Q&A with Mary Beth & Stephen

I am so lucky to have a friend and acting partner like Stephen Nichols … and we’re both so lucky to have the most amazing fanbase! We love to sit down together and answer questions, but we’re so bad at coming up with them. So this past weekend, we asked you all to submit questions to us … and you did not disappoint! There were so many great questions, and of course we couldn’t get to them all, but we tackled as many as we could. In fact, so many that we had to divide this up into two videos. 

Here’s this first part … and be sure to tune in next week for part 2. And don’t worry … we’re saving the questions we didn’t get to and we’ll come back to those sometime too!!

No Time for the Blame Game

Years ago, in an acting class, we read a book with a chapter and exercise about blame. I’ve said before that school was never my thing, but this excerpt has always stuck with me. When my son was in high school, I gave it to him to read … and shared it with him again recently.

Dreams Into Action book coverAs we prepare for the holidays, I’ve been thinking about the families who, at this time of year, struggle to overcome disagreements or long-standing family issues. It’s unfortunate that, in too many cases, misunderstandings, pride and blame can stand in the way of friendship, family or love. And, now with the holidays upon us, perhaps it’s a good time for a little introspection. 

You Asked … Mary Beth Answers Your Questions (Part 2)

We’re back for more of your questions! I love these video blogs because I have so much fun reading your questions and hearing your feedback. I hope you enjoy watching as much as I did filming. 

We couldn’t get to all of the questions, but we’ll definitely be back for more of these in the future, so keep you eyes on my Instagram account … I’ll post a call for questions there. 

As always, thanks for your continued support!!

Attention, Tone & Subtext: A Communications Challenge

When I started PLANK, I mentioned that there might be some random musings … well today is one of those days. 

I was thinking the other day, as I was learning my script for Days of Our Lives, that it’s very interesting how you can take any sentence or phrase and say it at least 10 different ways … all with different subtext. As an actor, this is always interesting to explore, and there are even acting exercises dedicated to this very thing. 

This plays out in our everyday lives, too, in how we interact with people. As actors, we consider our character’s motivation and make conscious choices about how we deliver lines. But in life we often let emotion alone drive delivery … and sometimes our intention is lost in the mix.  Our communications can so easily be misunderstood, especially in today’s world where texting and emailing sometimes replace actual face-to-face conversations.