<![CDATA[ROB NAGLE - blog]]>Sun, 12 Jul 2026 06:38:03 -0700Weebly<![CDATA["Whatever is noble about me comes from my mother and from Stella." - Marlon Brando]]>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 09:07:07 GMThttps://www.robnagle.com/blog/stella-adler"You have to grow up to the fact that you are an actor. Your life is going to be a very big life. It’s going to be full of everything—pain, joy, everything—but it’s going to be big. You cannot afford to be small.

You have to understand that the theatre is a place of the gods. You don't go there to display your little petty ego or to get applause. You go there because you have something to say about the human condition that people need to hear.

If you are small inside, your acting will be small. If you are afraid of your own depth, your characters will be shallow. You must feed your soul every single day. Read, look at art, understand history, watch people on the street. Do not let the industry shrink you. Your talent is in your choices, and your choices come from your character. Be big enough to hold the truth of other human beings."  Picture
Stella Adler
]]><![CDATA[Thinking about Rothko after our opening night of RED]]>Mon, 15 Jun 2026 09:00:56 GMThttps://www.robnagle.com/blog/thinking-about-rothko-after-our-opening-night-of-red
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photo by Jason Niedle
"When I was a younger man, art was a lonely thing. No galleries, no collectors, no critics, no money. Yet, it was a golden age, for we all had nothing to lose and a vision to gain. Today it is not quite the same. It is a time of tons of verbiage, activity, consumption. Which condition is better for the world at large I shall not venture to discuss. But I do know, that many of those who are driven to this life are desperately searching for those pockets of silence where we can root and grow. We must all hope we find them."   - Mark Rothko
]]><![CDATA[Some thoughts while rehearsing John Logan's Red...]]>Thu, 21 May 2026 05:50:37 GMThttps://www.robnagle.com/blog/some-thoughts-while-rehearsing-john-logans-red“When I was a younger man, art was a lonely thing. No galleries, no collectors, no critics, no money. Yet, it was a golden age, for we all had nothing to lose and a vision to gain. Today it is not quite the same. It is a time of tons of verbiage, activity, consumption. Which condition is better for the world at large I shall not venture to discuss. But I do know, that many of those who are driven to this life are desperately searching for those pockets of silence where we can root and grow. We must all hope we find them.” ― Mark Rothko
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]]><![CDATA[The Best Acting Advice I Ever Received]]>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 11:28:42 GMThttps://www.robnagle.com/blog/the-best-acting-advice-i-ever-receivedThis is a post from about 10 years ago, but I think it's still pretty good.

Thank you, Lisa Kay Jennings

Actors are never short on collecting advice, whether it’s from a fellow actor, teacher, director, your hairdresser, plumber, that customer that only left 10%, or your Aunt Claire; “I just love that Julia Roberts, you should get her agent to represent you.” (Thanks, Aunt Claire)… you get the idea. But a lot of the advice we receive is about the craft, how to get an agent, whose workshop is really hot, blah, blah, blah. What about how to thrive as an artist? How to balance your life? Be an actor people want to work with again? How to keep your soul alive? Or how to stay fresh?

​Over my decade in the trenches, this is by far, the BEST advice I’ve received to date on how to be an actor.


Get a life.

It’s hard to be an interesting/likeable/castable actor when you are completely boring. Trust me, no agent or casting director wants to hear about how many classes you’re taking, or that you found a perfect monologue, or how you really just ‘got it’ during that Viewpoints workshop the other day. They want to know what makes you special and not just like every other actor that walked through their door that day. Go to new places, learn how to cook, get a hobby, fall in love, make babies and live your life. Then wow them with how you speak three different languages, dated a descendant of Ernest Hemingway, and deliver babies in Guatemala during your free time. Not only will you stand out- but you’ll live a much more fulfilling life.


Tip Your Dresser.

I’ve never had an official dresser before, so at first, I had no idea what this meant. Basically, be nice to people. In fact, be nice to EVERYONE. Buy the costume department coffee. Say thank you to the guy who goes up your shirt to mic you each day. Make friends with the gaffers, the set designers, the sound guys, etc. Not only do you never know what assistant may be your future agent/director/producer one day- but it just feels good to do good and put all that positive energy out there.


