Manu Tupou
Encyclopedia
Manu Tupou was an American
-based Fiji
an actor, writer, director, and teacher.
, Stella Adler
, Uta Hagen
, Harold Clurman
, Sanford Meisner
. He was an Honors graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
(New York) and a Senior Life Member of the Actors Studio
(New York and Hollywood). He received a B.A. from both the University of Hawaii
and the University of London
. He was one of the most studied scholars and researchers of the dramatic arts.
, Lau
, Fiji
Islands. After completing his studies at the University of Hawaii on U.S. government scholarship, He began studying at the University of London on a BBC scholarship. On a summer vacation his girlfriend told him that he fit the description for a casting ad in the local newspaper. When he arrived, casting director Marion Dougherty pulled out a picture she had acquired from the Fiji Visitor Bureau. On a lark, he had posed with Dinah Shore's stand-in, who was in Fiji working on a network Christmas special. The picture became a poster which adorned the wall of the Fiji airport. When Dougherty and director George Roy Hill
saw it, they knew they had found their man. When the they asked the Fiji Visitor's Bureau, where can we find this young man, they were told that he was a young man of great importance (as he was part of the royal of family of Tonga and quite noteworthy of a person on the island). The Bureau told them that he was in Hawaii on vacation for school. Dougherty and Hill went off to Hawaii to find this young man. So by the time he arrived at the address in the ad they were expecting him. He auditioned and they both felt they had found their Prince. But Tupou declined as he was starting school in a couple of days.
He went back to London. After a couple of weeks he got a call from an authoritative voice. "Be ready at 9:00 a.m." The producers of the film persisted. A limousine was waiting for him. The driver paid his rent and took him to the BBC. It was here that the chairman of the BBC told Tupou he would keep his scholarship open for two years. He then was fitted for a suit, given a fistful of cash and sent to the airport where he flew to Hollywood to go to Samuel Goldwyn Studios. He arrived on the set of Hawaii, where he got his start in movies. This begin his career. While staying with Dougherty in New York He was introduced to Lee Strasberg
.
, Robert De Niro
, and Shelley Winters
. It was here began to develop himself as an artist. He began working on movies and television shows and even Broadway. It was here in New York that he studied with the greats of the time, later to develop his own technique. This technique was developed from what he learned and the mistakes he felt he made from using sense memory, which he felt damaged his sanity due to the use of past moments of pain and unconsciousness.
taught Tupou and his classmates. One of the main philosophies behind the technique is that each talent is a unique essence unto itself- and also the most important, single, irreducible creative element in any production. Also equally unique (almost without exception), each talent observed will be found to have his own "working problem" as a creative artist. Small or large, the working problem can effectively sabotage any actor's creative abilities, and hence, their career. Tupou an important aspect was not only to correctly and accurately identify the working problem of an actor but more importantly providing a workable route by which such problems could be overcome through understanding and improved artistic ability.
said of Tupou:
From the late 1970s, he taught acting at the American Repertory Company
, where he focused intensely on each individual student, as he never let the class get larger than 12 students at a time. He wanted to have the luxury of giving anywhere to 15 and sometimes even up to one hour of feedback and critiques. This was highly effective, ensuring the next time that student came to class and put up his work, it was taken to the next level. Tupou trained Eric Roberts
, Ernie Reyes Jr., Calvin Levels
, Santino Ramos
, Jerri Manthey
, Arash Dibazar, among others.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-based Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
an actor, writer, director, and teacher.
Education
He trained for 15 years in New York under the finest teachers: Lee StrasbergLee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
, Stella Adler
Stella Adler
Stella Adler was an American actress and an acclaimed acting teacher, who founded the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City and the The Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angeles with long-time protege Joanne Linville, who continues to teach and furthers Adler's legacy...
, Uta Hagen
Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen was a German-born American actress and drama teacher. She originated the role of Martha in the 1963 Broadway premiere of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee...
, Harold Clurman
Harold Clurman
Harold Edgar Clurman was a visionary American theatre director and drama critic, "one of the most influential in the United States". He was most notable as one of the three founders of the New York City's Group Theatre...
, Sanford Meisner
Sanford Meisner
Sanford Meisner , also known as Sandy, was an American actor and acting teacher who developed a form of Method acting that is now known as the Meisner technique....
. He was an Honors graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...
(New York) and a Senior Life Member of the Actors Studio
Actors Studio
The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow who provided...
(New York and Hollywood). He received a B.A. from both the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
and the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. He was one of the most studied scholars and researchers of the dramatic arts.
