Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Then Phoebe Realized That's What It Is To Be an Actor

PHOEBE SOUTHWOOD: My name is Phoebe Southwood. I have a really vivid memory of one of my earliest acting classes. There was a teacher walking us around the room and it was a movement exercise. And she said, “OK. Everybody walk from your nose.” And suddenly her nose went out in this point, and everybody started kind of walking around from their nose. I remember just in that moment thinking, “This is so ridiculous and weird and wonderful,” and I never wanted to stop. For some reason, that strange little moment really stuck with me. I was really intrigued by that notion that one tiny adjustment can make you live in a different body and become a different character.
SOUND: Phoebe’s monologue
PHOEBE SOUTHWOOD: And what I really wanted to focus on was acting. And that’s what this place is about. It’s really about training you to be a professional actor.
SOUND: Acting warm-ups
PHOEBE SOUTHWOOD: I practice for my cats. They usually leave. They’re cool, but they can’t clap or anything. You know, I can’t account for everyone’s test. My cats, they like cinema, and they like chess. And I am a theatre person.
SOUND: Rehearsal
PHOEBE SOUTHWOOD: One of the exercises we did was the sort of thing where we would start to swing back and forth, and then we would eventually hurl ourselves into a circle in the air.
FADE UP AND UNDER MUSIC
PHOEBE SOUTHWOOD: And I remember I would get afraid. I would be like, “What if I break my toe? Or twist my knee?” And then I was like, “Oh, I’m too heavy. I’m scared.” And then I was suddenly doing it. And I was flinging myself into these circles around the room. And one thing that came up was I was looking at people younger than me and skinnier and judging myself. And then I was like, I let go of it. And I just did it. And I just said, “This is my body and this is how I jump in a big circle around the room.” And it worked out great.
FADE OUT MUSIC
PHOEBE SOUTHWOOD: And the same with the silliness. I would hit these limits where I would feel—I would worry that people were watching me. And then I think I had a realization one day: well, yeah. That’s what it is to be an actor, is to be watched.
FADE UP AND UNDER MUSIC
PHOEBE SOUTHWOOD: I’ve chosen the character of Maxine in Tongue of a Bird by Ellen McLaughlin. She flies a plane and she’s talking to her mom about her mother’s suicide. My own mother committed suicide at a very young age. And this monologue relates to it so well that I found it a little bit scary to think of actually doing it. But I talked to Beth Harper, the director here and head of school. And she said some of my best work has been done when it’s really close to me. So I think you might want to consider going for it.
SOUND: Phoebe’s monologue and comments from Beth Harper
BETH HARPER: Phoebe will show up ready and prepared to work. She knows how to say yes and mean it fully and completely. That’s the greatness of Phoebe as a human being, as an artist. That’s what Phoebe will do. She’s got this spirit that’s just so alive and bubbly and you can feel it. And you can feel it in her work, too. She knows how to connect herself to her work. Just great. She’s just great with that.
FADE UP AND UNDER MUSIC
SOUND: Phoebe’s monologue
PHOEBE SOUTHWOOD: I would worry that people were watching me. And then I think I had a realization one day: well, yeah. That’s what it is to be an actor, is to be watched. And what we’re sharing with other human being is how absolutely silly it can be to be a human being, or painful, or wonderful. And if we don’t share, all the way, with our hearts open, then the audience isn’t going to connect with us and take away the most they can from a performance.