Wow, so today was the day I went in to audition for possible speaking roles in two major motion pictures being filmed in New England. This is my second time auditioning for a major production; in late October I auditioned for a speaking role in the ShowTime original series called “Brotherhood”. There was a huge difference between the audition in October and the audition today. Let me explain…
At the “Brotherhood” audition this fall I completely bombed. I had real trouble following my own advice about not getting caught up in thinking of the audition as a high stakes event. I just could not seem to get the notion out of my head that this was a one time thing that blown would potentially ruin my one big chance. And I knew that it is best to trust that this is just the first of many, and that although it would be really cool to have a speaking role on a TV show, this audition should not be treated any different than an audition for a low budget independent film; the kind of audition I don’t get nervous about. But still I could not shake the nerves. When I went in and performed my monologue that day it did not come out how I wanted it too or how I rehearsed it. The nervous energy in my body caused me to do it too fast and stilted, and I event forgot a sentence which ended up making the whole thing sound disjointed and stupid. I was so bummed that day, but I did manage to forget about it and move on after a couple of days of morning the loss.
Today’s audition was a completely different story, and I guess I am a different person than I was five months ago. Before I went into the audition I decided to set two intentions for my self. One was to discover a new comfort with auditioning for big jobs, and the other was to remember the joy of what I am doing and not get caught up in the drama. Then after I set the intentions I just forgot about them and went in. The trick is not to try and make the intentions happen, but just to set them and forget them and hope your subconscious does the rest. I find this trick seems to work pretty well; I use it all the time before performances and auditions now. But I digress…. So after setting my intentions I went in to show my stuff. I was not very nervous at all this time because it has finally sunk into my thick skull that due to the film incentive bills passing in Mass and Rhode Island these kinds of auditions are going to happen more and more and that this is not my one and only shot. After a brief introduction I performed my monologue and I nailed it. It came out just how I wanted it to and the casting folks seem to enjoy it. We were all smiles afterwards and one of the casting folks said I did a great job. After that I gave my 2 minute elevator speech on what I have been doing lately in the acting world and that was it. I must have been in the room less than five or six minutes. I won’t know if I get a part for a while but the important thing for me today was that I did my best and did not let my nerves destroy my audition. I am a happy boy. The two movies I auditioned for are as follows. Underdog by Walt Disney pictures to be filmed in Rhode Island and Gone, Baby, Gone by Touchstone Pictures to be filmed in Boston. Both of them will be filming this spring and summer.
‘Tis all for now.
Performing ill
This Tuesday and Wednesday nights I performed in the SlamBoston short play competition. I acted in two out of the eight short plays, my plays went on back to back, luckily my costume changes where pretty small since I had about two minutes back stage before coming on again. I took on two roles because I wanted to challenge myself and I am always looking to take bigger risks in order to stretch and grow. Well, the universe did not think that was a big enough challenge so I ended up with a nasty cold too. This was my first time performing before a live audience while ill. Luckily, I had the good idea to bring on a handkerchief in my pocket in case I had to “in character” blow my nose. Because at one point in the first night during the second play I did have to use it because I just got so congested that I had to do something so that I could be heard; nasty. Anyway, as an actor this is something I am going to have to deal with in my life. I am sure this will not be the first time I perform ill. But now I know to just be prepared and to make your real life necessities part of your character’s necessities and everything will work out ok. Neither one of my plays won the Slam competition but for me it was a huge victory on several levels. First, I took on an extra role at the last minute and was able to get off book really quickly: Off Book is an acting term meaning fully memorized. Second, I discovered that performing ill and having to make adjustments for it on stage was not as bad as I thought it would be. Thirdly and most importantly I finally feel a lot more comfortable with doing theater performances in general. Movie roles don’t make me very nervous but theater has up to now been a very scary thing for me. Last night I found a new comfort on stage that I have never felt before.
Union Rules!
