Actor Growth

So today was the casting director workshop and boy was I tired beforehand. I had to work on set until about 3am and then I had to attend this workshop a few hours later. I was a little worried that I might have been in a no energy mood, but fortunately everything turned out.

There were about 12 of us in the class and the day began with an acting coach watching each of us perform the scene that was given to us while providing feedback. With this feedback, we would then perform these scenes in front of a real local casting director. The scene that was given to me was a blend of a comedy in the first scene and then it turned into a fairly serious piece.

The first feedback I got from the acting coach was that my eye line seemed to be all over the place as in the scene there were a bunch of characters that I was supposed to be talking to and so I had to make a distinctive choice. There was an interesting comment at the end where she commented how for the last scene during the first part I tended to add this comedic element to the scene which I should get rid of as in the end I was dead serious, since that was my interpretation of the scene, and she mentioned how I nailed it as even she was engrossed by it.

So, then came the audition for the casting director. It wasn’t a private session as the entire class was watching it too. When I was called to do my piece I tried to do everything with the feedbacks given. So with the first half of the scene I got some chuckles and there seemed to be an issue with the eye line still.

She then gave me feedbacks and direction. There were some moments where I was using a bit too much muscle movement to express an emotion when really I shouldn’t be doing anything and her notes reflected that as well. After doing it the second time, she threw in a comment how I seem to have a good timing for comedy type of pieces.

Then came the second scene that was definitely more dramatic. After I did the scene, she seemed impressed while saying the only comment she had was the little moments again where it seemed like I had these facial movements that were unnecessary. What happened after that was kind of inspiring I thought for my acting journey and growth thus far too.

Normally after a scene people would get a lot of feedbacks and direction to help us improve in order to do the take again. For this second scene I didn’t need to do it for the second time and what happened was that she commented how she definitely sees something there with me and that there was something about me that was very genuine when I did this audition. She then asked how long I have been acting for.

I mentioned about it quickly and she told me to keep training as there is definitely something there. That was a really cool moment I thought and there were some people in the class that was very happy for me too. At the end of the day, I gave her my headshot and resume and she asked if I had an agent already.

She also told me an interesting piece of information since I am in the Asian minority group where she knows that the current key strongest players that are often called for auditions are currently stronger than me. She reemphasized though that I should keep training as this is the perfect time to do so as many of these existing actors are doing absolutely nothing during the slow times and things are picking up.

After looking at the people I was training with she gave me reassurance that these were excellent people to be with too. So overall it was a very uplifting day and it shows me that the current path I am taking seems to be a good one. She was very funny and down to earth too as she mentioned that she was an actress before she decided to become a casting director. The journey continues.

Interesting rumblings I heard today while on set. Essentially, there is this one casting director who’s name always seems to come up when people talk about someone who they dislike working with or has the worst reputation. Some people commented that because of that they refuse to work for him when they get called.

Similarly, a lot of production staff that I had heard from say the same thing and now the person apparently lost all of his best workers too. That was very interesting I thought as sure enough this casting director doesn’t have the same amount of work compared to the past.

What this really showed me too that as a performer this is an example on how the casting director needs you just as much as you need them. Cause really, productions go with them because they trust that they have the connections to acquire the necessary talent to make things happen for the show.

The relationship definitely goes both ways.

So I got an e-mail today about some acting workshop that is happening in California where they are specifically targeting international students. It comes at a pretty hefty price too as it looks like your out of pocket expense would be close to $6000 a month once it is all said and done.

I was even reading some of the local schools here that offer international programs and sure enough they are just as expensive. I have always wondered about how effective these programs are as for the mot part I would think that you would have to live in the city to really get any kind of results.

Same thing for those who move to like LA to start an acting career. I have heard of many stories about people who sell everything to try and live there but not so much with ones that juts go there for a short bit just to return home afterwards. Not saying that it is not possible, but these are the types of financial investments in your career that I would take a real hard look at before committing.