Going Hollywood

Last week I started working on a project that is slightly different than my typical gig (my typical gig being working with high performance athletes). A good friend and mentor of mine - Joseph Horrigan - referred a client to me out of Los Angeles. Vancouver is commonly referred to as "Hollywood North" due to the high number of film and TV productions being shot in our fair city. Joe had started with the client in LA and eventually passed him on to me to ensure that he follows the training program and gets fit for a movie being shot in Vancouver. This client shall remain nameless for professional purposes, but he is one of the top actors in the business right now (in case you were wondering).


So, how is working with a Hollywood star versus a sprinter or football player different, you may ask? Obviously the goal setting stage may be different. One client (the actor) may be more concerned with aesthetics and general health, while the athlete client is framing his or her goals in terms of sports performance (strength, power, speed or a combination of these variables). The training itself can vary as well. While the actor client works at a steady moderate pace, in most cases, the athlete client will push the intensity to a point which would kill a normal human being. This is not to say that the actor clients do not work hard - in fact, my current client works hard from start to finish. However, his lack of conditioning coming into this project does limit his ability to lift heavy, run hard and recover quickly. What may be very easy for a well-conditioned athlete may be quite difficult for him.

One of the perks of working with actors is that they tend to be charismatic individuals who have a lot of interesting things to say - great stories, good sense of humour, etc. A lot of my athletes are great people and can be a lot of fun, but they simply aren't quite as polished as the movie stars. I consider myself to be quite articulate, insightful and cerebral at times (when I'm not watching Ultimate Fighting on TV) and enjoy high quality conversation. And the great thing about my current client is that he doesn't mind delving into all sorts of topics, providing his honest point of view. So, even if the workouts aren't of the world-class variety, the time passes easily because of the quality of discussion.

While I have no personal experience with acting - I never took drama class in high school - I always wondered how hard it would be. I mean, how much work does it take to be a good actor? I certainly know what's involved in training for a world class 100m or a professional sports team. The more time I spend with my actor client, the more I am coming to realize that attain a high level of performance in any field takes a lot of hard work. Acting is no different. Actors - like athletes - reach the pinnacle of their career by having natural ability and talent, and combining those qualities with a good work ethic. This means thousands of hours honing their skills, hundreds of hours going over their script, many more hours rehearsing their parts and putting themselves in the right frame of mind. Sometimes their work involves changing themselves physically - putting on weight (fat or muscle) or trimming down. Robert DeNiro's work in 'Raging Bull' is a perfect example of the lengths actors will go to add physical credibility to their role, whether it's depicting a well-trained boxer at the peak of his career, or an overweight ex-champion.

For me, working with my current client has been a mind-expanding experience. It is obvious that acting, like any other profession, has it's hard workers and floaters. I'm fortunate enough to be working with one of the hardest workers in the business. It clearly has transferred over into other aspects of his life and has made my job as his trainer a much easier and more enjoyable experience.

dh