How We Role: A Podcast for Actors by Casting Networks
How We Role: A Podcast for Actors by Casting Networks, breaks down an actor's journey, one topic at a time. Join award-winning actor, writer and host Robert Peterpaul alongside industry talent and experts as they discuss how to build a successful career as a performer and beyond in the entertainment industry. From inspirational casting stories to practical advice on the craft of acting, tune in to expand your skill set and book that role.
Get cast today at castingnetworks.com.
How We Role: A Podcast for Actors by Casting Networks
Teresa Palmer: From Background Artist to #1 on the Call Sheet
Acclaimed actor Teresa Palmer (The Fall Guy, A Discovery of Witches) joins How We Role to share tangible tips for actors. From starting as a background artist to landing the number one spot on the call sheet, Teresa’s journey has been nothing short of remarkable. Yet she remains incredibly generous with her knowledge. In fact, she’s eager to share all of her acting secrets with you—including how she prepares for roles and a hack for crying on cue.
Teresa Palmer is a globally recognized performer who has been nominated for multiple Best Actress awards, including Critics Choice and many others from her home country in Australia. You’ll likely recognize Teresa from her extensive onscreen work alongside some of the most acclaimed talents in the industry. She shared the screen with Cate Blanchett and Christian Bale in Knight of Cups. Appeared alongside Andrew Garfield in Mel Gibson’s Oscar-nominated film Hacksaw Ridge. With Daniel Radcliffe in December Boys and in Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler.
According to IMDb, some other most popular credits are I Am Number Four,Warm Bodies and one of my favorites Take Me Home Tonight. More recently, Teresa wielded a sword in the SAG Award-winning blockbuster The Fall Guy, starring Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, and Hannah Waddingham.
Her TV career, is just as glittering, including leading the cast of the cult hit A Discovery of Witches. Teresa’s TV work continues with The Last Anniversary, an adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s book, and the show that brought us together today: Mix Tape.
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When it comes to working in entertainment, there's a lot of hows, and they all boil down to how we navigate this wild industry. While how we follow our dreams is uncertain, how we roll along the way is in our hands. Welcome to how we Roll, a podcast for actors by Casting Networks. Have auditions over here. I'm trying to self-tape for my life, but also to have received so much love for this podcast, I cannot believe the response, and I know, on behalf of Casting Networks, we are incredibly thankful that you're tuning in, so thanks for doing that. I'm also thrilled to share that we want you to be involved. We would love to hear from you as far as the questions you have, the big hows that you want to be involved. We would love to hear from you as far as the questions you have, the big hows that you want to be answered. So please stay tuned to our social media pages, as well as this podcast, to find out chances for how you can be featured on the show. As for today, buckle up, because we are about to gain some incredible insights from a talent that has maintained an international acting career for over two decades. We're lucky enough to have snagged a brief but inspiring last-minute interview with the terrific Teresa Palmer.
Speaker 1:Teresa Palmer is a globally recognized performer who has been nominated for multiple Best Actress Awards, including Critics' Choice and many others from her home country, australia. You'll recognize Teresa from her extensive on-screen work, often alongside some of the most acclaimed talents in the industry industry. She shared the screen with Cate Blanchett and Christian Bale in Night of Cups, appeared alongside Andrew Garfield in Mel Gibson's Oscar-nominated film Hacksaw Ridge, with Daniel Radcliffe in December Boys, adam Sandler and Keri Russell in Bedtime Stories. I mean, the list goes on. According to IMDb, some of her other most popular credits are I Am Number Four, the Zombie Rom-Com, also known as a Zomcomby okay, sorry Warm Bodies and one of my favorites, take Me Home Tonight. More recently, you may have spotted Teresa wielding a sword in the SAG Award-winning blockbuster the Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling, emily Blunt and Hannah Waddingham. And that's not even touching on her TV career, which most recently includes leading the cast of the cult hit A Discovery of Witches. Teresa's TV work continues with the Last Anniversary, an adaptation of Leigh-Anne Moriarty's book, and the show that brought us together here today Mixtape.
Speaker 1:From starting as a background artist to landing the number one spot on the call sheet, teresa's journey has been nothing short of remarkable, yet she remains incredibly generous with her knowledge. In fact, she's eager to share all of her acting secrets away. Okay, do you know the film Sorcerer's Apprentice? She was in that too. She even shares a really tangible hack for crying on command. This was a double recording session, so if you'd like to hear more from Teresa and I, please check out my other podcast, the Art of Kindness, for an uplifting listen. No pressure, of course. Now let's get rolling with Teresa Palmer. Friends, today I am sitting with the most ethereal and sparkling talent. Please welcome, teresa Palmer. Thank you for being here on how we Roll.
