Tag Archives: audition

I’ve Made Progress (or I Think My Therapist Will Be Proud)

Posted on June 16, 2016 | Comments Off on I’ve Made Progress (or I Think My Therapist Will Be Proud)

Yesterday, I had a phone interview/audition for a commercial about people who have binge eating disorder. I actually had auditioned for this commercial last year when it was slightly different, but when I saw they were shooting again I submitted myself.

Typically for auditions you don’t have a phone interview, but since for this project you have to prove that you have been diagnosed with BED by a doctor and meet other requirements that aren’t normally an issue with commercials, the phone interview is the first step.

I’ll start by saying that I’m not going to get the audition for this because they need to fit certain age and size requirements right now, and I’m not a match for that. It’s not a big deal and I’m totally ok with not being able to audition because I got so much out of this phone interview.

The woman I spoke with yesterday was actually the same woman who I spoke to last year for the phone interview and audition I had. It was nice to catch up quickly with her and she was excited that I had submitted myself again for the project (I was afraid that they wouldn’t want me to since I didn’t get it last year, but I figured it was better to try than not to).

The phone interview first covered a lot of technically stuff. You do agree that you are willing to share medical information with the production team (if you got the commercial, it wouldn’t be public so your privacy is protected) and you have to agree that you are ok with sharing the fact that you do have binge eating disorder. Since I share that on here, I have no issues with saying that in a commercial. I think that most people aren’t as comfortable being public with things as I am, and I understand why the casting team wants to check with the people they are talking with to make sure they know how public it will be.

After going over that I was diagnosed by a doctor, we went over what treatments I’m doing for my eating disorder. I mentioned that I’m still taking Vyvanse and that I’ve finally been seeing some progress with it. I think a lot of the progress is due to some personal development I’ve been doing along with the monthly challenges in my Spark Planner. But to be honest, until I had to share what things were like before versus what they are like now, I didn’t realize how much progress I’ve made.

My eating disorder is not gone (I still wish it was and I know that it is not a totally realistic goal to have), but my episodes are less frequent. The reduction has not been as much as I would have liked it to be, but anything is better than nothing. I’ve also had more clarity lately about things. I’m not letting myself stay down about stuff as long as I would have in the past. If I have a bad meal or bad day, I’m getting back on track a lot faster than I would have before. I’m not waiting until the next week to fix things.

I haven’t seen my therapist is almost 6 months now. When I last saw him, the plan was to go 6 months and to see what that brings. Of course, if I felt like I needed to see him sooner I could have made an appointment. But the past few months have been pretty awesome for me. And when I see my therapist again next week, I think he is going to be pretty happy with the progress I’ve made and hopefully he can help me plan out how to not just continue with what I’m doing but to continue making steps toward whatever recovery will end up being for me.

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Default ThumbnailA Year On Vyvanse (or Help Is Expensive) Default ThumbnailMoving Forward With Therapy (or Educating Myself) Default ThumbnailOver A Month On Vyvanse (or A Meeting With My Therapist) Default ThumbnailAnother Therapist Check In (or Showing Off My Happiness Checklist) Default ThumbnailAnother Therapy Check In (or Someone Sees Progress) Default ThumbnailSeeing My Therapist (or Building Habits)

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Bikini Audition (or Finding My Confidence)

Posted on May 6, 2016 | Comments Off on Bikini Audition (or Finding My Confidence)

Last week I got a text from my agents. They typically only text me when I have an audition, so I immediately took a look at my phone to see what audition they had gotten for me! But instead of the text saying I have an audition, it said that I had a potential audition but before they confirmed me for it they wanted to double-check about one thing. They wanted to make sure I was ok being in a bikini. As an actor, you feel like you have to say yes to whatever (unless it’s something not safe like they ask you to ride a horse and you are terrified of horses), so I said yes right away.

The only problem was I didn’t have a bikini.

I have the bathing suit that I wore in Hawaii, but that was a tankini and this audition notice said specifically that the actor must be comfortable in a 2 piece bikini. I had a couple of days before the audition, so I figured I had time to find a bikini top and figure out a way to feel confident in it.

