Easy Does it

As I was fortunate enough to be in on a paid acting job the other day, it seems right to say something on the matter. Something that has occurred to me a number of times is that the difficulty level of paid acting work is not necessarily the greatest of anything a performer might do. It might be, of course, but there are plenty of occasions in which things one does for a class are considerably more challenging. This recent one bears that out, although I'm reluctant to discuss it in specific.

In improv class, the sort with which I have the most personal familiarity, there are things that test me from beginning to end. Even the warm-up exercises can be tough. There's a word association game which is meant to force you not to analyze your options before making a decision. You're given a word by the person on your left and must respond with the first thing in your head before continuing the cycle with the person on your left. The key is maintaining the rhythm. It's a scary game because of the ugly words that might come out because you're disabling your filter.

Steps

It's another day and another missed deadline, but tomorrow is another day. In any case, recent events turn my attention to the steps that result in booking an acting job. I can only speak for myself on the strength of my own limited experience, of course. If you're fortunate, you get in the room for an audition in the first place. Of all the people that want to, not many do. There's a casting office with this sign on the wall that says how many typically do (with the point being that you ought to have gratitude for getting as far as you do even if you don't get as far as you'd like).

If you do well in the audition, that's probably not the end of it, although I did book something after just one audition. That's atypical. More likely you get a callback. Instead of just one person in the room, you're facing several, and you may be called on to do more than you did in the first audition or to do something very different. It's a more nerve-wracking experience, although I think I'm getting better with repetition.

Slip

I had a lapse. For a good while, I managed to hold off on buying VHS tapes so that I could finally make a dent in the backlog of unwatched tapes that has grown wildly out of control. I even got under 60 the other day. I had every intention of staying away from the places where I buy them, knowing that even walking in the building was likely to be too much for my resolve. Maybe it was just never going to be for me on that stuff.

It's really not so bad. What happened is that I had an audition. A fair amount of them are on the south end of the Hollywood neighborhood. That's where sound stages, casting agencies and the like can actually be found in the area (and all around the rest of the city, of course). When I get out of an audition, I'm a churning pot of powerful emotions. It's an intense experience to put yourself on the line all exposed like that, and whether it goes well or not, you feel like Frankenstein's monster after he got that jolt.

After Hash

It remains to be seen whether anything will come of the audition I wrote about yesterday. A few days with no word will probably signify that I didn't get anything out of it, but for now anything is possible. I can say how the trouble I went to in advance seemed to do any good. I can say this not because of the outcome yielded (since I probably will never know no matter what happens), but more because of what other people chose to do.

That doesn't really prove anything, but let's roll with it. I bought a long white women's jacket that resembled a lab coat. Does that seem wise in retrospect? I can say that a fair number of the other men auditioning were wearing lab coats. It may have been half and half, so had I not gone to the trouble, I would have felt a little ill at ease, but I probably would not have felt fatally unprepared. Once I got in there and started doing my thing, it wouldn't have been on my mind anymore.

Clothes For The Job

Most of the time, I don't go to a lot of trouble to prepare a look for an audition. I do what's necessary, but that doesn't entail procuring a lot of new items every time one comes up. Often something subtle and vague creates an adequate effect. They say that what matters is the performance. For what I do, it's my look, which would suggest that the outfit matters a lot, but that's only true to a point. I think that, at least. I haven't conquered this world yet, so I could be wrong.

I have a fair number of costume pieces at home to work with. There is a whole box of props and costume stuff that I am really only a custodian of, but in the absence of constant use for its intended purpose as a supply cache for comedy sketches, light use for auditions seems entirely reasonable to me. I've used things from it to great effect in the past, including part of a nurse uniform that I wore in one of the commercials that I booked.

An Actor Deserving

I'm fond of the actor Neal McDonough. I believe, of course, that I saw him first in the HBO miniseries "Band Of Brothers", where he played one of the more memorable characters. I regretted not seeing more of him, but then there was an enormous ensemble of mostly very good actors who demanded attention of their own. It was, I though, a fine launching point for McDonough, who surely was off to bigger things.

That has not really come to fruition in the years since then. It's not clear to me why not. He has worked a ton, but often in projects unworthy of him. The best thing he's had was probably his bit part in "Captain America". He also played a villain in the "Walking Tall" remake. He has not had anything like the starring role in a prominent film that he deserves. It may not be too late for him, but if he couldn't get it off Band Of Brothers, then I don't know.

Assorted Activities

This past Thursday, like the Thursday before it, was an eventful one for me. It began with an audition. It was an absurdly easy one, so if I get the part, it will be because I was born to play it. It was purely based on looks, to the point that it might have been for a print ad instead of a TV commercial, and they hardly needed to have me physically come in. I didn't mind so much, since the audition was one of maybe three to take place in my own neighborhood.

