Category Archives: Acting

Finding Soul Mates (or Why I’m Having A Tough Time Finding An Improv Class)

Posted on November 15, 2012 | 1 comment

I know that some people don’t believe in soul mates. I do. But I don’t believe that you just have one soulmate that you are supposed to marry and live happily ever after with. I feel like you have soul mate for all different parts of your life.

I know that I have friend soul mates. I have a friend that I’ve known for 20 years. She and I have stuck it out throughout the years, and I know that she will always be there for me. I have another friend soul mate who I think of as my nerdy friend soul mate. They just get all the weird stuff about me.

I have soul mates in acting too. I truly believe that the agents that I am with now are my agent soul mates. They get me, care about me, and work so hard to get me amazing auditions.

There is one acting related soul mate who has passed away and I’m still not totally over it. My acting coach soul mate, Kip King. I studied with Kip for about 8 years until he passed away in 2010. He was such an amazing teacher. I felt like all of my performances got so much better under his guidance.

Kip was a founding member of The Groundlings so his classes were very improv based. And since he passed away, I really couldn’t see myself going to another improv class.

Why am I thinking about this now? Last night, I went to a show at The Groundlings. Kip’s funeral was held there (the day of his funeral happened to be my birthday). This was only the second time I’ve gone back to the theater since the funeral, and I can’t sit where I sat then. It’s too hard. But the show was absolutely amazing (thanks Amir for the tickets). And it made me miss improv so much.

I don’t know if I could take classes at The Groundlings. At Kip’s funeral, they dedicated a classroom there to him. I think taking classes in the Kip King Classroom would be far too difficult for me. But I am finally starting to think more seriously about going back to improv. I know that Kip would want me to. Right now with my day job schedule, it’s a bit tough to add in another class, so I’m looking at taking some classes when the season ends for work. Hopefully then I’ll have made a decision on where to go.

And just because, here’s one of my favorite pictures with Kip. This photo was taken at Kip’s birthday in class.

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Default ThumbnailA Smile In Spin Class (or Sometimes The Little Things Are Big) Default ThumbnailMore Comfortable In Improv Class (or Making Friends With My Classmates) Default ThumbnailSharing My Soul (or My Dad’s First Spin Class) Default ThumbnailSharing Some Soul (or Another Day Another Friend At Spin Class) Default ThumbnailKicking Butt (or Feeling Extra Tough In Spin Class) Default ThumbnailBack To School (or Another Round Of Improv)

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Having an Attitude of Gratitude (or What I’m Thankful For)

Posted on November 8, 2012 | Comments Off on Having an Attitude of Gratitude (or What I’m Thankful For)

On Facebook and twitter this month, people are posting one thing every day that they are grateful or thankful for. As much as I would love to put something online every day for 30 days, it’s already the 8th and I’ve never remembered to do it until after the day was over.

So instead, here’s a bunch of things that I’m grateful/thankful for in one lump post.

I’m grateful to have such an amazing family. We have 4 generations on my mom’s side and I’ll get to see almost everyone at Thanksgiving this year (this picture is from last year).

I’m grateful for having such amazing friends who love me no matter what size I am. And they are all so supportive of me in all of my endeavors.

I’m thankful that I’m able to do these things.

I’m thankful that my meals don’t look like this anymore.

I’m super thankful that I can find shoes that don’t hurt my body (these are from Easy Spirit).

I’m thankful that I’ve been able to share a passion project of mine with the world.

I’m so grateful that I have amazing agents who literally have stuck with me thick and thin and get me fun auditions and jobs (this was a PSA I did last year).

And I’m unbelievably grateful and thankful that I live somewhere so beautiful and can enjoy moments in life like this.

What are you thankful and grateful for?

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Default ThumbnailWhat I’m Thankful For (or Happy Thanksgiving!) Default ThumbnailHappy Thanksgiving (or My Top 10 Things That I Am Thankful For) Default Thumbnail#140Characters (or How To See The Documentary That I Produced) Default ThumbnailSpeedy Shoes (or Props To Zappos For Saving My Workout) Default ThumbnailBeing Excited Too Early (or The Ups And Downs of Acting) Default ThumbnailGetting More Serious (or I Think I Need New Shoes Before Doing Another 5K)

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Food, Fun Stuff, Shopping

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Sharing With The World (or The Screening Finally Happened)!

