Onward and upward!

Well, the Crest audition last week was interesting...

I was on the younger end of the age range, based on the others in the waiting room--and they were auditioning SO many types! Men, women, all races, various looks, etc. I'm not sure if they really knew what they wanted ahead of time, as far as a look went. The audition was interesting in the sense that I got to use a teleprompter for the first time--that was kinda neat! I was excited to learn something new. As for what I did in the audition itself...I knew my lines really well, and I listened to the adjustment and think that I did it, but haven't heard back. Ah well. It was a good learning experience. Onward and upward!

It is always interesting to me to see the commercials I've auditioned for, once they hit the airwaves. Many times, the individuals that were cast look nothing like me or are older than me. I was also once called back for a spot where they really wanted a Latina actress--which was evident in the waiting room, as I was the least Latina-looking actress in the room (despite being 1/4 Spanish, I most often am told that I look Irish, because of my freckles--oddly enough, I am not at all Irish...the fair skin comes from the French Canadian side). In one cast, the part I auditioned for was cut out of the commercial completely! So, it is true that you never really know why something doesn't work out. It's easier to take it less personally when you see that the commercial has someone who looks nothing like you. I've seen only two that had women who somewhat resembled me, and I was called back for both of those spots.

This is an ongoing process of learning to not take things personally, which I think is a great lesson overall. I am trying to work on not being so overly anxious about getting out there and booking work, because I so want to be working and I am very much ready to be doing so. :)

Had a casting director workshop last week, too--it was intense, for a workshop. The CD really worked with every actor, often interrupting scenes to ask character-based questions to make sure the actors understood the scene and what was going on...it was like going to a second acting class, except that he wasn't talking about technique as much as he was almost investigating the type of work we'd thought about for each character. If that makes sense. He was fairly blunt with his comments at times, and while he had no comment about the backstory I'd created for my character, he gave me a couple of small adjustments, including one to pick up my beats. I made the adjustments he asked for, particularly concerning the pacing, and felt fine with the scene in the end. It wasn't the best scene in terms of writing--it was supposedly sitcom, but had almost no traditional sitcom beats or phrasing. (I say that with confidence, as I write sitcom myself and have studied a fair number of sitcom pieces.) However, what he wanted was a sitcom reading, and I think we got closer to that with the final run through. As I made my way back to my seat, he did tell me that I did a good job, so who knows? Anyway, I felt good about picking up the pacing well and taking the adjustments well. I think I generally take adjustments well, which is great.

So, I'm finishing up the last scene of Mad Men with Ben (in class this week), then I have no idea what I'm doing as far as scenes go...need something new to tackle! :) Class is always more productive for me if I have a specific thing to focus on for a while, like one character or script. I think that's true for a lot of people, actually--I always see a lot of growth in actors when they commit to doing every scene from a film, that sort of thing.

I'm holding off on more CD workshops through the end of the month--may have one that I'll go standby on next week, though. In the meantime, I am trying to figure out how to keep busy and keep the momentum going. I do need to work on the 2nd episode of the show--I've got about 9 pages written, all of it very rough. A lot of it is simply placeholding dialogue, if that makes sense.

I have a couple of plugs, by the way:

http://www.comebacklittlehorny.com
Fun play, in the Hollywood area, featuring some solid performances, including one by an actor we're looking at for the show. :) Check it out!

http://www.harveyandbobshow.com
Podcast movie reviews and popculture discussions (related to films), done my a friend of mine and his pal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oq3pfKgLFQ
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=109642&id=772153053&l=cd8ba0bf31
Video and photo gallery of the cat that I am currently fostering (as of last week). He's very playful, outgoing and sweet, only 14 months old and still totally a kitten in a lot of ways--everything is a toy for him. He needs a new Forever Home. :) If you click on the links, you should get more info along with the video and the photos.