Actor Growth

It was another pretty standard day in terms of what we did. There was one thing interesting though. The sides that we got dealt with some kind of thief that was orchestrating a robbery as it was his job to scout the place out for a few days. In the process he meets this girl that he kind of falls in love with. Therefore, in the midst of the robbery he decides he wants to try to change his life and to make sure this girl doesn’t get shot in the process by the other people.

Based on what I read I first interpreted it as the girl was dumbfounded about the situation and as the thief confessed about his background she just thought it was a joke and persisted that it is one. As the script indicates, it’s not until further in the conversation that she starts to fear for her life.

So my direction was to do it in a very serious way where the character is trying to tell her he is dead serious and is telling her this because he doesn’t want her to get hurt. Guess it’s like a guy saying he is in a crazy gang that is about to destroy the place where you just laugh at the idea and it’s not until he keeps talking about it with some very detailed information that you start to realize he is dead serious.

So in the first round the coach was saying the intensity level was definitely there. Except he started to say that the guy was supposed to be extremely remorseful about admitting his professions to the lady and in order to convince her to follow him to safety he needed to be more empathetic I guess you can say. So in my mind, that meant that this character was extremely weaker than what I thought.

I debated about the choices and direction for awhile as some of them seemed like it was more about a directional choice. But, as a challenge of an actor I think the key to an audition is that you need to be adaptable to take direction and so I did. I re-did the scene with all the feedbacks and direction.

Afterwards, the coach said that I nailed it and just like from a previous class where he thought my performance was amazing he said that I achieved that same level with this. I was thinking even more and it seems like at this point of my training and the feedback that I have been getting is that acting is not an issue at all when it comes to the audition process but rather trying to get the interpretation right the first time. That is such a subjective thing too.

On a side note I learned that one of my classmates landed a role in that feature film the A Team. While that is great news, even he was joking about it as before he was saying that he wanted to grow his hair as he feels that he could get more auditions that way. Wouldn’t you know it, this role that he landed requires him to shave his hair and go bald. Funny how things work in life sometimes.

Today was kind of funny for me. The scene that was given was extremely awkward when it came time to perform it. The idea of the audition side revolved around a law firm where there was an older female lawyer who hires a younger paralegal to help her out. While reading the sides, there were sections such as the paralegal asking the lawyer to reveal her “stuff” as if she did it he would help her finish her work faster. Basically, sexual tension. From what I read, the lady was married too.

My choice was based on all this information the scene was all about a power sparring match where the young guy thinks he can charm the lady very easily and vice versa she is a lady that uses sex to get what she wants in life. Example, she married her husband for money using sex appeal and has no real reserve in cheating with others as everyone is just a way to gain something.

Although, there was one part I was a bit unsure about as there was a part in the script where they talked about her trying to get pregnant where the husband was just dumbfounded on why they can’ conceive. Right after it talked about how she begins to pop so many pills at night too. So my first assumption is she was trying to avoid becoming pregnant which kind of matched with persona I had of the character I would be talking to.

Turns out, that wasn’t the case as at all. You see, usually when you walk into an audition you can ask the casting director questions about the scene to help you make the best decisions in your performance. Of course in class the acting coach is acting as the casting director. I asked him about the lady character and the scenario was completely different. Basically, she was trying to get pregnant. And the character that I would be reading for was basically kind of like a Viagra for her, I guess you can say, where she gets turned on from younger men who find her attractive.

It definitely pretty much destroyed what I had planned before as my vision was that this was going to be a really subtle yet powerful scene where two characters are trying to outdo the other. Instead, it’s more cheeky I guess you can say. That completely threw me off. So that was an interesting experience and it’s a good thing I experienced that in class as oppose to a real audition.

It’s was funny too as he asked me what my decisions were before and I explained it. He was just floored at how I was able to come up with so much stuff based on those five pages. One person in class said that when I make strong choices I sure make strong choices. Another comment was that I might be watching too much sci-fi stuff. lol. Although, I haven’t really watched too much sci-fi….have just been working on Sci-Fi shows a lot.

Wasn’t sure if there was going to be a class today since it is Thanksgiving holiday week here and many people have left for a long weekend vacation. But, it did happen as enough people were around still. It was fairly the same routine today where we got a script ahead of time and then auditioned it.

For some reason today I don’t think I really learned too much compared to the other days as it felt more like a staying on top of your game day. Basically, it’s like exercising where you are just doing the same thing to build certain strengths. I guess that is good and bad depending on how you look at it.

There was one discussion that came up where one actor asked if it was appropriate to ask your agent about your career growth and what projects they have submitted you for. The coach said that many times when you ask agents this they will respond in an apprehensive way where they interpret it as you are questioning them if they are doing their job or not.

Another person mentions that his agent gives him like a submission breakdown every two weeks and it is great. He then came up with a point where if the agent is submitting you and all then there is no reason for them to be apprehensive over this. That is what I learned personally in school before too and so did this guy. Interestingly enough, the coach said that is not the norm though which kind of surprised me.

If anything I guess it was more about learning some different perspectives of the business side of the industry today. I’m still kind of surprised at that response to that question.

Today we were challenged with another cold audition session. The interesting thing about this one is that for the role of the guys there was literally only like 4 lines of dialogue and the person before had like 2. However, there were large amounts of pages before this which doesn’t have the character speaking but it did give you an idea of what the story was about.

With that I did the scene. As it turns out, I over analyzed the scene and read a bit too much on it. As usual when you get sides for an audition you are only given the pages that relate to the scene that the casting director wants you to perform. Besides what is on these pages everything such as the back-story and character relations are up to you to figure out. Because of that, people can come up with completely different interpretations on the mood and energy level of a scene.

As a crazy example, let’s pretend your character had one line saying “I am going to fall down that hole” and the other character says “Don’t do it!”. That is literally the entire dialogue on the sides that you were given. Now think about how vague that is. You basically need to figure out what the scene is about by trying to say research the show/film online or read as much as possible into the other pages that were given to you even if they are crossed out.

Think about it. If you interpreted that scene as a guy about to end his life then the delivery will probably be more dramatic/mellow. If you made a choice to say these guys are like playing a video game on this huge projector outside then it will be more fun and anxious. Those are the types of choices that you are forced to make otherwise nothing will really come across when you perform the scene. That’s why it is important to try and find as much about the scene as possible.

Now by over analyzed what I mean is like in that situation I would say things like “These two are best friends where they know it is the end of the world and so one guy doesn’t want to live anymore. One guy is a sports athlete and the other is a ex military guy”. Basically, that results in a “How in the world did you get that out of reading those sides?”

The lesson is that sometimes things can be a lot simpler than necessary. It is kind of contradictory too at times as you need to make strong choices in situations like these and therefore it is more about getting right I’d say.

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.

Alright, so I went for the agency interview today and it was definitely fun and relaxing since as I mentioned I had a working relationship with them before. In general, we just talked a bit about my goals and what I wasn’t satisfied with when it comes to the current agent that I am represented with. As well, I did one monologue and one scene read through.

I actually learned some interesting tings too as the agent was telling me that she knew that I was hard working and reliable person as when it comes to background work she told me that I already have a good relationship with the casting directors as I get specific calls from them. That was a very encouraging thought I must say.

Besides that, an interesting topic came up about me possibly joining the union to a certain capacity to help further my career. So decision making time soon. Although, I probably will go with this choice.