Posted on November 1, 2012 | 5 comments

Tuesday evening was the screening for “140Characters: A Documentary About Twitter” which I helped to create and produce. I was so happy to be able to share the documentary with the world! We have been working on it for so long, but it was worth it!

We screened at the Autry Screening Room, and the first thing I saw was a couple of our awesome posters.

 

I was pretty busy working at the screening, so I didn’t get a ton of pictures. It seemed like everyone liked the film. There were moments where everyone was laughing, and during the more somber parts it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

After the film, we got a nice loud round of applause. Even though I have seem our film what seems like 100s of times looking things over, it’s so different seeing it on a big screen. As soon as the opening credits came up, tears came to my eyes I because I was just so happy!

After the screening, there was a Q&A with the production team as well as the subjects. Most of the questions were focused on our subjects which included Heather Spohr of The Spohrs Are Multiplying as well as Friends of Maddie and Dave Danhi of The Grilled Cheese Truck.

We did manage to get a group photo after (sorry it’s blurry, I forgot my regular camera).

 

After the Q&A, we gathered outside for some more photos.

Here I am with the wonderful Heather Spohr (who inspired me to start this blog).

 

And here I am with fellow bloggers J and Matt Logelin.

 

There was an outing to a bar after the screening, but because I had an early day at work the next morning, I couldn’t make it.

To my readers who made it to the screening, thank you! I wish I could have chatted more with everyone there, but it was a bit crazy. And if you couldn’t make it but want to see the documentary, we are selling copies of it on our website.

Even though it was fun being behind the camera this time, I can’t wait to be in front of it again soon!

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Default ThumbnailA Screening At The Walt Disney Studios Lot (or “What The F@#- Is Cancer And Why Does Everyone Have It?” Default Thumbnail#140Characters (or How To See The Documentary That I Produced) Default ThumbnailNew Photo (or It Reminds Me of The Old Me) Default ThumbnailBirthday Evening (or What Happened After 4pm) Default ThumbnailHappy Birthday To FMIB! (or 2 Years And Finally Taking Myself Seriously As A Writer) Default ThumbnailSocial Days Off (or Finally Seeing Some Friends)

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff

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New Photo (or It Reminds Me of The Old Me)

Posted on October 29, 2012 | Comments Off on New Photo (or It Reminds Me of The Old Me)

I had my photo shoot with Joanna Brooks on Friday. I haven’t gotten all of my photos in an online proof sheet yet, but I should have that by Wednesday.

We did a lot of the shoot in her studio that she created in her garage (she has a very understanding boyfriend who gave up parking his car in there so she could make a studio), but we did go out to a freeway underpass to shoot one of the looks.

While driving back from the location to her house, Joanna let me look at some of the photos in her camera so I could see how I looked. I was scrolling through the photos when one made me stop and gasp. There was one photo that looked so much like a photo that I look when I was 100 pounds lighter. I was so surprised to see it that it almost felt like I was kicked in the stomach.

I don’t know if anyone else will see the similarity (I think it has a lot to do with my chin and shoulder positioning), but here are the two photos side by side.

 

I think that the new photo (in the green) is way better than the old photo. I look younger and fresher, which is funny since the one in the blue was taken in 2007.

Even looking at them now, I can’t help see the similarities in the photos. It’s weird. It’s almost as if there is a sign that I’m not as far from the old me as I think that I am. Even though I have a lot of weight to lose, that’s all that keeping me from getting back to the old me (although I probably won’t go back to the shorter hair for a while).

This reminder is really helping to motivate me. I haven’t been doing so great with cutting out my favorite drink, Diet Coke. I know that when I’m not drinking soda I seem to eat a bit healthier. I’m making it my goal to seriously limit my soda drinking.

But I will allow my self to possibly have a rum and Diet Coke at the after party for the “#140Characters” screening tomorrow! Tickets are still available if you’d like to come!

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Default ThumbnailSoda Free (or Maybe I Can Keep This Last Bit of This Vice) Default ThumbnailCutting Out My Favorite Drink (or Goodbye Diet Coke, Diet 7-Up, Fancy Water) Default ThumbnailUpdating Me (or It Never Hurts To Ask) Default ThumbnailTesting Some Water (or Continuing My No Soda Streak) Default ThumbnailMs. In The Biz Anniversary Party (or Having Fun In A Photo Booth) Default ThumbnailA Mini Photo Shoot (or Enjoying A Voter Freebie)

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

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Another Day Another Audition (or This Is The Life I Love)

Posted on October 25, 2012 | Comments Off on Another Day Another Audition (or This Is The Life I Love)

I’ve got another audition today. This time, it’s for a commercial.