Speaker 2:Oh, thanks for having me. I'm excited for this chat.
Speaker 1:This is going to be fun. We are here to help our acting community. So before we get to your magnificent new series Mixtape, I did kind of go back to the very beginning. I followed Julie Andrews all the way down there and I loved researching your early career and I admire just the hustle you seem to put into it. You know, from gigs as, I think, santa's elf at the mall to doing background work in films, and so in looking at advice for actors starting out, what sort of early paid performing experiences do you think were the most formative for you?
Speaker 2:I would also say the unpaid.
Speaker 1:The unpaid. That's true. That's a good note I'm taking that.
Speaker 2:I did a couple of unpaid experiences too. When I was younger, I started around 16 and I was at this little acting agency in Adelaide called Actors Inc. And there was always a pin board with like actors wanted for a short film, actors wanted for a student film, actors wanted you know whatever unpaid and I was like, why not? I want to do a short film. So I did a couple of short films.
Speaker 1:One was called hot, hot heat and the other one was it cold?
Speaker 2:no, it was all it was about a heat wave in Australia, and then another one called when the clock struck 12, and they were both bum, bum, bum.
Speaker 1:Thank you what happened?
Speaker 2:I mean I don't know. I'm pretty sure the clock struck 12 at some point, but I don't remember what happened I guess we just all blacked out at 12.
Speaker 1:There we go I'm sure.
Speaker 2:Uh, so I did those two little films and it's funny, I've actually bumped into the director of one of those has now gone on to become a really big producer in the Australian film industry and that just goes to show, like the contacts that you meet with, like student filmmakers and producers who are in the hustle, they've got the passion they're trying to make their films going. It's sometimes worth having that on-set experience because you're making connections but you're also seeing how a set works. So I started there and then I started doing a few paid things. So extra work, background work. I was an extra on deck dogs. I was an extra on warm body oh my God, not warm bodies, definitely not an extra on warm bodies.
Speaker 1:Were you an extra too.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's impressive yeah, sorry, no, a massive movie in australia as a one of our most iconic horror films of all time. It's called wolf creek and people still talk about this movie. It's terrifying, but I was an extra in it and it's quite funny actually, like years later some journalists when I was kind of starting out in Hollywood would be like, oh, you're amazing and Wolf Creek, like it starred, it was a massive movie. How did that feel to? Elle was like well, I've obviously not seen it because let me just cross out my next question.
Speaker 1:No, I'm just kidding, that's so funny. Well, I'm glad you brought that up, because background work really is another way. It sort of combines what you just talked about. It's a great way that's lower stakes, maybe to cut your teeth but also get paid and then learn how a set works.
Speaker 2:Right. And then also this is what I did. I was just watching those lead actors and I remember on Wolf Creek watching this actress her name's Kesti Morasi. She was the lead of this movie which ended up going massive, and she was so brave and at the time I was like, oh my God, she had to act drunk and she was so loud and she was like, oh, she was just doing. And I was like, oh my God, I'd be so embarrassed to do that. But look at her, she's just going for it and she seems drunk and it's so real.
Speaker 2:And I remember that was my first lesson in like bravery as a performer and not caring what other people think of you when you're up there. And I saw her and I was like, could I do that? Like I'm so shy, I would be so shy to do that, but I was watching her in her element and then I never forgot that. I never forgot watching her like that. And then I thought you got to just let go of how other people, how you think other people are judging you. And then I got my very first opportunity in this Adam Sandler movie called Bedtime Stories, where I was meant to be crazy proud.
Speaker 2:I love that movie too, thanks, and I'm meant to be on the pedestal being just this crazy woman. I remember being like, oh my God, I'm going to be so embarrassed in front of all these extras and these people watching, and I just went for it and I remembered okay, kesti Murasi did this on Wolf Creek. Now it's my shot to show these back, the background players, the extras that you got to just jump in and be brave.
Speaker 1:Yes, that was like a full circle moment for me that's really beautiful and it's funny because before we started recording here you told me you tell your kids, you know, don't pop someone's spirit, and I think that kind of is one in the same of learning, like when you're judged you don't feel safe to kind of be that wild, crazy person in the scene because you're automatically thinking everybody's judging you. So what a gift you're giving to your kids and I encourage everybody out there, don't pop people's spirits or balloons literally, because it'll pop. Yeah, and I love to you bring up this big Australian film as we get into mixtape here. You know this deals with your character having to go back home and I'd love to ask you about your home market of Australia, if you will, because Casting Networks has a lot of actors interested in working there and you've worked all over the world. You know what have you seen that is different about that Australian market for actors sort of like working in Australia specifically.
