Recently, the film industry has increasingly invited models for starring roles in films and TV series. Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Move”), Sasha Luss (“Anna”), Cara Delevingne (“Valerian”), Jeong Hoen (“The Squid Game”). Acting skills in modelling have become more appreciated than ever. About how to stop being afraid of the stage, about the importance of correct speech, about Luc Besson and much more — in a conversation with Nikita Prokhozhev, a teacher of public speaking, acting and speech technique.
Theatre and film actor, editor, master of the Ostankino Film and television school, teacher at the Kidsdev Academy (Skolkovo), teacher at the school of oratory “The King speaks”, producer at Apostol Films.
— When you taught acting at a modelling school, what did you pay attention to the most?
— In almost every group there is one person who has charm and stage sense by nature. Such a student does not need long training, difficulties are associated with insufficient life experience. The fact is that the age of students in model schools is about 17 years old, and any of our being on stage or in front of the camera is always based on life experience: love, hate, breakups… The more events that happen in life, the more we will experience feelings and emotions, the more accurate and interesting we will be on the set. At 17, not everyone succeeds.
— What are the main problems of novice models at school?
— Misunderstanding of yourself and your nature. At this age, few people know themselves, feel. We don’t know what we are capable of yet, hence the great uncertainty. It can be instilled in us from childhood by parents, teachers, society. All this is very disturbing on the podium. Also, inexperienced models constantly evaluate themselves, give themselves a characteristic right in the process of speaking, this cannot be done in any case! A professional differs from an amateur in that he can focus on a specific task and distract himself from his failures and feelings of insecurity.
— What advice would you give to new faces who are afraid of the public or the stage?
— The main advice is practice. Use every opportunity to go somewhere on stage. It doesn’t matter what kind of setting it is: to recite a poem on a stool in front of relatives, to make a report at the blackboard, a big public speech. The more you make mistakes and hear in response “no” or “you are not suitable for us”, “we will call you back”, the easier it will be for you to handle it.
The second tip is to let go of fear. Remember that absolutely everyone is afraid of public speaking. Moreover, if you are not afraid, it is better to leave — this is not your profession, you will never get pleasure from it, drive or energy boost. Even people who have been on stage for 50 years still feel excitement. It is ok.
— You teach acting and speech technique — how important are both for models?
— Acting skills are important for any stage profession. You go to the podium — you are wearing a beautiful outfit, great makeup, you have a beautiful body, appearance. But if your eyes are glass, you have nothing to convey to the viewer — you will just be a dummy. You will be interesting for a few seconds, and then the viewer will look at something more attractive. And vice versa: even if you are dressed “about nothing”, your appearance is not bright, but your eyes are burning, your imagination is turned on — then the viewer will always look at you.
There is a separate direction — oratory. It includes many aspects, for example, non-verbal communication. You tune in to the casting, come, smile, think that everything will be fine, but at the same time your body says: “I’m a loser, I won’t pass! Why can’t I do anything?”. Most likely, the customer will read it on a subconscious level and will not approve you. But if you know these principles, and not just at the level of theory, but also have practiced them, “recorded” them in your body — then it will be easier for you to express confidence.
As for the technique of speech, it is rare for models. After all, this is a “silent” profession, it is not often that models manage to say something in advertisements. Even professional actors who star in commercials are very often voiced by announcers. Speech is necessary for any person who communicates with people in one way or another. If you want to impress at the casting, then speech will always help. No one will want to hear a person with a squeaky, uninteresting, ugly voice, they will not want to trust you. And in this industry, trust is very important, for example, that you will not disrupt a multimillion-dollar shoot.
— How do you think models play in movies? Luss, Taylor-Joy, Jeong Hoen?
— Of course, this is not the level of Nicole Kidman or Meryl Streep, but nevertheless Sasha Luss and Chong Hoen are excellent examples of the fact that a model can act very successfully in a movie. Jeong Hoen is just beautiful. She lacks certain skills, but in modern cinema, quite saturated, editing, “clip”, subtle acting takes a back seat.
— Have you starred in Anna, have you seen Sasha?
— During the filming of the film “Anna” I never met Sasha Luss. The filming process is organised in such a way as to reduce any costs as much as possible. The main characters try to be involved as little as possible. That is why Killian Murphy, whose character looks directly at me in one scene, was not even on the set at that moment — an understudy was being filmed instead. He wasn’t in Moscow at all. Then a separate shot is made in close-ups, and two different frames, shot at different times, in different countries and with different actors, and are carefully connected during the editing.
But I talked to Luc Besson! Therefore, one more piece of advice to all models is to learn English. Even if the director’s native language is French, everyone still speaks English. It was very nice to receive a compliment from him, a handshake and a broken Russian “Thank you!” for shooting.
— How would you comment on fashion now? How has it changed?
— It seems to me that the deeper we enter the XXI century, the more polar fashion begins to manifest itself. On the one hand, everyone is very much “fed up” with synthetics, tired of plastic surgery, something unnatural, filters on social networks. Therefore, some people are drawn to simplicity, naturalness, naturalism. Natural hair colour, natural nails, and natural lips are in fashion again. Fashion is cyclical, we are curtsying lower and lower towards the 70s. I just hope that the fashion for unshaven armpits will not return.
On the other hand, nonsense is happening in fashion: the same body positive. I am politically incorrect on this matter: I don’t like ugly, fat models. And all this is exposed as the norm: women’s clothing collections for men, tasteless experiments with colours and shapes. Personally, I am for asceticism. It seems to me that everyone is already tired of pretentiousness, and people are more inclined to the style a la Steve Jobs. I’ve always believed it doesn’t matter what kind of clothes you’re wearing; it is important how you present it to other people.
Text by K. Mironova
Photo provided by N. Prokhozhev