I’ll be honest, shopping for the bikini top sucked. I had to go to multiple stores with no luck. It seems like no place carried bikini tops in my size. I was able to find a ton of skirted one pieces or baggy suits, but nothing fun or cute. And it was too close to order something I could find online. Finally I had to realize that I was going to have to spend a decent amount of money on the top and I figured I could keep the tag inside and return it after the audition.

I eventually found a top that worked at Torrid (and had a coupon to save some money on it). I didn’t hate it too much when I bought it and I was planning on using the bottoms I wore in Hawaii (I didn’t need the matching bottoms).

I spent my weekend preparing for my audition and didn’t really think too much about having to wear the bikini. It was only going to be a minute of my time wearing it so I was trying not to worry about it. I focused on learning my lines and being as ready as possible for the audition.

The day of the audition, I worked my usual work shift (my audition was after work so I didn’t need to ask for time off). But since I didn’t feel like getting dressed for work and then dressed for the audition, I worked in the bikini with some yoga pants. I passed myself in a mirror a couple of times while I was walking between my desk and kitchen, and I have to say that I didn’t feel like I looked that bad. In fact, I was pretty happy with how the bikini looked on me!

Bikini Audition

I liked how I looked so much that I ended up taking the tag out of the top because I knew I had to keep it!

All of the sudden, I was no longer nervous about the bikini part of the audition. My only nerves were the normal audition nerves and I tried to get those out of my system when I was driving to the valley to the studio where the audition was held.

I personally think the audition went great! The casting directors and I made jokes about me stripping down when I was taking off the yoga pants and tank that I wore on top of the bikini. And they loved the bikini so much that they had me turn around so they could check it out (and they commented that they would totally buy that for themselves too). They laughed at the scene I read and I had no confidence issues at all. Who would have thought that being half-naked in front of a camera was the best way to get my nerves to go away?

In the lobby of the casting office, they had a selfie station. I didn’t have time to take a photo before the audition (and we all were focusing on our lines), but a friend who was there auditioning too took a picture with me after we were both done auditioning.

Selfie Station

On the drive home, I just felt so great. I had a weight lifted from my shoulders that I never knew was there. I know that I’ve heard that every body is a bikini body so many times. But I honestly never believed it until this audition. But now I’m excited to figure out when I can wear the bikini this summer. I’ll be going back east for a family reunion and I think there is either a pool or hot tub where we are staying, so I’ll bring it then. And I want to figure out some fun beach adventures to go on in LA too.

All my confidence issues aren’t gone now. I’m sure I’ll still feel a bit insecure when I wear the bikini in public where I’m the only heavy person (it helped that all the ladies at my audition who were auditioning were heavy too). There may be people who make fun or me or laugh and point at me in public. And if that happens that it going to suck and I’m sure I’ll feel down about it.

But for now, I’m just so excited that I’ve found even the smallest amount of confidence and that I’m ready to rock a bikini for the first time as an adult (and possibly the first time ever in my life)!

 

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Default ThumbnailMaking My Acting Bold (or Feeling Great From An Audition) Default ThumbnailAnother Day Another Audition (or This Is The Life I Love) Default ThumbnailAudition Friends (or The Kindness Of My Competition) Default ThumbnailAudition Fairy (or The Tale Of Two Auditions) Default ThumbnailAudition Prep (or Taking My Career Seriously) Default ThumbnailAudition Horror Stories (or Sometimes I Like Things To Be Boring)

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Reflection on April’s Challenge (and Looking At May’s)

Posted on May 4, 2016 | 1 comment

I’ve been keeping up with the monthly challenges with my Spark Planner. Even though I do weekly and monthly goals in the planner, the monthly challenges are nice because they are something I want to do every day and for each of them (100% accurate food tracking, daily gratitude lists, and no ordering delivery food), I’ve been able to maintain those habits since then. I’m sure that eventually I will not be doing everything 100% perfect, but it’s nice to know that I’ve added some great daily habits into my life that I’m keeping up.

