Time
for Passion Webseries Review
Within
the realms of both theater and screen, there are many approaches to
the vocation of acting. The famed American teacher Lee Strasberg, for
instance, introduced the term “method acting” into the vernacular
when he advocated that his students utilize their own emotions and memories
within their performances. Strasberg in turn was heavily influenced
by the works of Constantin Stanislavski, who perfected a holistic approach
in which the actor experienced the role both inside and outside of themselves.
Even Sir Laurence Olivier was not above giving advice to his colleagues
in regards to technique, most notably to Dustin Hoffman while filming
Marathon Man. When Hoffman appeared on set after having stayed
awake for twenty-four straight hours because his character had done
so as well, Olivier remarked, “My dear boy, why don’t you
try acting?”
Then there’s
Johnson Roberts of the webseries Time
for Passion.
“I developed these tips from lifetime achievement of auditioning
over fifty times,” he remarks during a short video advertisement
for his acting school. “Together, tips spell out ‘JOHNSON.’”
Roberts then introduces nineteen brief guidelines for struggling actors
that inevitably have nothing to do with the letters in his first name.
“If you are not so good at acting, wear sunglasses to your addition,”
he explains in broken English while on the letter J. Under H, meanwhile,
Johnson Roberts suggests, “Always pause before you say your line.
It shows that you were thinking and you didn’t just memorize your
scene.”
The webseries
proper is filmed documentary-style and intersperses scenes from Roberts’
acting class with the main character’s attempts at filming his
own original script, entitled The World. “It will deal
with love, sex, drugs, betrayal, et cetera,” he explains. “It
is like one of those bagels with egg, poppy seed, onion, garlic, cheese.”
The manuscript contains scratch-and-sniff decals to add to the authenticity
of the narrative, offering smells of basements and landfills to go along
with the dialogue. As Johnson Roberts explains to his would-be director,
he has named the concept “Scratch ‘N Script.”
Although
Roberts declares that he has read over forty scripts throughout his
lifetime and thus feels knowledgeable enough to write his own film,
his major problem with producing it is finding the necessary actors
capable of portraying the characters within. As opposed to the Strasberg
or Stanislavski methods—or even that of Laurence Olivier—Johnson
Roberts believes that passion is the key to great acting.
“So
many times I see movies where there is no passion,” he tells his
class. “Like Don Corleone in The Godfather. When Marlon
Brando hears that his only son of three sons, Sonny Corleone, is dead,
what does he do? Nothing! Quiet, silence.” The teacher then demonstrates
what he would do as he proceeds to emotionally erupt over the news of
Sonny’s death. “Then I would break a lamp, picture frame
or kick in a window,” he concludes. “That is passion.”
In addition
to episodes of the actual webseries, the Time for Passion website—or
“websight,” as Johnson Roberts calls it—is filled
with information about the both the man and his acting class. There
are also other videos that are not part of the main narrative but compliment
the Time for Passion experience nonetheless. In addition to
the previously mentioned introductory advertisement in which Johnson
Roberts offers acting tips, for instance, there is a review of the movie
Rayne Man. Not only does Roberts skewer the title of the 1988
film, but he refers to the two stars of the comedy-drama as Dustin Hoffa
and Jerry Maguire and details an X-Men style plot in which
the title character can control the weather.
The Johnson
Roberts ego is likewise on full display. The “about” page
of the website asks such rhetorical questions as “Who do you think
started Billy Joel’s fire?” and “Who do you think
tell Freddy Mercury to start village people?” The running gag
not only continues in video form during the webseries—“Who
do you think told Oscar Mayer to start giving out acting awards?”—but
carries over onto the Time for Passion Facebook page (“Who
do you think taught Smokey Robison that only he can prevent forest fires?”)
and Twitter posts (“Who do you think convinced country to name
itself after cuba gooding junior?”).
Time
for Passion writer/director Kor Adana and Amol Shah, the New Jersey-born
actor who portrays Johnson Roberts, have thus not only created a likeable
character but taken advantage of the Internet and social media to further
advance the enjoyment of the webseries proper and keep viewers entertained
beyond merely watching the episodes. Shah has appeared on such television
shows as Grey’s Anatomy and Brothers & Sisters,
and likewise had a role in the reality-spoof webseries Solo.
His portrayal of Johnson Roberts, meanwhile, exudes the necessary amount
of egotistical confidence, misguided innocence and natural charm to
raise the character beyond that of mere buffoon or blowhard and into
a memorable comedic classic in his own right.
But don’t
take my word for it, just ask Johnson Roberts—I’m sure he
would agree. After all, “Who do you think told Steven Spielberg
to make T-Rex bigger than all other dinosaurs in Jurassic Park?”
Anthony
Letizia (May 16, 2011)
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