Monday 17 March 2003
Continued from the last post…
I found a monologue piece the day after at Samuel French, a store for actors. I looked at various monologue books but nothing “clicked” until I picked up the book I had noticed for a while. I had chosen not to pick it up at first since I did not like the title “Killer Monologues” by J.P Pierce. The language is easy to read and very close to how one talks. I went through the book and found a dramatic monologue which I have memorized that I am kinda itching to perform at Tuesday (tomorrow) evenings actor group, which I plan to attend for the first time.
The Actors Fellowship
I found out about this acting group through an ad that stood out for me a while ago in the BackStage West magazine. But I needed the right motivation to call, and getting through my own fear of memorizing lines got me going. So I called and spoke with Jules Dean the instructor. She was a regular on the TV series Fame back in the 80’s, and today she is a Casting Director that works I believe with other Casting Directors. We had a very good long talk about various things, and we seemed to be on the same wave length when it came to our own relationship with God. So it will be interesting meeting her and the others in the group, and from what Jules said, there are working actors in the group that work among other places at Disney and Universal.
Tomorrow evening the Casting Director from Blackhawk Down will be visiting the acting group to likely talk about her experience casting actors for various parts for that movie.
Thoughts…
It has been quiet for a few days now as I am going through another waiting period. This is stop and go game. But this is how life is, stop – go. The stop periods can sometimes be tricky as I get lots of time to think and wonder what the heck I am doing out here. I have time to drive around and get a feel for various areas in LA. These days I have been checking out of the motel in the mornings with no clues as to where I will end up the next night. The evening arrives, and the motel I happen to drive by in whichever area I am in at the time becomes my next pillow. It seems fitting with a period of wait that I also feel I am without direction. For waiting has a way of doing that. But waiting also gets me to learn more about myself by noticing various reactions and emotions that come up in this period of wait. Waiting makes me grow. I need both, so I get both. Stop – Go, it sure creates variation in my life.
Tuesday 18 March 2003
My first time in an acting class.
I did my first “sides” (script) reading in tonights class. There were 6 guys and one woman, Jules, the instructor. Jules spoke for a while giving us tips on how to submit our headshots and resumes to companies that are in pre-production mode (meaning have not started shooting yet).
Later in the evening there was an introdution of each person and I told them that I have never even performed a monologue (still have not done so) and one of the guys Spencer sat there really mystified and sceptical that I even was a part of the group.
On Thursday the 20th of March I will have been in Los Angeles for a month, and there are others who have been here for atleast a year trying to get into the business of acting. It seems it is still tricky for them to figure out how to do so.
Here I am in class gaining insight from Jules into how to get into acting, and it is similar in ways to what I have been thinking. First figure out which Casting Director is associated with which film, then figure out if that Casting Director takes mail with resumes and head shots sent by anyone, and if they do send them one. But also include on the bottom left of the envelope “Requested Material” so they actually do open the envelope.
We also received tips on placing staples on the top corners so that the Casting Directors are able to flip the resume up and write comments on the back if they choose to do so. If the staples were placed differently they would not be able to flip up the resume and write on the back without having to tear off the resume. (Head shot in front and resume behind facing backward.)
It was a very interesting evening, and I had lots of fun performing my first cold reading (non prepared reading). It went really well, and I found it fairly easy to get into the character. It will be easier when the lines are memorized which is the assignment for next Tuesday.