For April’s challenge, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but I eventually settled on doing daily weigh-ins. I have such a love/hate relationship with my scale and tracking weight can be so emotional for me because it’s a black and white status. If I gained 6 pounds because I ate something really salty, it upset me and any weight tracking things I used made it look so horrible.

So once I knew that I would have this as my challenge, I looked for a new way to track my weight. Weighing in every day is great, but if I don’t keep records then there is no point of doing it. After searching in the app store, I came across Happy Scale. You still track your weight similar to any other app, but in the tracking it shows trends versus just the current number. So if you are overall down 10 pounds but you happen to gain a pound, it will still have a line headed down. It also shows you what you will weigh by a certain time based on the trend that you are currently on. This app really helped me to focus on the overall view and not just pinpointing this particular moment.

As far as my monthly challenge goes, I wasn’t 100% this time. I didn’t bring my scale with me to Santa Barbara, so on Sunday and Monday that week I didn’t weigh in. But every single day beyond those I weighed in (I set an alarm to remind myself but I didn’t really need it). I’m fine that it wasn’t 100%, and now I’m trying to figure out how I want to continue in the future. I don’t know if I love the idea of daily weigh-ins, but I don’t know if weekly ones are good enough if I’m tracking a trend. I’m going to play with the frequency of the weigh-ins and I feel really confident that I will find a happy medium.

For my May challenge, I decided to change things up a bit. Most of my challenges have been related to my health or eating disorder recovery. I love that I’m making great strides in that, but I also want to improve other aspects of my life. And one thing that I feel has been falling behind is my acting career. I’ve had some great things so far this year with the short film I helped a friend with and the new short film that I’ll be starring in (don’t forget to donate to our Kickstarter!).

But I know there is so much more that I can do. And I can’t think that my agents will do 100% of the work for me. I need to be proactive and work on finding great parts to audition for as well. So for May, I’ve set my challenge to search the various self-submission acting sites every single day. I can’t guarantee that every day I will submit myself for something because there isn’t always something that matches me. But every day I will check to make sure. I used to be really great at doing this, but lately I’ve been slacking.

I’ve set an alarm to go off every single day to remind me to look on the self-submission sites. It does come in handy to have the alarm because it’s so easy to forget. But this way my phone (and computer) will keep reminding me until I click that the task is complete. So far, it’s been pretty easy to remember to self-submit but I know there will be days that I completely forget until the alarm goes off. But that’s exactly why I have the alarm and there’s no shame in needing to be reminded to do something.

Hopefully out of doing self-submissions checks every day, I’ll get some more auditions this month. Getting auditions isn’t something I can control, so I’m not focusing on the results (just the action). But having results would be awesome and I know that every opportunity I have to audition is another day that I get to live my dream and be closer to my dream career.

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Default ThumbnailDecember Monthly Challenge (or Wrapping Up For The Year) Default ThumbnailEnding My Challenge Early (or I Guess I Made A Mistake) Default ThumbnailReflection (or I’m Totally Living My Dream) Default ThumbnailGetting Weighed In (or A New Orangetheory Challenge) Default ThumbnailAttempting To Go Scale-Free (or A Personal Challenge) Default ThumbnailNot Perfect This Month (or Challenged With The Monthly Challenge)

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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Lots Of TV (or What Season Is It?)

Posted on October 9, 2015 | 1 comment

You may have noticed that I haven’t written a post about the fall TV season yet. I usually post something about how I do my research or how I feel about the new TV shows (or their trailers).

I’m actually pretty behind on my fall TV viewing this year. I haven’t had as much time as I have had in the past. It’s a combination of having my workouts in the evenings, different events around town, and the SAG-AFTRA Convention. I’ve got about 10 new TV shows on my DVR that I haven’t had a chance to check out. But I’m not as stressed as I’ve been in the past because I upgraded my DVR with my cable company so I can record 6 shows at once instead of just 2 (I rarely record more than 2, but it’s nice to have it when I need it).

