STARSTRUCK!
– Acting with Nate Ruess the Grammy Winning Singer/Songwriter
By Joseph Wise
I’ll admit it, a few weeks ago I didn’t even know who Nate Ruess was. I’m old school, an old timer, from the 70’s, I listen to KJazz, the classics, Nat and Natalie, Tony Bennett, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme and Luther Vandross. Those are the names that I grew up with. I know there are a boatload of singers out there in the music world that are successful, but I come to find that Nate Ruess is one of the most successful singer/songwriters in the biz, and is receiving the Hal David Starlight Award at The Songwriters Hall Of Fame this summer.
I watch the Grammy’s, I guess I just missed the 2013 Best New Artist Category. I do know Esperanza Spalding won Best New Artist in 2011 and I saw her flambouyant performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall on April 26, 2015, two days after filming a scene with Nate Ruess inside his Hollywood Hills Mansion.
Playing a Vocal Coach who Nate comes to see for help with getting his “mojo” back, proved to be challenging. The Director, Anthony Mandler, told me we were going to go freestyle on the scene, using the script as a guideline. I loved that, because I am a Vocal Coach* and Voice Student, and I have coached with some of the best vocal instructors in New York City. Most notably Henri Jacobi, who coached Cicely Tyson and Tony Randall to name a few. Jacobi’s studio was on 72nd St and Riverside Drive overlooking the Hudson River. It was a spectacular place for a coaching session. Henri would begin by asking you to simply “make the noise” so he could evaluate your voice. This I borrowed for the scene because Jacobi was a legend in the field of vocal coaching.
Thrilled to get the job on Nate’s Music Video and Short Film, I wanted to bring an authentic “New York” feel to the scene. Wardrobe dressed me in a copper-bronze suede leather jacket, a cream colored turtleneck, Tan Corduroy Bell Bottoms and Brown leather ankle high leather boots. 70’s Retro was the look for the video and the outfit was slamming. The 1st AD told me to go to lunch and that I was going to travel to location after. I went to catering and there was all this beautiful food! I grabbed a couple of beets and a few pieces of tofu, I was too wound up to eat!
Shooting at Sunset Gower that day April 24th was surrounded by a 100 year march protesting the Armenian Genocide in 1915. 250,000 people marched past the studio as we prepared to shoot the final day. After the protest had cleared, the caravan of cars and vans, with police escorts, headed up into the Hollywood Hills. Nate leading the caravan in a chic convertible, with a film crew ahead of him shooting it. As we snaked our way through the canyons going higher and higher the view of Los Angeles revealed its spectacular vistas. We stopped briefly to shoot a short scene near the Mulholland lookout and then headed on to Nate’s Hollywood Mansion.
It takes a lot of people to do a movie and the crew was buzzing all about setting up for the shoot. I found a corner over by the pool and camped out and starting jotting down some notes for the scene. It was just so exciting, in a few minutes I was going to give Grammy winning Singer/Songwriter Nate Ruess, a real vocal coaching and it was going to be filmed. OMG!
The sound man came over and miked me up as the finishing touches were made to the lighting. I sat down on the couch in Nate’s living room and there on a table right beside me were four Grammys. Okay!!!
I’m silently thanking God already, this is amazing. Nate came on set and got into place, seated in a chair in the vocal studio. I looked over at him and he was strikingly handsome, blue eyes, a chiseled face and a plop of shiny brown hair. I was taken aback by his humility, simplicity, and sensitivity. Then it was time to shoot the scene. OMG!
To get myself going, I hummed a few bars of “How Great Thou Art”, and then I just broke into “Love Train” right there on the set. My energy came up, I was dancing and popping and singing and then it was time. The director called…….”Action”. And that’s when the magic began.
We started the scene and Nate was right there with me, in the moment. We started the vocal coaching but Nate was resistant. He didn’t want vocal coaching really, what he wanted was a psychotherapy session, and that’s what he got. We began by “making the noise”. Then the scene went in a totally different direction than I had imagined and Nate and I went into vocal combat zone, with me throwing out exercises and tips, some of which he liked some of which he didn’t.