Commercials can be interesting to audition for. Sometimes, all you have to do is walk in, say your name, and they take a photo of you. That’s it. Other times, you do have lines to say. For my audition today, according to the online information, I have no lines to work on. There might be something to read at the audition, so I’ll get there early today.

The audition I had last week went really well. But the day after the audition, the show I auditioned for was cancelled so that episode won’t be filmed. I personally find this funny, but other non-industry people found this weird. They couldn’t understand why there was an audition when they show was getting canceled. I tried to explain that the show might not have known that they were about to end, but this is a weird industry to try to understand if you aren’t in it.

I’ve got today off from my day job today (I was the only person who could work and my supervisor didn’t want me to have to work 8 hours alone), so today is the type of day that I dream about. I have an audition this morning, a headshot shoot tomorrow to prep for today, and I can focus on me. I wish this was my life everyday. As a friend said to me yesterday, my job is getting in the way of my career.

I’m lucky because I know that I can always go to auditions, but it would be nice to not spend 6 days a week at a job and not focusing on my career. There are always more things that I want to do. I’m working on filming some new scenes for my demo reel, I’d like to be able to focus a bit more on taking classes (I’m about to start Porter Kelly’s commercial class on Sundays), and I’d also like to have some more fun in my life.

But for now, I’m just going to enjoy my perfect actor day and try to kick some butt at the audition today.

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Default ThumbnailFinding A Work/Life Balance (or Preparing to Not Be Unemployed) Default ThumbnailAn Isolation Audition (or Working On My Self-Tape Game) Default ThumbnailAudition Horror Stories (or Sometimes I Like Things To Be Boring) Default ThumbnailAudition Prep (or Taking My Career Seriously) Default ThumbnailGoing From So Much Excitement To Normal In A Few Hours (or Life As An Actor) Default ThumbnailEnjoying Valentine’s Day (or Celebrating The Love I Do Have In My Life)

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My Preparation Works (or Why I’m Glad I Watch Everything on TV)

Posted on October 18, 2012 | Comments Off on My Preparation Works (or Why I’m Glad I Watch Everything on TV)

I’ve previously blogged about how I watch everything on TV just in case I get an audition for a show that I don’t watch regularly. And yesterday, that came in handy!

On Tuesday afternoon, I got a text message from my agent letting me know that I had an audition the next morning for a network TV show (sorry, but I don’t want to say what show). The show I got an audition for is not one that I watch normally, but I had watched two episodes of it earlier and had my notes to look back on. So I knew who the characters were and the tone of the show pretty quickly. And this was important because the part I was auditioning for has a very specific relationship to one of the regular characters on the show.

It was nice not to have to spend too much time on the research part of preparation because I wanted to watch the debate and then I was going to go to the LA Actors Tweetup afterwards.

The audition yesterday was at one of my favorite studio lots to go to, but I had to rush straight to my day job afterwards so I didn’t have time to wander around.

I have no idea how I did. The part is mainly based on a look, so I don’t have a ton of control over that. I look exactly how I look right now.

But one thing that is a positive and is sometimes hard for non-actors to understand is the fact that I’ve gone in for this same casting director multiple times. I went in for a pilot with her, then a couple of co-stars for that same show, and now this co-star for another show she’s working on. In the audition, it is far more important to book that office then it is to book the job. You want that casting director to like you and want to bring you back. And I feel so lucky that this particular casting director feels that way about me.

So whether or not I book this part isn’t important (well it is, but I’m not focused on that). I’m making sure that this casting director remembers me as a good actress and when there is a part that is exactly right for me, I know I’ll book that one.

But of course, if I do book this job, I’ll totally blog about it. 😉

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Default ThumbnailMaking My Acting Bold (or Feeling Great From An Audition) Default ThumbnailThe New TV Season (or Starting My Research Early This Year) Default ThumbnailCraziness Of Auditioning (or How I Spent A Day Getting Ready For A Minute) Default ThumbnailAudition Horror Stories (or Sometimes I Like Things To Be Boring) Default ThumbnailGeneral Meeting (or Hanging Out With A Casting Director For Free) Default ThumbnailThe TV Season (or I Watch TV Like My Job Depends on It)

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#140Characters (or How To See The Documentary That I Produced)

Posted on October 10, 2012 | 4 comments

I love twitter. Honestly love it. Right now, the push notifications for my twitter app on my iPhone isn’t working and I’m getting crazy frustrated about that.