Speaker 2:Well, if you're American and you come to Australia to work, it's a really good time to do that because so many massive American shows and movies are being produced and made and filmed here in Australia. So they are always going out to casting directors looking for people who can do an authentic American accent. So my husband, Mark Webber he's a filmmaker and an actor. He has an American accent and he has an agent here and suddenly he is working so much because he's authentically American and he's just about to go shoot something where he plays a Marine and rather than a lot of the Australian actors putting on the American accent, they're oftentimes looking for actual American performers. So that's a really good thing for Americans who want to come to Australia.
Speaker 2:And I will say the pool is just smaller here. We have a really big industry, but it's smaller here. I feel like there's not as much competition in Australia as there is in America. I feel every second person when I'm in Los Angeles is an actor and going up is just so hard. You're really in the right race there. But I think if you find a country like Australia, or even if you go to a place like a city like London, like really immersing yourself into the culture, into the art scene.
Speaker 2:Screenings, attending premieres, trying to get to industry events All of that is really, really important and Australia is making very good quality work. The crews are incredible, the stories and narratives are sensational and they travel, like as we see with mixtape we. This was an international story because it's set in sheffield and also australia, but we shot in australia, a little bit in ireland and now of course, it's on a stage at south by southwest um having this american premiere. So it's exciting. It it's a global industry and just because you come from the country you come from doesn't mean you can't travel and try and seek opportunities elsewhere.
Speaker 1:That's very inspiring and you know. Now that we're at Mixtape 2, I want to ask you you've played a range of roles as we touched on in our other recording from. You know huge productions like Take Me Home Tonight and Warm Bodies to Fall Guy. I know your series Mixtape is. I believe it's based on a novel. So when you're taking on a new role like this specifically, how do you prepare? You know, where do you start? When you're preparing as an actor, is it kind of always the same process? Does it depend on the project?
Speaker 2:It just really depends this one. I took a look at the book but I knew that they had changed some aspects of it. I really listened to a lot of music. I worked with dialect coach because we were actually quite unsure as to where we were going to land this accent, because the younger version of my character has a very thick Sheffield accent and then the older version, she's completely shapeshifted so she's dropped aspects of who she was, including her accent. She's just really committed to the Australian accent. Now she'd been living in Australia for, you know, 25 years or whatever it is, um. So that was hard, um, working with a dialect coach to try and figure out, like, where do we land with this accent?
Speaker 2:And then the other prep is really just about backstory, knowing, understanding the trauma that my character has been through. The trauma is immense, um, and it's deeply impactful on her. And how does that manifest itself physically in her relationships, in her way about the world, the way she walks, the friendship she has, her relationship with her children, and so that was just a lot of kind of free writing, like journaling, writing about that experience. And then that's kind of the prep that I do, and then I let it all go and then I'm just moment to moment with the actor and reacting, literally just reacting to what they're giving me and then being in a flow with my fellow performer and that's it.
Speaker 1:I love that. Thank you for breaking that down, because I feel like sometimes it's hard for performers to break down their approach, or sometimes people fear that they're going to give away their secrets. Throw all my secrets away. Sorry, I can't stop singing this song give away all my secrets.
Speaker 2:I always say, like the more people are doing this work and living their dreams and being passionate about what they love to do, like the better. Like I want other people to succeed. I want people's dreams to come true, that this is such an amazing industry to be in. And so often people are like, oh, would you discourage your children from being in the industry? I was like, how would I ever do that? I've had the best life. I'm having the most amazing experiences. If my kids are passionate about this, I would say go for it. And I'm the sort of person that's like I want everyone to succeed. So if I can give anyone advice and I get to watch them succeed, like that's so exciting.
Speaker 1:Oh, it radiates and it's contagious. I love that. That's so beautiful. You know you mentioned fleshing out your character of Alison, and I think what's really probably fun for you in this show is that you have that younger version in Florence Hunt, who's so brilliantly cast, by the way, and so good in this show as well. I wonder did you have conversations with her? Did you get to watch her scenes? You know what was your collaboration like with her, while the story hinges on you and Jim. Eventually I've only gotten to see the first two, but I'm guessing you know, I'm wondering how you two collaborated to create one character.
Speaker 2:Well, we actually didn't collaborate at all, because Sometimes that's the case, okay.
