After thirty-two years on movie and TV sets, the Texas actor based in Commerce and nearby Klondike is eager to share his experiences with aspiring regional actors ready to offer their talents to these media.
“Actors must be aware of differences between stage and film styles. Cameras demand a subtle approach, but you still have to tell the truth,” Biggs delineates.
Stage actors often fail to understand how the media business operates, He wants to help others achieve a mastery of acting before a camera and survive in a career unlike theatrical acting.
Biggs has not kept a tally of his media roles since the first one for a feature film with a young Sharon Stone in 1979, but online sources identify his characters in thirty films and television segments. His best known roles were in “Lonesome Dove,” “Silverado,” “Tender Mercies,” and “Curse of the Starving Class.”
An appointment as actor in residence at the University of Tulsa gave Biggs the opportunity to teach acting and to steer students toward entry into the movie business. He believes that Northeast Texas communities could benefit from his passion and experience on the electronic stage. He envisions spending a week in a town that would provide an acting space and the opportunity for him to interact with serious students of all ages ready to take on the acting and survival skills for a screen career. Using videos, Biggs records the students performing adapted scenes from stage scripts at the first class.
“An amazing transformation has always occurred when we record their acting on the final day of class,” he says.
In the summer of 2009, Biggs was invited to appear in the Salado outdoor production and to interact with the audience after each performance.
“That was a great experience,” he recalls. As an actor appearing in several films written by Horton Foote, Biggs was named actor in residence at a Horton Foote film festival in Tennessee. At each screening of a film, he spoke on his experiences in making it with Foote and leading actors such as Robert Duvall.
Currently, Biggs is exploring the idea of spending a week in a community as screen actor in residence. A stipend from the community could enable students to explore film acting and the learn how to enter he business. For Biggs, to become acquainted with these aspiring film actors for a week intrigues him more than any screen role he has ever undertaken.
“I want to give these actors hope. If acting is what they really want to do, they can do it,” he adds with conviction.
His success with acting students he has taught in recent classes leads him to believe that opportunities are developing in Texas for entry into film and television roles. Biggs' students report to him how his classes prepared them for auditions and film contracts. He is eager to confer with civil leaders about spending a week in their community preparing actors for screen careers.
“Budget negotiations could begin at $3,000 for acting lessons, video recordings of acting scenes, interactive interviews, and per diem. Donated community resources would reduce costs by handling lodging, meals, other expenses,” Biggs explained.
Biggs, a card-carrying member of the Screen Actors Guild, knows the importance of mentors. At McKinney High School, Jerry Phillips, his speech and drama teacher, ignited his interests as no other teacher had done. At East Texas State University, now Texas A&M-Commerce, Curtis L. Pope offered direction and acting challenges that Biggs ranks beside top professional programs in the country. On movie sets Robert Duvall and other masters of the craft have generously continued an informal mentoring process by sharing their considerable acting talents.
Biggs takes his career as an actor seriously. “We have the responsibility to transport people from their everyday lives into this other reality, to inform, to entertain, and to enlighten.” Calls from agents, casting directors, and fellow actors, and knowing his way around the industry guide Biggs to auditions consistently Once he gets a part and arrives on the set, he may not get a script until the day the filming begins. He has learned how to create his character, fine tune his voice, memorize his lines, and bring truth to the role in a single day. Most of the time the director trusts the actor to find the soul of the character.
“There may be brief read-throughs and rehearsals, but the actor usually creates the voice, the look, and the attitude,” Biggs recalls.
Whenever possible Biggs tries to read an entire script before he steps onto the set. “Like aircraft, films are made out of sequence in small segments, but all the pieces have to fit harmoniously before it can fly. I always want my portion to complement the total production.”
Beyond acting, Biggs won acclaim for his modeling assignment for an illustration in Texas Monthly that has been chosen one of the twenty-five best photographs in that magazine’s history. Because of his resemblance to Dallas minister Walker Railey, who was charged with almost killing his wife and leaving her in a vegetative state, an acclaimed freelance photographer Geof Kern posed Biggs in a setting that was sinister with the shadow of a cross on his forehead.
When discussing movies and answering a barrage of questions about his craft, Biggs fires back incisive answers.
“On the set is there a class system between the stars and the actors in minor roles?”
Biggs: “Yes, . . . but we all eat the same delicious catered food.”
“What is the future of film making in Texas?”
Biggs: “Good. The Texas legislature gives movie productions incentives to film here. Austin attracts movies with its varied terrain: hills, forests, plains, Texas has some of the best film crews in the world. The film studio at the old Austin airport is a plus. Many creative and hardworking people live in Texas.”
“What do you advise actors to do about their Texas accents?”
Biggs: “Use ’em at times. Lose ’em at times.”
Communities and individuals interested in learning more about how Biggs and bring Hollywood to their community are invited to call him at 903-395-2641.