I didn't have plans after that, but because I was in and out of the audition so quickly, I reasoned that I ought to go to my Toastmasters meeting as I would have if the audition had not come up. The best and only way to reach the meeting in a reasonable amount of time was to walk, as I have plenty of times in the past. I actually made the meeting on time, and it was a good one. They say it's good to have an activity to take your mind off an audition right after it happens, and so I was well taken care of on that score this time.

New Experience

Children are a necessity in TV, film, commercials and such. I had thought that you have to use twins or triplets, but maybe that's not true. My only firsthand knowledge is in auditions. I have been in a few where there were a lot of kids hanging around, and you have to be wary. You never know when one is going to bump into you or overhear you cursing. The presence of kids also means that the waiting area is clogged with at least one parent per kid. It's a nuisance.

I never had to deal personally with kids. It was always the case that the minors auditioned separately from the adults, or that the kids were auditioning for a different commercial entirely. That was fine by me, although I don't have a problem with kids. I like them fine, but I don't really know how to deal with them. I can't think of how to interact with them except to do what I would do with someone grown-up. I have put my hand out to shake with multiple babies. They all left me hanging.

A Trial With A Smile

I said Thursday was a busy day, and so it was. Looking back, I don't know how much of it was really all that interesting to me, let alone to anyone else. Still, if one means to offer up a slice of life, there's only one pie to choose from, right? I had an audition on Thursday, I think I mentioned. That was how I happened to be around the library to see the telescopes which I wrote about on Friday. In fact, I went in the library twice, before and after the audition.

I had been at my Toastmasters meeting when a notice came in for an audition later the same day. This was the second time that happened to me, and I'm terribly thankful that there were no logistical problems that could have kept me from making either one. This time was about as perfect as it could be. It was a nice, easy audition in a very easy to get to location. The whole thing was nice, but I'm great at finding reasons to be anxious.

A Place Of Work

There is a particular casting office that I have been to a number of times now. A casting office, I should say, is a place where various companies contracted to locate actors for various commercials, TV shows and such hold their auditions. This one is about the largest I have personally been to, and over the last few months, I've been to a good number of them. I would say also it's my favorite to visit for a few reasons.

It's fairly conveniently located (in Hollywood), which cannot be said of them all. The ones in Santa Monica are particularly distant, and while they are not impracticably remote, I don't favor visiting them. It's in a fairly good neighborhood, which is also not a universally true quality as far as casting offices go. There is a great grocery store just down the street and another across the street. I like visiting them both before and after auditions.

Act Together

Part of what is easy about auditioning for acting roles is that everything which follows the audition process is academic. Whatever it is that you do during the auditions, the odds are against your ever doing them on a set. The relaxation that comes from that actually makes it more likely that you will get to play the role on a set, but mostly you don't. When I do get the gig, I feel like Robert Redford at the end of "The Candidate", when he asks "Now what?"

The sorts of things I have gotten so far happen fast. You audition for a thing and forget about it. It occupies your attention for a matter of hours, and maybe as much as a day. It's remarkable how quickly it's out of your mind once it's over. You beat yourself up for a few minutes, then you purge it from your system. You get the callback and audition again a week or so later. You go through that same process again, except a little more anxious because more people are watching.

Sweet Relief

All this week, I've been working on memorizing nine and a half pages of nearly uninterrupted dialoge for a web series I was set to act in. As if that wasn't enough, I had to deliver these lines in a German accent, which I had never really attempted seriously. I found at an early stage that my efforts to approximate Siegfried from "Get Smart" was not adequate, and I was directed to learn a grounded, realistic accent. Thus was incited a long process of working and waiting.

A good amount of the months which transpired before the big shoot day was not spent actually working on either the lines or the accent. I've had plenty on my plate, and so it often seemed like something that could wait. Every now and then I'd spend a little time on it, but not so much that I could really gain momentum. The anxiety of knowing that I was running out of time to properly prepare for the inevitable mounted.

Don't Show Your Work

There are a lot of important things to know about auditions. Some of them are things I know already, and some of them are things that I have yet to learn. One thing that was useful is to put each one behind you- to not think about what you did wrong and to not beat yourself up for blowing it. This is awfully important because the outcomes of these auditions are so unpredictable. They are to me, anyway. You can think you were terrible and get it anyway.

That makes something that I already knew very important. As long as the people who matter are around, you have to hide any negative feelings about what you're doing. You have to bury them deep inside and display nothing but feelings of confidence and positivity. This way, it's truly your performance that will doom you if anything does- not the way you feel about your performance. I'm certain that's paid off for me.

