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Jason Reitman

RE-RELEASE: Michaela Watkins
RE-RELEASE: Michaela Watkins 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse

The Road to 100+ Credits: Say YES to Opportunity

Todays guest has over 100 film and TV credits to her name and a career that began with roles in repertory theatre in Portland, Oregon, and ultimately lead her to Los Angeles where she discovered improv and sketch comedy and became a member of The Groundlings. She shares how her experiences doing improv in LA prepared her for the rest of the business, including joining the cast of SNL for one season, and how her departue from the show, seemingly premature at the time, made way for countless new opportunities to expand her storytelling capacity.

A natural talent with an undeniable energy, Michaela Watkins has made her mark through a variety of impressive and unforgettable roles.

Watkins can currently be seen in the fourth and final season of the hit Hulu show CASUAL. The show has received critical acclaim with a Golden Globe nomination and recognition in THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER calling it “funny, strongly realized, self-assured and a joy to watch. After watching an episode, you want another.”  She plays the lead role of ‘Valerie Cole’, a newly divorced sex therapist who is re-entering the world of casual dating.

Up next, Watkins can be seen playing Rob Delaney’s Sister in the new season of CATASTROPHE and playing a tightly wound, full of bravado, federal prosecutor hell-bent on putty Dory (Alia Shawkat) and Drew (John Reynolds) behind bars in the next season of SEARCH PARTY.

Watkins can be seen in the first and second season of Amazon’s Golden Globe winning show, TRANSPARENT.  Additionally, she can be seen in the Netflix limited series WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER opposite Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd.  Prior to that, she was last seen playing the eccentric and loveable ‘Jackie’ on the ABC critically-acclaimed series TROPHY WIFE opposite Bradley Whitford and Malin Ackerman.

Other past television credits include VEEP, THE GOLDBERGS, MARRIED, THE COMEDIANS, NEW GIRL, ENLIGHTENED, MODERN FAMILY, CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, PARENTHOOD, KEY AND PEELE, THE KROLL SHOW, DRUNK HISTORY AND CALIFORNICATION.

On the creator side, Watkins executive produced, created and wrote the comedy series BENCHED with Damon Jones, which aired on the USA Network. This series starred Eliza Coupe.

Tune in

Listen On iTunes

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“Work begets work. You do this one thing, and then you hear about this other thing. Each little thing made room for another little thing.”

“A good manager will say this to you: ‘We’re doing the long game. I don’t care if you book a stupid episode. We’re looking BIG picture.”

 

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.”

 

075: Michaela Watkins
075: Michaela Watkins 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse

Todays guest has over 100 film and TV credits to her name and a career that began with roles in repertory theatre in Portland, Oregon, and ultimately lead her to Los Angeles where she discovered improv and sketch comedy and became a member of The Groundlings. She shares how her experiences doing improv in LA prepared her for the rest of the business, including joining the cast of SNL for one season, and how her departue from the show, seemingly premature at the time, made way for countless new opportunities to expand her storytelling capacity.

A natural talent with an undeniable energy, Michaela Watkins has made her mark through a variety of impressive and unforgettable roles.

Watkins can currently be seen in the fourth and final season of the hit Hulu show CASUAL. The show has received critical acclaim with a Golden Globe nomination and recognition in THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER calling it “funny, strongly realized, self-assured and a joy to watch. After watching an episode, you want another.”  She plays the lead role of ‘Valerie Cole’, a newly divorced sex therapist who is re-entering the world of casual dating.

Up next, Watkins can be seen playing Rob Delaney’s Sister in the new season of CATASTROPHE and playing a tightly wound, full of bravado, federal prosecutor hell-bent on putty Dory (Alia Shawkat) and Drew (John Reynolds) behind bars in the next season of SEARCH PARTY.

Watkins can be seen in the first and second season of Amazon’s Golden Globe winning show, TRANSPARENT.  Additionally, she can be seen in the Netflix limited series WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER opposite Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd.  Prior to that, she was last seen playing the eccentric and loveable ‘Jackie’ on the ABC critically-acclaimed series TROPHY WIFE opposite Bradley Whitford and Malin Ackerman.

Other past television credits include VEEP, THE GOLDBERGS, MARRIED, THE COMEDIANS, NEW GIRL, ENLIGHTENED, MODERN FAMILY, CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, PARENTHOOD, KEY AND PEELE, THE KROLL SHOW, DRUNK HISTORY AND CALIFORNICATION.

On the creator side, Watkins executive produced, created and wrote the comedy series BENCHED with Damon Jones, which aired on the USA Network. This series starred Eliza Coupe.

 

Tune in

Listen On iTunes

 

Resources

SOCIAL:
NEWS & MORE:
QUOTES:

“Work begets work. You do this one thing, and then you hear about this other thing. Each little thing made room for another little thing.”

“A good manager will say this to you: ‘We’re doing the long game. I don’t care if you book a stupid episode. We’re looking BIG picture.’”

“Your body knows when you hear the thing—that’s the thing for me. I truly believe that we’re not crazy when we feel that.”

“Being safe is not a great plan for being an actor.”

 

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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