An acting coach to the stars has revealed what it’s really like to work with Hollywood’s best.
From Suki Waterhouse to Lionel Richie, Bernard Hiller, 61, has an impressive portfolio, working with actors to help them secure Oscars in some of the biggest box office hits of the day.
His latest project is the highly anticipated Freaky Friday reboot, where he works alongside his longtime client Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis.
In March, Jamie, 65, shared a photo of Lindsay, 37, 21 years after the pair played the body-swapping mother-daughter duo in the 2003 film.
Speaking in an exclusive chat with MailOnline, Bernard said: “Right now, I’m working on a film called Freaky Friday with Lindsay, who I’ve done a lot of films with, and Jamie. “I’m working on the next kind of film that helps the actor give the best possible interpretation.”
An acting coach to the stars has revealed what it’s really like to work with Hollywood’s best.
His latest project is the highly anticipated Freaky Friday reboot, where he works alongside his former client Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis.
In March, Jamie, 65, shared a photo of Lindsay, 37, 21 years after the pair played the body-swapping mother-daughter duo in the 2003 film.
‘Real actors are unstoppable. They don’t do it because they want to, they do it because they have to, if you’re thinking ‘should I do it or not?’, it’s already a no for you.’
Recalling a meeting with Lady Gaga, Bernard revealed that the singer, 38, told him that she always wanted a career in acting, but that she had to devote herself to singing because “nobody would give me a job.”
‘Lady Gaga was doing A Star is Born and I was lucky enough to be invited to the premiere in Venice.
“I’m sitting and luckily she comes, I tell her, “Hello, I’m an acting teacher,” she grabs my hand and tells me “all my life the only thing I wanted to be was an actress but no one gave it to me.” a job so I started singing.” I told her “well that’s not so bad, you did well there”, but through her singing her performance exploded.
“Lady Gaga told me that singing gave her the opportunity to become the actress she is, she loves acting.”
Bernard also touched on Carey Mulligan, who was rejected from three different acting schools but is now one of the biggest actresses in Hollywood.
The Great Gatsby star has received several accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, as well as nominations for three Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award.
“Carey Mulligan told me that she went to acting school to be an actress, at the first acting school she did everything and they rejected her, so she went to a second acting school where they told her it doesn’t matter, and she went to a third and last one.” acting school and they said “no, thank you.”‘
Bernard has worked with Lindsay throughout his career.
From Suki Waterhouse to Lionel Richie, Bernard Hiller, 61, has an impressive portfolio and works with actors (pictured with Lionel in 2014).
Lionel and Bernard pose with an Oscar
His latest project is the highly anticipated Freaky Friday reboot, where he works alongside his former client Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Recalling an encounter with Lady Gaga, Bernard reveals that the singer told him she always wanted a career in acting (pictured with Bradley Cooper in A Star is Born).
Bernard also refers to Carey Mulligan, who was rejected from three different acting schools but is now one of Hollywood’s biggest actresses (pictured in The Great Gatsby).
Bernard said he believes encouraging feedback is key to bringing out the best in people.
‘There is no reason to be cruel. I have a daughter who sang when she was five and she said, “How was she?”, and I said, “Great!” She wasn’t great, but I knew she would be better in the future, and now she’s a singer. Children need encouragement… We have to learn to be kind and gentle.’
“I ask my students: do you love yourself enough to change, do you love yourself enough to grow?
Before becoming an acting coach to the stars, Bernard came to the U.S. at age 11, having emigrated from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then, in his own words, “couldn’t speak English.”
On how he began his career, he said: “When I started teaching I was lucky enough to meet actors like Leo DiCaprio, Sam Jackson, Al Pacino, some of them came to my class, saw what I was doing and recommended you. Actors who were recommended to me were recommended. They knew me, I never had the pleasure of working with them, but I knew what was going on: I was trying to do something new and I was lucky to have the support of so many people.
‘Do you love yourself enough to pursue your dream? And if you don’t chase your dream, your life will turn into a nightmare. The hardest thing is not to chase the dream, the hardest thing is not to chase it, every day it’s killing you.’