Early life
Manu Tupou was born on LomalomaLomaloma
Lomaloma is a village on the Fiji island of Vanua Balavu in the Lau archipelago. It is part of the Tikina of Lomaloma which comprises 9 villages, which is further made up of 13 Yavusa which are further broken down into 42 Mataqali and 54 Tokatoka from early records first documented in 1881 by...
, Lau
Lau Islands
The Lau Islands of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about one hundred islands and islets, about thirty are inhabited...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
Islands. After completing his studies at the University of Hawaii on U.S. government scholarship, He began studying at the University of London on a BBC scholarship. On a summer vacation his girlfriend told him that he fit the description for a casting ad in the local newspaper. When he arrived, casting director Marion Dougherty pulled out a picture she had acquired from the Fiji Visitor Bureau. On a lark, he had posed with Dinah Shore's stand-in, who was in Fiji working on a network Christmas special. The picture became a poster which adorned the wall of the Fiji airport. When Dougherty and director George Roy Hill
George Roy Hill
George Roy Hill was an American film director. He is most noted for directing such films as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, which both starred the acting duo Paul Newman and Robert Redford...
saw it, they knew they had found their man. When the they asked the Fiji Visitor's Bureau, where can we find this young man, they were told that he was a young man of great importance (as he was part of the royal of family of Tonga and quite noteworthy of a person on the island). The Bureau told them that he was in Hawaii on vacation for school. Dougherty and Hill went off to Hawaii to find this young man. So by the time he arrived at the address in the ad they were expecting him. He auditioned and they both felt they had found their Prince. But Tupou declined as he was starting school in a couple of days.
He went back to London. After a couple of weeks he got a call from an authoritative voice. "Be ready at 9:00 a.m." The producers of the film persisted. A limousine was waiting for him. The driver paid his rent and took him to the BBC. It was here that the chairman of the BBC told Tupou he would keep his scholarship open for two years. He then was fitted for a suit, given a fistful of cash and sent to the airport where he flew to Hollywood to go to Samuel Goldwyn Studios. He arrived on the set of Hawaii, where he got his start in movies. This begin his career. While staying with Dougherty in New York He was introduced to Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
.
The Actors Studio
In New York, he studied at Carnegie Hall at the Actors Studio with the likes of Al PacinoAl Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
, Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
, and Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
. It was here began to develop himself as an artist. He began working on movies and television shows and even Broadway. It was here in New York that he studied with the greats of the time, later to develop his own technique. This technique was developed from what he learned and the mistakes he felt he made from using sense memory, which he felt damaged his sanity due to the use of past moments of pain and unconsciousness.
New Era Acting Technique
Gleaning true knowledge and workable applications from his extensive educational experience in the arts, Manu Tupou formulated his discoveries into the simplistic, but revolutionary, "New Era Acting Technique" (NEAT). The hallmark of the NEAT technique is its respect for the sanctity and sanity of the individual artist-upgrading the artist's creation away from the limitations of memory and recalled past experiences, into a more redeeming and uplifting "slice of life," happening here and now in present time. This was the major difference in approach from the way his mentor Lee StrasbergLee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
taught Tupou and his classmates. One of the main philosophies behind the technique is that each talent is a unique essence unto itself- and also the most important, single, irreducible creative element in any production. Also equally unique (almost without exception), each talent observed will be found to have his own "working problem" as a creative artist. Small or large, the working problem can effectively sabotage any actor's creative abilities, and hence, their career. Tupou an important aspect was not only to correctly and accurately identify the working problem of an actor but more importantly providing a workable route by which such problems could be overcome through understanding and improved artistic ability.
Quotes
"Your only obligation is to your art and you know it." --Manu Tupou
Legacy
Actor Corin NemecCorin Nemec
Corin "Corky" Nemec is an American actor. Nemec is known for playing the title character on Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Jonas Quinn on Stargate SG-1, and Harold Lauder in the ABC miniseries The Stand.-Personal life:Nemec's mother was a graphic artist as well as a painter, writer and poet...
said of Tupou:
"I studied with Manu Tupou, He had his own theater company called the American Repertory CompanyAmerican Repertory CompanyThe American Repertory Company was founded in the 1980s and continued on until 2004, when founder Manu Tupou died on June 5. Manu Tupou not only was the founder but remained artistic director until his final days.-Founder:...
