Actor Growth

So my agent called me today and told me that Stargate Universe was interested in booking me again tomorrow for some background work. Unfortunately, as you all know I have the audition tomorrow. At first my agent asked if it was changeable and I did phone the producers. Apparently, it wasn’t possible due to the short notice and that there are over 50 people auditioning for the role.

As a result, I decided to go for the audition instead of the paid background work as to me auditioning for this feature can potentially do more for my career as opposed to working as a background guy. The only drawback to not taking the Stargate Universe work is apparently whoever does the casting has me in a “just call” type of mentality as I suppose I have a good reliable track record.

But, I think this is the best decision for me.

So I have an audition coming up on Wednesday and for this one the script apparently calls for a lot of embracing between the guy and the girl. As you may know, in an audition the reader is usually far away from you and there is not suppose to be any physical contact which makes this very strange as I am not yet sure how to tackle this.

I remember in the last workshop I was in there was an actor that was doing a scene where his character was suppose to be play fighting with another person such as messing the guy’s hair up. Sure enough, the acting coach told him to do it and he was literally just swinging his arms in the air.

It was kind of odd I must say and was surprised that he just didn’t scrap that out as many times on audition sides they cut out a lot of parts. Although, recently while auditing the other acting program one of the reader said he once had to have the actor sit on his lap and so maybe for this they will break the rules like that too.

Either way, this is going to bug me until the actual audition day.

I was reading some comments today where actors were talking about that whole the camera adds 10 pounds debacle which means you have to be even more fit than you think. Some commented where if that was true then those skinny people you see on tv must be even skinnier in real life.

I’m personally not a very large person myself as I stay active a lot and am one of those people who seem to have a crazy fast metabolism. Do I notice the weight gain differences on camera? Yes and no. The difference reminds me of say someone switching from full screen mode on a TV to a widescreen mode where everything is stretched out a little more sometimes.

Although, there are sometimes where I see people on set where you can see them live and on a screen preview as the show is filming. In some cases it definitely looks like they ballooned a few extra pounds that is noticeable.

Trying to lose weight just for the camera though doesn’t seem right to me. This is one of those things where it comes down to a lifestyle choice I’d say. For example, I just happen to do hobbies that require you to be physically fit to a certain extent and so for me this is not torture or a drag to do.

From my experience too, even if the camera does add 10 pounds, I have personally never seen that completely change a person’s physique category, so to speak. Example, a 100 pound person still looks like a 100 pound’ish person and a 300 pound person still looks like a 300 pound person category wise.

So I submitted myself for a film that was advertised in the casting workbook and based on the breakdown it looked like there were potentially two characters that I was interested in reading for. Sure enough, they replied back that they would arrange an audition time and would provide the sides for at least two characters.

I always find auditioning for two different characters to be little strange as you tend to focus on one more than the other. Interestingly enough, because of this sometimes you tend to try and do too much with one character while being more relaxed with the other one. Ironically, the one that you spent less time with ended up being better.

Another thing that was interesting was that the people mentioned that the audition times would be for about 15 minutes which I thought was incredibly long compared to other auditions. Guess they want to be thorough with their choices.

That was a unique way of saying it I thought. The other day I was listening to an acting coach talking about how there can be a gazillion reasons on why you didn’t get the part and so you shouldn’t think too much of it. Example, they wanted someone taller, a specific ethnicity, etc.

He then used a humorous example of going into an interview for a bank job first where you have to sit in a room with all of the other applicants (Hence the audition). Then, as you are in the interview room imagine that they think you are the perfect candidate skill wise and it sounds like you got the job.

Eventually, they decide they can’t use you as they want a girl to attract more female audience and at the same time they need specific colored person to help with the company’s diversity image. Not only that, since they hired the girl, even though you are qualified to do the job you were shorter than the girl which wasn’t acceptable for them and so they hired another person.

Where else but in the world of acting can hiring someone be this discriminating and judgmental? Everyone was just laughing at that too as we all know that is just the way it works in this field and we just need to learn not to take rejections personally.

Yesterday I heard a conversation where a bunch of actors were talking about the things that they have tried thus far to promote their acting career. Example, taking workshops, doing independent films and so fourth. One person made that age old joke about how some people sleep with the director to get the parts except in this case the casting director was referenced instead.

That was funny I thought as usually from the outside even my perspective as a film viewer that it’s always the actual film director that you have to convince in order to get the part. Actually, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a “casting director”. However, as an actor I came to realize just how different it is.

Similar to what I learned in the workshop that I took that was conducted by a casting director, a lot of times the production would simply trust the casting director to provide the talent. Therefore, it’s important that these casting directors are aware of your capabilities and presence.

So if you are starting out, don’t forget these people.