Actor and director, Matthew Lillard, visited Lindbergh High School Friday afternoon to give a couple drama classes lessons in acting and in life.
Lillard is the director of “Fat Kid Rules the World,” which opens the Seattle International Film Festival at the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center venue Friday night.
This was the first time Lillard has directed a film, although his acting credits include many roles in movies and television including films “The Descendants,” “Scream,” “Thir13en Ghosts,” and “Scooby-Doo.” Lindbergh High School and some of its students provided the backdrop and extra parts for “Fat Kid Rules the World.”
“Lindbergh High School was a fantastic place to shoot,” Lillard said. “We shot a lot of the film here. The kids were awesome. The principal, Tres (Genger), and the school board were so supportive and huge for us.”
Lillard returned to the school Friday and taught about 40 students, some of whom were in his film, the rules of improvisation as well as some worldly advice.
He instructed them to choose a direction in their improvisation and commit to it.
The same principle applies to life, Lillard said, telling the students to choose a direction whether it’s acting or not, commit to it and “run like hell” in that direction.
“You know what sucks, half stepping,” he said. “Don’t half step life, be good y’all.”
Lillard critiqued the students warm-up exercises and led them in one called “let it be this time.”
Students had to pair off and come up with a skit that incorporated a catch, a kiss, a bow and a run off stage with no dialogue and perform it in front of the group.
The performances and Lillard’s feedback drew chuckles from the classes and nervous and frenzied starts from the performers.
“What I like about what he’s doing is, he’s teaching an acting workshop to drama students, but he’s doing more than that,” said Ginger Montague, Lindbergh’s theater program director.
She liked that the actor’s message wasn’t just rooted in pursuing a job in the entertainment industry.
“He’s saying to high school students, ‘In life you are required to make choices, make the choice,'” said Montague. “‘If you have to adjust later on, you can adjust. Follow your passion and commit to it.'”
Lillard, who appeared very comfortable in front of the students, said he has taught acting at the Vancouver Film School and various universities.Although he has been acting since he was 14 with supportive parents, he said his own advice solidified for him later.
“When I started to teach, I started to believe what I was saying because I had to express it,” Lillard said. “The more I teach, the more it validates what I really believe.”
His sister, Amy Lillard, is the executive director of Washington Filmworks, which has a mission to encourage growth in the film and video production industry for the economic benefit of the state.
Because of the exciting things happening in the state around the film industry, Lillard decided to switch the setting of his film from New York, as it is in the book by the same name, to the Seattle area.
“The crew up here is second to none,” he said. “So I wanted to come up and be a part of that microcosm of filmmakers.”
Up next for Lillard is a Clint Eastwood movie he will act in with Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake, scheduled for release this fall.