Well last entry I talked about loosing a gig due to my union affiliation and how it can be kind of a bummer. But this week I am so happy that I am in the union. Tomorrow on Friday February 24th I have a chance to read for speaking roles on two major motion pictures! One is Underdog which is to be filmed in Rhode Island by Walt Disney Pictures and the other is Gone, Baby, Gone which is to be filmed in Massachusetts by Touchstone Pictures; Ben Affleck’s first shot at directing a major motion picture. I could only have received this opportunity by being in the union. In New England this is a very rare and exciting thing since not a lot of major movies are made here. But because of the film incentive bills passed by Rhode Island and Massachusetts this will become less and less rare. It is my feeling that soon the old adage that “You are crazy to join the union in New England” will become “You are crazy not to join the union in New England!” Here is how it played out. I got a hotline email saying that on Wednesday starting at noon the first 72 men and the first 44 woman to call in to the office would get a time slot to audition. I was on the phone for 55 minutes straight dialing and redialing until I finally got through and got my spot. The number one requirement is that you have to me a member in good standing; they check your union card at the door. I love the union, the union rules!
[Updated 20 minutes later: Ok this is funny, I just got a call from Lauren, the director of the ice-cream vendor movie and after calling the local union office she decided she can not meet the requirements to make her movie union friendly; so I was re-cast. All that I could do was laugh. ]
‘Tis all for now.
All the actors unions such as SAG, AFTRA and AEA all have one thing in common and that is “Rule One”. “Rule One” basically states that “No union actor will work on any non-union production no matter what!” If you break this rule you will face fines and eventually dismissal from the union. When I joined AFTRA I decided to be serious about the union and follow the rules, and not mess around doing non-union work. I knew this decision would cause some disappointments in the short-run, but I am betting that in the long-run my decision to play by the rules will pay off. That said, I can now say that I have just had my first short-term disappointment. The producer of the movie “Standing Up” that I had just been cast in had indented to make their film union friendly but in the end chose not too; I have been recast. The problem was that the shooting was scheduled for the end of February and it was just not enough time to meet the requirements the union demands of a producer. So, in essence I lost a gig due to my union affiliation. Oh well, life goes on, and there will be more gigs coming soon.
Speaking of more gigs I went on two more auditions recently. The first was kind of a formality because the director of the film had assisted the director of one of my previous films and had seen my work and liked my performance. I went in and read, and had a good time at the audition. And right there on the spot was given the script to take home and told to come to rehearsals. As long as the chemistry works between all the actors I should get the final green light soon. This film is definitely going to be union friendly so no issues there. This film looks like lots of fun, it is a mocumentary about two competing ice-cream truck vendors and I will get to drive an ice-cream truck: a first for me.
The other audition was really great too. It was for a student film and the audition was 90% dramatic improv; I think I must have been in there for over half an hour. Sean, the director, told me what my motivations were and explained the situations to me and after that I just had to wing it. It was a very enjoyable and cathartic experience. I have done some comedic improv before, but had not yet done much in the dramatic line. I plan to look for more opportunities to practice that skill because it was fun and fulfilling. I believe the director liked my work, and there should not be any union issues since the union makes it really easy for students to get listed. Time will tell.
‘Tis all for now.
Never thought I would see myself in a police uniform, but that is one the coolest things about acting. You get to see yourself in many different societal roles, in many different costumes, and in different eras of time. The funny thing was that I was cast in this role because I do not look like the typical cop. My character is part comic relief and part antagonist in the movie and in cases like that it is funnier and makes a bigger impact if you don’t cast by type.
There is a new Out of Alignment website with a video clips section. There is a rough cut of one of my scenes that we shot back at the tail end of October. It is a rough cut, meaning that it is an early test of how the scene will look. It does not have the real musical score, only some filler music, and the editing will probably change in small ways in the final product. You must have the latest quick time to view the clip. Click this link to the digital cinema section and choose the file called scenes 99-100. I appear in the beginning and again near the end. I had a blast on that day and the cast and crew were very professional and lots of fun to work with. I will appear in 6 other scenes through out the movie. We are hoping to get all my scenes shot this Tuesday and Wednesday the 14th and 15th of February. I am so psyched this film is starting up again, it has been too long since the last time we shot and I really enjoy this character.
