cb4tb:

I listened to this podcast with no expectations because I’ve
never heard of it but I noticed it was an hour and Sam’s best interviews are the longer ones.  They asked really great questions.  Even their Bond question was framed in an interesting way.   It is hosted by Jake Humphreys and Professor
Damian Hughes and the focus on what it means to be a high performer in any field.

Some of the stories we’ve heard, Sam growing up or being almost
ready to give up acting when he was so broke.
But others were new for me.

I was writing fast and rewinding but I’m sure that some of
the things are more paraphrasing than actual quotes.  Your writing hand gets really cramped when trying to transpose longhand for an hour.    Some things I was careful to get the entire
quote even if it meant rewinding 4 times.
<Things in carets are my thoughts>.

At the start, they mentioned that SAS: Red Notice (Rise of Black
Swan) was the most watched movie ever on SkyTV.

Q: What is high performance?

S: Reaching your maximum potential as a person or a human
being

Q: Do you see yourself as a high performer?

S: Years ago, no  (Compared
actors training and muscle memory to athletes).
An actor has to operate in certain fields.  You have to test yourself, get into the mind
of the character, learn new skills

Q: How do you measure that?

S: I’m never content.
For some people it’s fame and fortune <Thought it was interesting he didn’t
mention awards which underscores what I’ve said about that’s not the first thing that is important to actors. > 

There is just so much
to learn and each character teaches you something different about the journey.  But I realized I can do more than acting, I
can become my own boss, become an entrepreneur and that’s rewarding.

They asked him how that applies to Outlander and he says
some scenes they do 20-30 takes.  He said
your mind goes elsewhere but your body reacts, responds to the other
actor.  (That’s good)

Q about balancing rejection in this profession

S: Often times, (early on) you are always trying to please
others in an audition.  What do they
want?  The director, the producer, the studio,
the future audience.  My biggest weakness
is I still try to please people.  

Q: So what does it take to get over that?

S: Bravery and confidence are important but not
over-confidence.  I struggled with confidence
early on but confidence comes with experience.

If I had success at an early age, I’d be a complete
mess.  Probably all over the tabloids!

Q: Talked about how he auditioned for Tron, asked how do you
handle something like that which could be totally life changing, and is
in the hands of someone else- especially when you were struggling

S: I was living in a small place, bad neighborhood, I’d been
sick, living on a bowl of porridge a day.
They flew me out there, got the first-class treatment.  They even tell you in advance what it pays so
you’re very aware of that before audition and it adds more pressure.  I messed up the first take so I did press-ups
(Push ups?) to get the blood flowing.

Now, when I’m nervous, I just tell myself to relax and see
what happens.  I’m prepared so don’t
worry about this.   He said muscle memory
of the “brain” in learning lines-you get better at it over time-it gets easier.

Q: Talked about how do you prepare for a role

S: I’m a bit of a control freak in certain areas of my life. With acting, there’s a weird side that I think it is important to prepare but I think I’m an instinctual actor.  I like to know the playing field and text and  just go for it. Other actors really want to know about what’‘s going on in the scene, each arch, each graph.  I kind of don’t want to know what’s going to happen, I just want to feel my way through it. I think that’s what’s really interesting,  I have a co-star on Outlander who is the opposite and it is interesting to see what happens for different people. 

Q: Mentions athletes stay the same thing about different people’s prep.  How do you balance two different approaches like that?  

S: Everyone has their own process (talked about some like to
go off and listen to music, others prefer to “shoot the shit”). 

Q: So understanding them is as important as delivering your own performance?

S: Yes, I think I grew up being very sensitive, maybe because of
the my upbringing but I can walk into a room (and this might help as an
actor) and I am quite sensitive and can gauge other people’s energies.  That maybe might help me as an actor, your responding to what you’re getting from them, and being aware of their energies is important.  And you can respond to that. < I immediately
thought about Cait being all frazzled because she was late to her audition, and
she said he was her calm center.>

He said he also learned a better mindset about audition
rejection for himself or others.  Being hired first on Outlander helped him see how others feel when they come in because he had to audition others.  He said knowing their energies helps take the pressure off of them.    It’s
not that they were wrong, it’s that someone else was more right.

Auditioning is a vulnerable thing.  You have to let it go and move on.

Q: Talked about social media and how to deal with comments
on your performance when the person not within our world.

S: At first, I threw myself into it and would read
comments.  You read negative feedback and
at first you take it to heart. (Or reading critics too)  Now, I’ve gotten better at it, I don’t bother
to read them, but it is interesting because you can get 100,000 great comments and one negative and
you take that one to heart.  

I have a love/hate with social media.  It gives us access to people which is wonderful but it can be quite negative.<At this point, there’s quite an obvious edit to cut off
whatever else he said.>

Q: You released a statement about it last year=it’s tricky because your career puts you in the public domain but therefore people think you are fair game for that.

