In this heartfelt video, actor Aaron Marcus pays tribute to the late Andre Braugher, sharing personal memories from his time as a stand‑in and later as an auditioning actor on the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street. Marcus recounts observing Braugher’s magnetic screen presence, his dedication to honesty and integrity, and a memorable three‑actor interrogation scene that exemplified Braugher’s craft. He also describes the audition strategy that secured his own role alongside Braugher and Kyle Secor, and offers broader life and career advice about pursuing passions and cherishing relationships. The video concludes with a call‑to‑action for viewers to subscribe, engage with the community, and follow a link to the audition strategy that helped launch his TV career.
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In this video, which is probably the most difficult video I've ever recorded and shot, is about remembering the great Andre Braugher. Just, just an amazing actor, and I just want to tell you a couple of my experiences with him. Also, if you watch this to the end, you're going to get a bonus video. that I know you're going to really like. It's one audition strategy that got me cast in my first NBC TV show, which was Homicide: Life on the Street, and I had a scene with Andre Braugher. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus. Welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center. Where I share information with you based on my 38-plus years of working as a full-time actor. So I wanted to tell you about Andre Braugher, and it's— it feels very difficult to, to do this. And look, I wasn't friends with him. You know, it's not like I had a personal relationship with him. I did spend a year and a half With him, I was working— I got cast as a stand-in on the TV show Homicide: Life on the Street. It was based on a David Simon book. He took a year off from working as a reporter for a newspaper and spent time with homicide detectives. First few seasons, the show was groundbreaking. Really was. It was really a phenomenal show, and I was excited to be hired as a stand-in. I learned— and I'll do a video, a different video, just about experiences— but it was an eye-opening experience. I got an opportunity to watch up front just some phenomenal Phenomenal actors. Ned Beatty, Clark Johnson was great, Andre Braugher, Kyle Secor, just to name— Melissa Leo, just to name a few. And here's what I wanted to share with you about Andre Braugher. And actually, there were a couple things that you, you probably don't know him from Homicide: Life on the Street. It was a long time ago. It was the early '90s. He most recently, you might have seen him in the comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He was in the movie many years ago, Glory, about the Civil War. But let me just tell you, he just passed away very unexpectedly. He was only 61, and I know everything is kind of relative age-wise, but to me, That's— it was shocking to me. And so I just wanted to share a couple of memories about him. Number one, he was, he was brilliant. Besides going to Stanford and Juilliard, he was a powerful actor. I mean, he was just somebody when he was on screen, your eyes went to him. It was on him. He brought Honesty, integrity, just brilliance to everything he did, whether it was in comedy or drama, dramatic scenes. And if you ever get a chance, go back and watch the beginning, the first year or two of Homicide: Life on the Street. I believe— once again, it's been a long time since I was there. Oh, and by the way, one other thing I'll share. After I stopped being a stand-in, it was a couple of years later, I had a chance to audition for the show and actually had a scene with Kyle Secor and Andre Braugher, and it was really very special. One of the things that I loved about watching him perform was his integrity. He took great pride in what he did. He wanted to get rid of stereotypes that we had seen in a lot of films and TV shows. And one of the things that I remember overhearing him talk about was he was— so he was a homicide detective. And I remember, and I can't remember who the third actor was, and I'm pretty sure this is accurate, there was an entire episode of 3 actors in one room, and this guy was being interrogated by Carl Sycor and Andre Braugher. And I remember he was, he was talking about how his job as an actor was to sell something that the guy who was being Interviewed or interrogated, didn't want to buy, but he had to buy it. And it was like that for a lot of people. They called it in the box, where they were in the box. That was the room. And essentially, he had to get this person to admit that he committed the murder. So he was selling something that people did not want to buy. But he had to get them to buy it. And it was really— it was powerful. Entire episode of 3 people in one room. Once again, it was unheard of. And unfortunately, I can't remember the other actor's name who was being interrogated. He was phenomenal as well. And so I guess the, the, the one other thing that, that I just wanted to mention Before wrapping up here, it was— once again, he wasn't, he wasn't a friend. He is not somebody I spent time with, talked, but he was, he was very memorable to me. And, and watching him, it was like taking an acting class every single day. And I guess the other aspect of it is, you know, sometimes life can be short, you know, or, you know, death can come unexpectedly. And I guess one of the things that just kind of hit me and is what I also wanted to share with you is that don't take every day for granted. If there's something that is interesting to you and something you want to pursue, no matter what it is, You know, even if there is fear, even if there is this unknown, go after it because you have the chance to do it now. I mean, certainly you want to do it in a smart way and not haphazardly, but go after it. And the other thing is, don't take the people in your life, in your lives, for granted. You know, always, you know, surround yourself with those people that you care about and people that you trust, and let them know how much you care about them and how meaningful they are, because you just never know what might happen from day to day. So once again, this is— it feels like a difficult video, but it also feels like a very important one that I do want to share with you. Just at the end here, 2 couple quick things. If you haven't done this yet, please subscribe, click the notification bell so you always know when a new video is being uploaded. If you like it, please give it a thumbs up and share, share this information with your fellow actors just so we can Help each other here in this world. I mean, to me, that's what all of this is about, you know, learning from each other, sharing information. And by the way, if you ever happen to have any experiences with Andre Braugher, please share your comments here, even if it wasn't personal, just from watching him. If it's anything that you took away from your experience, Please share it here. I'd love to do this tribute to him. He really was a very special, talented actor, and he had a family. Very last thing, and I will put the link up here so you can see the one audition strategy that got me booked on my first NBC show. And like I said, it was Homicide: Life on the Street. And I had the honor and privilege of working in this scene with Andre Braugher and Kyle Secord. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I look forward to talking with you again soon. See ya.
