Archive by Author

Give it your all, and then let it all go

28 Mar

I’ve walked out of an audition thinking that was the worst I’d ever done. I’ve walked out thinking that was the best. And I’ve made the mistake of hanging onto every word, movement, reaction from the casting director hours later. It’s a waste of time.

The best thing you can do (and I understand it’s not the easiest!) is to go in, give it your all, and then let it all go. I like looking at every audition as another opportunity to perform. That is what I enjoy doing most after all. So walking into that room I’m feeling good, excited even but not nervous because I may not know how to “audition” but I sure as hell know how to perform. When I leave I then forget about. I’m already thinking about the next thing. Where am I having dinner that night or what are my weekend plans.  Then, when I do get a call that I got a call back or I got the job it is sheer icing on the cake. It reduces stress level big time and I think even improves the quality of my audition itself.

It’s the same way I like to approach acting in a film or play. You do the work- the research, the script analysis, the physicalizations of the character, memorizing lines, connecting to the story, your scene partner, etc etc. But when it comes time to shoot or to perform in front of the audience, I let it all go. I did the work so I trust that I’ve done what I need to do to give the best performance and therefore I will.

Give it your all, and then let it all go!

Like A Sponge

7 Mar

This is a post I somehow never got around to writing, so it pertains to an experience I had almost a year ago.

I spent one late afternoon and evening last March helping out as an extra on a friend’s film. I met her through a mutual friend who I knew from my  acting class I was taking at the time. (This is networking people! Not just exchanging business cards at a mixer). The mutual friend was putting together a speed reel and needed another actress to be in it so she asked me. Her friend directed it and that is how we met. We loosely kept in touch and here and there and I’d get emails from her needing some help either as an assistant, PA, grip or extra. For this particular project I was free the day she needed a few extras so I agreed to do it. I am very glad I did. Since it was a low budget feature, the scene was small and there were only a handful of extras. Therefore, we were not treated like cattle (as I have been before, enough to turn me off from ever doing extra work, at which point I vowed to only do it for special occasions like this one).

I was on set for most of the day silently taking everything around me in, soaking it up like a sponge. I observed the way they ran the production- the people involved, what they were doing, how efficiently were they running their set (all things to keep in mind whenever I got around to making my own movie). I observed the two lead actors do their one scene take after take. Did they have a process? What was working? What wasn’t working? Why? I actually read for the lead role and did not get cast so I also thought ok, why was she cast? Why does her look work? Was I the right type or the wrong type? I took in how my friend directed. How did she get the necessary performances out of her actors. Was she communicating effectively. If I were in their shoes would I understand what she meant? Would I want more direction? Less direction? Would I chime in with my own opinion? Would I simply take the orders?

It was a great learning experience. To be able to soak that much up without having to endure the trial and error on your own was invaluable. Of course I think it is important to learn and try and fail yourself, it’s also great when you can get a little leg up whatever way you can. Not to mention, I helped out a friend. That is how bridges are built and in this town you want as many bridges as you can get.

Actorfest LA: Best Bet or Bust?

23 Nov

Two weeks ago was Backstage’s annual Actor Fest LA . I wrote this post after my experience attending ActorFest last November:

From my experience (and by my experience I mean I’ve only attended Actorfest once so please take this with a grain of salt) this one-day event is awesome… in theory. In reality, it can be one giant waste of time. But, if you have slightly more patience than I did, and lower expectations, you can make the most of this networking extravaganza.

My mistake was setting the bar too high.

I signed up for Actorfest, figuring it couldn’t hurt. I read up on all of the awesome lectures, workshops, panel discussions and casting director meet-ups and thought what a productive way to spend a Saturday—working on my career.