I’m hoping that I’ll be catching up on my research in the next few weeks or so. But while my focus was on the fall TV season, it’s now on pilot season.

Pilot season is typically after the new year and into April or so. That’s when the networks decide what shows they want to consider for the new TV season. I’ve heard for years that pilot season is disappearing because of cable and new shows coming on TV all throughout the year. But in the past, my pilot auditions have always fit into the classic pilot season timeline.

Until this week.

While I was at Disneyland, I got a text from my agents that I had an audition for a series regular on a new pilot this week. I was a bit shocked to get a pilot audition in October, but I’m down for whatever!

As I mentioned in my Disneyland post, we left pretty early. So as soon as I got home I printed out my audition sides and got to highlighting.

Pilot Script

Since this is a very big deal audition, I wanted to take it as seriously as I could. And since I had a couple of days before the audition, I had time to get coached for it. I checked with Marci Liroff first since I have worked with her in class in the past, but she’s busy casting a new project. She gave me a referral, but I also heard back from Peggy Lane O’Rourke, who I met through the SAG-AFTRA election (she was on the other side and technically my “enemy”).

Peggy and I really connected while we were campaigning for the election and again at the convention, so I decided to drive out to her for coaching. And of course, we did 1 hour of coaching and 3 hours of goofing off and chatting. But that’s totally fine with me because she got to know me better as an actor and I think she understood my abilities better.

Audition Coaching

I think the coaching session went really well. I had some points in the script where I knew the choice I was making wasn’t right, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do either. She helped me discover and develop what I wanted to do.

And when I was in the room, I think I did a great job! One of my biggest issues in the audition room is talking too fast, but I actually got a note after my first read that I had too much air in the reading and she wanted me to speed up! That’s a first for me!

This pilot isn’t supposed to shoot until January, so even if I do get a callback I might not hear anything for a while. But no matter what, I know that I did the best that I could in the room and I have no regrets of any of my acting choices (and because I could hear through the door, I know my choices were very different from the other girls auditioning before me).

Now that my preview of pilot season is done, I can get back to focusing on the fall TV season and seeing what shows I want to target and what shows I can see myself fitting into.

Hopefully in the not-so-distant future, I will be on one of those shows. And it doesn’t matter to me if it’s a series regular or a 1 line part. I’m making strides to making my dreams come true and that’s all that counts to me.

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Default ThumbnailAudition Prep (or Taking My Career Seriously) Default ThumbnailTV Prep Time (or Here Are Some Helpful Links About Scheduling Your Viewing) Default ThumbnailCraziness Of Auditioning (or How I Spent A Day Getting Ready For A Minute) Default ThumbnailThe TV Season (or I Watch TV Like My Job Depends on It) Default ThumbnailAwards Season (or I Have No Idea How I Can Watch All The Movies) Default ThumbnailThe New TV Season (or Starting My Research Early This Year)

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Rehearsal Pro (or Help Build An Amazing App!)

Posted on September 3, 2015 | Comments Off on Rehearsal Pro (or Help Build An Amazing App!)

I’ve talked about some apps on other blogs that I have found essential as an actor. So many apps that I love are freebies because I’m very cautious on how I spend my money. In general, I rarely pay for apps because many times there are free versions of anything I want. But there’s one app that may be the most expensive one on my phone, has no freebie version, and is also the most important one for me: Rehearsal 2.

Rehearsal 2 is seriously the best app for actors ever! You can import your scripts into it and you can highlight lines, make notes, black out your lines to rehearse with yourself, and even record the other lines so you can rehearsal against your own voice! I love recording the lines around my lines in a normal voice and then my own lines in a whisper. Then I play it through my car speakers while I’m on the way to my auditions. I get to rehearse against myself while driving in traffic and if I forget my line I can listen to my whisper to hear what it’s supposed to be. It helps calm me down and lets me prepare without worrying about taking my eyes off of the road.

