An Actor's NSV - Working out for a role

impromark

NSV time! I have a hobby career in improvisational theatre, and at the beginning of the year my troupe decided to do an improv version of the "Game of Thrones" series as show for an upcoming Comic Expo. Perhaps foolishly, I chose to take on the role of "Khal Drogo", who for all intents an purposes is a huge, muscled man who is shirtless for almost the whole time you see him in the show. I decided for the first time to actually get in shape for a role. I didn't want to BULK for a one-time role (I'm skinny now and basically want to stay that way!), but I definitely wanted to look more defined while performing topless in front of several hundred people for an full hour.

I had achieved my weight loss goal for 2013, but mostly through MFP and treadmill; it was almost all weight loss and very little muscle building. With a show date in mind, I decided to start a regime of cardio workouts (I started T25 and finished the Beta phase the week of the show) and some light weights. This was complemented with a zillion situps and for the first time, chinups on a bar I bought before Christmas.

This last one was a big thing for me - since I was little I was never able to do any pulling up at gym class, even when I was rail thin and taking karate thrice weekly. I had started around Christmas and was barely able to eke out three pull ups, hurting for days afterwards. The morning of the show, I did 80 pull ups of various configurations and wanted to do more, but had to get to makeup & wardrobe!

And my proof was in the pudding. Even though I'd been unable to keep to my MFP regime for several days at a time due to various work trips and conferences, I still managed to lose five pounds; but most importantly I lost several inches around the middle and other places on my body, and got a ton of the definition I was looking for.

This weekend, despite being a good foot shorter than the actual actor who played Khal Drogo in the show, alongside my castmates I knocked 'em dead in a show that had several people congratulating me on my look for the role; longer time fans who knew me when I was 80+ pounds heavier were freaking out at seeing me bare chested with my abs and biceps poking out, where before I was sporting an XL shirt and baggy pants to hide my heavy. I usually walk away from a show with a good sense of satisfaction for a job well done, but THIS time I was feeling awesome for working hard and affecting the audience with both physical and psychological acting.

And I'm not done yet! Any actor will know the hard truth that no matter how hard you work your craft, at some point being in shape tends to net you better roles. I hope to continue working out in this fashion, so to increase those chances of scoring meatier work in the future - but be it a lead in a play or as an extra in the background, it doesn't matter. The workouts have affected my attitude towards my acting as much as the physical effect - it's part of my craft now!

I'm not good with the whole picture posting thing, so I've put a picture from the show as my avatar. Facebookers can follow the link below to a gallery from the show as well. Thanks for listening, MFP has been great as I worked towards my goal, and I can't see it going anywhere soon.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.712712475439094.1073741830.165041826872831&type=1

Mark

savemama

Congrats! Must have felt good to be able to be proud and comfortable in front of all those people! Good for you

jsugihara86

Awesome! Ps I'm a HUGE GoT fan.

impromark

Much thanks! GoT is also awesome to watch while on the treadmill - nothing like a medieval battle to get the blood pumping along with your legs!

Mark

DebbieLyn63

Congrats! And Kudos for putting in the hard work to play the part. When my daughter was in HS theater, they just used body paint to create abs on the shirtless guys!

DucklingtoSwan

And I'm not done yet! Any actor will know the hard truth that no matter how hard you work your craft, at some point being in shape tends to net you better roles. I hope to continue working out in this fashion, so to increase those chances of scoring meatier work in the future - but be it a lead in a play or as an extra in the background, it doesn't matter. The workouts have affected my attitude towards my acting as much as the physical effect - it's part of my craft now!

^This!

I too am an actor but have mostly been directing and haven't been on stage in years. Mostly because I lost the confidence to audition for anything because my "type" is too hard to cast. I've started getting serious with MFP, and my motivation was further renewed when I found out a local company is doing "Into the Woods" this winter... one of my all-time favorites. I'm working on taking off around 50 pounds between now and auditions around Thanksgiving. I would love to play the Baker's Wife, and the ultimate prize I'm keeping my eye on is the Witch. (I'm not Bernadette and I never will be, but getting some of this weight off just might give me the confidence to shoot for the stars...)

Oh, and Whoo-HOO! Talk about NSV! You clearly rocked it.

impromark

Thanks! And it's terrific to hear a fellow actor's motivations for the same sort of thing. Push for it, and definitely post your pics when you nab that role! "Into the Woods" is a great show indeed - Bernadette Peters may be once in a generation, but that hasn't stopped plenty of Witches from knocking 'em dead over the years. Break a leg!

Mark