It was a busy morning. I was coming straight from a Team in Training practice run that I really didn’t want to miss, so I brought all my clothes, makeup and headshot/resumes with me. I raced Downtown to the California Market Center where the Fest is held. In the lot, I quickly and inconspicuously traded my runner shorts, tank and sneakers for a button down, black mini skirt and pink heels, did a speedy touchup with hair and makeup and was good to go.  I made it just in time for the one panel discussion I had signed up for (every panel discussion cost $; $ I lack), “__” It was great. Towards the end we were allowed to write questions for the casting directors and agents on little white index cards that the panel monitors then collected and read out loud. I didn’t fill one out, as I couldn’t think of anything. I could’ve been more prepared with a slew of questions (something I recommend you do, if you plan on attending Actorfest ever), but the cards that were read out covered anything I would’ve thought of anyway.

After the discussion I was feeling good about this whole Actorfest thing. I hadn’t a chance to eat yet, so I decided this was a good time to grab a muffin and an OJ and sit down with my huge Backstage Actorfest program to create a game plan for the rest of the day. But as soon as I sat down, about to take a bite of my bran muffin, a slight pale-faced woman came stumbling towards me. She didn’t look too great as she barely got out the words, “Can I sit here for a minute?” reaching her arms out as if to catch her fall. “Sure,” I said, worried, pulling out the chair for her. Then she started mumbling something about having taken too much Motrin or Midol (it was hard to understand). She said she was feeling faint and I told her she probably should eat something, offering her my muffin. “No,” she politely declined. Though I know what it’s like to feel faint, panicky or out of it and I knew she wanted it. “Go ahead, take it. You should eat something,” I insisted, sliding it across the table to her. “Thank you,” she whispered, breaking off a piece of muffin and then resting her head in her arms. She continued taking little bites in between resting her head, as I tried to calm her down. Eventually, a security guard or first-aid guy came with a bottle of water and escorted her out.

I couldn’t help but wonder, why was she so overwhelmed? What had her in such a panic? Could it have been the over-stimulation of all the acting-networking-casting stuff all around her? Constant reminders in every direction of everything you still haven’t done or even considered to further your career? Hell, I started feeling woozy.

I continued downstairs to the huge exhibit hall where there were rows and rows of info-booths covering a range of services, from actor’s insurance to Australian acting technique. I attempted to explore the different exhibitors, while I waited for one of the Casting Director meet-and-greets I decided to attend to begin. I was collecting a fair amount of flyers and pamphlets (that wound up as scratch paper on my desk) as I made my way down the aisles when I noticed a long line of anxious actors wrapping around the entire room. I asked one of the many headshot/resume-holding attendees what the line was for and they answered, the casting director meet and greets. I couldn’t believe it, so I thought I better jump in line.

THREE hours later I get to the front of the line when an Actorfest employee puts up the rope. “Sorry,” she says, without an ounce of remorse, “Mark Teschner (Days of Our Lives casting director) wont be seeing anymore people today. He has to cut out early.” The few of us who made it to this coveted spot start shooting out questions. “Please,” the woman says, silencing us. “He’s already left. Oh, and there are no more Casting Directors to meet for the day.” You’ve got to be kidding! I felt like an idiot. I just wasted three hours of my life just to NOT meet the casting director for fuckin’ Days of Our Lives! What was I thinking? And what was going to happen in those 180 seconds anyway? “Oh my god, Nina, you have the look we’ve been searching for! Please audition for us tomorrow!” Yeah right.

I was furious, but there was nothing I could do. I dropped off the remaining headshot/resumes I had brought in the casting director drop off boxes (who knows if they ever look through them) and got in my car for a nice, long, reflective drove home. Lesson learned: a cattle call is always a cattle call, even if supported by a reputable organization like Backstage. Next time, I’ll stick to the panel discussions.

Racially Blind Casting… or, not?

26 Jul

As a Japanese- Hungarian-Irish woman who type casts as Mexican, I am so very torn on the issue of ethnically-specific casting versus blind casting.

I think, in terms of the bigger picture, if a theater company wants to expand and diversify their membership, then perhaps ethnic characters are a good way to do that. If the play calls for ethnically specific roles, which our group cannot satisfy, then it is a perfect opportunity to reach out to a theater community who might not be as aware of our company.

But that means I can’t play the Mexican. And that is almost all I play.

Read full post here at the Diversity at NOTE blog
← Older Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,065 other followers