Actor Growth

Alright, so the other day I was talking to some people who were asking if I was going to be updating the blog on what has been happening. In general for the most part I am still waiting for that mini surgery to get done. At this point it seems like it will take place in about May. So from there I will have more time to focus on updates and such hopefully in relations to the film business.

Other than that in a strange twist I will be on TV regularly it seems except it isn’t related to acting or the film industry. I agreed to do regular segments for a news network here as a guest expert. So I will frequently be on live TV discussing about various topics. I guess my film background does help here as I didn’t get freaked out over the fact that it is live TV.

So there’s my quick update. Sorry for the lack of posts here as I didn’t think people would want say one liner updates from me as opposed to something that is more like an article.

While browsing through some acting related videos funny enough I bumped into this clip here: http://youtu.be/JsqF79q6i4k

I was like “Hey, that’s Viv.” Essentially, the same acting coach that I studied some classes with. I haven’t spoken to him in a long time as the last time I saw him was when I was trying to get some coaching for an audition.

It was interesting to see in that interview that he did end up creating a web series as it was something he said he was going to do. It’s kind of weird too hearing the advice he gave at the end of the clip as it felt more general in a motivating way as opposed to the advice I remember which was a little more blunt in terms of what the acting business is like.

Either way, it’s always fun watching people you have met pop out in different projects.

That is the first time I have ever heard a producer say this to me. Essentially, today I went to a audition which seemed like a fun hosting gig that simply involved having to read off a teleprompter. The funny thing was I never actually done this before and so that added the level of interest to me.

In this session it was the producer who was directly looking at the talent and he even mentioned even though we were audition for this specific role this would also be for a lot of other potential projects that he has in line. When the audition started I basically did my thing and overall I felt very good about it.

He then commented to me that it went very good and that he doesn’t know exactly what yet but that he can find a way to use me somehow. That`s kind of interesting I thought as I have often read things such as actors reading for certain parts where the casting director thinks the person is also good for something else and so they keep them in mind.

I was a bit still self conscious about this bump in my ear though as it doesn`t seem to be getting better and the pain seems to be increasing. But I suppose it`s kind of good that I can still find some potential things to audition for where this wouldn`t play as a big of a factor.

Today I went to see a different ear doctor to try and see if there was a solution to this failed mini surgery that was supposed to be easy and simple. It seems like the gist of it was that one can’t really tell what the first doctor did wrong and that if they cut into it again it may leave a scar that is even worse.

It’s unfortunate too as even this guy was saying the first doctor should have clearly told me about the possible negative outcomes of this. Instead, all I was told after the consultation was that it would leave a scar. But this is definitely not a “scar” as from what this doctor said everything that needed to get removed during the surgery probably didn’t which results in further complications.

However, he was suggesting that I try to wait it out even more except this time he would prescribe me some ointment to put on the area to see if it helps. This is definitely an irritating situation considering this wasn’t something that I agreed to do because I couldn’t deal with it or that it hindered me in anyway. In some ways I feel like I was shammed by like a used car salesmen with the first doctor and this wasn’t exactly like a cosmetic procedure or anything.

Seems like all I can really do at this point is wait it out and I guess trying to do things where appearance wise it doesn’t matter if this bright red bump exists or not. Kind of tricky in the acting business since almost everything is about looks. What to do, what to do.

Well this was a first and was kind of awkward. Yesterday I went to audition for a role which happened to take place in a film school. It appeared that while this production was auditioning for people there was another group of students auditioning for roles for their own project as well.

Right after my audition I began to head out and before I left the building this guy comes up to me with this “casting call” paper asking if I would be interested in auditioning for their project. It was a student of the school it seemed and boy did he sound nervous. He was just stuttering everywhere saying how they have they project and that if I had time to look it over to see if I would be interested in it.

It was kind of awkward as the guy didn’t tell me anything like what the script was about or what part he thought I would potentially fit well for. That then got me thinking if this was just out of desperation such as they couldn’t find anyone who was willing to volunteer. As I was reading the character breakdown too they all had first and last names that seemed to require a specific ethnicity background that I couldn’t see myself fitting into. Again, it made me wonder if they were simply just desperate. Interesting experience nonetheless.

Maybe it’s just me, but online lately I have been seeing all these ads for the Dr. Phil show about things such as contests for people who are looking for fame. I then saw this video clip that was about parents who believe their child has it all in terms of making it into the entertainment business and so they were put into various scenarios like auditioning in-front of real directors and talent agents.

It felt like some of the stuff in acting class which was kind of fun to watch. One thing that stuck out of my mind was how it felt like some of the parents wanted it more than the actual child did. You could see it as the parents was pushing them hard and the child didn’t seem very enthusiastic.

Talk about pressure. I think for myself the only real pressure I ever received from an adult as a child was my high school teacher. I never had the experience of a family member trying to invest say thousands of dollars on me to try and get all the advantages that I could to enter the industry. I suppose that is both good and bad.

Seeing things like in these clips where the parents tell the child specific gestures they should do as opposed to allowing the child to express the emotions naturally though is probably pretty frustrating. I can only imagine how much more stressful it must be for a child to grow up with expectations that they must make t big, so speak.