Rehearsal 2 Script Breakdown

I downloaded this app the day I got my iPhone (it’s iPhone only). I’ve used it for every single audition and many actors I know use it for auditions and booked work. We all still print out sides for auditions (I never bring my iPad with me to auditions), but this does help save paper for booked work scripts.

I’ve loved this app since day one, and the creator of the app is very happy to help you with any questions you might have (he also ran with me in the recent SAG-AFTRA election). When I did run into the creator, David, at the ballot counting for the election, he let me in on a not-so-secret secret. He was getting ready to announce the newest version of the app: Rehearsal Pro!

Rehearsal Pro is going to be incredible! There are going to be some great new features. The one that I’m most excited about is being able to sync your scripts between devices (this was an issue with the studios in the past due to privacy concerns). But there will also be some other fun things too (I’m not sure how much I can share because David told me some of these features but I don’t think they have been officially announced).

Of course, as soon as I found out that Rehearsal Pro was happening, I asked David how I could get the new version and how much it would cost me. He told me that there is an Indiegogo campaign to help raise the funds to build the new app and would allow me (and everyone else who has Rehearsal 2) to get Rehearsal Pro at a discount!

At the time that I’m typing this, there are 3 more perks to allow current Rehearsal 2 customers to get Rehearsal Pro for $5! (quick edit, that perk level sold out, but there are plenty of upgrade perks available at the $10 level!) After that is filled, you can still get Rehearsal Pro at the discounted price of $10 (it’s going to be $20 normally). I highly encourage all actors to donate to this campaign. Not only do I want to see Rehearsal Pro built, but this is an app that I cannot recommend enough to you all! And if you aren’t a current Rehearsal 2 customer, you can still donate $20 to get Rehearsal Pro when it’s released.

If you aren’t an actor and you want to help actors, you can donate without getting Rehearsal Pro as a perk (there are a couple of levels that allow for that). I hope you all know that I rarely share things on here that cost people money. This is something that I’m not getting paid to do. I just honestly feel that strongly about this app and want to see my fellow actors have a great tool to use to make sure they all have the best auditions they can have.

If you have any questions about this app, feel free to ask me. If I don’t know the answer, I’m happy to pass it on to David to get you the answer! I just want all my fellow actors to be able to enjoy this app the way that I have for years!

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Another Evening Of Mentoring (or Having Faith In My Agents)

Posted on June 16, 2015 | Comments Off on Another Evening Of Mentoring (or Having Faith In My Agents)

Last week was another meeting of my WIF mentoring circle with our mentors. I’m really enjoying seeing almost everyone every month (and my mentors every other month) and I really do feel like as a group we have really bonded.

At this meeting, we updated our mentors on what we had gotten accomplished since our last meeting with them. I had known a bit of what my fellow mentees had done since we had our potluck last month, but everyone had some really great updates.

Some people had booked some amazing work in their fields since even our meeting last month. I love to hear that they are all doing so well and that they are moving forward in their careers. Sometimes I feel like I am so far behind in my career compared to all of them, but it does inspire me to see what is possible.

For my update, first of all my mentors asked me to log all of my auditions between our last meeting and this meeting (so 2 months worth). I had 4 auditions, and I was pretty happy about that. My mentors seemed a little surprised by how few auditions I had, but they also understood that the industry is a bit slow right now. But they still questioned why so few auditions when the other actress in the group had about 10 times the number of auditions as me. But you really can’t compare us since we are totally different types and she is non-union while I am union.

My mentors did ask me about how I feel about my agents. Honestly, I love my agents. They have worked so hard for me and truly believe in me. But I think that since I know them so well it might be tough for others to understand why I believe in them so much. It probably seems like blind faith.

But not all agents would have worked as so hard for me as they have. They have stuck with me through lots of weight changes (and some hair changes). Not all agents would have dealt with that. I bet that most agents would have dropped me for gaining weight.