Over a year ago, a few friends and I got together and discussed how much we loved twitter and how it’s done some amazing things for people. And we decided to make a documentary about the positive power of twitter.

We worked really hard on it. We got some amazing people to share their story and we filmed a little bit of all of their lives.

And now, we are ready to share this amazing project with the world!

I’m super excited to share with all of you the first screening of “#140Characters: A Documentary About Twitter”.

(Our fabulous movie poster)

You are all welcome to attend the screening. It will be on October 30th and free tickets are available here.

If you’d like to check out our trailer, you can see that here.

Please feel free to share this information with anyone. We want to share this movie with the world.

I’m so proud of this project. I’m normally not behind the camera, but I feel so strongly about this subject that I had to be part of it.

Check out the trailer, get your free tickets (only free until Oct. 20th), and I hope that I’ll see a bunch of you there on the 30th!

 

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Default ThumbnailPlanning My Next Project (or Meeting A Director) Default Thumbnail“BLUE” (or Supporting A Friend’s Film) Default Thumbnail“Unapologetic” (or Being A Documentary Subject) Default ThumbnailSharing With The World (or The Screening Finally Happened)! Default ThumbnailOnce Upon A Time: The Rock Opera (or An Awesome Giveaway!) Default ThumbnailI Wish I Could Go To Comic Con (or Your Chance To See The Rock Opera)

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Working Girl (or The Secrets of Day Jobs)

Posted on October 9, 2012 | 4 comments

As much as I wish I could survive on the money I make from acting, right now, that isn’t a reality for me. Hopefully it will be in the future, but for now, I work a bunch of random jobs to pay the bills.

I have my main job which is working membership and ticket sales at a performing arts center on the westside. But that job is seasonal.  But right now, we have no idea when the season will be ending.

It’s put me in a weird spot. It seems like all of my co-workers seemed to have lined up other jobs already. But my other co-workers are not actors, so they don’t have the same issues with jobs that I do.

I need a job that pays enough but at the same time has the option of leaving for auditions or booked acting work when I have them. So many jobs in LA don’t want to hire actors for that reason. But I hate having to tell jobs that I’m going to the dentist/doctor/car repair shop in order to leave for auditions. This job lets me go and I’m not willing to lose that.

I’m lucky at my job now. I’ve also got my substitute teaching credential and the option to go back to the district I used to work for. I also do random side jobs like babysitting and personal organizing.

Why am I saying all of this? Because I find that actors are super secretive about their day jobs. I don’t know if they are embarrassed to say what they are doing or they just want you to believe that they are making their entire living on acting, but for a majority of actors that I know, I have no idea how they pay their bills.

There are some exceptions. I have a friend who works for Nielsen checking advertising before films and working at screenings. I have one friend who owns their own business and is very successful at it. I know of a few people who are waiters or temps. And there is the odd friend of mine who does make their entire living by acting, and they share how tough it can be for them.

When I was looking for a job earlier this year to get out of a bad job, I looked for so long. And I told everyone that I knew I was looking for work. But other actors seemed so guarded when it came to day jobs. Most people just told me that it’s hard to find a day job. No guidance into what types of jobs are best or anything. I don’t know why actors aren’t willing to help each other with this part of life. Maybe they don’t want other actors taking the types of work that they want?

But I believe in being fully honest about my life. I’ve discussed my credit card debit and my eating disorder. And I don’t want anyone to think that right now, I’m lucky enough to be able to not have a day job. I’m struggling with whether or not I need to be looking for a new job. I feel so lucky to have found the one I’m in right now, and I want to come back next year for another season. And I know that unemployment is always an option if necessary when the season does end for this job.

But I feel so lucky and grateful to have found such an actor-friendly day job, I wonder if I could get lucky again. The fear of having another bad day job is paralyzing. So for now, I’m sticking with my current job and trying to not let uncertainty get to me.

