An Old Friend & Mentor

I've been very lucky. I have gotten to work with some amazing actors over the years. They have all been wonderful and Portland has an amazing pool of actors.

Today I want to write about one of them.

Lately I've been thinking about my old friend and mentor, Tom Lasswell. It's hard to believe that he passed away back in June of 2003 at the age of 71.

Tom appears in all 3 of my features and I directed him in some other things as well. He taught me so much about working with actors. Tom was generous, cantankerous, funny, insightful, and a true professional.

The first time I met Tom was when I was casting for my first feature, Birddog. We had mutual friends and they suggested he audition for the part of Earl. I'll never forget Tom walking into the room.

He sat down opposite me looked me straight in the eye and said, "When you wrote the part of Earl what were you thinking about?"

"Have you ever seen a film called, To Have and Have Not?"

"Eddie the rummy! That's exactly what I thought reading it."

Tom then gave me an amazing reading using the character of Walter Brennan as Eddie the Rummy, but he made the part his own. He put his own spin on it.

Afterwards we talked about that film and all of the characters, including Eddie.

His performance in Birddog is still one of my favorites. We became friends and had a few meals together and talked about everything. His wife Mary was wonderful and it was always great hanging out with them.

Tom played Grandpa in my next feature, The Gas Cafe and once again made that character his own. I wrote that part with him in mind and he liked it so much he showed up at all of our casting sessions and read opposite all of the other actors switching between roles with ease. He could have just done a simple read, instead he performed each part to give the other actors someone to really play off of.

I could see some of the other actors working to up their game because he was giving them so much to work with. But he never overpowered anyone. Even in casting he knew I was interested in the other people who were reading, not him.

There were times I listened to him playing the other characters and would mentally take notes on what he was doing. I would use some of those things with those other characters when we were shooting.

His wife told me after he passed that he said the character of Grandpa was one of his favorite roles.

Tom had a small part in my third feature, Kicking Bird. I wanted him to do more but he just wasn't up to it physically.

He and I would talk during casting, rehearsals, between camera set-ups, and over coffee. Tom taught me so many things that made me a better director especially in dealing with actors. He never said, "do this" or "don't do that", we just talked about craft and ways to get trust from actors so that I could get the  performances I was after.

I know Tom loved acting and he loved actors. And that's something he passed on to me.

It's been almost 20 years since he passed and I still miss Tom and our conversations. I also miss seeing him on stage where he did so much great work. I'm thinking good thoughts about my friend Tom and tonight I'm going to raise a glass and offer up a toast. No particular reason, I just miss him.

Take a moment today to think about someone who had a really positive effect on your life. If they are here let them know you're thinking about them. If not, let the Universe know you're thinking about them.

Whether they're here or not, raise a glass and offer up a toast to them.

Have a great day.

Support Independent Artists of all types.

Originally posted on May 24, 2022