But my agents believe that I can book work at whatever weight I happen to be. And they know that it’s just a matter of time before I book something great. And they know I work really hard all the time. When I’m not auditioning, I work hard at building my reputation in this industry as a good, reliable, and knowledgable actor. And hopefully with that reputation casting directors and other industry people will remember that and bring me in for parts that are right for me. And many of my auditions are at casting offices that I’ve auditioned at before. So it’s not that I’m not a good actor, it’s that the part I auditioned for wasn’t right. And hopefully those offices will keep bringing me in until the part is right for me.

I know that it’s tough to understand sometimes why I’m being so patient about lack of auditions. Or why I trust my agents so much when I don’t have dozens of auditions each month. I guess it’s because I have faith in myself and my career. I know that when it’s my time to shine, I’m going to be totally ready and prepared for it. And all I have to do is keep getting prepared and be patient because eventually it will be my time.

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Default ThumbnailHearing Some Non-Nonsense Advice (or A Substitute Mentor) Default ThumbnailMeeting My Mentoring Circle (or Being In The Minority) Default ThumbnailMentoring Circle (or Women Who Support Each Other) Default ThumbnailMore Mentoring (or This Is Exactly What I Needed) Default ThumbnailEnd Of The Mentoring Circle (or One Final Lunch) Default ThumbnailAnother Evening Of Mentees (or Advice and Socializing)

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Upgrading My Self-Tape Set Up (or 2 Auditions In 30 Minutes)

Posted on June 10, 2015 | Comments Off on Upgrading My Self-Tape Set Up (or 2 Auditions In 30 Minutes)

I’ve done self-taping in the past, but I’ve always kind of figured out last-minute how to set things up at my house. I’ve used a towel or blanket as my backdrop and just had a friend come and run the camera for me. Most of the time, casting directors understand that when you self-tape, it’s not going to look as nice as when you go into a casting office so it’s ok if it’s not perfect.

But this week I had 2 different self-tape auditions that I needed to do so I decided that this was the time to take things a bit more seriously.

First step was getting a nice backdrop for my auditions. I knew that I wanted a blue backdrop (it’s a nice flattering color) and I figured getting a king sized sheet would be the easiest way to do it. So I headed to Bed Bath & Beyond (with a 20% off coupon) and went hunting for the cheapest blue sheet I could find.

Self-Tape Backdrop

I’ll admit that it wasn’t as easy as I thought to find just a flat sheet and not a sheet set. I looked at curtains as well, but those were pretty pricey and weren’t that wide. But I ended up finding the perfect king flat sheet and got that (and saved my receipt since this is a tax write-off).

My two auditions were pretty different. One was for a web series and had 4 different scenes each with a line or two. I submitted for that role through Actors Access (an online casting service) and instead of getting an audition request they sent me a self-tape request.

The second audition was for the ABC Diversity Showcase. This was similar to the NBC Showcase I self-taped for last year. This time, they had a couple of different scene options online and we could do whatever scene we felt best represented us.

I put a request online to my friends to see who would be able to help me self-tape, and my friend (and fellow mentee) Melissa was happy to help. She had just done her audition for the ABC Showcase as well and had a nice camera that we could use.

I ended up wearing the same outfit for both auditions (I didn’t plan on that but it ended up working out that way) and I think my outfit looked great against my new backdrop.

Self-Tape

Melissa helped me with the web series audition first. We did 2 different takes and I was very happy with the second one.

The ABC Diversity Showcase audition took a few more takes. First, we did the introduction part of the audition. I had to say my first name, hometown, and answer one of the questions they posted on the website (I answered what superpower I’d like to have).

Then we moved on to the audition. As much as I tried to be memorized, having 2 totally different auditions in the same day threw me a bit. I wasn’t totally memorized, but I was pretty close. The audition was about 4 pages long and we went through it quite a few times. Many times, I didn’t get through the entire scene before I decided to stop. I think we only made it through the entire scene twice before I felt good about it.

We managed to knock out 2 auditions in just under 30 minutes. My brain was working overtime and as soon as we finished I relaxed and was able to think about what I just did. I was still feeling happy about my auditions so we decided that we were done.

