New York’s Franklin Livingston or the climb of a talented American actor and influencer: Most actors go to either acting schools or study literature and some form of arts to become an artist. Some analysts have argued that the drama school studies that only focus on the craft of acting through body and mind make actors disconnect from the real world and what is required to be an effective member of society. That’s why in addition to their acting training, actors must also be familiar with disciplines such as science, politics, psychology, and sociology. Find additional information at Franklin Livingston actor.
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.
Franklin Livingston grew up as a religious minority in Pakistan. He constantly faced persecution and prejudice, which shaped him to be a unique human being. He is a wounded healer — someone who embraces the people from all walks of life, empowering them to be whoever they want. Like Pakistan, in the United States, Franklin is once again a minority. But this time, it is not because of his religious affiliation but his ethnicity, where he has experienced terrible racism and discrimination on all levels. Livingston utilizes these experiences to evolve into a humanitarian advocate, share his struggles, and much more through his films, plays, and social media content.
Like someone that will put the needed effort in and behave like an actor both in the audition room and on the film set. Small acts of respect like turning the phone off before entering the audition room used to be a big indication of that, which is now lost in the “zoom room”. Then there is the emotional connection that you simply cannot make with your scene partner over zoom. So when we show up on set, it can produce some very dysfunctional results. Sometimes you will have very underprepared or undertrained actors that think all they need to do is recite their lines perfectly, but they have completely forgotten how to make that emotional, mental, physical, or spiritual connection with their scene partner(s) and get on moment-to-moment work to re-create a scene on set that they read on a piece of paper.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life? Visualizing. Actualizing. There is beauty and power in these practices. However, I feel that learning to live, breathe, and exist in the moment without stressing about the future and focusing on your thoughts and feelings right now — is vital and the most valuable lesson you could ever complete. Often on the set myself or my assistants might worry about staying on schedule or getting behind, but there is no resolution without conflict, and we always claim victory when we work hard and never surrender.
Even still, most of these actors tend to be from India or other southeast Asian countries and not from Pakistan. Although Pakistan and India share some commonalities, their culture, language, human behaviors, and social etiquette make them distinctly different nations, which Hollywood has yet to present in its productions. This difference is not in contrast to those that the British and Americans have in terms of their anthropology. Countless people of color in the United States and a significant community of Pakistani immigrants in the United States have waited long to see themselves in Hollywood movies and television shows with a true representation. Franklin Livingston is ready to face this challenge, and that day is not far away when Franklin will tell stories about Pakistani Americans through his inimitable work in films and television.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that? I was in a meeting with my first TV commercial agents. They asked me if I was working on getting rid of my accent. They said that getting work without having a native sounding American vernacular is impossible. I laughed to myself and replied bluntly that I don’t believe I could ever eliminate my accent and that local people tend to search for a foreign accent when they need a medical specialist or a cosmetic surgeon in Beverly Hills. I think it’s only the Media, the formula, and the system that believes that actors shouldn’t have their native accents if they wanted to play leads in the local projects. Upon seeing their facial expressions, I realized my honesty was a mistake.
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.