INTERVIEWWITHLU

Hello there, Misty Lockheart here! I want to let you know what this Actors Blog is about. Let me explain a little bit. What I want to do with these blogs, is write about my thoughts after certain shoots, talk about what happened behind the scenes, tell some stories and share some of my experiences with you. Hopefully, I can interact with you all as much as I can and get some feedback! We are starting a new project BLUE EYES LIKE JANEY'S.

ON SET INTERVIEWING LU CARLETON

Share your BLOG

thoughts with me!

BELOW

For this first blog, I’ll write about how I got started in this industry and where I plan to go with it.

I started acting when I was 13 and honestly, it’s the LAST thing I thought I would’ve started doing. I was on a drama team at my youth group and would travel around to churches doing skits and I absolutely loved it! One year, when I was 12 years old, I was visiting a cousin whom I hadn’t seen in ten months. I had changed a lot. I lost weight, got my braces off, and looked less awkward. She told me I should try modeling. Well my reaction to that was, “Yeah right! I’m just a farm girl. I don’t want to TOUCH that industry. But after thinking about it for a little while, I decided that I wanted to make a difference in the world. What better place is there than in the entertainment industry? Isn't that where everyone focuses? So I went to school and learned about modeling. They had mentioned acting classes and I remembered how much I LOVED the drama team. I decided to study acting and found out that that’s what I’m deeply passionate about. I started acting in student films. At the age of 14, I shot my very first feature film down in Texas called “Sterling - Secret of the Lost Medallion.” It was SUCH an experience, I absolutely adored EVERYONE on set. In fact, if I could, I would reshoot the movie just to get everyone back together.

The thing is, I’m trying to be a good role model for abstinence, purity, and morals. That’s not an easy thing to try to hold onto in this industry. By the time I was 15, I had turned down several projects because of content and I was VERY discouraged. So, I went for a walk and was praying. Then the idea came in my mind, “Why don’t you start your own production company?” I decided right then and there that I wanted my own company and I knew right away that I wanted to call it Purety Productions. Having this goal in mind, I studied script writing. The classes were great because I already LOVED writing. I began creating some scripts with my mother. She’s always been wonderfully supportive and helpful to me. Both my parents have, I’m truly blessed to have such awesome parents. I also learned a little bit about editing. I learned about releases and the legalities. However, since I was still in high school, I didn’t start the company or begin shooting until I was 17 years old.

The first project I shot with my company was called “The Mirror Mirror Show.” God blessed me with that one! It was suppose to be co -produced with a Company from Rhode Island, but they didn't follow through. Parts were already cast and I didn’t know what to do. We contacted one of my friends, Karen McCann of Rock Productions. I met her on set down in Arkansas and she told us she’d help us produce it. Karen taught me SO much about organizing schedules and about spreadsheets. We shot it together, and I learned a lot just by digging in and seeing what worked and what didn’t. Karen was truly a HUGE blessing to me.

The next year, I was graduating from high school and had to do a Senior Project in order to graduate. It had to be about something that we wanted to do for a career. I took the opportunity to learn and read more books. I needed to interview Producers, Writers and Editors for research on the project WHILE expanding my career at the same time. So, the theme of my project was “What are the key qualifications of becoming a successful Producer?” I interviewed some amazing people who I really look up to from the TV station, XY TV. I acted on the show 'Common Ave.' for 3 years. I learned so much on that project and it made me feel even more stable in what I was doing. Later that year we shot “The Chronicles of Life - Starfish.”

It’s certainly been a journey getting to where I am and it’s going to be A LOT of work to get to where I want to be. It’s amazing looking back to see just how much I have been blessed. I was able to get Donna Douglas (Eli May from the Beverly Hillbillies) to be in both “The Mirror Mirror Show” And “The Chronicles of Life - Starfish.” That woman is SUCH a doll and I love working with her each time. She’s beautiful on the inside and out. Ms. Douglas will be in future episodes of The Chronicles of Life.