Melissa took the memory card home with her and she emailed me the edited auditions pretty soon after we finished recording. And I was able to email both of my auditions to the respective casting directors that evening.

I’m pretty happy with the new backdrop I bought for self-taping auditions. It will be much nicer to use than a towel or blanket. And hopefully I’ll have more self-tape auditions in the future. They are becoming more common since you could even use your phone to record an audition. I will still use my regular camera or have a friend use their nicer camera for any auditions I have to do on my own. It’s nicer than an iPhone and I’d rather try to have things look as nice as possible without going crazy.

But having things more ready for self-taping (and having friends who are willing and able to help) are great steps toward being prepared for having more and more auditions come my way!

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Skype Audition (or Maybe I Should Have Worn Regular Pants)

Posted on May 7, 2015 | Comments Off on Skype Audition (or Maybe I Should Have Worn Regular Pants)

I had my very first Skype audition this week!

I have put myself on tape in the past, but when you do that you can take as many takes as you want and edit it down to just be the best one. When you have a Skype audition, it’s pretty much as close as you can get to a regular audition, just done virtually.

This audition was for a national campaign that I actually auditioned for several months back. But my agent resubmitted me when she saw that they were looking again and the casting team remembered me and had me audition again! So that made me really happy.

The script was pretty short (only about 10 lines), so I didn’t stress about working on it too much. If I practice too much, it sounds canned and not natural.

Because the casting team is based in NYC, my audition was a bit earlier than I’m used to. But it was fine since I get up early most days.

Since I was only going to be seen from the chest up, I dressed nice on top but wore my workout pants (with bare feet) on bottom.

Audition Outfit

I spent the 15 minutes before the audition time practicing my lines and making my computer screen as empty as possible. I didn’t want any weird distractions (or noises) while the audition was going on.

When the audition time came, I opened up Skype and waited for the audition call to come it. That was more nerve-racking than waiting in an audition room.

Skype Audition

I had moved my laptop to be in a place with better lighting and a blank backdrop, and when I saw how I looked on the Skype call I think I made the right choice.

The audition went very much like a regular audition. We chatted at first about some things, they asked me if I had any questions about the material, and then I auditioned. I had to do it twice because the first time I made a mistake, but the second time went well (I think).

The only thing that might have been a bad choice on my part was the bottom half of my outfit. They needed to see as much of a full body shot as possible. Since my house is so small there is only so much room that I could back up into. So they never saw that I was barefoot (unless they are reading this blog is which is always possible), but I wish I wore better pants.

I had my script up on my computer screen instead of printing it out to hold in my hands. I think that was a good choice. And when I was auditioning I made it so I couldn’t see myself on the call. I don’t want to watch myself acting while auditioning. Maybe some people like that, but I don’t. I’m not a fan of watching myself on screen at any time. But by hiding myself on my side of the call, I was able to audition without any additional stress or nervousness.

And within a few minutes, my audition was done and I was able to get ready for my day job.

If I get a callback, it will be in LA, so that will be nice. That would be in a week or two, so hopefully I hear back soon. And it doesn’t shoot for about a month so there is plenty of time before they have to make their decision on this. That’s a bit unusually since most auditions are for projects shooting in a few days.

Either way, I survived my first Skype audition and now feel prepared to do them again in the future if I need to.

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Going From So Much Excitement To Normal In A Few Hours (or Life As An Actor)

Posted on March 27, 2015 | 1 comment

My day on Tuesday was going to be pretty normal. I knew I had work from 10-3 as usual and then I had the afternoon free (my temp job is done now).

So as I went around doing my after-work errands (which included buying the digital version of “Into The Woods” for my AppleTV), I was pretty much in no-stress mode.

Then, as I’m sitting at home, I get a text from my agents. I had an audition for Wednesday evening! It was for a national commercial and I had lines to prepare.

So I quickly got into actor mode. First, I rescheduled my afternoon workout for Wednesday. I might have been able to both workout and make it to the audition, but I didn’t want to stress about it. So I rescheduled to a super early workout. Since the audition took place late, I didn’t have to worry about dealing with anything at my day job, so that was one less thing to take care of.

