Head of Acting Pedagogy and Associate Professor of Theatre Scott Hudson, M.F.A., is coaching actor Liza Lapira throughout the 2021 season of CBS’s “The Equalizer.” Lapira plays Mel, a former Air Force sniper turned bar owner (which acts as a secret base of operations) and a colleague of the Equalizer from her service days.
The crime drama stars Queen Latifah and is the second reboot in the franchise, following the 2014 film and its 2018 sequel, which also rebooted the 1980s series with the same name.
Hudson worked with Lapira during her audition process and continues to coach her as she receives her scripts.
“Lisa arrives at her first table-reading rehearsals of each episode well prepared with choices that serve the story,” said Hudson. “She confronts each of her lines and the lines of the other characters to gain insight into her role. Her character serves as the lead’s sidekick. She has traits of military focus and the good humor of a smart-aleck.” Hudson digs at the text with Lapira to find the humanity of her role and discover what actions are best set up and revealed in the drama’s structure.
Lapira is trained in the Meisner Technique, the same acting approach Hudson teaches to Shenandoah Conservatory students in acting and musical theatre. The technique works to ground the actor in a truthful reality of a story and imagine and empathize with their created circumstances.
Some of Lapira’s credits in stage, film and TV include “As You Like It,” “School for Wives,” “Cloverfield,” “21,” “Fast and Furious,” “Crazy Stupid Love,” “NCI,” “Don’t Trust the B***h In Apartment 23” and “Battle Creek.”
