Venezuelan actor Paul Cascante has become a familiar face on
city television, appearing on shows and in commercials. His actors'
workshop brings together Chinese and expats who share a passion for
performance, writes Jenny Hammond.
Take a background in art, the influence of a thespian spouse and
the advice of a best friend - and that's how a Venezuelan artist
ends up in Shanghai in Chinese movies and TV commercials.
For Paul Cascante, acting is another form of art, and he has set
up his own acting workshop to bring together Chinese and expats who
love acting. His aim is to promote Shanghai as another center for
acting talent.
"Acting is a way for me to exhibit and express my feelings,
insecurities, confidence, hate, love, sadness, joy, passion - in
other words, my life through characters I play," explains the
55-year-old expat who has lived here for four years.
In his time here, Cascante has become quite a familiar face on
television, appearing in TV shows and in commercials. He co-starred
with Zhang Ziyi in a national ad for Coca-Cola. He appeared in two
Chinese TV shows, "Hong Se Tian Wang," in which he played a Spanish
mafia pimp, and "Huan Yan," in which he played a minister in 1930s
Shanghai.
The expat also has appeared in theater, independent films and
music videos in China. He played in a Canadian TV movie "Marco
Polo," which was filmed in Shanghai, taking the role of the Persian
ambassador to Peking. He has worked on films with actors Brian
Dennehy and Ian Somerhalder.
However, acting was not originally his chosen profession: He
first was a painter, but acting came naturally.
"To me acting is another form of art, a different medium (stage,
film) and canvas (myself), wherein I'm creating art through visual
physicality." Creativity, says Cascante "is in my blood and it's
what keeps me sane. If I can't be creative, I start climbing the
walls and get antsy."
He is constantly looking for ways to create, not just in acting
but also through art, writing, photography, and other forms of
expression. "For me, creativity is the heart and soul of life, its
essence."
Cascante was born in Venezuela; his father is American and his
mother from Costa Rica is a naturalized US citizen. "I grew up as
an international kid. My father was an international executive
businessman, so I traveled throughout my childhood."
Before he was 17, Cascante moved around Venezuela, Puerto Rico,
Panama and New York City. He lived in New York for 18 years,
majoring in fine arts at New York's School of Visual Arts.
From his first wife, an actress, he "got the acting bug." He
started in community theater and moved to Los Angeles in 1987.
In 2003, he moved to Shanghai. "My best friend moved to Shanghai
in 1997 and for six years kept bugging me to come visit, telling me
that once I came, I wouldn't leave."
Cascante was skeptical, but came for a visit. "I fell in love
with the city and made the decision to stay. I have been here ever
since."
Settling and adjusting to life in Shanghai wasn't difficult for
the international expat.
"Growing up internationally, I have learned to adapt and adjust
to any environment. What I love about Shanghai is the energy and
life - in some ways much like New York. The people here are
alive."
Now his goal is to help establish Shanghai as a center for
acting talent. "There's a lot of talent here but because the city
is not considered to be a center like Beijing, many of the talents
here have been overlooked. I want to do everything in my power to
change that."
One way he is doing this is through his acting workshop
(taw.cabanova.com), started in 2004.
"As an actor, I need to surround myself with others who share
the same love and interest in acting and to keep practicing,
learning and improving my skills. Without it, I would get
rusty."
With both Chinese and expats in the workshop, "it is a venue for
people who are 100-percent committed and dedicated to pursuing,
learning and improving their acting skills."
The main focus of the workshop is character development, working
to create a natural, realistic, heart-felt character. Too often the
focus has been on interpreting lines rather than building,
understanding and creating the character first, he says.
"This approach, in my opinion, is limited and doesn't truly
tackle the essence of the character," Cascante says.
Acting, like Shanghai, he concludes, "is reacting."
(Shanghai Daily November 27, 2007)