Now just in case you haven’t had enough to read from me, I’ll tell you one of the fun stories from the set of “The Mirror Mirror Show” and “Starfish”.

The Mirror Mirror Show: I would have to say that one of the most remember- able stories is when Karen McCann and I were running lines. It was the night before we shot our scene together. Karen was playing the character of “Ms. Linch” who was pretty much the dreaded teacher of every high school. Just mean and looking to get you in trouble. Karen is actually a very happy and bubbly person. I swear, I think the ONLY time I haven't seen her smiling was when she was acting. Well, we were both EXTREMELY tired from all the things we had been doing for the shoot, and we were so worn out. We were giggling up a storm in the hotel room and laughing uncontrollably. My mom, Donna Dodge was the director, and she was trying to give us input. I think at that point, she probably felt it was hopeless. The scene between Karen and I was a very UNHAPPY scene. The next day when we were shooting, we had to do SO many takes because we couldn't stop laughing. I think at that point, the camera man felt it was hopeless with us… But we got it done. Of course the weather gave us trouble. We were shooting in the month of January in New England where there’s only like 6 hours of daylight. There was snow for an hour then no snow. So it was hard to shoot for continuity. But thankfully, we did get it all shot! I don’t think it came out too bad for being the first project I produced either. Again, I was very blessed with many amazing people.

TRIALS: I would have to say, the first memory that sticks out in my mind is with the horseback riding scene. That was of course, was my absolute favorite scene to shoot. I grew up on a farm with horses and I LOVE to ride. I use to do equestrian shows. I hung out at the barn and took lessons. I use to ride my own horses almost everyday. When I was 15, I sold my horses because I didn’t have any time to be with them. I worked so much and traveled. It broke my heart and I still get upset over it. At the age of 17, I went to a barn and was brushing a horse and my face completely swelled up. Come to find out, I developed an allergy to horses. It really hurts since horses are my first love before acting. When I get a chance to ride a horse though, I do. I struggle with my allergies, but I figure I’ll build an immunity if I’m around them enough, and there’s absolutely NO way I can’t ride horses. The horseback riding scene wasn't originally written into the script. But when I was looking over the headshots to cast the role of “Tyler” the dream guy, I saw Matt Weight had horseback riding on his resume. Of course I decided I HAD to cast him and write a dream sequence of good times and it absolutely had to have horseback riding.

On the day we were shooting the horseback scene, we were warming up on the horses and my allergies started acting up. I began to get hives on my arm and my throat was itchy. It was very uncomfortable. This was even before we started shooting. I took allergy meds and we went outside and started filming. We were having a hard time with the weather because it was raining. It was cold and my face started puffing up. The crew members wrapped blankets around me. Matt’s horse was REALLY acting up and giving him a hard time. We started shooting the riding shots. When I looked back at Matt, all I could see was the butt of the horse galloping away. Poor Matt was barely hanging on. That horse ran to the dirt road down the hill and back to the barn. It was really horrible of me, but the only thing I could do was laugh. Matt was still on the horse and I thought it was hysterical. I mean, seriously… Imagine looking behind you to the person your suppose to be acting like your in love with, and they are bouncing up and down on a horse that's galloping away. (Ha ha) I don’t know if it makes me a horrible person…but that was pretty much the highlight of my day.

Of course working with Donna Douglas was an honor and something to treasure. I LOVE old TV shows like ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ and “I Dream of Jeannie” and I adore the older movies and actors and actresses like Donna Douglas, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn. So I was a little star struck meeting Donna as she is so lovely. Since I worked with her on "The Mirror Mirror Show", when we started shooting “Starfish” it was a nice reunion with Donna and she was just as adorable as ever.

So there you have it! My first huge blog with my mission on how I got started and some memories from along the way!

Thank you so much for taking time to read it and welcome again to “The Chronicles of Life” webpage!

Take Care,

-Misty

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

ACTORS BLOG