Meet the Cast: Nicholas Machado “Nick”
May 03
Where were you born and raised? I was born and raised in Miami, FL. I am of Cuban descent.
How did you get involved with “After the Wedding”?
Claudia, the director, is married to a friend of mine from college. We were roommates our freshman year and have been friends ever since.
As an actor, how do you prepare for a role?
Normally I read the role and analyze my character’s motivations and drives and most importantly the objectives and obstacles to that objective. Then I try to see where those points differ from me personally and I begin to ‘recreate’ the circumstances that could illicit those same responses from me. This sometimes mean creating a back story or finding emotional memories that will trigger me. If there is more work to do, like creating an accent, then I enlist coaches and my fellow actors. Generally, for me working in theater, the rehearsal process is also very important, because you get to try out different readings with the rest of the cast and see how it lands. Sometimes, our interactions result in different cues from the ones I had planned. I also always try to keep in mind how I can make a performance more interesting; like playing opposite emotions or making choices that do not conform to the generally accepted pantomime of an emotional behavior. Like sometimes it is more powerful to be ‘quiet’ and angry than it is to scream and yell.
Why should people support “After the Wedding”?
I think people should ALWAYS support grass roots art movements and self-expression. It is at its very core the basis of Artistic expression. The movie business is just another vehicle for that expression, but one that many people find hard to break into because of the enormous financial and physical undertaking that a movie requires. Latins and Hispanics and especially Latinas, are a very rare point of view and voice in modern day Hollywood. We should be doing everything possible to promote multiculturalism and diversity and the richness that those points of view grant us as both an audience and a society. I also think that independent movies that comprise a vision and a message are worth supporting. The commercial movie-making industry will always be catering to the widest swath of taste and interest and rarely puts out a movie that appeals to people at the level of entertainment AND the level of personal experience and spirit. Many independent movies have done this in the past and gone on to become blockbusters, b/c they broached subjects or pioneered methods of story telling that the mainstream had not tapped in to; “KIDS” and “The Blair Witch Project” come to mind. I am also excited for the opportunity that it presents to us as the cast to make something enduring and entertaining.
What are you looking forward to most about making this movie in July?
The excitement of being on-set and the energy of being creative as well as meeting everyone. Actors are usually people-people and I’m sure we’ll be having a blast making this movie and getting to know a whole new group of peeps.
Visit our kickstarter at: www.aftertheweddingkickstarter.com