Acting is an amazing art, and what was happening in front of these cameras was real! I kept making sounds and my own noise. That was what Nate liked the most, he liked it when I demonstrated the exercises, when I vocalized and made the noise. “I like listening to you” he said. I took a deep breath and sighed, “But Nate this isn’t about me, it’s about you! The next thing I know I’m improv-ing a lil bit and that got Nate to sing. I would sing a lil bit then he would sing a little and then we ended up singing and jamming together. We started cutting up, singing and improving and Mandler yelled cut!
“That was one hell of an improv” he shouted. "Let’s go again, hitting the highlights" he said. The script supervisor came over and gave us a few notes, and then we were at it again. Again Nate was uncooperative, quietly suggesting he didn’t need a voice teacher. You are here for “Comprehensive Vocal Analysis”, I scolded. Where on earth did that come from, I remember thinking! This time I grabbed Nate, commanded that he look me dead in the eye, stay with me baby, as we reviewed the exercises, before you know it, we were in rhythm, singing and improv-ing again. Couple of directions from the director for some pickups and we were done.
"That’s a wrap for Joseph Wise”, Anthony Mandler proclaimed. There was a nice smattering of applause on the set. I asked Nate if I could get a selfie and he was so gracious, he was like, yeah, come on dude. And then it was time to part. I was stunned, I was tingling all over, I was on cloud 13. O My God, it’s in the can. I just filmed an amazing scene with Nate Ruess and ….it’s in the can. I never even saw the cameras, I remember seeing them set up, but they disappeared while we were shooting, it was just so awesome. Acting is magical.
The 1st AD escorted me down the long driveway to a waiting van, high fiving a few of the crew and cast I had met along the way. We made our way down the hill and into Hollywood headed back to Sunset Gower Studios. It was just such a cool night and driving down Hollywood Boulevard past Grauman’s Chinese Theater and Hollywood and Highland just added to the “movieness” of it all.
Chatty and buzzy with everyone, I slipped out of my wardrobe and into my silver Hyundai Accent GT for the five minute drive home. I was happy! Hollywood Happy! I took a left up Western and made another left into the parking lot on Franklin. I jumped out and bought a nice bottle of Barefoot Bubbly, an inexpensive but good bottle of California champagne. I arrived back home after a beautiful day working as an actor in Hollywood, and it felt so good. I put the bubbly in the freezer, fell into my chair and collapsed.
When I woke up Saturday morning, it all felt like a dream! That’s when the anxious nervous jitters set in. It wasn’t a dream. It was real and Nate… Nate had rocked my world. Something happened during that scene, and now I can’t really believe how I’m acting. I’m StarStruck!
ME, “Mr. NewYork/ Broadway/Atlanta/California” is now a big Nate Ruess fan. I’m wearing out my tablet, looking at his new video and single “Nothing Without Love” which has a powerful hook, and the video shot downtown LA and in the tank where they filmed “Titanic” is stunning.
Nate is a great singer and songwriter, and I’ve been learning about him, watching his videos, listening to his songs and reading everything on the internet about him. “Carry On” is also a new favorite and his latest release “AhHa”, from his upcoming solo release “Grand Romantic” is an in your face fugue. Nate is not afraid to take a few risks in his writing, and in his performing. His live performance of “Love” on the Elvis Duran Show on iHeartRadio, shows a passionate committed musical performer.
As a fellow musician and singer/songwriter, it’s groovy to be introduced and inspired by a young singer/songwriter like Nate. I’m telling everyone I meet about filming with Nate Ruess. I can’t keep my mouth shut. I’m going to be in Nate’s new music video, and I can’t wait to see what Mandler does with my performance, or should I say “our” performance, “OMG”. It was a marvelous shoot, a jolly good time, and I had a ball!
O and Thanks Nate!
Addendum
Director Anthony Mandler is known for working with some of the biggest names in the music world. His collaborations with Rihanna have been award winning. He has directed videos for Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez and Lenny Kravitz. His “Werewolves of London” was the 2015 winner at the One Screen Film Festival, in the music video category.
* While working on “As the World Turns” at CBS, Joseph Wise was vocal coach to Susan Marie Snyder (Julie). He worked in the studio with her on her album and accompanied Susan to Amsterdam to meet with Dino Records.
* Joseph Wise also appears in the Rob Thomas Music Video “Give Me the Meltdown” as a disgruntled office worker.
Copyright 2015 Joseph Lorenzo Wise. All rights reserved.
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