First Responders: Harley Davidson
To say it was an honor to portray a first responder during a pandemic, and to be acting under the direction of Jason Momoa, would be an understatement. This was the most run and gun, gorilla style spot I’d had the joy of being a part of since Todd and I shot Lotawana in Missouri 5 years ago. And that’s exactly how I liked it. It was in that unconventional environment in which I fell in love with story telling. Until doing this piece, I realized I had never actually worked with an “actor’s director” until working with Jason…which comes as no surprise. With the majority of the directors I’d worked with in the past, I’d noticed a pattern; a frequent lineage that stemmed from being in the camera department. They were highly visual and excelled at creating superb frames, however performance often took a backseat. It’s my personal opinion that anyone who fancies themselves as a director would benefit massively from taking acting classes for a period of time. In order to really understand what you’re asking of a performer; experience it first hand. When I began classes I’d be lying if I didn’t admit how uncomfortable, vulnerable, and scared shitless I had been. But like anything, it was a matter removing the focus from oneself (ego); and replacing it with an appetite to learn the craft of unpretentious, honest story telling. In my experience I’d found that directors that came wholly from a visual background, lacked the nuance and emotional consciousness needed in delivering effective direction. After all, a picture can be beautiful but if one doesn’t identify with the humanity of the characters, it isn’t often a memorable story. Working with Jason was one of the highlights of my journey into acting. Something I couldn’t have dreamed up, and an experience I learnt an immense amount from. He is a highly physical actor himself and brings that sense of always having a “doing” into the work he directs. There’s a very un-contrived and pragmatic nature to the way he works and he gets everything he needs out of the performer. There’s a lot of mutual trust and respect in working with Jason. The scenes have a sense of choreography to them, bringing harmony to the way camera and talent dances together. The end result is watching someone pushed to their limits. Teetering on the edge of holding it together and falling apart. A tight rope every single human being is familiar with, should they have the luxury of time to pontificate it.
On a side note - I spent months practicing my US accent for 6 hours everyday without fail, in order to accurately portray the narration of a US first responder. Threatened with the prospect of having a professional voiceover actor do it instead, it propelled me into the initially awkward daily practice of only speaking in a US dialect from waking until 2pm. It paid off, and upon sending this spot to my agent she began sending me voiceover auditions, surprised at the ability to mask my own New Zealand identity. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I was truly awful when I began US dialect training. But it was nothing that stubborn perseverance couldn’t overwrite.