Don’t audition for them anymore, do it for yourself.

It’s easy to get in your head trying to figure out what you think that “they” want, and then end up going crazy making choices that aren’t true to yourself. Sometimes, you just have to say, screw it and do the monologue you really want, sing the song you love, and read the copy the way your instincts tell you- even though it goes against the direction they gave. When we listen to our gut and do what we love, it radiates out and gets attention- sometimes it even books the job, but ultimately we leave feeling satisfied.


Know what’s going on in the world.

Watch the news, read books, see plays, go to museums. Step out of your comfort zone. If you only listen to pop music, try listening to country for a week. Download a new podcast, read a book that you normally would have never thought to read. When we step out of our daily routines and explore new areas of music, literature, and culture, we explore new sides of our personalities; thus, creating new and exciting characters, which makes for a more dynamic life, which makes for more dynamic art.


Never compare, never despair.

Don’t fall into the trap of comparing yourself to your friends and peers. The rain falls on all of us, the sun shines on all of us. Be genuinely ecstatic when your colleague books that gig. Share their successes with the world, be a cheerleader. Not only does it feel a million times better to celebrate someone rather than pouting, but, those good vibes will come back your way.


Rejection never goes away.

It’s a cold reality but one we must embrace. Just picture your favorite movie stars, Broadway divas, and television actors- they all still get rejected! Doesn’t that make you feel better? Huh? Huh? Maybe not. But just remember we all deal with it, it’s part of the package. So figure out what works for you- a trip to the beach, journaling, kickboxing, or Haagen-Dazs. Whatever it is, find what works so you can put your rejection behind you in order to move forward.


Create your own work

Whether it’s a basement cabaret, a sketch video, a one-person show or a podcast. Do it! It doesn’t matter if that agent you’ve been dying to get in front of turns up for opening night or not. What matters is you’re creating and keeping your passion alive. Regardless if you realize it or not, you’re putting something out there and something eventually will come back from it.
]]><![CDATA[Kerri Grote died the morning of September 14, 2021...]]>Thu, 19 Dec 2024 20:29:12 GMThttps://www.robnagle.com/blog/kerri-grote-died-the-morning-of-september-14-2021but these are her words, that a friend shared this week, and I love them so very much. I hope you find them as powerful and helpful as I did.
​

If you’re reading this, this fucking brain cancer probably got me.

But let me be crystal clear while I’m able: I did not ”lose a battle” against cancer. This is a ridiculous, steamy pile of horse shit that society has dumped on cancer patients. Western medicine, and Western culture, especially, is so uncomfortable talking about death that instead it created this “battle” analogy that basically shames people who die from cancer.

News flash: None of us gets out alive from this rodeo called life.

There is no shame in dying from cancer – or any serious illness. And it doesn’t need to be a battle. It’s a transition that each of us will go through. I was asked by a shaman, whom I spoke to after my second brain surgery, “Are you running towards life or running away from death?”

Whoa! That got my attention.

There’s a BIG difference. I got it wrong more often than not.

Don’t let fear fuel your choices. Live fearlessly. Run TOWARDS life. Don’t worry about what people will think. Trust me, it doesn’t matter.

Focus on you. Be true to yourself. Be your own best friend. People who tell you you’re selfish are not your people. If the voice in your head says these unkind things, get a new voice. Honor your mental health and seek out a good therapist with the same vigor you’d search for a romantic partner.

Speaking of, be intentional about cultivating friendships that lift you up. As those friendships grow and change, don’t overlook them while you search for that “great love of your life.” (No, I’m not suggesting you sleep with your bestie. But you do you!)
Another unhelpful message that we get from society is that we need a “love of our life,” as a romantic partner.

Single and childless when I was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, I looked around my life and came up sputtering and sobbing from the wave of grief washed over me. I thought I’d be doing this alone… no husband, no kids, no “great love.”