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Posted in Acting, Tough Stuff, Work

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Nerves vs. Excitement (or How to Think Positively)

Posted on October 4, 2012 | Comments Off on Nerves vs. Excitement (or How to Think Positively)

In my acting class on Tuesday night, I heard some advice that I’ve heard previously. But for some reason this was the time that the advice really stuck with me.

Nerves are just excitement that is labeled negatively.

This advice come from Jack Plotnick (you can read the whole story that goes along with that advice here).

This advice is perfect for my acting career. I don’t always get nervous for auditions. When the part seems so far away from who I am or what I look like, I don’t worry at all. But when the part I’m reading for sounds just like me and I fit the physical description perfectly, I’m usually a bundle of nerves.

But this advice also works out perfectly for the weight loss journey that I’m on right now. I’m so nervous if this will work this time. Ever other time I’ve lost 100 pounds (and there have been a few times), I’ve done it on some crazy diet plan like the Zone food delivery or on the RFO plan. But this time, I’m doing it the right way. I’m exercising more and being careful what I eat.

One thing that I’ve kept with me from my RFO days is how to figure out how many calories you need to be at any weight. The standard is 10 calories for every pound. So if you want to weigh 130 pounds, you have to have an average of 1300 calories a day. You can eat more if you burn calories exercising, but your daily average is 10 calories per pound.  But within the RFO program, there was a way to figure out our exact numbers. And I only get to have 9.3 calories per pound.

I’m not at the calories right now that I would have to be at to maintain the weight that I hope to be at. That seems a bit too low for me now. So I’m slowly working my way down to that. Once the number of calories I eat every day seems to be ok, I’ll drop my number by 50 calories.

I’m incredibly nervous that I’m never going to like this again:

But now I am going to think how excited I’m going to be when I get closer to my goal. I’m going to be excited to put on clothes that used to fit that now live in a storage bag under my bed. I’m excited to see what the future has in store for me.

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Posted in Acting, Food, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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Updating Me (or It Never Hurts To Ask)

Posted on October 2, 2012 | 1 comment

This morning, I had a phone meeting with Joanna Brooks, who is the photographer that I’ll be using for some new headshots. I’m getting some new headshot done because I’ve been using these two for a while and I want some new ones.

And yes, I am wearing the same shirt in both pictures. I didn’t think about that at the time I was taking the second one, but I know that color looks good on me based on Jill Kirsh’s color methods. They are both great pictures, and I love both of the photographers that I worked with, but I need a change.

This photo is pretty much the only thing that decides whether or not I get an audition. When hundreds of actors are submitted for the same job, I need to make sure that my photo stands out and gets their attention.

Joanna and I had a really great phone meeting. I love her energy and she has some great ideas on how to shoot me in order to get the results that I am hoping for.

I had also brought up my weight loss in our phone meeting and my concern about having to do new pictures every time I lose 25-30 pounds. I asked about possibly pre-paying for a bunch of smaller sessions so I could use them when I needed an updated shot. Joanna was so sweet about it on the phone and she gave me a deal for future update shoots that will work perfectly for my budget and what I’ll need. So the plan for me for photos is one shoot this month with 3 looks, update shoots while I’m losing weight, and then once I’m at a weight that I’m happy with and am able to maintain (which is always the tough part) then we’ll do another big shoot then.

I’m so happy that I was able to work something out that works for both her and I. I’m always nervous to ask for something different or special, but if you never ask, you’ll never know. I think the confidence to ask for things like this has come from my day job. When I’m taking orders, we are supposed to ask if the customer would like to also make a donation to help our educational programs. Donations are the main thing that help keep that program alive. At first, I was so scared to ask for the donations. But now, I’m fearless with it. The worst someone can say is no, and then I’m no worse off than I was before I asked.

I’m just glad that when I asked Joanna about update photo shoots for me, she said yes. Now I have another motivation to keep me on this weight loss journey, however long it may take.

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Default ThumbnailNew Headshots (or Trying To Be A Quirky Office Girl/College Student/Young Mom) Default ThumbnailNew Photo (or It Reminds Me of The Old Me) Default ThumbnailI Wish I Was 4 Again (or Where Did My Confidence Go?) Default ThumbnailBack to the Grind (or It’s Time to Be a Little Selfish) Default ThumbnailMore Mentoring (or This Is Exactly What I Needed) Default ThumbnailBeing Excited Too Early (or The Ups And Downs of Acting)

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Weight Loss

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