Guiding Light

Tom Pelphrey on That One audition with Alyshia Ochse

S2 002: Tom Pelphrey
S2 002: Tom Pelphrey 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse

When You’re in the Presence of a Master

Tom was born and raised in New Jersey. He grew up in the town of Howell, where he attended the Fine and Performing Arts Center at Howell High school. Upon graduation, he attended Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University (obtaining BFA in acting), where he also had the opportunity to study Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre in London, England. Tom’s first professional job was on the long running CBS daytime show Guiding Light. During the two and a half years he was on the show, he was nominated for four consecutive Daytime Emmy Awards, winning twice (in 2006 and 2008). Having worked in theater, television, and independent film, he eventually became a series regular on the hit Cinemax show Banshee, playing former neo-Nazi Kurt Bunker. Tom is a founding member and the current Artistic Director of the Apothecary Theatre Company—a NYC-based non-profit that develops and produces world premieres of new plays by up-and-coming playwrights. He made his Broadway debut in 2012 as Judy Garland’s last husband, Mickey Deans, in the critically acclaimed End of the Rainbow, directed by Tony Award Winner Terry Johnson. He can currently be seen in Season 3 of Netflix’s hit original series Ozark, as well as in David Fincher’s Mank, which is being released later this year.

Considering that this interview was done via Zoom (a TOA first), as a means of moving forward in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is befitting that this episode of That One Audition retells the stories of adaptation and triumph that landed Tom Pelphrey right here.

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“Engage with things that open your heart.”

“What is the core of the person? What is the basic thing about them from which all the other things are coming? I feel like if you can identify that, and then identify it in yourself, and then find it viscerally, then you can start to play creatively.”

“You do your best work and you keep your head down and trust that if you just keep doing your best work things will work out.”

“These are the people who are the best at what they do and I know for sure that I become a better actor when I’m working with good actors…I will leave this job a better actor than the actor I came in.”

VIDEOS:

 

RE-RELEASE: Tommy Dewey
RE-RELEASE: Tommy Dewey 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse

Nothing CASUAL About THE MINDY PROJECT

Tommy Dewey may seem casually cool and like he has it all figured out in this business, but it took “letting go” of perfection to land the jobs on CASUAL and THE MINDY PROJECT that made him feel like he could truly relax and embrace a fully realized character. A collegiate track runner at Princeton University, Tommy had big plans for Wall Street signing up for the LSAT twice. On hiatus from a stress fracture, Tommy accepted a challenge to audition for the two coveted spots in Princeton’s improv troupe. No acting experience, but a innate sense of comedic timing and his sports driven ambitious nature landed him one of the two coveted roles out of 100 actors. Tommy not only secured the spot in the group, he eventually was the troupe’s director and writer. Law School was still waiting for Tommy, but Tommy challenged himself with a summer intensive at RODA and now attributes his success to his fall back plan being writing. Yes, this guy can write! Tommy took a year off of acting to create and run the writer’s room for his own show “Sons of Tucson.” Listen in to hear how Tommy deals with nerves, how he runs a casting session for his shows, what really gets you the job, how to stay in the game and how his back up plan now is writing.

Tune in

Listen On iTunes

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“If you can get to that point where you can relax enough to give them your version of the person, even if they like it or not, you are going to start in a much better place.”

“I was always off book, I wanted to land everything perfectly, but that is not what acting is…acting is what happens in the ethers between two people.”

“Auditioning should be much more of a mess. I mean it should be messy and always searching. The key is being present and creating whatever it is in the ether between whoever you are working with. That’s what the camera needs to see. Not you saying it perfectly.”

 

007: Tommy Dewey
007: Tommy Dewey 1500 1000 Alyshia Ochse

Tommy Dewey may seem casually cool and like he has it all figured out in this business, but it took “letting go” of perfection to land the jobs on CASUAL and THE MINDY PROJECT that made him feel like he could truly relax and embrace a fully realized character. A collegiate track runner at Princeton University, Tommy had big plans for Wall Street signing up for the LSAT twice. On hiatus from a stress fracture, Tommy accepted a challenge to audition for the two coveted spots in Princeton’s improv troupe. No acting experience, but a innate sense of comedic timing and his sports driven ambitious nature landed him one of the two coveted roles out of 100 actors. Tommy not only secured the spot in the group, he eventually was the troupe’s director and writer. Law School was still waiting for Tommy, but Tommy challenged himself with a summer intensive at RODA and now attributes his success to his fall back plan being writing. Yes, this guy can write! Tommy took a year off of acting to create and run the writer’s room for his own show “Sons of Tucson.” Listen in to hear how Tommy deals with nerves, how he runs a casting session for his shows, what really gets you the job, how to stay in the game and how his back up plan now is writing.

Listen to the unforgettable stories that landed Tommy Dewey right HERE.

Resources

QUOTES:
“If you can get to that point where you can relax enough to give them your version of the person, even if they like it or not, you are going to start in a much better place.”
“I was always off book, I wanted to land everything perfectly, but that is not what acting is…acting is what happens in the ethers between two people.”
“Auditioning should be much more of a mess. I mean it should be messy and always searching. The key is being present and creating whatever it is in the ether between whoever you are working with. That’s what the camera needs to see. Not you saying it perfectly.”
MORE:

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ALYSHIA OCHSE

Los Angeles-based actress, bestselling author, host of That One Audition podcast, entrepreneur, & mother.

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