Today I wore a skirt and heels to an audition. And the role certainly didn't require it. I was playing a waitress, so I barely looked at the script. Why? Before I hung up my apron for good, I had more than 13 years experience slinging food and drink for tips. I got this.
But what's up with the get-up? It was a snooty, upscale waiter, but still... a skirt? And heels? I looked at those heels and my sore feet rather disapprovingly when I got home. Three inches? Get off my feet! That seemed excessive. But... haven't I heard about taller shoes lately? Much taller? Like, five and six-inch heels? That's insane! Right?
So what's up with the tall shoes these days? Well according to experts, shoe height is at an all-time high. And who is to blame? Apparently Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns. Yep! Thought is, that the recession is driving escapism. Thus, women are towering! Lady Gaga escaped more than anyone, when she strutted her stuff in 12-inch heels for her "Bad Romance" video.
Yikes! Sure, heels make women feel taller, thinner, more stylish and sophisticated, but at the cost of pain, stress fractures and safety hazards galore?
I applaud being fashion-forward, but three inches is my limit. I'm putting my foot down. In a flip-flop.
How nice is it when people are nice?
Sounds so simple, but if you've ever been an actor at an audition and felt unwelcomed, dismissed, or even... a little, (ahem) abused at a casting office, you know just how crappy that feels. You take the time to prepare, drive for what could be two hours in traffic (yes, one way!), normally struggle to find parking, and then usually spend some time waiting among other actors to be called in. Who wants to do all that to be given little or no direction and one take? Upsetting? Yes! Necessary? No!
At an audition yesterday I was taken by the patience, positive energy, and just plain kindness of the session directors. They took the time to make sure I understood everything and got a great take. I left thinking, wow! It should ALWAYS be like that! That's an office that can say, "We love actors!" and actually mean it! And what do you know... I had a callback today. And the clients? So nice!! The first thing the director said to me was, "We loved your audition tape. So great." What? A director who wants to give his actors a confidence boost before performing? Sure, he probably said that to everyone... and that's GREAT! Such a positive experience.
Nice.
First of all, really? Got the audition through my own submission on LA Casting, where I don't have video to submit, so a little weird to me even to be called in for a film. No script in advance, red flag #1. Huge crowd of 20 somethings waiting outside, red flag #2. Multiple duos of 20 somethings acting out the same scene, so weird to witness and pretty sad in many cases. Not a red flag just painful. Sides are not in script format and are not exciting, red flag #3. So why am I still here? Well, I left my cozy home on Easter Sunday and drove to Van Nuys (insert puke a little bit in my mouth here... we all know how I fell about the good parts of the valley!) because the breakdown boasted the project is going to Cannes. I figured if I have to go to Van Nuys to get to Cannes, I suppose I will.
The verdict? Well if I had to guess, I'd say no one there is going to Cannes anytime soon. Not an overall terrible experience, though. They didn't have a reader, so they brought us in two at a time. Kinda felt like a free acting class where the teacher liked us. That's always nice.
And what else was I going to do today anyway? Sit around and eat Easter candy? Making up for that now!
Happy Easter everyone!!
OK, it's just plain cliche to complain about traffic in LA, but this afternoon's travels from the westside to Sherman Oaks, took an hour and 15 minutes. We're talking about an 18 mile trip. What is that??? And the fun didn't stop there! Nope, when I arrived seven minutes late to my commercial callback (Yes, I had a commercial callback! First one in... some time), the casting assistant informed me she'd just called my agent looking for me. Yikes! Is that all? No! I always have had faith that this city does indeed weed out the wackos. Not fool proof, I'm afraid. Ran into the biggest wacko I've ever had to work with minutes later at the callback. I hate to name call, but I was in a class with her and she managed to piss off every single person there. Never seen anything like it. Talk about getting thrown a curve ball right before the big moment. She approached me, of course. (Why?) I failed miserably at pretending I didn't know her. Busted. Barf. Callback went pretty well, though!
If I book it, do I have to start saying I like the valley? Nah!
Happy almost end of the week!!
