I recently got a call to coach Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard on Ron Howard’s ‘Angels & Demons (the DaVinci Code sequel) for his lines in Swiss German. Skarsgard is to me best known as PROFESSOR GERALD LAMBEAU in ‘Good Will Hunting’. In ‘Angels & Demons’ Skarsgard plays RICHTER, the head of the Swiss Guards at the Vatican.

When I got to Sony Studios on a sunny Thursday, I felt like walking onto another Universe. To my right, an over-stressed Producer was yelling at someone on the cell phone. Ahead of me, Valets were parking cars that I personally would be afraid to have anyone else touch… and to my left a crew was shooting what seemed to be a second unit shot on a television show. Well, I was right in the middle of the magic. Right where I belonged.

Thanks to my accurate directions and maps, I arrived on time and entered sound stage 1 where Stellan, editor Mike Hill and the ADR director Deborah were ready to go. I was introduced as the Swiss Dialect coach to Stellan and we shook hands. What a nice man! He was so genuine and down-to-earth and we struck up a conversation that seemed like 5 minutes long. We talked about how Sweden (Ikea, Volvo, Saab, Meatballs) often gets confused for Switzerland (Rolex, Swiss Cheese, Banks, Chocolate) and how he just flew in the night before to do the ADR. They had worked his schedule around mine… to make sure I was there to authenticate his accent. “Can you do my voice”, he says followed by a firm laugh. “Let me hear it”, I said. He spoke a line and I repeated it as good as I could… he stops, smiles and says “you’re good!”

We started the session with a few simple Swiss lines, then progressed to more complicated Swiss expressions and dialogue specific to certain Swiss regions. About 10 minutes into the session, the door opens and in comes Ron Howard. Shorter and younger than I had expected. “Hey everyone. I know I sound like I have a cold, but I don’t. I just sound like it.” Those were the first words out of Ron Howard’s mouth in front of me. He introduces himself, then gets right to work and analyzes our next lines. For a single word the team took about 15 minutes to make sure Ron had options. He disappeared, came back minutes later and said: “Let’s say ‘mess’, not ‘bomb threat’… yeah, that’s better.”

What I got during those quick and what seemed to be minor moments is that EVERY WORD matters. Not only to be authentic, but also to stay true to one’s vision. Ron often took time to go within, think, feel and come up with the solutions he wanted. He is the master after all. His vision and name are at stake with every film. He didn’t jump over any words. Not even the ones that were to be heard only in the background. Not even ‘throw-away lines’ that one could easily just ‘make up’ or ‘wing’… he would make sure they were absolutely aligned with the story, the characters, the languages and the overall vision.

Needless to say, I had a blast, learned a ton and left inspired like hell (no pun intended). This day marked a milestone in my life and in my career in the entertainment industry. Not that my part will be seen on-screen (my name should be in the credits though), but I worked on a multi million dollar feature film with Ron Howard and Stellan Skarsgard at a major studio. Life doesn’t get any better than this. It’s those moments that need to be celebrated!

I urge any and all of you artists to start taking your every move, word, stroke and performance as serious as if your life depended on it. That’s how intense Ron Howard was. Not tight, but intense. He acted as if every word would make the film either succeed or fail. That’s what I call focus, attention, commitment and most of all vision.

May that same force be with you all!!! Power to the people… the ones who are that comitted to their craft. Oh, and don’t forget to celebrate every single success on your way to your goals… none are too small to celebrate!

Love, peace

Roman

PS: Special Thanks to Lynne Redding for her trust in me!