Helen Hunt shares stories, encouragement at NMSU

LAS CRUCES — Jack Nicholson made notes about each scene on an index card. Tom Hanks ran lines with other actors and rehearsed like the young acting student he once was. Greg Kinnear used to exchange glances, registering surprise at being on a Hollywood film set at all.

Actress, writer and filmmaker Helen Hunt worked with them all and told a Las Cruces audience Thursday they each felt like fellow acting students as she reflected on a career spanning five decades, summing herself up as “a journeyman actor” while modestly passing over her contributions to the industry as a producer and teacher.

Hunt is the featured guest at the 10th annual Las Cruces International Film Festival, which opened Wednesday and runs through Sunday. This year’s event also honors actress Michelle Hurd and director Cyrus Nowrasteh, who attended New Mexico State University as an undergraduate.

These days, outside numerous film and stage projects, Hunt is an acting coach who regularly hosts play readings at her home. Successful actors, she said, have a foundation and ongoing commitment to their craft that is nurtured in small acting classes.

Hunt repeatedly emphasized study, effort and determination as she fielded questions from NMSU students, local artists and festival patrons.

Hunt played her first movie role at the age of 9, in the 1973 TV film “Pioneer Woman.” She rose to prominence on the television sitcom “Mad About You” before her Oscar-winning performance in the 1997 romantic comedy “As Good As It Gets,” which was screened at the festival Thursday night. She has also won multiple Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards. She recently appeared onstage in a revival of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal” in Chicago and is currently at work on a film, opposite Dustin Hoffman, directed by Peter Greenaway. Hunt has also produced, written and directed for movies and television.

From large-budget action fare to independent dramatic films, she said her approach to each project is the same: “You hope the writing is good. You hope the other actors are good. It doesn’t feel any different to be acting your heart out in a $1 million movie than it feels to be acting your heart out in a $50 million movie. … I’d rather have a small part in something wonderful than a big part in something that I don’t love.”

When it came to advice, Hunt repeatedly exhorted students beginning their careers as actors or filmmakers to persevere, study and refuse to quit.

She also encouraged New Mexico filmmakers to make the most of the state’s expanding film industry and its growing reputation for hosting productions.

“You are living in one of the places that supports independent movies,” she said. “I wouldn’t be in too much of a rush to go anywhere.”

The festival, managed by NMSU students, will exhibit approximately 100 feature-length movies, documentaries, short films and music videos at multiple locations in Las Cruces as well as industry panels and workshops.