posting the trailer to his incredible documentary, "The Bully Project: A Year in the Life of America's Bullying Crisis". It's a truly phenomenal piece of work, and if you're at festivals, or when it gets properly released rush to see it. You can check out the facebook page here . <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PBymTVjBYHg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Today is World Day for International Justice, which recognises the emergence of international criminal justice and is celebrated the day the Rome Statute creating the International Criminal Court was established. As a lawyer, I spent a lot of time studying cases that went to this court and so I'm a bit of a geek for such a day. People use the day to host events to promote international justice and focuses on particular issues such as genocide and serious crimes of violence against women. Speaking of justice today in 1976 African countries boycotted the Olympics only hours before the Opening Ceremony in protest of New Zealand's agreement to play Rugby with South Africa during apartheid. Today's quote comes from Kenya's foreign Minister James Osogo who said: "The government and the people of Kenya hold the view that principles are more precious than medals." I think that is a beautiful quote, and it really touched me. Today in 2009, Walter Cronkite pas...

After the video game launch I attended in LA, I finally got 'round to seeing the new Transformers film. It was what was expected: 3D, lots of action, and lady eye candy. I felt like it went on forever and was a bit bored, but I was definitely inspired by the sight of Rosie Huntington-Whitely to get my butt in the gym. Motivation is always hard to find, but that definitely did it! So whilst men might celebrate her for a different reason, Rosie, I am celebrating you for kicking me off my butt and onto the treadmill. Sigh.

Quite a few depressing things happened today in history, but of course this blog is about overcoming depression, not dwelling on it....so I won't get into it. But there are things to celebrate, including the birth of Morgan Freeman, one of the best actors of any generation. Whenever I'm feeling a bit old and that I haven't achieved enough as an actor, I think of Freeman, who's first proper credit wasn't until he was 34 and only started achieving real recognition in his 40s. As Melissa Leo's Oscar this year showed, you just need to stick with it. Today I had to head up to Burbank for an audition at The Polygon Group agency. It's my first theatrical agency audition, and though nervous I was looking forward to it, and I thought it went pretty well. On the way I met up with my friends Neti Leddel and Kathy DiStefano, both actresses I met when we were rehearsing for a web series that sadly never came to fruition. Far from sadly, I made friends with these two ...

Ok, so I've been AWOL for awhile. I did, at the beginning, admit that I would probably not be able to commit to this every day. It's part of my fear of commitment...to a person, a job, a place. As much as I was enjoying blogging, I set myself up for failure by sort of requiring myself to do it every day. But here's attempt number two...no doubt I'll stumble again and feel unable to find a way to celebrate, but it wouldn't be interesting if it wasn't difficult, right? This week I watched Stephen Fry's documentary "The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive". Stephen Fry has always been someone I deeply admire (as mentioned in this interview from 2008). I didn't even know back when I did that interview about his struggles with manic depression. My favourite film was written and directed by Fry (and features James McAvoy who's birthday was sometime in the week that I disappeared), based on Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies: Bright Young Things...

April 7th is World Health Day - and to be healthy I took a CardioBarre class. Which is basically ballet on steroids. And no, I'm not a ballerina. And no, I'm definitely not a ballerina enhanced with steroids. So it kicked my ass. I compensated the rest of the day by eating whatever I wanted. Surely life is all about balance. On today in 1949 John Oates of Hall & Oates was born. Which makes me SO excited because I get to share the version of "You Make My Dreams Come True" from one of my favourite films 500 Days of Summer (who doesn't love Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Today's Quote (chosen as I open "7 Deadly Sins" at the Next Stage Theatre, Hollywood tonight): "There's no damn business like show business - you have to smile to keep from throwing up." - Billie Holiday, b. April 7th 1915