‘Tis all for now.
I love life’s little surprises, and I have been the beneficiary of a couple nice surprises just last week.
First I discovered that the web site for Keep Left Theater in Melbourne, Australia has created a link to my site in their actor’s tips section. They cite my site as a good example of an actor’s promotional website. They give me a nice review; I felt honored and sent them a thank you note. You can view their words here: Keep Left Theater Acting Tips; Self Promotion.
Second, I was contacted by Brian who is the director of the movie called “Standing Up” that I auditioned for two weeks ago. I posted an entry about it on January 30, 2006. His email was offering me a supporting role in his movie. As long as we can work out the union issue and get this done under a SAG short film agreement I should be all set to go. I am looking forward to this very much. I was offered the role of a “MC” at the comedy club the lead character frequents in the movie. I had a great time reading the part of the “MC” at the audition, and I think this will be great fun.
‘Tis all for now.
[Updated on February 9th, 2006]
The Joy of living on the edge.
I went to another audition on Friday afternoon. This movie is an Emerson College student film. The movie is called “Tortilla Flats” and deals with racial tension in the work place. I went to the audition mainly to keep my “audition muscles” toned since I don’t really need any projects right now. [This may seem like a weird statement if you have read my post from January 25th, but things have changed since then and I explain that later in this post.] I went to this audition with the intention of practicing the art of surrender, letting go, and allowing my self to fail. In other words I was again going into the audition with the intent to entertain, and have fun and not to get caught up in the “I must be perfect or I suck” mentality that I sometimes can get trapped by. This audition was a monologue audition, which means you have to come in and perform a 1 or 2 minute monologue from a play or a movie. I picked one that I had learned last year, and I only spend a little time refreshing the lines so that when I went in to the audition it would be “iffy” whether or not I could remember the whole thing as written or if I would have to improvise and cover my self if I went blank on a word or two, or more. Scary!
The audition went great! Which once again proves to my stubborn, fearful mind that living on the edge and doing things outside of your comfort zone leads you to where all the good things in life are waiting. I went into the audition and greeted the director and producer courteously. When they asked me if I had a monologue I wanted to do I realized that they were giving me an out; they worded it like a monologue was optional. For a split second I teetered on the edge of saying “No”, but then remembered my intention and I said “I Do”. So I stood up and did my monologue for better or worse, and I did mess it up a little, and had to cover and improvise on the spot just as if it had been a stage performance. They were never the wiser, because I believe I did a pretty damn good performance and they did not have the written version to check against. It felt great! The rest of the audition went well and because their film schedule does not conflict with any of my current gigs I will definitely take the role if they offer it to me. I really liked them, and when we chatted I got the sense that I would like working with them. Whether or not I get the role it was a triumph; I went out of my comfort zone and was rewarded with an enjoyable experience on the edge.
[Updated on February 9th, 2006: Sadly I was not offered the part, however it turns out to be a good thing because I was asked to help run auditons for Another Country Productions on the weekend that the movie is shooting.]
When it rains it pours.
All of a sudden I have three projects all happening at once during the next 2 and half weeks. I knew I had the one short play coming up soon, but other than that it seemed my film projects where all delayed with the closest happening the last week of February. However, due to an actor dropping out of one of the other short plays I was asked to take up that role, so now I am in 2 out of the 8 plays in the SLAMBoston short play competition which is being held February 21st and 22nd; only two and a half weeks away. Then I got an email from the “Out of Alignment” folks an hour after I agreed to take on the second play. The email said that filming will be resuming February 14th – 20th, and they would like at least one rehearsal. So now I have two short plays to memorize and the rehearsals for them, plus shooting a film, and rehearsals for that too, all to be crammed into a short period. And I am actually psyched because as I said in the post of January 25th, I would rather have the stress of too much going on, then to have the stress of nothing going on any day.
‘Tis all for now.
Stumble it!