The climb of a Pakistani actor : New York’s Franklin Livingston: The concept of beauty, success, and attraction must be open to all human beings, regardless of their cultural looks or affiliations. Franklin along with his passionate and devoted network of professionals aim to accomplish this change through entertaining and intellectual art. Franklin Livingston is a New York based actor, director and producer. He enjoys acting on stage and film. He has had the pleasure of working in English, Urdu. Hindi and Punjabi languages. Read even more info at Franklin Livingston New York.
Are Franklin Livingston’s actions absurd? One of the caveat Franklin shares is that many of these young actors that work with him assume Franklin, an idiot, who probably has no clue and doesn’t know what acting or filmmaking in Hollywood is made of! This is mostly because of his humble nature and polite behavior. Despite All this, Franklin remains unmovable. He says, “it doesn’t bother me. I know I am an extensively trained actor and highly intelligent human being.” Franklin enjoys seeing upcoming American actors working and developing their confidence to become someone like known Hollywood actors who can be viewed worldwide and on social media posts and stories.
For the past five years, Franklin Livingston has been working in storytelling through stage and film in the New York City area. He is highly proficient in ethnographic research, creating writing, directing, and acting. Franklin is an immigrant who has traveled the world and internationally performed as an actor and produced many films, plays and musicals, and online projects. He has managed talent, technical crews, writers, producers, marketing staff, and social media influencers. His focus is always to capture the truth of every culture, story, and situation regarding the sensitivity of individuals, communities, and institutions.
For our readers that may be interested in acting, filmmaking, and producing, what advice can you give entrepreneurs just starting out in the industry? Be sure to get the right educational foundation. Research acting schools that you are considering. When you have completed your education there, be sure you never stop self-training. In what ways has the Covid-19 pandemic had an effect your career in the movie industry?Speaking as both an actor that has auditioned with other actors, that turned out to not be so great when we got on set, and as a producer, auditions that are done mostly via zoom now, are awful for picking up on so many of the meaningful but more subtle details that you notice when auditioning in person. In audition rooms, you can see the person enter, you see how they walk and stand. Were their hip sockets relaxed, shoulders relaxed, jaw relaxed? Do they look the part?
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that? Al Qually has been a tremendous help on my journey in New York. When I first arrived in the Big Apple, I was angry and depressed because I had so many negative experiences. I believe that it was my growing and learning phase, but I met Al in 2016 who collaborated with me on numerous projects. He always went out of his way to help me with scripts, filmmaking, and much more without any expectations or hidden agendas. We have shot several short films in and outside of his apartment in Queens (including “Down-Range”) where he would be making coffee and running around trying to make sure all actors and crew were taken care of. Since our initial encounter and through Al’s network, I have met many great professionals who have helped me become a better human being and a compelling storyteller.
I am a trained actor, filmmaker, and producer. I received extensive training from Atlantic Acting School, Moscow Art Theatre, New York Film Academy, and the Meisner Studio of Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. I received training in filmmaking and directing from New York University, and Yale University. I also trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. I prefer the more serious, dramatic roles that push and challenge my abilities. Please tell us how you make sure people will be fans of your work? I not only work very hard at everything I do, but I am a very genuine person. People often equate acting with pretending, but it is so much deeper than that. When I am acting, I am portraying a character that I have taken a very long time to get to know. You find a way to connect with the role you are playing so that there is personal truth in there too and when you get very good at doing this, your audience won’t be able to tell where you have blurred the line. It will feel very sincere instead, which is what viewers appreciate and deserve.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career? I hired an acting coach presuming that he was impressive because he was heavily connected with local television industry in New York. However, he would continually squander time talking trash, discussing my fees, and reminding me that because of my looks that I couldn’t possibly be the kind of actor I desired to be. One day he referred to an ethnic actor and said since he is ugly and a bit fat — that is why he got hired. He cautioned me that if I wanted to be fit and charming I still will not be hired because I could never live up to the American standards of good looks to be cast in any worthwhile projects. He told me light skin and light eyes are mandatory for popular lead roles and I had neither.
With possibilities comes challenges: Like many people who have been affected by the pandemic, Franklin is no exception. He mentions that during quarantine, he developed a couple of health conditions. He gained weight, became depressed, and started showing signs of aging. He, therefore, suggests an acting technique that supports the actors and can empathize with their emotional and cognitive state so they can have well-balanced lives. Franklin goes back and reflects on all the popular American acting schools and realizes that they affect actors emotionally or disrupt their mental well-being negatively. He mentioned it’s time for classic acting schools to revisit their curriculums and research why most actors who survive their training are introverts. They after two or three years of training, their actors end up becoming socially awkward, emotionally closed off, and distant from those community members who are not from the same professional backgrounds as them.