Speaker 2:Oh well, it was just like circumstantial. So I only had two days left of filming or three days left of filming when she was cast. She was cast so late in the process that I had already done all my stuff and I was like, oh, I just hope that we fit. And then when I met her, it does. Yeah, lucy Gaffey, our director, was like you and Florence have such a similar energy and essence about you that it's just going to bleed through on camera and it's just going to work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she's like. I'm telling you it does, it definitely does.
Speaker 2:I've spoken to her to figure out what she was doing. But when I saw it I was like I cannot believe how well this fits. And I will say the pressure was off a little bit because obviously my character leaves behind the trauma from the past and completely changes her narrative and completely like does a rebirth and all of her life. So in some ways the pressure was off because she could have reinvented herself. Yeah, but actually it worked really well it really did, I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 1:When I started it I was like, oh, they're playing the younger versions of themselves too. And then I looked closer and I was like, oh wait, that's not her. I had like the take me home tonight, vibe. I'm like, oh, it's just back in. I had like the take me home tonight, vibe. I'm like, oh, it's just back in, kind of in the 80s again. Yeah, I loved what you shared too about. I heard you and Jim made mixtapes for each other, which is kind of a fun acting exercise, you know we did.
Speaker 2:We shared a lot of mixtapes together. Um, he is really big in the music scene. In fact he has his own band, he's king curious, and he releases albums and it's kind of a really it's like genre blending, it's kind of a little bit of hip-hop, but then it's like also alternative and it's so cool. His music's fantastic, but obviously that's a really big part of his life. So he made me a mi mixtape for Alison with all these different songs. Peter Gabriel was on it, which was so beautiful. And then we both found out that we love 90s rap, hip-hop, like New York rappers, and so we made mixtapes for each other. On mine for him I had a lot of Gangsta, krs-one, master, ace Mobb, deep Big L and he had a lot of the similar artists and he gave me some European UK rappers and we just swapped and it was really cool. It set the tone for the whole show, really for us.
Speaker 1:I love that. It's just got to keep it fun and creative, and that's a wonderful way to do that. I know I have to let you go soon, so if you would indulge me, I have a bit of a surprise game, if you don't mind playing right, we're gonna make a mixtape of casting keywords. So basically this is kind of a flash round. We play on how we roll where I'm gonna throw out like a keyword or a phrase from the acting world universe and you just respond with like a concise piece of advice that pops into your head. So it's almost like word association, but hopefully like maybe a little, a little inspiring sentence.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'll try I think you'll be good at it. It's all with the goal of of having fun and helping our, our fellow actors here. So whenever you're ready, we'll start. I don't have a time, okay, three, two, I'll start off.
Speaker 2:Pretty easy, okay, acting acting um, you know uh, breathing life into characters in an authentic way.
Speaker 1:That was beautiful.
Speaker 2:Auditions. I hate them. An opportunity to showcase what you can do, no matter your flavor. So don't get caught up on being the right fit. Just showcase your flavor, finding your flavor, so don't get caught up on being the right fit just show your flavor.
Speaker 1:Finding your flavor like how someone finding their flavor. I just need to. I need advice on that. How do we find?
Speaker 2:our flavor tree. Find your flavor flavor flavor.
Speaker 1:Okay, headshots and resumes. What's what's the deal on that? Um, you probably don't have to deal with them as much anymore, I'm guessing.
Speaker 2:But yeah, well, oh, I will say. When I was younger, I fleshed out my resume, every short film, every, even my, um wolf creek, my. I gave myself a name. I was like Tina pool party person.
Speaker 1:And little did you know you were going to mislead a journalist way down the line, I know, don't be afraid.
Speaker 2:Don't be afraid to really beef that. Resume up with everything you've ever done, make it look nice and long and juicy. And then headshots oh oh, I find them so hard, I, I find them so hard. Find your angle. And then, um, just get a great photographer. Look, make sure you find the right photographer. Look through their stuff first that's relatable.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that casting breakdowns okay reading like a casting breakdown. How do you go about that?
Speaker 2:Well, I would say they're just giving you the show notes, so take them with a grain of salt and build out your own version of this person. So take each little note that you get and apply it to the backstory that you create. I create a backstory for all my characters, including all the ones I'm auditioning for that's so fun.
Speaker 1:Okay, networking as an actor, I know that's kind of. It can be a dirty word.
Speaker 2:I'm terrible at it. I really am. Um, and I'm going to give you a quick example, please. When I was an actor on Deck Dogs, I went up to the lead actor and I spoke to him and I said, hey, what agency are you at? And I got the name of his agency and I wrote it down Shanahan and I ended up signing with them three years later, wow, and if I hadn't have got the name of the lead guy's agent, I wouldn't have known about this agency, shanahan Management and I ended up signing with them. So don't be afraid to put yourself out there and ask questions and get phone numbers of producers, and don't be afraid to do that in the early days. I'm terrible at it. Now. I don't go to any of the events. I don't go to any of the events. I don't go to any of the things. I don't do any of the schmoozing. I could be a lot better at that. I don't do any of it.