S: <This is not the first time I’ve felt he was reluctant
to talk about this.>  in the rise of the internet, people can find out information and find out about (and almost have an influence)
your persona life and I’m very protective of my personal life.  Something that I’ve learned over time. 

At that point, I’d reach the end of dealing with it and felt
a statement was necessary.  Sometimes
people don’t know what goes on, we see celebrities, athletes but we don’t know
what’s going on in their lives or who knows what could have happened that day or the day
before.  It’s all fake anyway-look at
Instagram and what people putting out-is it reality? Not really. 

Q: Did it help?

S: For a short time and then it goes back to what it was.

Q: You have to only listen to people that matter-what do you
look for in this people you want in your inner circle.

S: I’m a bit of a loner, I have a really small group of
close friends.  I think there’s this drive and I’ve put my career
first  in my life and at times I’ve let personal relationships go to one side. . <He’s talked about this before;
I think most notably with Batman.  It also made me think about recently when he said he may turn down a part because there are other things more important in life. >  I do have a small group of friends or people who are close.   I’ve
become more guarded as I’ve had more success.
There’s more to play, and I guess more happening in your life that maybe you want to protect..or you want to control.

What do I look for?  My closest friends have known me the longest.

Q: What qualities do they bring to your life?

 S; They give me comfort, support, understanding
and empathy.  Someone that’s been through something similar, or understands your situation and where you’re at. I think it is so important to have someone like that.   It’s hard to know what
other people’s agendas are. It’s important to have that base.

Q: Does it take you time to be you when you meet new people?

S: Yes and no. I think  I’m approachable but
in the last few years, I think I do protect myself more.

Q: Talk about the importance and power of  Dreaming in relation to the bad audition conversation.  Asked if  getting talked about for Bond was
part of a dream.  What’s your relationship with those kinds of conversations, do you allow yourself to dream?  And if you or don’t, is it a powerful thing?

S: Yeah, It’s important to dream and to inspire to greatness and
new goals.  Bond? That’s one of many
roles that you’d die for, but I am very aware that it’s more of a bookie’s dream than
anything!  But it is important to dream
big. He equated it to athletes who dream of the Olympics.  To strive for more is important.  <Note: He uses the athlete comparison a
lot because they interview a lot of athletes on this podcast.>

Q: What is your equivalent to the Olympics

S: whispers snarkily James Bond.  No, it’s not. There are an infinite amount of amazing
roles out there.  But for me, it’s not just about
acting now, I have a lot of projects and things on the go.  Actually, I’m finding more doors are open in those fields of being an entrepreneur than in the acting world.  I’m finding a lot of satisfaction there. 

Q: They mention MIK, whisky and ask about MPC

Q: What are three non-negotiable behaviors for Friends

S: Honestly, enthusiasm, determination

Mentioned he went through a bereavement recently and wished
he’d spent more time with that person.  <His mother’s longtime partner>

Q: What is legacy and what do you want yours to be

S: So interesting, I want to leave behind a better
place.  I want people to look back or
rewatch a given performance and like it

Q Any books or podcasts to recommend:  

S: Mentioned he has an upcoming job about Everest <Remember,
how I said actors and entertainers look at their work as a job just like you or
I and they don’t say Movie, TV, Concert. It’s a job.>  Mentioned some of the books he’s read about
reaching the summit.

Q: Leave listeners something about rejection and a golden
rule to live by

S: Sleep more (Professor Hughes-recovery is important) and relax,
you’ve got this.

iamjapanese:

UENO Seiko（上野清江 Japanese）

from the KIMONO pattern books “Yachigusa 八千草”  Vol.14,  1901   via

Idk if she was a journalist but she was definitely in public relations…I believe that was in her job description online.

Anyway, obviously Cait wanted people to know she was getting married…she and her family dropped a lot of hints

And then she had all her friends, including Sam, post about it, but without saying it was actually her wedding… smh

Then of course she and Starz had Lynette Rice announce it to People Magazine…like she had her engagement announced to People Magazine at Golden Globes

She has always used her private life for promo to make a point…the only one I can gather is that she wanted to make sure people knew she was a real and serious actress

She made her point and I wish she could move on from that now

Reading her articles now, she has nothing to talk about..many people are being introduced to her now for the first time and she has nothing professional to showcase besides Belfast and a show many don’t watch to make her interesting to the public

Anyway what did she say?

WCC? she said nothing, she has done nothing for them in years

Gin? Do we even know who got the fellowship and what they have done with it?

Writing? She has been supoosedly writing something since 2016/17 and I have seen nothing… even Sam has published before her

So… idk…she has nothing to talk about except her private life and so that is what her promo is, being a new mom

S4 was engagement, S5 wedding, S6 baby…

redlipstickresurrected:

Itō Jakuchū aka Jakuchū Itō aka Ito Jakuchu aka Jakuchu Ito aka 伊藤 若冲 (Japanese, 1716-1800, Kyōto, Japan) – 紅葉 小 禽 図 (Maple Tree and Small Birds), c. 1765-1766  Ink and Colors on Silk