Band Of Brothers

So I went to my audition yesterday morning for the lead in an indie feature. Thankfully, this time (because it doesn't happen very often) we were given the sides 3 days in advance, giving me loads of time to work on it. When something is written well, I can usually see it play out in my head like a movie, which helps tremendously because I can actually SEE me doing it. This time though, I had about 8 pages of dialogue and action to contend with so I called a couple of friends to help. In addition to them reading lines with me, one of my friends spent a good hour on the phone talking about the scenes and the characters. I found in talking with her that I had come up with choices much more specific than I thought I had. CUT TO: Saturday morning. I walked into that audition confident that I had done everything I could to prepare. I went into the room and did my thing. As I was leaving, the casting director said "Thank you so much for coming in. I hope you get it." She probably said that to everyone as they were leaving, but it was still a nice little pat on the back. As soon as I walked out I turned my phone on and it started ringing. Everyone who had worked with me was calling to see how it went. I cannot tell you how much that meant to me. I know I have a cheerleading squad behind me and that makes a huge difference in this business. I just wanted to use this post to say thank you to everyone who spent their time prepping me and caring enough to see how it went. You guys are truly amazing.

Sheesh!

What can I say, I can be indecisive. I have a blog, I don't have a blog, I'm blogging on MySpace, I delete it...I'm a girl. It's a given. I decided to start blogging again because I really need to chronicle my life as as an actor here in La La Land as a reminder to myself. It's just too good to pass up. Every time I think I've seen it all, I see something else that just cracks me up. Like the homeless guy pushing a grocery cart the other day while talking on his cellphone (not kidding!). It was just SO LA. Anywho, on to why I'm here...I've been here for two years now. Some complaints, but not that many. How can you complain when you're going after your dream? I'll never understand people who are content with just going through the motions...anyway I digress...in those two years, I feel like I've accomplished some stuff, but I'm not even close to where I want to be. Since arriving, I've booked 5 indie films, 4 of which disinegrated, 1 is on hold, had some callbacks for some national commercials, shot some student films, did some workshops, met some people, have had who knows how many auditions..all of the things you're supposed to do. But there seems to be one area that is just not within my reach, tv. Why is this? I'm doing everything I can to let the tv people know I exist. I attend the workshops, I postcard, I submit..so wtf? Every single one of my friends that's an actor (which is most of them) have at least had a co-star role on something. So where am I going wrong? What about me is so intrinsically NOT television? I've even gotten good feedback in the workshops. But alas, no calls. There are those that say some actors are tv actors and some are not. I refuse to believe this. I think it boils down to the show and I KNOW there are some shows that I'm just right for. Hello? Grey's Anatomy casting, have you seen me? Seen my headshot? Ya know your character Addison? She has no siblings? The ironic thing about it is that before I moved here, when people would ask what kind of actor I wanted to be, I would always answer "a film actor." My answer hasn't changed. I love film. I love the whole process, but that doesn't mean I don't ever want to do tv! Here's my catch 22 though (and everything in the entertainment industry seems to be a catch 22) most of the credits on my resume are for film. Why? Because the market I came from pretty much only has film. I can't exactly get a tv credit when we didn't have any tv! Of course once I move one of the casting offices starts working for One Tree Hill and Prison Break..but that's another story. I'm sure I'm not griping about anything that almost every other actor in LA isn't griping about but SHEESH! when is it my turn?

Griping over and on to more positive things...I've taken several classes since arriving here (Shannon Eubanks WHERE ARE YOU WHEN I NEED YOU!!!) and have finally FINALLY found a class that I LOVE. This class is NOT for the meek. They will rip you apart. Sometimes that's what we need to break old habits or to get to the next level. Well, I got ripped a new one last week and guess what, it pushed me to the next level. Since joining this class, I have my first audition tomorrow (for an indie feature film) and I CAN'T WAIT to use the things I've learned! I'll let you know how it goes. Peace Out!