Yeah, it doesn’t always go our way, so we need to stay positive in between the highs, and keep showing up when the opportunities arise. Nate Corddry emphasized the hell out of this when came and spoke to a small group of us as at a workshop last week. He’s my new favorite actor.
Nate works constantly. He was a regular on “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” (one of my all-time favorite shows), “Harry’s Law” and now “Children’s Hospital.” And he’s Rob Corrdry’s little brother.
He loves the business and wanted to share everything he’d learned. He talked about his most intimidating audition, for the HBO mini-series “The Pacific,” in which he walked into the audition room and was surprised to be greeted by producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Spielberg sat right in front of Nate, recording the audition on a camera in his lap. Already not thinking he was physically right for the role, and now face to face with Tom and Steven, Nate tried to alleviate the tension by making a joke. It fell completely flat. But he realized the importance of the moment, dug in and did his thing. While he didn’t book the role, they liked him so much they cast him as a different character.
Nate came and spoke out of his love of acting and actors, and genuinely wanted us all to love the business as much as him and appreciate how lucky we are to get to do this for a living. I’m proud to be in the fraternity with him.
