Paul D'Addario

Paul D'Addario is a very successful, working actor in Chicago, and like many he finds himself needing to make the leap into the wonderful world of color with his headshot. Over the years there have been a lot of trends in actors' headshots, but the trend to color actually makes sense, and it gives the actor a vital tool with which to communicate to prospective directors and producers, and it's the use of color that should be a major consideration when considering a photographer.

Paul does a lot of work on the Chicago stage and works frequently with The Gift Theatre Company. When I asked him what his dream role was, he told me that he was very lucky to have already played it in Hurlyburly. Modestly, what he didn't tell me was that he also received a Jeff Citation for an Actor in a Lead Role. He's also appeared on The Griffin stage in their production of Dead End, and in numerous productions at the Actor's Theatre of San Francisco.

When we met, I talked to Paul about what types of work he wants to do. He finds himself cast in "blue-collar" roles and feels that those are his strengths. He's exlusive with ARia and they've been sending him on print auditions as repair men, plumbers, etc. He believes that commercially that's his market. On the stage, Paul gravitates more toward dramatic roles, most recently playing in The Three Sisters and will soon start work on White People.

With Paul, we wanted to keep things simple and emphasize color and contrast in the shot. He's a straight-forward guy, so there didn't need to be elaborate poses or a lot of make up. Still, I wanted to give him a headshot that had some punch, so we chose this bright orange shirt and put him against a green background. These two colors echo the colors in his eyes, and as we all know a good headshot starts wtih the eyes.