. He was in the Actor's Studio when Marilyn Monroe was there. What he taught was his own Method, which was creating the character as it was scripted”, Corin said. “Living the life of the character as the beats and moments suggested in the material. Then finding whatever new and original beats and moments come out of that by working with the director and living the life of the character organically in the moment. As it’s scripted, this is what the character does - not me. That’s how I separate myself from that. I don’t use the Method. I’m not going into my own past to create a psychological condition that would drive me as an actor to create that moment. When you can embrace the life of the character and the environment and the scene that’s taking place, the rest happens naturally if your instrument is tuned............ learned from Manu was that it doesn’t matter what the project is. It matters what you bring to it as an artist. No matter what the storyline is, whether it be as silly as SS Doomtroopers or Mansquito or things I’ve done from SciFi Channel, which were a lot of fun, I’m going to bring to that, everything that I have to offer as an artist."
From the late 1970s, he taught acting at the American Repertory Company
American Repertory Company
The American Repertory Company was founded in the 1980s and continued on until 2004, when founder Manu Tupou died on June 5. Manu Tupou not only was the founder but remained artistic director until his final days.-Founder:...
, where he focused intensely on each individual student, as he never let the class get larger than 12 students at a time. He wanted to have the luxury of giving anywhere to 15 and sometimes even up to one hour of feedback and critiques. This was highly effective, ensuring the next time that student came to class and put up his work, it was taken to the next level. Tupou trained Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts
Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
, Ernie Reyes Jr., Calvin Levels
Calvin Levels
Calvin Levels is an American film actor. In 1984, he won a Theatre World Award and was nominated for both the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Calvin Jefferson in Open Admissions...
, Santino Ramos
Santino Ramos
-Filmmaker:Santino Ramos' work as a filmmaker has made its way across the festival circuit. An animated segment by Santino Ramos entitled "Rain or Shine" is featured on the children's show Polyphony. A green-themed children's show that was featured in the green cinema at the Coachella Valley...
, Jerri Manthey
Jerri Manthey
Jerri Lynn Manthey is an American actress who is best known for her appearances on reality television.- Early life :Jerri Manthey was born in Stuttgart, Germany and attended both high school and college in Germany. Manthey's father, Cyril, was a career member of the United States Army and served...
, Arash Dibazar, among others.
Broadway & National Tours
- OthelloOthelloThe Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
- Othello - Indians (play)Indians (play)Indians is a play by Arthur Kopit.At its core is Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show. The play examines the contradictions of Cody's life and his work with Native Americans....
by Arthur Kopit - Sitting Bull - Annie Get Your GunAnnie Get Your Gun (musical)Annie Get Your Gun is a musical with lyrics and music written by Irving Berlin and a book by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley , who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, and her husband, Frank Butler.The 1946 Broadway production...
- Chief Sitting Bull - Captain Brassbound's ConversionCaptain Brassbound's ConversionCaptain Brassbound's Conversion is a play by G. Bernard Shaw. It was published in Shaw's 1901 collection Three Plays for Puritans . The first American production of the play starred Ellen Terry in 1907....
- Iphigenia at Aulis - King Agamemnon
- Black Elk SpeaksBlack Elk SpeaksBlack Elk Speaks is a 1932 book by John G. Neihardt, an American poet and writer, who relates the story and spirituality of Black Elk, an Oglala Sioux medicine man or shaman. It was based on conversations by Black Elk with the author and translated from Lakota into English by Black Elk's son, Ben...
- Black Elk
Film
- HawaiiHawaii (film)Hawaii is a 1966 American film directed by George Roy Hill and based on the novel of the same name by James A. Michener. It tells the story of an 1820s Yale University divinity student who, along with his new bride , becomes a Calvinist missionary in the Hawaiian Islands...
- narrated/co-starred as Prince Keoki - A Man Called Horse - Chief Yellowhand
- Extraordinary Seaman
- Hurrucane
- King Zabu - King Zabu
- Love Affair - with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening
Television
- Hawaii Five-OHawaii Five-OHawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
- Fantasy IslandFantasy IslandFantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:...
- Magnum, P.I.Magnum, P.I.Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network....
- The A-TeamThe A-TeamThe A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
- Hill Street BluesHill Street BluesHill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
- Vega$Vega$Vega$ is an American detective television drama series that aired on ABC between 1978 and 1981. It was produced by Aaron Spelling. The series, was filmed in its entirety in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is believed to be the first television series produced entirely in Las Vegas...
- Barney MillerBarney MillerBarney Miller is a situation comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village. The series originally was broadcast from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker...