Thursday, July 19, 2007

Agi Gallus Actress

Agi Gallus began her formal training at the University of Regina receiving her BFA degree in Theatre. Moving to Toronto Agi acted in experimental theatre with now well known directors Sky Gilbert, Jerry Ciccorritti and Richard Rose as well as made her debut in Jerry Ciccoritti's cult B-movie Psycho Girls. Around then Agi also produced and acted in Jean Genet's The Maids" at the old Theatre Centre (also directed by Jerry). Already playing prostitutes and psycho girls Agi was developing a penchant for playing women on the outskirts.
Feeling dissatisfied as an actor Agi applied for a grant from the Sask Arts Board to study method acting in New York. She was accepted at The Lee Strasberg Institute and spent 5 amazing years in New York. But it was time to return home to Canada and become a proffessional theatre actress! This lead to a great opportunity to perform in Frederico Garcia Lorca's famous play Blood Wedding where Agi played the neglected Wife. This was a Master Class project and auditions were across Canada. Also directed by the esteemed Mike Alfreds from the Shared Experience Company in England. He believed in the ensemble and theatre that was alive in the moment. Six weeks were spent in rehearsal exploring the play, the individual characters and their relationships. An actors dream. The play was performed both at Banff and at The Tarragon Theatre in Toronto.

Fernando Meirelles

Fernando Meirelles is Brazil's hottest director today. His last film The Constant Gardener was nominated for several Oscars and won best Actress for Rachel Weiss. It was an amazing film. His previous film City of God was shot in Brazil and caused a sensation winning several awards. Fernando always wanted to direct a film version of Blindness and without finishing Don Mckeller's film script he said Yes! The film has started shooting in Toronto and expects to be released in March of 2008. The lead actors are Jullianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, Alice Braga and Gael Garcia Bernal! The Canadian actors are Maury Chaiken, Sandra Oh, Don McKeller, Susan Coyne and Martha Burns...