Are You Ready To Audition?

To provide a counterpoint to my last post (and an uncomfortably intimate view of the debates that rage in my head), let me introduce a harsh check:

Are you an aspiring actor who feels like you should be getting cast more? Have you ever stopped to ask whether you deserve to be cast more? To find out, do the following:

1. Pick out an actor whose career you would like to emulate.
2. Search for their name on IMDB.
3. Go to their earliest entry as an actor.
4. Rent a copy of that film or television episode.
5. Watch it.
6. Ask yourself: Can you, given an evening's preparation, deliver a performance as good or better?

If you answered "Yes," then you're ready. Go out and audition, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You're just starting out, folks get that.

If you answered "No," then you're not ready. A film or tv show takes a significant financial risk every time it casts an unknown actor. If you can't deliver an entry-level professional performance then you don't deserve to be cast. Sorry.

But wait, there's hope. Take that same actor and read their IMDB biography. You'll probably find that they did theater for 10 years before being cast in that first role. If you haven't put in that much time doing theater you might still reach the same level of competence given time and effort.

Here's my homework:

Actor: Keanu Reeves

First Film: One Step Away (1985)

Could I do as well?: Yes. I think so.

Which means: I'm good enough to be auditioning for supporting roles in films with < $1 million budgets.

The Evidence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LItH17PuXSo

Why Too Much Knowlege Can Be A Bad Thing

I came to Los Angeles a confident actor. I had just finished playing the lead in a one act play. I had consulted with all of my actor friends who had taken a swing at LA and thus was assured I wouldn't make the same mistakes. I was in great shape and had a certain pep in my step that only new love can bring. I felt like a pretty big fish in a small pond.

When I got to LA, I hit the ground running. I started my agent search. Self-submitted for roles. Auditioned all the time, and even got cast in a few shorts. On some of those shorts, I felt like I was slumming it.

To look back at it now, I was an ignorant ass.

I now fully appreciate just how big a pond LA is and just how small a fish I am. I am riddled with doubts about my abilities as a performer. I understand how important a first impression with a Casting Director is, and I have no intention of blowing it. As a result, I'm not submitting myself for roles. I'm not actively seeking an agent. I am floating. Worse, I have become the thing I most despise: the class & coffee shop actor. I have strong opinions, beliefs, and theories but rarely exercise them outside of conversations with friends.

I just had such a conversation with my extremely talented buddy JP. It served as something of a reality check:

Yes, I'm a small fish in a big pond. BUT, I was an even smaller fish when I first arrived in town and I actively sought and got work. I am a much better actor now than I was two years ago, and by all rights I should be pounding the pavement. If I'm not ready enough to begin now, I never will be.

Which all reminds me of what I believe to be a Los Angeles truism:

A bad actor with confidence in his/her abilities will book more work than a good actor with poor confidence in his/her abilities.

Oh to maintain the joys of ignorance whilst enjoying the benefits of wisdom!

How To Lose With a Winning Hand

Since moving to LA I've started doing something I haven't done since I was a small child - playing poker. Things are a little different since I took up the game as a six year old in the green room the high school theater. For one, I've started playing for money. Not much, no more than $10 a night, but enough for it to feel like proper gambling.

The problem is, I know as little about the game now as I did then. My strategy basically breaks down to: hold onto any face cards I may have and go all in if I see any cards on the table that match. I have yet to win a game of poker.

Tonight, I was quite impressed by just how bad a player I am. We were playing Texas Hold 'Em. I had a five and a king. On the table were three other fives. The betting was getting pretty intense. All cards had been revealed, but the bets were still going up. I looked at my cards, and looked at the cards on the table. The best hand the other players could have had was a full house. I only had four 5s. Given the tenor of the bets, I knew someone had the full house. As the full house would beat my four-of-a-kind, I folded.

The only problem is: Four of a Kind beats a Full House!!!

I didn't know this at the time, if I had, I would have gone all in. I managed to claw defeat from the jaws of victory.

The moral of the story: before you start gambling where something real is at stake (money, job, relationship, etc) - make sure you know what winning looks like. If you don't, you might fail to see that success is within your grasp, give up, and lose everything.

Alternate moral of the story: ensure that every game of poker you play is worth the amount you are betting in entertainment value alone. More likely than not you'll lose, so be okay with that.

Moral #3: If you want an easy 10 bucks, challenge me to a friendly poker game.

Is Effortless Acting Better Acting?

I am slowly concluding that no amount of effort whilst acting will make me a better actor. That effort, in the act of performance, is antithetical to good acting. Examples:

• Actors who are trying to be funny rarely are.
• Actors who attempt to broadcast (vs share) their love just look creepy, and make their lovers look like fools.
• Grandiose physical intimidation is rarely scary while subdued verbal intimidation is often terrifying.
• Ever watched a soap opera?

The thought that acting can be effortless is still difficult to reconcile, but I'm coming around to it. That said, there is still work to be done in preparing for performance, but once in performance it's a process of letting go, listening, and responding as the impulse to communicate occurs.

Can you think of any examples where the aphorism "never let 'em see you sweat" doesn't ring true?

The Lifelong Goal of an Actor

While there are many reasons for becoming an actor, perhaps the best reason to continue acting is that it sets you on a path of greater self-knowledge and understanding of the world.

As a student, I was used to getting good grades without really trying. My intro to acting class at UC Santa Cruz was the first class that left me feeling totally clueless. Finally, I found I was genuinely bad at something. I couldn't stand that, so I kept at it. You could say the reason I got into acting was pride.

But pride is a terrible reason to keep doing something. Especially when doing that thing means foresaking financial stability.

So why act? Why keep it up?

Along the way, I discovered that the promise of acting is not that I will someday master it, but the knowlege that I never will. The artistic ideal of an actor is to be able to walk a mile in the shoes of every person who has ever lived on this planet. An impossible goal, but one that promises infinite discovery of self and others.

Why It's Okay Not To Be Right For a Part

A father saying about his daughter to her agent, "At this age, I don't think she has the emotional depth to play a kidnapping victim."

The agent in response, "That's a good thing, right?"

The father, "I'm glad you think so."

So all you actors out there, should you really be upset that you weren't cast as the one-eyed prostitute with a crack addiction and a heart of gold? You won't be able to play every part that you're the right age and height for, and that's okay.

Pinching Pennies: Washing My Car

This is the first in what will likely become a series of posts describing how I'm trying to minimize my expenses amid the recession.

So, I know this isn't world-shattering news, but I washed my car. The car that had gotten so dirty I couldn't drive at sunset because the glare made it impossible to see. The car that would have been towed from the all-too-nice neighborhood it is parked in. It was not parked there because I live in the nice neighborhood, but because the nice neighborhood which is a 10 min walk from my apartment is the only place that doesn't have time-restricted parking.

COST
$3 To figure out how to use the car wash and spray the high-pressure suds.
$3 To restart the bubbly soap brush after it died without a warning beep.
$1 To frantically run around my car trying to rinse off all soap while my 15 remaining seconds counted down to goose eggs.

I could have spent the same $7 and gone to a 1,000 Illegal Aliens Car Wash. They would have done a better job and I wouldn't still have dirty carpets.

But next time, I'll get it all done in $3; $4 at the most.

Surviving the recession, $3 future potential savings at a time.