Click on any newspaper masthead below for a full copy of the
article quoted alongside.
The article above inspired Dee's monthly Act
Off column in Total
Film magazine.
"What makes an actor truly great? The actor's
job is to bring a scripted character to life. RADA's Dee Cannon
outlines 10 questions that must be addressed in order to create
a fully-realised three-dimensional person"
Dee Cannon features prominently in one of the most important research papers on the teaching of Stanislavski and his influences in the UK.
Click the image on the right for a PDF of the relevant chapter.
"Dee has spoken about her approach to teaching and how important it has been to
her that her students are able to both demonstrate a curiosity about learning and
an ability to reveal their talent. Talent is something Dee defines as the ability to
breathe life into a character and to transform, adding, that it can be very easy to
recite but very hard to make acting truthful because both the language and the
inner life needs to be reflected."
Advice on how to survive a Parliamentary grilling... Dee Cannon, a leading acting coach who has worked with Jon Voigt and Courtney Love, said: “Vulnerability is the key. They have to come across as open and soft, to show humility, shock at what has gone on and an acceptance of blame.”
Heaping praise on his new acting coach Dee Cannon, [Ramin Karimloo] senses he might be getting there: “Technique and training are vital, but then you have to have the wherewithal to put all that in the background and run itself so you can put your passion on it.
Gradually, this forensic attention brings most students to tears.
Is it odd, for Cannon, to see everybody crying at her feet? "A
little." But also gratifying? "Oh, absolutely."
The homework is to figure it all out on paper and work out how
you want to psychologically affect other characters. But when you're
in front of a camera, you don't think of psychology. You need to
become the character. Initially you need your head, but when you're
acting, you don't need it.
Dee Cannon's American students are more used to being expressive
in real life, and their bubbling emotionalism can get in the way
of good performances. "Americans know you have to expose certain
parts of yourself--vulnerability, humility," she explains.
"Vulnerability is so important. Without it you have one-dimensional
characters.
Gone are the days when you could choose
your medium - for example - you just want to be a theatre actor
and have a snobbish attitude towards say the Soaps.
The articles quoted below are from press coverage of the 2006 production
of Aspects of Love in Manila
and Singapore
Aspects of Love
press conference
(Monique Wilson and
Dee Cannon)
Monique brought ... Dee Cannon .... Having her proved to be a
great learning experience for the Filipino performers. "We
learned so much about the importance of improvisation," she
says. "And since she helps me with the direction, I can now
focus more on my acting. My role as Rose is very taxing as I make
more than 20 quick costume changes during the show."
Everybody, from Monique down to the stage hands, needs more stamina
in walking, running, pacing back and forth across the stage and
going up and down stairs, enlarging their movements for a bigger
audience, etc.
This is why Monique, seasoned actress that she is, got respected
acting coach Dee Cannon as co-director.
For the Singapore production, Wilson called on an old friend from
England to help out. The acting coach Dee Cannon will assist her
in directing the play. As Wilson explained, actors can be never
be too seasoned to continue learning the craft. Dee, she explained,
is very helpful because she could point out the things that could
be improved.
“It’s harder to direct a play in a larger theater
so I asked Dee’s help,” confessed Wilson. “I also
invited her to critique our show last year since as a director and
actress in the play, I have been blinded by the show’s magnificence
that I cannot anymore see the flaws.”
“To fully prepare for the role of Rose, I also had to be
individually coached by premiere acting coach, Dee Cannon from the
prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London,” she
adds.