Acting for TV ft. Jona Xiao (Halt and Catch Fire/Being Mary Jane) (PT78)

Alex and Nick invite Jona Xiao (Halt and Catch Fire, Being Mary Jane, Gifted) to discuss acting for television, and what writers can learn from actors.

What is the casting process like in TV? How are character descriptions influenced by the script? What preparation can actors do before going into production? What makes an interesting character and compelling scenes for an actor? What can TV writers learn from performers?

The Paper Team gets set to recur...

SHOWNOTES

Content
Early influences, building a career, getting representation, casting process, diversity, getting cast, actor preparation, drama versus comedy, character descriptions, table reads, production, scripts, character arcs, script revisions, post-production, getting cut in the editing, fan interaction, goals and aspirations (01:06)
Resources and Next Week On (43:47)

Links
Jona Xiao on Twitter
Jona Xiao on IMDb
Bananatag
Sidekick

Resources
Career ACTivate
"The Eight Characters of Comedy" - Scott Sedita


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Special thanks to Alex Switzky for helping us edit this episode.

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Nick - @_njwatson
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