How wrong I was. At the first appointment with my neuro-oncologists, one of the nurses diligently hauled in chair after chair for the great loves of my life who came with me that horrible day and many days after that.

I sat and listened while the doctor explained the 12-month treatment plan, focusing on my breathing, then looked around the room…. filled with great loves of my life: incredible women friends whom I had met at various stages of my life.

Surround yourself with people who contradict that unkind voice, people who see your light, and remind you who you are: an amazing soul.

Learn how to receive these reflections from your people. Because they are speaking the Truth.

Love yourself, no matter how weird and silly it might feel. Every morning, give yourself a hug before your feet hit the floor. Look deeply into your eyes in a mirror. Say to yourself, out loud, “I trust you.” That voice in your head might say you’re a dork. Ignore it.

As I prepare to leave this body and embark on this mysterious journey of my soul, I hope these observations from my deathbed are somehow useful.

What I know, deep in my bones, is that learning to love myself has led me to be able to say this: I’m so proud of how I lived.

May you, dear reader, feel the same when you head out on your soul journey, too. Until then, enjoy the ride. And always eat dessert first, especially if there’s pie!
]]><![CDATA[My Rumi-Inspired Road Trip,  by Annie Wood]]>Sat, 05 Oct 2024 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.robnagle.com/blog/my-rumi-inspired-road-trip-by-annie-woodMy Rumi-Inspired Road Trip

anniewood.substack.com/p/my-rumi-inspired-road-trip

how to love the world


A version of this piece first appeared in The Huffington Post.
The 13th-century poet and theologian, Rumi, is throwing a party in his guest house, and I’m invited!
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in. Be grateful for
whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.   -Rumi
Okay, Rumi didn’t technically invite me to his party since it seems to be taking place in his own guest home, for himself, but he seems like such a friendly host that I’ve decided to surprise him.
In a moment of bravery, I also invited a few of my own feelings to accompany me.
I’m in my Jeep with Worry riding shotgun.
Worry keeps slamming her foot on the invisible break in front of her.
She thinks I drive too fast.
Many posts from How to Love the World are free for everyone to enjoy, but if you can, I’d love for you to become a paid subscriber. This way, you’ll get access to all posts, including all past posts and help support the work I pour my heart into. Your contribution makes a big difference and allows me to keep creating and sharing. Thank you so much for being part of this journey!
Impatience is sitting on Worry’s lap and keeps telling me I’m not driving fast enough.

Joy is riding on the roof. She loves to feel the wind in her hair. She suddenly, giddily screams, ROAD TRIP! Her face is flush with wonder as she stuffs it with popcorn.
Where did she get the popcorn?
That’s the thing about Joy: She always manages to find the things that she most enjoys and fully immerses herself in them, completely and unabashedly.
She’s my favorite.
But Rumi suggests I let them all in, even the bothersome ones like Anger, Sadness and Doubt.
I choose to suck it up, and I open the door for the whole gang.
I sit them together in the backseat, tell them to buckle up, and off we go to Rumi’s place!
Within moments, Sadness begins to cry because Anger sucker-punched her in the face.
I want to throw them both out. Anger is pissing me off, and Sadness is a total buzzkill. But instead, I take a deep breath and calmly ask them if they want to talk about it. For a moment, they are taken aback by my sudden interest in them.
The silence didn’t last long.
You always ignore me! Anger yells over the wailing cries of Sadness. Sadness adds, You ignore me too. You pretend like I don’t even exist.
I remember something I read in my Buddhist studies. Stories about Mara, the God of death and sin.
Mara personifies unwholesome impulses, unskillfulness, the “death” of the spiritual life. He is a tempter, distracting humans from practicing the spiritual life by making mundane things alluring, or the negative seem positive. -Wikipedia
Mara wants to stop Buddha from achieving enlightenment and teaching it to others. Once, when Mara arrived at Buddha’s door, Buddha invited him in for tea. (Rumi and Buddha really enjoy entertaining.)