I really wanted to watch “Into The Woods”, so I had it up on my tv while I ran the lines for the audition on the Rehearsal 2 app on my iPad.

Audition Prep

The script for the audition was more than I’m used to for commercial auditions. There were 4 potential parts that I could be auditioning for (the audition notice didn’t specify the part), so I decided that I would memorize all 4 parts.

So I spent a good chunk of my afternoon/evening working on the script and getting everything else ready for the audition the next day (plus planning on waking up early to get in a before-work workout).

Then, I got another text from my agents.

My audition was canceled.

My agents really didn’t get much information beyond the audition being canceled. So it could be for tons of different reasons. Maybe they didn’t want me to audition. Maybe they already cast the part. Maybe it’s not really canceled but it will be rescheduled and they don’t have a new reschedule date yet. Maybe the commercial isn’t going to happen anymore.

No matter the reason, there was no need for me to prep anymore.

So I did all my prep work in reverse. I put away my iPad and the script. I canceled my early morning workout and rebooked my afternoon workout. And I got to watch “Into The Woods” without having to focus on the script.

This is a way of life for me. I think this is only the first or second audition that was ever canceled on me. Usually, when I get a cancellation text my agents have been told that it will be rescheduled but the casting directors don’t know when. They can’t reschedule without a date through the online submission services so if the new date is unknown, the audition has to be canceled.

I can’t get down about this. I did nothing wrong. And for all I know, in a week or two this audition will come back and it will actually be a reschedule and not a cancellation.

I just have to keep thinking positive and know that eventually, an awesome part will be mine. But for now, I will just be grateful that I was considered for a great job and I got to practice my acting skill with a new script.

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Making My Acting Bold (or Feeling Great From An Audition)

Posted on February 4, 2015 | 2 comments

I made my word of the year “bold” and I’m working on applying that to all aspects of my life. It’s easier said than done, but I’m trying.

This week, I had my second audition of the year.

My first audition of the year didn’t go so great. I was very nervous because the type of project that it was had changed without my agents being notified and it was unclear if the project was union or not (as a union member, I can only work on union projects). I thought about backing out because even though someone told me the project was union, there were many signs that it wasn’t. But I went in anyway and I’m guess that I didn’t book it since I haven’t heard back (I’m almost relieved I didn’t book it because if it ended up being non-union I would have had to turn it down).

So that first audition didn’t give me a great opportunity to be bold. But this second audition was totally different.

First of all, the audition was for a tv show that is very popular and well-known. I’ve actually auditioned for this show before, so it was a very good sign that I was brought in again. When you don’t necessarily book the role but you book the office, this is what it is like. They will continue to bring you in for parts that you are right for because the reason you didn’t get the job before wasn’t due to your acting skills.

The next thing that made this audition different was that there were lines (the first audition was for a print campaign so no lines). It was a small co-star part with only 2 lines, but I was determined to be bold with my choices without going over the top.

I always try to make a strong choice in my auditions, but I chicken out a lot. I’ve heard horror stories from casting directors about actors who go way over the top for 1 or 2 line parts and I never want to be one of those stories. So I tend to end up a little muted in my choice when I eventually get into the audition room (it’s also a little nerve-racking being in the audition room).

This time, I felt really good with the choice that I made. I thought it was funny without being too crazy or attention grabbing. And when I walked into the audition room, I did it exactly how I wanted to. I did get a redirect in the room to do a slightly different physical movement, but I was not told to change how I read the lines. So I think the casting director liked what I did.

While I would love to book this part, I really don’t care about that now. Because when I left the audition room, I felt amazing! I didn’t have any regrets about what I did and I’m not obsessing about how I could have done it better. I’m completely satisfied with my read in the room.

I’ve never been able to completely feel this way before. I always wish I had done something more/better/bigger/stronger. But right now, I know I did exactly what I wanted and hopefully what I did is exactly what the show wanted. And if not, that’s ok with me.

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