Speaker 1:It's a lot. I mean, you have kids now I just have cats and it's a lot for me In the early days I get that Okay, breaking down a script like do you have any quick tip on that Sort of like your script analysis secret.
Speaker 2:It's always different, but okay, I'll give you one. This is actually a tool I use all the time on every job. It's called I've called it an emotional beat sheet. So basically you write down a description of the scene your character's in and then I use colored stickers to say where they're at emotionally Vulnerable, angry, confused, contented. And so then the next scene that you see them in a little short description of the scene and then I put my sticker where they're emotionally at. So that way it's a cheat sheet. So when you're looking through your script you can see where your characters just come from, where they're at in the scene before emotionally and where you should be at in the scene. And that helps with the emotional continuity. That's brilliant. Okay, everybody re-listen to that. And then I mean, does that help you?
Speaker 1:crying on cue and that helps with the emotional continuity. That's brilliant. Okay, everybody re-listen to that. And then I mean does that help you crying on cue? Do you have a tip for that? Because everybody seems to have different answers.
Speaker 2:I have a practical tip. I have a really practical tip. So there are some people who listen to particular music that's triggering. I used to do that in the early days. Now it could just be my eyes, but something that I do is after hair and makeup are touching you up and you know you're about to go on practice some Ujjayi yogic breath where it's a deep, you know that deep breath that you have and keep your eyes open. So you're doing the breath and already you can see my eyes now.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh yeah.
Speaker 2:So it's like a deep ujjayi breath, but keep your eyes open, don't blink, and it brings a heat to behind your eyes that makes you seem upset. Let's see, look at my eyes. I just did it very briefly. So it makes seem upset and emotional and vulnerable and that just brings the body to that place. Um, and then from there you can access those emotions and sometimes it's about um swapping the character with someone in your own life that triggers or something sad. Yeah, yeah, or je. Breath is like just a physical, a physical thing to do no, that's brilliant.
Speaker 1:I'm like I'm trying to do it with my eyes. No, that's amazing because it you will respond to your body doing that. I even noticed it in, I think, one of your first scenes in in mixtape, on the on the field there. You had that moment of just like quickly, like you conjured up so much emotion. It was brilliantly done, so that's incredibly helpful. Thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 2:A muscle of mine I'm I that is such a muscle of mine I'm I. That is such a muscle for me. Now, like I know, I can always cry on cue, but in the early days I use the menthol sticks. You know, in my first movie it was someone blowing menthol into my eyes to make that happen. And now, of course, I don't need that anymore.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's amazing. Thank you for sharing that. Thank you for your openness. You're going to help so many actors listening. I know I have to let you go, so if you could just leave us with the best piece of advice you have for actors in general I know it's a big question Anything that comes to mind that you feel like you want these wonderful, sparkling, magical humans listening to take with them Home tonight. Okay, sorry, I won't do that again home tonight.
Speaker 2:Okay, sorry, I won't do that again. Um so I'm a massive, passionate manifesting fan.
Speaker 2:I believe I manifested my entire career in so many ways, but a huge part of manifesting is taking inspired action. So all my journals I could read them right now. All my journals I could read them right now. All my journals from when I was 14, 15, 16. I am an actress, I am working in Hollywood, I'm working with the biggest stars, I am represented by the William Morris Agency, I am working back to back on inspiring jobs.
Speaker 2:So I wrote this all out and I truly believed it. There was no plan B. This is what it was. And then the intention you're putting out into the universe is like this is what I'm doing with my life, I'm being paid this much money for it, I'm traveling the world, and then the inspired action will come, which will be what are the small steps that you take in order to reach that goal? And for me, those were saying yes to the short film, saying and you know what student film. I said yes to A little film called 237 that an 18-year-old director did in Adelaide and it premiered at Cannes Wow, cannes Film Festival, and it kick-started my career. And it's because I said yes to this tiny little student film that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and American agents plucked me from there and so started my career.
Speaker 1:Wow, you never know the power of yes when it feels right.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yes, exactly, exactly. So that is my advice.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. Well, I'm glad you said yes to spending a little time with me today and to being in Mixtape. I can't wait to keep watching it and to see what you do next. So thank you so much, Teresa. You're such a delight. Sorry about that. It's really fun. Oh, I'm glad.
