Breakthrough

. . .

Danny Mastrogiorgio

Typical of my generation, I’ve worked hard on “self-improvement” all my life. This is relatively new phenomenon. My grandparents never gave a rat’s ass about self-improvement. (Or self-esteem or co-dependence or any of that shit.) It’s as if our life work is to become “better” people. But as I observe folks around me engage in this kind of introspective self-absorbtion, I am struck by how many of them remain complete assholes. Also there’s something “essential” about this piece as an acting exercise. The character has no real sense of who he is. He believes in himself. Don’t we all? (This is a sister monologue to #97 “Victim”)

Danny Mastrogirogio considers the first true "acting book” he ever bought to be Eric Bogosian’s “Drinking in America”. "It may not be an acting book in the typical sense," he says, "but it was to me. I was in my earliest 20’s and had just signed up for my first acting class. I didn’t know who Eric was, but I loved the title of the book and the cover picture. And the blurbs made it sound pretty cool. So I bought it. And it was better than cool. It was awesome. My great buddy Brian Amidei and I would stay up late into the night drinking and firing monologues back and forth at each other. It was a brilliant training ground for me as a young actor. The characters were alive, visceral, raw and fun. The pieces were an incredible, challenging, blast to explore."

"A few years later, in my 3rd year at Juilliard, Eric came to our school to workshop Suburbia with our class. I didn’t get cast in that. Instead, Eric cast me to be directed by him in a one man show of his, “Notes from Underground”. To say I was blown away would be the understatement of a lifetime. I could barely speak in my first rehearsal, alone there in a room with him, much less act. So I figured I’d ask him a question or two to maybe get him talking for a bit so I wouldn’t have to begin. It worked. Really well. By the time Eric stopped talking our rehearsal time was over. And the stories were, of course, hilarious and highly entertaining. It may have been unproductive rehearsal, but it sure was fun as hell for me."

"Ultimately though, I overcame my nerves and we did rehearse. And we put up the show. And, we became friends. Which truly blew me away. It was an amazing experience for me. Working with him made me believe that dreams can come true in this business.”

“And here they are coming true again. I am performing a piece of his, directed by him- this time on film, for posterity, as part of this incredible project celebrating his work. I couldn’t be prouder that he asked me to be a part of it. And I still can’t quite believe it.”

Danny Mastrogiorgio has worked extensively in Off- Broadway, Broadway, Television and Film in his 20 year career. Recent credits include, Golden Boy (Tom Moody), Lucky Guy (Bob Drury) and Rocky (Paulie). He is also currently appearing on the Fox show Gotham.