Game To Play Before You Play

It is a really interesting thing to go through the audition process. There are some unpleasant aspects to it, but mostly things go in a way that minimizes pain and stress. That's what I find to be the case. I provide the anxiety. If you can get past the issue of putting yourself on the line or having anything at stake, there's some really fascinating stuff going on. I find that focusing on that puts you in a better state of mind than focusing on the audition.

As I have said before,  you see different types at these auditions. Often you don't really know what the commercial (or whatever it is) will be like, and so you see distinct categories of people that partly clue you in to the cast of characters. You find out soon enough what's what, but in that waiting period (which isn't as long as you'd think), it's a stimulating exercise to guess. I don't know how close I've come to guessing right.

Remember

As I get further along into acting, I find myself confronted more and more with the necessity of memorizing. For live performances and for the screen, I have found it necessary to memorize not just lines, but actions and positions. It is challenging, although I find that it is within my ability. Even in improv comedy, it has sometimes been necessary. In one form of improv, called the Armando, one must pluck details from a story and create scenes from them. It can be rather hard to remember those details.

In scripted acting, I have had my fair share of lines to learn. Doing my one man show, there was twenty minutes of uninterrupted material, but I was lucky enough to be memorizing my own material, and so I had a considerable margin for error. If I were to have forgotten lines and improvised new ones in order to cover my mistake, who would have been to say that I had failed to deliver my lines as intended? Perhaps I had done a last-minute re-write.

"Us" And "Them"

Something that's rather interesting about acting professionally is what types of people you are aligned with and what sorts you contrast with when placed in proximity. Whether one is on set or in auditions, it's common enough to be in large groups who share attributes with you. In this way, you can learn a little about yourself by seeing what company you are forced into. This is as instructional as what any friend could tell you.

I have hardly been acting for so very long, but I've been in a few auditions and seen what sorts of people are around me. They are not your conventionally handsome sorts. Some look more like me than others, but it all adds up to quite a picture, even when what you all share is a general inappropriateness for a certain job. That aside, I consider myself to be in an enviable position. There looks to be plenty of work for me.

Contested

The other day, a friend of mine inquired of me whether I wanted to be in a speculative commercial, and I of course accepted. This was for the big Doritos contest wherein the winner has their commercial played during the Super Bowl and wins a big cash prize. For Doritos the benefits are obvious, but let's not focus on that. The experience and its aftermath are enough for me to write about at length without making things unpleasant.

I knew very little about what the commercial was to be except that it was to take place in an office. I came to find that it was being shot very far away, and the plot of it became apparent to me after arriving. Suffice it to say that the nature of the commercial played much to my strengths, and that while I was far from the focus of it, there was plenty for me to do. Of course, I was granted the task of dancing on camera.

On Screen

It's an interesting thing when you perform on camera. It's all very repetitive and disjointed. Sometimes you're working very hard and doing a lot, and at other times you're doing nothing and waiting. It's different from live performance. When you do something live, you get pretty instant feedback. Either way a director or writer is giving you feedback, but in live performance it goes out there right away and you know whether people like it.

I did a music video a while ago, but it's only just out now. For me there's a bit of emotional distance already, but for those who are getting into it, it's just happening now. The lag time is interesting. I guess that I didn't have to wait to know whether my friends would like it. They were effusive with praise for the mere premise of the video, and so far no one has expressed disappointment when faced with the thing itself.

After Casting, The Urge To Be Plastered

In life, things can turn around on you in dramatic fashion. We hear of the hunter becoming the hunted, and of the child's first educator requiring education from their very own progeny. For me the more recent change in positions seems amusing to me, though it may not to anyone else really. As you'll recall I wrote yesterday of trooping off nearly two hours to be interviewed by (and to myself interview) an agent- a person who would attempt to drum up opportunities to be cast in things.

The person who was yesterday to be cast today does the casting. In a switch that sounds like it might come from a Bob Dylan song, I find myself in the position of casting acting friends in a modest comedy sketch (although it perhaps does us all a disservice to underrate it so). I think I may not be suited for this end of things to the exclusion of all others. There is much about it that I would just as soon leave to another.

Actoring

Yesterday I finally got to a long-awaited acting gig. It was a modest endeavor, and rather because of the financial footing of the thing than because of the talent level concerned. I felt fortunate to be involved with as many fine performers and other creative types as I was on the occasion, for it is not always the case. I'm not yet some kind of accomplished professional whose keen eye for such projects is rightly admired, but I can say that I was more interested than average in this one.

The script, vigorously protected as it was, was a good one. I certainly do not deny my selfish streak, and the character assigned to me looked to be a fun one. I got the idea that, although I was called on to wear a suit, I was not selected merely because I was known to own one. It was perhaps presumed that I did as it was that the others did, but I trust that I made the cut against other suit-owning actors because of other merits.