I wake up every day and live the best day of my life.

Hey World,

Happy Summer. My summer has been filled with: work, beaches, soccer, and adventures. I rode another jet plane this summer. I swear, my LA life has been such an amazing experience. This is truly my self-made mentality: 

"I wake up every day and live the best day of my life." I decided that a long time ago and I never stop living it. Life is so short.

Anyway, enough of the sentimental rigmarole.
Life is mostly good.

I miss my family, but LA has generously tossed me the world like a neon frisbee. I continue to explore some of this enormous treasure called California.

It's crazy how all of my dreams are coming true.

I always dreamed of riding and owning my own jet plane. In college, my freshman year at U of I, I actually remember telling my friends at Bromley, "No, seriously, I want a PJ." It was the ongoing joke, but I've actually made friends who own and charter jets out here at this airport in Burbank, called "Million-Air." Perfect, right? Pretty fun. I was scared on my first jet plane experience. The size of the plane reminded me of the tiny (commercial) planes we fly out to my beach house in Canada. Then, it was a pretty smooth, fun ride..and now I'm a two-timing, seasoned, jet plane riding champion. Ha. But seriously.

I always dreamed of being in movies.

I've done over 20.

I always dreamed of attending Loyola Marymount.

I graduated LMU last May.

I always dreamed of: LIVING IN LA.

Here I am, in the Hollywood Hills...

I've had some cool scripts thrown my way in June and I'm making a few selections for August independent shorts and I plan to find an independent feature film that I'm passionate about for 2013.

My manager is definitely doing her job. This week, she submitted me for another Vince Vaughn movie. This will be my (potential) second time working closely with Mr. Vaughn. He's pretty cool.


A FEW CELEBRITY SITINGS

Last week I met "Turtle" (of Entourage) at Equinox. He recently got hot. Enough said ;) ...

Oh, and of course, I ran into my buddy, Justin Long, Monday night at an [undisclosed private club] and he looks skinny.


Other celebrity sightings include: my bff Linds Lohan, at [undisclosed private LA club]. I love her. She's so sweet and I seriously don't care what anyone says lol. She's a gem.

Thanks,

Alex

Stand-Up is SO FUN!

My Favorite Bunny

Donna & me at Corey Feldman's house

Our Valentine's Day party







Hey World,

Check out my gorgeous Auntie Bunny:

Donna Spangler is both genuine and gorgeous. I love her because she is so much fun to be around! Donna maintains her perfect 10 Playmate model body. She's a great role model. Check out her website.

Auntie Bunny lives in a pretty colonial style house in Beverly Hills. She is adorable and super sweet.



XO,
Alexandra

LOVE & Engagement Talk by My Pool

Alex Dinovi Audition from Jonathan Tanzman on Vimeo.

Hey World,
This is from the MTV show "Connected" I was on hold for over Thanksgiving. Joseph was definitely sitting by the pool while the casting director taped this...lolz

Love,
Alex

My Method & When I Sobbed in Meisner Class

Hey World,

This entry was inspired by a question from a reader:

"If u want to be an actress do u have to show your natural self?" -Jamie A.

My response:

Jamie, this is a complex issue since each actor has their own methods that work for them. I like to use parts of myself in each role but I utilize many other inspirations for roles, such as images, playing with physical changes, vocal changes, posture, journaling thoughts of the character, clothing, hair style, makeup, and all kinds of unique forms of inspirational experiences. Usually when I read a story, I get a sense of what I feel moves me most about the character and I want to discover as much as I can about their background (whether I create this from my own imagination or not.)

As far as acting is concerned, Second City gave me my first break in allowing me true freedom of expression, pushed me to truly be present, and develop good listening skills with other actors. When I studied Meisner in 2008-09, (another form of acting) I had a major breakthrough experience in my work. I learned a lot about parts of acting that actually scared me. I had studied Method before, but Meisner was different and dangerous for me. It required mass amounts of hours of imaginative work. I remember, in one Meisner class, I sobbed so hard. It was the most dangerous risk I had taken in my work outside of improv. It was real. I was in the moment and I was combining my past Method work with a Meisner exercise that became a life changing experience. I utilized myself and I took that with me in my next film role. (This happened at Act One Studios, Chicago, and I can thank my upbeat, eccentric, wonderful teacher, Laura Sturm.)

I remember, I told my acting coach, Gretchen Sonstroem, at the time all about the experience in class. "I know what I need to do. I get where I need to go and I know how to tap into it." It felt dangerous because there are many other methodologies out there that say, it's not a good idea to use real life experiences, especially in stage work, since this can emotionally damage an actor offstage. However, in film, I feel there are less takes, for the most part, in comparison to a six or nine week run with multitudinous rehearsals. Other teachers have inspired me to do whatever it takes to serve up the story.

So, on my next set, I will delve into this in another blog, but I took my new discovery to my role. It was such a great experience. However, I left set highly melancholy. I personalized the entire situation and allowed myself to live in the moment. It was painful in real life. It was surreal and mind-blowing. I played a lead in an independent feature and I remember this one scene on the balcony, I left set holding my cinematographer's hand, wiping my face full of tears. "You were great babe." He held my hand and hugged me so hard. He knew in his heart that I utilized my entire being in order to tell this story.

***

I strongly prefer my own combination of Method and Meisner. In fact, at this point, in my own craft, I would like to consider it "method-less." I would like to give myself creative license to say, "Hey, I know what works, I don't need to label it. Depending on the character, story, and specific situation, the tactics I will use are going to change." I can't say, "Oh, Method will work in every acting situation. Or, oh, Improv will always work. There are NO absolute rules in acting, as far as I am concerned. That's what moves me so much.

Acting is unpredictable. The stories we tell change based upon delivery and the choices we make shape it. I'm a firm believer in making STRONG choices when it comes to any work whether in acting, writing, or direction. "Today is the day." Actors need to decide what their opinions are and they should be extremely strong ones.

At the end of the day, my main priorities are: 1.) Listening 2.) Knowing exactly what my specific intentions are 3.) Being present in the moment

I hope this answers your question!

Warmly,
Alex DiNovi

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"A Beautiful Mess"

You've got the best of both worlds
You're the kind of girl who can take down a man,
And lift him back up again
You are strong but you're needy,
Humble but you're greedy
And based on your body language,
And shoddy cursive I've been reading
Your style is quite selective,
though your mind is rather reckless
Well I guess it just suggests
that this is just what happiness is

Hey, what a beautiful mess this is
It's like picking up trash in dresses

Well it kind of hurts when the kind of words you write
Kind of turn themselves into knives
And don't mind my nerve you could call it fiction
But I like being submerged in your contradictions, dear
'Cause here we are, here we are

Although you were biased I love your advice
Your comebacks ‒ they're quick
And probably have to do with your insecurities
There's no shame in being crazy,
Depending on how you take these
Words that paraphrasing this relationship we're staging

And what a beautiful mess, yes it is
It's like picking up trash in dresses

Well it kind of hurts when the kind of words you say
Kind of turn themselves into blades
And the kind and courteous is a life I've heard
But it's nice to say that we played in the dirt
'Cause here, here we are, here we are
Here we are [x7]

We're still here
What a beautiful mess this is
It's like taking a guess when the only answer is "Yes"

Through timeless words and priceless pictures
We'll fly like birds not of this earth

And tides ‒ they turn ‒ and hearts disfigure
But that's no concern when we're wounded together

And we tore our dresses and stained our shirts
But it's nice today. Oh, the wait was so worth it.

-Jason Mraz