With all the bickering in the backseat, I figure a new action plan is called for for my own well-being, so I … engage.
Even with the unpleasant ones. Besides, when I don’t keep an eye on one of them, they tend to run amok. Anger and Sadness especially caused me some trouble in the past. (They’re probably in cahoots with one another.)
Sadness ran away from home once, and I thought I was better off without her, so I changed the locks on the door to make sure she stayed out. Soon enough, she came knocking at the door all teary-eyed, begging to be let back in.
I ignored her, though, because I was busy doing shots with Avoidness.
At one point I noticed that Anger, (who had moved into Sad’s room as soon as she split,) was now growing taller and wider.
Anger was turning into a giant, her head exploding through the roof!

I sent Anger to her room and bolted the door shut.
Worry, sensing the imbalance in our home, freaked out and started working overtime by checking and rechecking to see if the stove was left on, if the locks were securely locked and if my heart was still beating.
I couldn’t seem to get rid of Worry who was now bunking with Doubt.
All of this was happening while Joy enjoyed a glass of Pinot Grigio in the Jacuzzi, watching Seinfeld reruns on her phone.
I know, it’s a lot.
It wasn’t until I read Rumi’s poem that I finally understood that I was making everything worse by banishing some emotions, and at the same time, allowing other’s total freedom.
That’s when I decided to bring all of them on this trip.

As we drove my mind told stories, like minds like to do, regrets about the past and concerns for the future. The stars of these stories were with me in the car now.
Only this time, instead of rejecting them, I began to observe them.
Like I was watching a movie.
I found it liberating to watch and simply be with my emotions without getting caught up in their drama and without kicking them out of a moving vehicle.
This non-attachment has allowed me to have Sadness without being Sadness. I feel Angry without living in Anger and I can experience Joy without getting lost in her to such a point that I lose my way home.
I can live my present-moment reality with them all without grasping at extremes.
We all totally bonded on this road trip.
I wept with Sadness on the hood of the Jeep, cradled Worry in my arms, and kissed Anger’s crinkled brow.
I don’t want to beat them up or abandon them anymore. I want to get to know them better so we can all reach an understanding.
The understanding that they are with me, but they are not me.
The understanding that they need to be heard but not followed.

The understanding that, when any of them show up at my door, I can handle them and their shenanigans.
Which is good news since we are all on this wild ride together, so we may as well play nicely.
So, yeah… go ahead and get to know your crew.
But don’t forget to buckle up, buttercup.
]]><![CDATA[Well, this Variety article on 8/1/2024 made me happy...]]>Wed, 07 Aug 2024 06:21:59 GMThttps://www.robnagle.com/blog/well-this-variety-article-on-812024-made-me-happy
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Jordin Althaus/NBC
“Suits: L.A.” is headed to… L.A.

The legal drama, led by Stephen Amell, has moved from Vancouver, where it filmed its pilot, to Los Angeles, Variety has exclusively learned.

The NBC spinoff, produced by UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, will follow Amell’s Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor from New York, who now represents “the most powerful clients in Los Angeles” at Black Lane Law, an entertainment and criminal firm.

Per the official logline, “His firm is at a crisis point, and in order to survive he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career. Ted is surrounded by a stellar group of characters who test their loyalties to both Ted and each other while they can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives. All of this is going on while events from years ago slowly unravel that led Ted to leave behind everything and everyone he loved.”

The main cast includes Josh McDermitt as Stuart Lane, the powerful and self-absorbed co-founder of the firm; Lex Scott Davis as savvy and strong lawyer Erica Rollins; and BryanGreenberg as Rick Dodsen, Ted’s protege and Erica’s rival. Additional cast include Rob Nagle and Troy Winbush.

“Suits” creator Aaron Korsh serves as executive producer and wrote the pilot. David Bartis, Doug Liman, Gene Klein and Victoria Mahoney are executive producers. Mahoney also directed the pilot.

​While “Suits: L.A.” is not a reboot of the USA Network drama, which ran from 2011 to 2019for nine seasons and had a recent resurgence thanks to Netflix streaming, but instead exists in the same universe and features all new characters.
]]><![CDATA[July 04th, 2024]]>Thu, 04 Jul 2024 07:19:17 GMThttps://www.robnagle.com/blog/july-04th-2024If it's not one thing, it's your mother...

"I basically started performing for my mother, going, 'Love me!' What drives you to perform is the need for that primal connection. When I was little, my mother was funny with me, and I started to be charming and funny for her, and I learned that by being entertaining, you make a connection with another person." - Robin Williams

"(Ann) Woodworth, Stephen Colbert’s acting professor ... remembers him as a 'constant clown' who had trouble accessing 'some of the emotions that were necessary to tap into the more tragic plays and characters.' 
Then, she says, she was having lunch with Colbert one day at Norris. 'I don’t know how it came out,' Woodworth recalls, 'but he said, "Well, it might have something to do with the fact that my father and two brothers were killed in a plane crash when I was 10, and I was left home with a grieving mother. And my main mission became to make her laugh."
'I can remember exactly where I was sitting in the lunch room when he said that because I thought I was going to fall over. It made all kinds of sense to me why it was difficult for him to get to the grief of Hamlet. And then it also made sense to me why his sense of comedy and his ability to entertain people and make people laugh was so strong, because he had been practicing it for 10 years.'" - Northwestern Magazine

"When I was 8, my mother had a heart attack. Her doctor accompanied her home, and while she rested, he pulled me aside. "Don't argue with your mother," he said. "It might kill her." I didn't know what to make of that, except that I could kill my mother if I got angry with her. "And another thing," he said, "try to make her laugh."
Though I'd never before tried to make anyone laugh, I began to sing her silly songs and perform Danny Kaye imitations. That was my first taste of performing. Then one Saturday night, when I was 11 years old, I went to see my older sister Corinne give a dramatic recital. I walked into the Wisconsin College of Music, where 200 people were jammed into the auditorium, jabbering loudly. As the lights dimmed, they began to whisper. Then...darkness. A spotlight hit the center of the stage, and there was Corinne in a lavender gown. As she gave a memorized reading of Guy de Maupassant's The Necklace, all eyes were on her. For the entirety of the recitation, you could hear a pin drop, and when she finished, everyone applauded.
At that moment I thought that standing onstage must be as close to actually being God as you could get. When the recital was over, I asked Corinne's acting teacher if I could study with him. We began to work together, and I fell in love with performing.
Since then, I've been in more than 30 movies. Every once in a while, when I was in front of the camera, I'd think back to the moment I saw my sister up there onstage, everyone around her rapt. She possessed some magic that I wanted, the ability to make everyone shut up and watch." - Gene Wilder

Robin Williams]]><![CDATA[One of my favorites...]]>Fri, 10 May 2024 06:13:40 GMThttps://www.robnagle.com/blog/one-of-my-favorites“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate YOU. Keep the channel open… No artist is pleased… There is no satisfaction whatever at anytime There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes ‘us’ MORE alive than the others.”
​- Martha Graham to Agnes DeMille
​as quoted in “Dance to the Piper and Promenade Home” (1982) by Agnes de Mille
]]><![CDATA[I've been thinking a lot about HONESTY this week]]>Wed, 27 Jul 2022 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.robnagle.com/blog/ive-been-thinking-a-lot-about-honesty-this-weekHello, peoples of the Internet(s)!

I've been thinking a lot about honesty this week. And how we hide from ourselves, and how we hide from our authenticity, our authentic selves. We wear masks all the time. In fact, I'm an actor. One could argue that I chose a profession where I strive to hide behind other selves ALL THE TIME. But what I do is make-believe. It's storytelling. It's sacred and sometimes even healing, in its best form. In its lesser form, it is hopefully, at the least, entertaining and an escape. 

But what about the ways that you and I hide from ourselves? The ways that we dodge our truths. And all the things that really might be going on inside of us, underneath our armor. If the actor's job is to be comfortable being uncomfortable... if the actor's job is to expose themselves... if the actor's job is to hold the mirror up to nature...

Then the next question for me is this: how do we, as human beings -- as non-actors --  strive for the same discomfort and exposure and reflection in our own lives? Can you imagine what we might discover in that brave exploration? 

“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”
​- Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
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