Wes Studi on acting

Face your fears, Native actor tells students

Studi imparts life lessons to middle-school groups In most of his roles he's identified as an Indian, but not always because that's the how character was written. "Because I'm known to be a Native American, whatever part I have, people say, 'Oh, he's playing a Native American.' "

Yet his upcoming role in NBC's new series "Kings" casts him as a general in a monarchy in the future. In the upcoming movie "Avatar" he'll be a 10-foot tall, blue alien.

That character is created using the technique called motion capture. He's filmed from hundreds of angles with sensors attached all over his body. The sensors feed his movements into a program which uses the data to create a computer-generated image that duplicates his actions.

The motion capture work, done in something of a visual vacuum, forces him to concentrate on his performance, he said. It's a lesson he thinks the middle schoolers can apply to pursuing their own ambitions. "You have to give your all. You have to make it a commitment."Comment:  For more on the subject, see Eyre and Ridge Film Ridge Story and The Best Indian Movies.