Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Go North, Young Man

Fool's gold. You might say that one finds alotta that stuff in La La. If you pan the creek day after day (mostly because you don't have access to the A-List Ocean and also because doing extra work really isn't that different of a task), you're bound to find bits and pieces of something perhaps worthy. At least, that's a little of what it was like moving here in the first place, not knowing really anyone, growing up outside of the industry, searching for scraps - scouting - hunting. I always say that and imagine growing up on the outside of a great, incredible wall that encases some glorious, inaccessible city.  How to find a way in and survive in the meantime?

Of course, you're always a bit like Rick Moranis in Ghostbusters looking for the Gatekeeper; glasses askew, shirt untucked and heaving forth with an air of desperation and also unpolished debate.  Why are you worthy to go inside? These answers develop over time - as one gets to know one's self.   I think many actors' problems have exactly to do with that; being unsure with what they are capable of, where their limits are and how they fit in now and perhaps later. I find pitching myself to be exhausting, so lately I've been letting the work speak for itself.  Someone once communicated the sound argument that if you include, by practice and other means, your art in everyday life, like a true fusion of your mentality/physicality with said art, the work we desire will be drawn to us like a magnet.

This makes sense to me, except that waking up with the concept of acting is not so simple. There are plays to be read, workouts to be planned (and executed!), lines to be memorized, places to rehearse, diction to be perfected, movies to be seen, creativity to be tapped, people to meet, people to stay in touch with, people to run away screaming from, auditions to attend, hair to be done, checkbooks to balance, jobs to be found, and fool's gold to be panned for - among other things.  To incorporate the acting life is very much like stretching all the muscles of the body, as in yoga.  We breathe and flex for further progression into each category, all while trying to remain calm and focused.  The latter is much harder than it seems - Worry & Concern are terrible twins that tirelessly threaten to bully and mar the day. 

I have been proud of my progression this summer. Yes, I'll claim that statement! I have shot a national commercial, a guest spot on Days of Our Lives, a gun into the air as Annabella Schmidt in The 39 Steps, and soon I'll be heading up north near Yosemite to do Don't Dress for Dinner in the role of "Suzette", a French caterer and opportunist (Hey, I can play a caterer!! I can do that really REALLY well!!!).  I'll be working toward Equity status under this show as well as having a much needed vacay from La La. Don't get me wrong, love this town, but I need to TRAVEL, my friend. See some overgrown trees and squirrels, marvel at a cactus somewhere, move to a gold rush town in the middle of the northern state. Yes, let's do that. Oh, and I can't wait to attack their only thrift store.

More later on future endeavors. I've got other projects up my sleeve but they are in liquid form. I'll call you when they solidify. 

By the way, Breaking Bad is in four days. Four. August 11th. You haven't seen it? What is wrong with you? Get out your Netflix. Now.