Middle-earth News: Film sets can be busy places! How do you stay in the moment? Do you have any tricks or games you play that help you stay fresh and spontaneous, in the moment when on stage or in a movie scene?
Mark Hadlow: Staying in the moment was made considerably easier with the fact that there were 12 other Dwarves doing the same as me and undergoing the extraordinary daily routine of prosthetics, makeup, wardrobe, and weapons to become our dwarves. With all the paraphernalia on, it’s almost instant to be in the moment, to drop the table tennis bat and head in for blocking, and then with cameras about to roll, a quick thought about accent and dwarf movement, and being Dori was amazingly quick.
Stage is a little different because once you start it’s like a roller coaster of emotion, laughter, tears, or tension and it stops when the play or musical ends. And the audience is right there so it’s all in one … a start, middle, and finish. No stopping, no re-take, no mistake. Using your experience and the other actors to deliver the production night after night with a new audience. That’s one of the reasons why you can do the play each night and be motivated by them.
Tomorrow: Mark Hadlow talks about filming The Hobbit in beautiful New Zealand on The 12 Days of Dori – Day 9.
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