Fred McKenzie:  Having Fun Leads to Success

In real life, McKenzie is an investment advisor, but at a moment's notice he'd be delighted to make you believe he's a United Stares senator, a mafia kingpin, a supreme court justice, a bartender, cop on the beat, or typical sports fan. One of McKenzie's favorite stories is about the doctor's wife who happened to see a photo of McKenzie dresses as a physician, complete with white coat and dangling stethoscope. She showed it to her husband and said “Honey, he looks more like a doctor than you do!”

Besides having an “everyday” face and body, McKenzie has something extra that keeps him in demand as an actor. And don't laugh because this is a serious success tip. McKenzie is having fun, and it shows. It shows in the photos on his composite, and it impresses casting directors when he shows up for auditions. “Acting keeps you young. You're out there meeting all kinds of people, and it keeps the creative juices moving. It's a way to get out of the mental stuff and into some fun things: he says.

Fred's idea of fun may seem trivial if your goal is to be a “serious actor” with a capitol “A”, but according to some of the best names in business, the ability to have fun-even when cast in a serious part- is a serious part of the business. A sense of humor is part of the grease in greasepaint that will help you get along with fellow actors, agents, directors and every crew member on the set.

Having a mirthful attitude has helped McKenzie land some serious roles costarring with respected actors like Jack Nicholson and Bonnie Bedilia. “When it comes to getting parts, you have to have the energy coming thorough the eyes. The directors know immediately if your have that energy”, says McKenzie. “You see so many people who are invisible in life. They make themselves like that out of fear, because they're afraid to make themselves stand out. So audiences live vicariously through entertainment. I say try it…Just do it. Quit tip-toeing around!”

Fred's attitude of sun might be related to something called charisma, a quality generally associated with the tall, young rich and good looking. But charisma is more than that and is definitely apparent the moment you see a photo of McKenzie, meet him in person or even talk to him in the phone. It's no wonder casting directors take one look at his photos or meet him for a few minutes and say “I want this guy! He looks like he can have fun at just about anything!”

Another attitude that serves him well is an attitude he developed early in life, which has helped him in his investment business and in his acting career. One day McKenzie stopped to ask himself an important question in life. What I'm here for? The answer came; I'm here to help others, to serve, to make the world a better place. That's it.   I figure it's the rent we pay to be here. Any job I take on, whether it's my financial investment company or my acting roles, I know my ultimate goal is to help my clients”

Ready for another bit of advice from McKenzie? Persistence. Having the courage to knocks on doors and keeps knocking until somebody opens one. McKenzie likes to tell another story about “this gal – holly Hunter- in The Piano. The director wanted a tall blonde for the part, but Holly really wanted the role. Her agent kept sending faxes. The director kept telling him “Holly is not the gal I'm looking for”, but that agent kept faxing and calling and she got the part.

Another story he tells is about preparation and creativity. “I like the story about Haley Joel Osment, the little kid who won the part in The Sixth Sence, All the other kids came in to read dressed as typical little kids, but this one kid comes in dressed in a suit and tie, because Haley's dad is in the acting business, the kid knew enough to read the complete script-twice- before reading for the part. Once the movie was filming, inside the director heard this bang1bang! Coming from the room. He looked out the door and there was this little kid rushing up the wall, hitting it full force to get his energy up for the next scene. The director asked “What are you doing?” and the kid answered “I'm getting ready for that big scene with Bruce” You do what it takes.

You do what it takes, repeats McKenzie who has learned a lot about what that means from acting workshops and talks with fellow actors. That's how he learned some of the basics. “You've got to get a headshot to send out to agents. It has to be taken by a professional photographer, but find a photographer who won't charge you an arm and a leg. That's one of the very first things you do, he says. “ Build a resume, take some acting cases. Get involved in Community Theater, most towns have them. Try out for some plays; work backstage if you don't get cast. Try out the next one; keep sending out headshots to agents. Update and revise your resumes after you've been in another play.”

Acting is a fun game, but you also need to be savvy about getting paid. At first you might be happy just to get some roles for your resume, says McKenzie, but you should soon be learning what the terms “union”, “nonunion and “scale” mean. If you get a job doing a commercial, find out what the term “residuals” means so you get fair share. Though McKenzie's financial advisor business is quite successful, as an actor he sometimes gets high paying jobs, sometimes not, but he's learned now which jobs pay well and which don't.

“There's a big difference in the pay rate you'll get for union and nonunion jobs. You should know that for the same work, nonunion jobs pay you once and that's it. Lots of times they want a buy-out. In that case the casting director or agent might say “They might run this as indefinitely, so instead of getting $350 as a day player we're going to give you $750”. Your agent is going to take between 10 to 20 percent, most take just 10% say McKenzie, speaking fast as if to cram the knowledge he's picked up over the years into a short conversation. If all the financial lingo is over your head McKenzie says there are plenty of books on the subject, and workshops you can attend, or you can talk it over with some of the actors you'll meet get involved in Community Theater.

“There are a lots of rip off things you can get involved in if you don't watch out. Start regionally, built that resume and by the way, you don't have to go to New York. There are lots of regional jobs says McKenzie' launch a website.

His speech is friendly, funny, fast and peppered with anecdotes of how he got started in his “Sexy Specs” commercial and funny stories about his fellow actors. He could go on and on. And as he talks about acting –even the business par of the business- you can tell that, ever true to character, he's still having fun.